CORRESPONDENCE
CORRESPONDENCE 4 Topsy-Turvy I am always delighted when your magazine arrives. The February issue was handed to me upside down and I said to myself "Oh, here's Clinton." Try looking at it that...
...Well, maybe not 'horrible,' but certainly not a pleasant thought...
...By the way, I laughed for about 15 minutes after reading that paragraph...
...In addition to the heroic work of R. Emmett Tyrrell, much of the credit for your achievement goes to Mr...
...AmSpec is encouraging and really informative to our family...
...personnel...
...ADAM J. WASS Santa Ana, California "The only publication I read without fail...
...Every time I receive a new issue, I immediately turn to his monthly article first...
...TAS, Dec...
...ROGER CLEGG General Counsel Center for Equal Opportunity Sterling, Virginia Sorry, Senator Lugar In his attempt to respond to Shawn Macomber's September article "Cooperative Threat Reductio Ad Absurdum" in the November issue of The American Spectator, Senator Richard Lugar resorts to a series of platitudes, avoiding any substantive comment...
...Senator Lugar's inability to critically examine his own legacy is the greatest threat to the CTR program...
...The "trusted agents" are retired Russian military officers March 2005 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR 9 CORRESPONDENCE paid by the U.S...
...Russian officials have signed a number of agreements, including the Nunn-Lugar Umbrella agreement, which have not been ratified by the Duma and, as such, are of questionable authority for program implementation...
...Rather than support war with Iran, you should ask why we don't come home now that we've done what we set out to do...
...2005) An excellently composed and heart-warming picture of W! And then the "Joy to the World...
...Senator Lugar should be helpful and determine if the engine testing was done on a test stand designed with U.S...
...As a result, we have agreed to a system of so-called "trusted agents" to keep the program funded...
...through contractors to enter warhead facilities and then report their observations to U.S...
...The essence of the article is that policy misdirection of CTR programs subsidizes development of the Russian weapon systems and does not reduce the proliferation threat...
...MICHAEL GFOELLER Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mission Creep In your February issue, the headline of the article "Exit Strategies" says "there will be no coming home for America until Iran's...
...First, Shawn Macomber does not suggest that the modernization in Russia reduces the threat of nuclear theft from the Russian institutes...
...However, I couldn't help responding to a mistake in "The Continuing Crisis" section of The American Spectator, February 2005, in which Mr...
...I would invoke President Reagan's phrase—"Trust, but verify...
...I have spent the last 21 years in government service overseas, and his column has served as a kind of lifeline or tether, connecting me to life back home...
...MARJORIE BRUCE Colorado Springs, Colorado Spreading Joy Congratulations on the best cover photo that you have ever produced...
...Ben Stein, in my opinion...
...RET's the only reason I still have a small bit of hope for this country and haven't emigrated...
...When you have done all that you set out to do, you have won...
...Small mistakes like this are extremely rare in your generally meticulous text, but as a loyal reader, I felt I had to point it out...
...Your thorough remarks and helpful suggestions are very much appreciated...
...regime is neutralized...
...I have to ask: Senator, does it make sense to colocate a dismantlement facility with an assembly facility...
...His outstanding support for our military forces merits special praise, in my view...
...money to fund work on an active, commissioned Russian navy ship...
...In May of last year Russian news agencies reported the explosion of a solid rocket motor on a test stand in Votkinsk but added the "Bulava" project was on track...
...nor threatened to attack...
...BILL MCCOY Ashburn, Virginia Big Thank You Dear TAS Subscribers, Thank you for the remarkable response to our recent reader survey...
...The Bush administration approved a limited waiver for CTR in Russia after repeated CTR failures and disclosure of serious deficiencies in the CTR program and as the result of considerable political wrangling by Senator Lugar and his coalition of arms control liberals...
...Curiously, the Votkinsk plant did not have an engine test stand prior to the completion of the SRMDF design with considerable upgrades demandedby Russia...
...When coupled with the word "Whack," (paddywhack) it becomes a rage, passion, or temper...
...Russian news reports and the presentation by Defense Minister Ivanov reiterated that the "Bulava" will be built at the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant—the same Votkinsk Plant that was involved in spending $94 million for a design for the Solid Rocket Motor Disposition Facility (SRMDF...
