To Ease Soviet Dissolution, American States Could 'Adopt'
RepublicsAfter dedicating the lives of our young men (and no small part of our national treasury, as well) to fighting communist expansion in far-off countries for the last four decades, we now stand poised at an opportunity to show the world what Americans are really all about. To ease the problems facing our non-communist friends, I suggest we have every state governor "adopt" a former Soviet republic. We can work to build private and public aid packages and develop business relationships that will be mutually beneficial. Indeed, with shirt sleeves rolled up, we may just surprise ourselves with how much we really can do! An opportunity to enhance our own security and help others gain true freedom is too good to pass up. Daryl L. Bell-Greenstreet, Tucson, Ariz.
Fire sale on Soviet arms? The West is financing former Soviet republics as they slowly and painfully move into a new world economy. Let's make a deal and purchase their nuclear weapons for cash. As we take possession of these weapons, we will dismantle them, concurrently dismantling our own. We can accomplish major nuclear disarmament for the same money we are going to give them anyway. And it will be much cheaper than continuing to pay the kind of money we have been paying to defend ourselves against war. Charles Sneed, Asheville, N.C.
Returning Kaliningrad Not only did the US government drag its feet in recognizing the newly won independence of the Baltic republics, but the often-voiced claim that America never recognized their incorporation into the Soviet Union is quite hypocritical. At the Potsdam conference of 1945, our government under President Truman agreed to support at a subsequent peace conference the transfer of northern East Prussia from Germany to the Soviet Union, even though the area has no land connection with the Soviet Union except throug h Lithuania. Did this agreement 46 years ago not constitute tacit recognition of the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union? The Soviets proceeded to annex northern East Prussia, expelling native inhabitants, settling other people from the Soviet Union there, and renaming it the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Republic. Lithuania now isolates the Kaliningrad Oblast from the Russian Republic. Would it not be appropriate for the demise of Soviet imperialism to peacefully return this area to its original owner? W. G. Herkstroeter, Webster, N.Y.
A peril to national security An alarming national-security state apparatus is growing inside the executive branch of the US government. If we are an open and democratic society, this apparatus should be dismantled. It consists of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, and parts of the Department of Defense. They are accountable only to the president and their budgets are concealed from public view. Cries of "national security," keep them from checks and balances by the other branches of government. In 1980, disgruntled CIA agents dismissed by President Carter allegedly used their covert tools to suborn a US election. And for 45 years, this secret apparatus has established a network throughout the world that subverts at will other countries' elections to further US interests. When will Congress investigate this? Grace Wise, La Grange, Ill.
