Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Not content to be made fools of in their attempt to fund another tax cut for the rich by withholding money for the poor, the small-brained, petty politicians now in control of the U.S. Senate tell the public that they know better than the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of Defense when it comes to the nuclear test ban treaty.

Not a statesman in the bunch, their overwhelming hatred of President Clinton governs their every action, much to the dismay of the majority of Republicans. No wonder Gov. George W. Bush looks like a knight in shining armor compared to the buffoons now in charge of the Senate. And one would think the Democrats are somehow behind the Senate Republicans’ actions that are so bizarre and so damaging to the Republican Party.

JAMES R. GALLAGHER

Huntington Beach

* Robert Scheer, in his column re the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (“The Loser Will Be the Human Race,” Commentary, Oct. 12), only reinforces the extreme liberal bias of The Times: Every time the Republican Party takes a position contrary to the administration, it is “letting partisan politics get in the way.” The Times never, and that means never (in English, not Clintonese), asserts that the Democratic Party is playing partisan politics.

ANDREW J. CHITIEA

Rancho Santa Fe

* Re “A Senate Sin,” editorial, Oct. 7: Opponents of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty argue that unless the United States tests nuclear weapons, we cannot guarantee the reliability and safety of the arsenal, despite some 1,030 nuclear detonations since 1945. At the same time opponents express serious concern that North Korea, Iran or Iraq could gain some advantage over the U.S. in the event they tested. Treaty opponents do not explain how the acquisition of nuclear weapons by these countries would “degrade” the well-tested U.S. nuclear arsenal.

If other nations can maintain nuclear weapons with few (e.g. India, Pakistan) or no additional nuclear tests (e.g. Britain and France) while the U.S. “cannot,” this suggests that American scientists--notwithstanding a $5.8-trillion Cold War nuclear weapons expenditure--are far less competent to build and maintain nuclear weapons than their foreign counterparts. This is the logic of test ban opponents; they know, or ought to know, better.

You can be sure that no treaty opponent would trade America’s nuclear intellectual capital--which continues to be well sustained by a $45-billion Stockpile Stewardship and Maintenance Program--with any other country, whatever their nuclear practices either now or into the foreseeable future.

BENNETT RAMBERG

Director of Research, Committee to Bridge the Gap, L.A.