Re: Regarding Vieques Declaration (of War)

["Richmond Dugger, III, Ph.D." <drdugger@uxb.com>]

Dear Mr. Morales,

I appreciate and admire your articulate, accurate and historically based
analysis of events surrounding the subject, and you observations hit
dead center on this issue.  Let me assure you that the great majority of
your fellow Americans hold dear the concept of equality and justice,
both for people and for the environment. Once the full facts become
known and the American people begin to make their views heard, I would
not be surprised to see a ground-swell of support for protecting our
citizens by protecting and restoring the environment in Puerto Rico and
in all other locations where our unfortunate environmental contamination
has detracted from the land of our Citizens, Hosts, Allies, and Friends.
I encourage you to enlist others in getting the message out, and for all
to do so in the splendid manner exemplified by your letter.  It is
incumbent upon each of us, as good stewards of our great land, to be
ever mindful that environmental contamination anywhere ultimately
affects us all.  All of us know and understand that environmental
problems must be prioritized so that limited resources can be focused on
the most serious and most time critical sites.  Accurate and detailed
information and data serves to support raising the priority of a
particularly "needful" site, and it is that avenue that may serve your
efforts best, in achieving your goal.  Therefore, continue to arm the
cause with information and data, both supported by facts.  I think you
will find this community reasonable and supportive when approached from
a scientific and factual viewpoint. While not impossible, it is also
much more difficult for the politically inspired budget and funding
processes to ignore facts in this information age.  Remember that this
cleanup is in competition with other cleanups, and that facts coupled
with public opinion, are the components most likely to determine the
outcome.

I would like to add a belated "thank you" to your Grandfather, your
Father, and to you and other Puerto Ricans for serving, as many of us
have, in the armed forces protecting the many "Freedoms" offered by our
Democracy. 

Best Regards,


Dr. Richmond Dugger, President
UXB International, Inc.