Friday, March 15, 1885
Star Wars
Daily Nebraskan
Pans 5
left
itlC
io solve Bol
fn her bock The Guns of August, Barbara
Tuehmaa says that be'ere World War I, the
French believed in something celled elan
a spirit, a desh, a boldness that was supposed to
t3 uniquely theirs. Elan is what led the array to
contemptuously reject khaki and retain red
pants. "Eliminate the red trousers?" cried a
former war minister. "Never!" And so soldiers
died teccase they looked like bull's-eyes.
21
35 Richard
iv Cohen
Most nations have their delusions and Amer
ica is no exception. Ours is called "can do"
the belief that enough money, energy and desire
can accomplish anything. The pantheon of "can
do" triumphs include the building of the atomic
bomb the invasion of Normandy and, even, vic
tory in World War II itself. Give GI Joe and Eosie
the Riveter the gocds and they'll deliver.
Now we are embarking on the grandest of all
"can-do" presets the Strategic Defense
Initiative, better known as Star Wars. President
Resgaa says it premises much nothing less
than eventual elimination cf nuclear weapons.
The President believes this so fervently that he
is willing to bet triHioLis cf dollars cn it and,
among other things, your life. There is, after all,
only cne thing Star Wars will destroy for certain
and that is the nervous understanding known as
deterrence. Instead cf a doctrine based cn reta
liation we would substitute cne based cn de-
nse plan fails
al' Questions
Here is a man shaped by his times, nurtured cn
Edison and Eell and, probably, that nearly myth
ical moment when Franklin Roosevelt opened a
later from Albert Einstein and concluded, in the
maimer of Andy Kardy, let's build an atomic
bomb.
Star Wars is neither an attempt to build a
bomb nor a massive invasion cf France. The
Normandy invasion was so vast it smothered its
mistakes. As for the A-bomb, nothing much
would have happened if, in fact, nothing much
had happened. We could have tried again.
But that's not the case with Star Wars. It
shreds the doctrine of deterrence and promises
to replace it with a system that requires some
thing it can not deliver perfection. After all, a
system that's 90 percent effective i3 not effective
at all. If only ten percent of Soviet missiles
penetrate our defense, it's still, as they used to
say in the old films, curtains. Just one missile
can carry ten warheads. As with pregnancy,
there's no such thing as a little nuclear war.
We've had this sort of expectation before. We
made war on poverty, and there's still poverty.
We made war on drags, and there's still drugs.
The problem was neither drugs or poverty alone,
:V1 Letter
but the way people cerapifc
te things-
the way
Yea cm understand wtj the President is
er.ar.crcd cf Star Vsrs. It premises we will make,
atomic war no mere, that we can threw a net into '
sjsce so thai r.o missiles will get through tad, as .
result, there will no r.scd for missiles at all.'
Star Wars will do to atcslc weapons what eMa--ir.g
armor did to the bow and trrsw. Hold a room
in the museum for the MX.
Star Wars is not the conceptual breakthrough
that the president thinks it is. Instead, it is a
mis application cf the old can-do ethic. The
President is cf the World War II generation, and
it's not surprising that maybe his most moving
speech was delivered on the beach at Normandy.
they just won't keep still.
That's the trouble with Star Wars. Even if it
were feasible, an enemy would still be facing us
an enemy enable cf coming up with its own
Star Wars system and, with a little can-do cf its
own, ways to evade the system we have. Of
course, we would do the same and that's just
the point. ;
Nothing will have been solved. The competi
tion will Just toe beta coved upstairs to space.
Neither we norths Soviets would give up nuclear
weapons, anymore than a homeowner would give
up a gaa because no's put fees on the windows.
.There's always the thief with the hacksaw.
More World War I, the doctrLie of elan
deluded the French into thinking they were
stronger than they were. Now a doctrine that
there is a technical answer to a political ques
tion is deluding us and, worse, complicating the
chances for disarmament Like elan before it,
Star Wars is a chimera. Can-do can not do what
needs to be done.
1SS3, Wasldautos Post Wrifcera Gimp
Student thanks America
for Vietnam sacrifice
I an a Vietnamese student at the University of
Nebraska Lincoln.
I want to thank all the American and Vietna
mese soldiers who have fought for the Vietnam
War.
Through my life, I have been more fortunate
than other children of war. I lived in a warring
nation, but never saw active battle nor expe
rienced any suffering. I only saw these cn the
television, just a3 most Americans did. Because
cf you, I didn't have to see all the bad sights of
war. Because of you, I got to taste what real
freedom is like, what Levi's are, who Michael
Jackson is ... . Because of you, I now enjoy the
freedom for which you fought.
I wish there hadn't been a Vietnam War so you
would not have had to fight and kill and die. I
know you didn't want to do these. 1 just want you
to know that what you fought for wasn't for
nothing. I am grateful for what you have done for
me and ether Vietnamese who love freedom. You
have done so much. What did I do to deserve the
sacrifice of your life, your freedom? Ten years ago
I was too young to understand what was going on
in Vietnam. Now I am older and still trying to
understand the Vietnam War itself.
I have a new life now. I am doing well in the
United States, People here have treated me with
kindness and generosity. Ky life goes on. I hope
someday I can do big things for others as you
have done far me.
For soldiers who have died, I hope you sleep
well. For soldiers who are alive, I hope your deep
wound3 will soon heal. I understand what you
have gone through we haven't forgotten you.
' Nuc Mam
arts and sciences
Resident says church
loses UNL participation
Regarding Jim Rasmussen's story, "Students
change religious attitudes," (DN, March 3), I
find the remarks cf Father Michael Jaekels
rather sad. He admits, "It's tough for the church
to get students involved in social causes unless
those causes affect students' personal success
in some way. It's frustrating because you can't
make people see that a concern, whether it's,
remote or not, is still a concern of theirs."
Almost three years ago, your newspaper ran a
story about the departure cf the Oblate priests,
Fathers Dale Hardes and Tom Kozeny, from
Sacred Heart Parish in Lincoln. In that same
story, the new paster at Sacred Heart was quoted
as saying, "Everything's back to normal now at
Sacred Heart."
Back to normal, in the Catholic community cf
Lincoln, must mean what Father Jackeb i3
bemoaning "more conservative attitudes
. . . more emphasis on personal success . .
. personal gain and personal convenience." The
Oblates had awakened consciences in this
community and had personally involved them
selves and others in "social causes like civil
rights, relief to the poor and personal freedom
around the world." For this reason, many univer
sity students had began to attend Mass at
Sacred Heart. Also for this reason, the diocesan
leadership recommended the departure of these
two activist priests.
Where is the leadership for the 4,500 Catholic
students on this campus? Where was the leader
ship last weekend when the seminar on the
Catholic bishops' first draft of the economy
pastoral was held cn UNL campus? Why were
there only a dczon or so Catholic laity present to
hear Bishop McNamara frcm Grand Island, a
, member cf the committee which will draft the
agricultural section of the pastoral, as he spoke
so knowledgeably about the letter and asked for
specific input frcm those present? Were the stu
dents, those 800 who attend the Newman Center
for Mass, encouraged to attend this seminar?
It is a consolation, though small, that Father
Jackeis has admitted that there is a problem.
Elizabeth A. Peterson
Sacred Heart Parish
Lincoln
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