dufa@reed.UUCP (Gruenewdel) (11/26/83)
I have decided to state my opinion about what I read in
Friday (November 25, l983) morning's paper, `The Oregonian'.
On the front page were the words:
SOVIETS TO RETALIATE BY AIMING ADDITIONAL MISSILES.
Moscow (AP)--President Yuri V. Andropov said Thursday the Soviet Union
will increase its nuclear arms at sea, on its own soil and in Eastern
Europe to retaliate against NATO for deploying new missiles in Western
Europe.
Later in the article President Reagan stated, `We can only be
dismayed at this Soviet statement.'
Now, what the hell did he expect?! I wish he and people like
him would stop looking at the situation egocentrically and would
start viewing this situation in a reasonable and logical manner: from
outside the U.S. If you do unroot yourself from this country and
take an unbiased look at the world, what do you see? You see two
superpowers each threatening the existance of the other, because of
each country's extreme and opposing philosophies. Now, go to Russia;
what do you see? You see a great superpower, called the United States
of America, that threatens the very existance of the U.S.S.R. This
country not only has many nuclear missiles aimed at Russia, but is
building more and more at a fanatical rate.
To top it off, this country even has the gall to install many nuclear
bombs right next door, in West Germany. As a person looking at the
situation from a Russian point of view, are you going to give up and
allow the Capitalists to take over the world? NO!! What did Andropov
reply? `It goes without saying that other measures, too, will be taken
to ensure the security of the U.S.S.R.'
Don't you think our president, as a reponse to a heavy buildup
in East Germany, would issue a statement to the effect that `it goes
without saying that other measures, too, will be taken to ensure the
security of the U.S.A.'??
WE'VE GOT TO APPROACH THE ISSUE OF NUCLEAR BUILDUP FROM A
GLOBAL, NOT ONE-SIDED, VIEWPOINT!
In addition, how can Reagan be trusted, looking from the Russians'
side again, when, while having plans to put 572 (572!!) Pershing 2's
in West Germany, he states, `...we are determined to renew our efforts
to entirely do away with [split infinitive, here, folks] the land-based
intermediate-range nuclear missile system. We continue to seek negotiations
in good faith.' Hell, he sounds like he's lying through his nose!
I suppose that TECHNICALLY the Pershings aren't `intermediate-range nuclear
missile' systems (or ARE they?), but I feel that this is a bad way
of restoring trust, or what have you, between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A.
To sum up, I don't think anyone should be suprised by the
Russians' reaction. I just hope that this step of Reagan's has
not brought us closer to a scenario like `The Day After,' or worse...
Stefan Gruenwedel
Reed College, Portland, OR 97202
dufa!
P.S. I'm waiting for the .flames to spark from the inferno.