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From: nowlin@ihu1e.UUCP (Jerry Nowlin)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.followup
Subject: Re: Unilateral Disarmament
Message-ID: <308@ihu1e.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Aug-84 09:13:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihu1e.308
Posted: Thu Aug 30 09:13:00 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 31-Aug-84 02:47:59 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 36


Some of the people who oppose unilateral  disarmament  seem  to  be  operating
under two premises I disagree with.  You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong.

First you seem to indicate that when we  eliminate  our  nuclear  arsenal  the
Soviets  will  try  to blackmail us with theirs.  Do you think Russia will say
"Now that we have nothing to fear in retaliation you must do as we say  or  we
will  blow  up  New  York,  Chicago,  and  Los  Angeles."?  That's the kind of
thinking that perpetuates the nuclear  Mexican  standoff.   I  don't  advocate
pulling  all  our NATO troops out of Europe.  If the Soviets want to take over
Europe or America they will still have  to  take  it  with  guns  and  people.
They'll only destroy it with nuclear weapons.

Second you seem to think that Russian leaders are inherently bad.  What  makes
you think a man or woman can't rise to power in a country as large and diverse
as Russia without being evil?  They have to manage industry, agriculture,  and
educational  systems just as important as the military (more important to some
people).  They have mothers, fathers, siblings, children,  and  other  family.
What  makes  you  think  they're  willing  to  throw  all  that  away  for the
satisfaction of bombing away the American capitalists?   Why  can't  we  treat
them the way we would like to be treated?  Maybe they will reciprocate.

> Are these the same Ruskies (sp?) that shot down a 747 full of innocent people
> and never even said sorry?

No.  Neither are 99% of the other Russian citizens who live and work as normal
people  would  in  any country.  Are you one of the lousy Americans that mined
the Nicaraguan harbor?  I think we could probably  come  with  long  lists  of
nasty things that both countries have done or condoned.

Someone stated on the net that unilateral disarmament was a  dangerous  thing.
Can it be more dangerous, to the world as a whole, than continuing to escalate
a nuclear arms race?  Lets get rid of these planet destroying weapons.

Jerry Nowlin
ihnp4!ihu1e!nowlin