The Role of the United Nations Security Council in Curbing Arms

The Opinion page article "Rethink Conventional-Arms Sales," June 4, properly notes the contribution that the United States has made to weapons proliferation. But the author neglects to discuss the only international forum for addressing this problem: the irregular meetings among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Together, Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States account for more than four-fifths of all arms sales.

A number of meetings have occurred, the most recent of which took place in Washington. Although the five nations informally agreed in London last fall to notify one another about arms transfers to the Middle East, the Washington talks broke down because China refused to put this simple provision into practice.

The US deserves much but not all of the blame for the proliferation problem. The Bush administration had failed to win concessions from the Chinese yet hopes both to grant China most-favored-nation status and to sell Saudi Arabia a vast cache of weapons. This series of events forces one to conclude that far from truly caring about the conventional-arms issue, the US government remains satisfied with the status quo.

Mark S. Sternman, Cambridge, Mass.

Mail-order buys

In his article "Direct-Marketing Firms and States Discuss Sales Tax," June 2, the author completely omitted the high cost of shipping of the merchandise ordered by mail. One time the shipping cost was almost 80 percent of the cost of merchandise that I ordered. We have long given an ultimatum to the mail-order houses with whom we deal that we will pay either the transportation costs or the sales tax, never both.

You would be surprised at the number of them that agreed with our condition for fear of losing business.

We are looking at some old Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs. Back then, everything was shipped postpaid. If Congress does anything with the sales tax, the mail order houses will have to make adjustments or lose a good chunk of their business.

I. de Lissovoy, Lakeland, Fla.

Acting in Montana

The Arts page article "Theater Lassos Montana Kids," May 19, wins applauses for keeping creativity alive in young people. What a great way to raise self-esteem, poise, and develop communication skills. The Missoula Children's Theatre and its director Jim Caron and company deserve this write-up for their dedication.

Ethel Rankin, Spokane, Wash.

Stop testing nukes

Thank you for your editorial "Commit to Test Ban," June 1, asking the critical question regarding the testing of nuclear weapons: "Which better serves Americans' security interests - a world where we encourage the continued building and testing of nuclear weapons, or one where the US takes the lead in stopping that activity?"

Of course the US should be leading the way to stop endangering peace and the environment by discontinuing underground testing.

Also, more effort should go into solar, wind, and other nonpolluting renewables. New nukes shouldn't be considered until we solve the problem of disposing of the radioactive waste that present plants have churned out.

Betty Lou Wells, Fort Pierce, Fla.