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Dangerous
Games
To
the Editor:
Nolan
Konkoski’s “No Nukes, Revisited” [Newsfront, April 28] is
a generally thoughtful, perceptive article, but there are
some substantial mistakes in it.
The first is his statement that Iran and North Korea “have
nuclear weapons.” Not even the Bush administration, which
is phobic about Iran, claims that such weapons are in Iranian
hands. Furthermore, although the North Korean government has
maintained that it possesses nuclear weapons, some experts
doubt the reality of this contention. North Korean officials
might be exaggerating their country’s military strength as
a means of deterring a U.S. invasion or of bolstering its
bargaining power with Washington.
A second mistake is the remark that “no nation possesses the
technology to wage nuclear war on the United States.” Some
nuclear powers, such as Russia and China, do have the
ability to hit the United States with long-range nuclear missiles.
And their missile fleets will not be blocked by the ineffectual,
unworkable missile defense system (the refurbished “Star Wars”)
promoted by the Bush administration or by the new U.S. nuclear
weapons the Bush administration is currently advocating.
The revival of the nuclear arms race is a serious matter,
both because non-nuclear nations might be working to build
nuclear weapons and because nuclear nations are reneging on
their Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments to nuclear disarmament
and laying plans for the building of new nuclear weapons.
Thus, it is good to see Metroland taking the lead in
alerting people to this danger so that they can get nations
back on track toward a nuclear-free world.
Lawrence
S. Wittner
Albany
Just
Say No
To
the Editor:
After
years of reading Metroland, and about a year drought,
I picked up the latest issue and read “Say What” [April 14].
It
both saddened and outraged me. The article’s gratuitous malice
seemed to only be outdone by its insipid desire to be hip,
cool and provocative. Unfortunately, all it did was come off
as jaded and heartless.
Someone recently mentioned to me that the Metroland
was only good for finding out movie times. After reading this
article, I must agree.
Jeff
Marden
Albany
Correction
In
“Faith in Our Cities” (Newsfront, April 7), we wrongly stated
that Arise was using a ketchup bottle to symbolize that 56
out of the 57 counties in the state had shrinking core cities
compared to their suburban areas. The actual number of counties
in the state is 62; Arise was referring to the 57 counties
outside of New York City.
Metroland
welcomes typed, double-spaced letters (computer printouts
OK), addressed to the editor. Or you may e-mail them to: metroland@metroland.net.
Metroland reserves the right to edit letters for length; 300
words is the preferred maximum. You must include your name,
address and day and evening telephone numbers. We will not
publish letters that cannot be verified, nor those that are
illegible, irresponsible or factually inaccurate.
Send
to:
Letters, Metroland, 4 Central Ave.,
4th Floor, Albany, NY 12210
or e-mail us at metroland@metroland.net.
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Columns
& Opinions
