Letter to Editor

[Richard Hugus <rhugus@cape.com>]

September 26, 1999				Richard Hugus
						5 Amvets Ave
						Falmouth, MA 02540
						(508) 540-6034



Editor
Cape Cod Times
319 Main St.
Hyannis, MA 02601

Dear Editor,

The Air Force at the Massachusetts Military Reservation is advancing the
idea that bringing the PAVE PAWS radar station into the $12 billion Star
Wars program is necessary in order to protect us from missiles fired  by
"rogue nations." The Cape Cod Times , disappointingly, repeated this
argument in a September 26 editorial.

It is time Americans realized that the leading "rogue nation" in the world
today is the United States. In the past year our leaders have unilaterally
ordered the Pentagon to fire missiles at and drop bombs on four sovereign
nations in violation of widely recognized international and domestic laws -
the U.N. Charter and the U.S. Constitution. The nations bombed were Iraq,
Sudan, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia, with "accidental" bombings, during the
general bombing of Yugoslavia, in Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria.

The national security state which now dictates U.S. foreign policy has
labeled as "rogue nations" any country that will not bend to U.S. will and
domination - countries like Cuba, for example, which poses no threat
whatsoever to Americans, yet which has been punished by a ruthless U.S.
embargo for the last 40 years.

The best way for our country to achieve national security is not to push a
national missile defense (and offense) program down the throats of Cape
Codders who already suffering from other well-known excesses at Otis. Our
true national security lies in ending now and making up for the enmity we
have gained by using bombs and missiles against more than a score of
countries  since World War II.

How dare the Air Force ask us to accept  another 20 years of the new Star
Wars super-radar on our soil. Far from protecting us,  this monstrosity is
actually putting us in danger - providing false national security, making
the Upper Cape a potential target, and emitting even more microwave
radiation.

 Let's get rid of it!


Richard Hugus
Falmouth