Another Dangerous Invitation Is Issued
Re “Bush Renews Focus on Missile Defense,” Aug. 18: There he goes again. Just as he has so many times since the tragic events of 9/11, President Bush was again playing the part of the provocateur the other day, telling campaign audiences that he dares all comers to lob missiles at our country because our soon-to-be-operational national missile defense will shoot them all down.
Bush would be wiser to cool his rhetoric, adopt the profile of a peace president and leader in the fight for nonproliferation and tell his audiences the stark truth about missile defense: It is a stunningly overpriced relic of our Cold War military past.
Missile defense is not functional, practical or feasible. Worst of all, it will not produce security for Americans, but it will launch a new arms race.
Rob Schweber
Los Angeles
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The president’s quote (“They’re living in the past. We’re living in the future.”) as it relates to missile defense illustrates the basic differences between the Bush and Kerry campaigns in the war on terror:
Bush foresees a world in which everyone wants to shoot missiles at us; Sen. John Kerry envisions a world where no one does.
Rick Plewa
Simi Valley
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