...It is difficult to understand how a Senator with his experience could be so uninformed about his "legacy" program that has conferred upon him a wall full of Russian Federation awards and the abiding admiration of John Kerry...
...Without criticizing other media, I would like to say that your magazine's coverage of the war has been outstanding in terms of its analytical depth, accuracy, and support for our troops...
...STUART MARSH Pueblo West, Colorado The Ben Stein Lifeline As a longtime reader of The American Spectator, since the early days when it was still published in Indiana, I feel a great sense of loyalty for your magazine...
...Also, Senator Lugar was clearly not informed that the DoD Inspector General's (IG) comprehensive review of the CTR program resulted from a joint request by Congressman Dan Burton and Senator Bob Smith, not a CTR request and was certainly not welcomed by CTR advocates...
...A paddy is actually a rice growing area, or sometimes an Irish nickname (often derogatory...
...A.S...
...I am really concerned about the reliability of these reports, considering that the inspectors themselves could be "leveraged" by Russian security services...
...Of the Republicans that I have spoken to that voted for Bush (as an opponent of George Bush's I'm trying to understand what went wrong for Kerry), almost all of them held grave concerns about President Bush's conduct in the foreign policy arena...
...Right side up you can see clearly it is Chuck Hagel...
...Also, as far as the accounting and the transportation verification of the warheads, the Senator does not mention that Russian officials do not grant access for U.S...
...Senator Lugar had no response to many critical points in Shawn's article including dual use of nuclear submarine defueling facilities and unapproved use of U.S...
...The contention that the Bush administration approved the program is a sham...
...Also, my teenagers hung on our office wall, the beautiful picture of the first couple, in "Republican Rout...
...In spite of their concerns about Bush's policies, however, they could not bring themselves to vote for John Kerry because he never convinced them he could do a better job fixing up the mess that Bush created...
...Here are some of the typical comments we received: "Your coverage of the political scene provides insights that I cannot find anywhere else in the liberal-controlled print media...
...When Bush was pressing Congress to let him invade Iraq, we were told that we had to (1) achieve "regime change" in Iraq and (2) take out Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction...
...Lastly, we avidly read the Christmas Book List each year...
...Senator Lugar missed the point of trusting Russia to dismantle dangerous weapons systems...
...If anything, his article shows how the mismanagement of the projects undermines CTR objectives...
...Further, IG investigations into the heptyl disposition unit and solid rocket motor dismantlement facility were directed by Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz at the request of Lisa Bronson, not at the behest of anyone in CTR...
...2004/Jan...
...Stein's contribution was truly remark8 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR March 2005 CORRESPONDENCE able and generous of spirit...
...I recently had the privilege of serving for 15 months in Iraq...
...The correct word in this instance is "patty," a flat pie or pastry, or flat piece of ground meat (although you describe Mr...
...More than any other publication I know, you exemplify the highest literary and intellectual standards...
...The Senator should know this well—he was denied access to facilities in Russia where CTR funds are being spent...
...JERRY AND KAY BUCCOLA, AND FAMILY Seattle, Washington Bush's Winnings I suggest Michael Barone ("Republican Rout," TAS, Dec...
...When we captured Saddam, we achieved the first objective of the war, and when we announced a few months ago that there were no WMDs in Iraq, we achieved the second objective...
...DOENNECKE Tulsa, Oklahoma Thank you again for your continued support...
...2005) issue): A better citation (than Revelations 19:1-4) to the passage regarding the elders singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea" is Revelations 4:8-11...
...What a clever figurative play on words...
...Of particular interest is an answer to the question: Who authorized expenditures on a commissioned Russian navy ship after two appointed officials denied the request...
...BOB FINKELSTEIN Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Patty Wagon I am sure that your Correspondence section has no desire to copy the "Notes & Asides" section of National Review, where grammar freaks (of which I am one) alternately quiz or criticize William F. Buckley regarding arcane grammatical constructions and usages...
...Tyrrell describes a cow paddy found by Mr...
...I just wonder how many subscribers had the same mistaken notion...
...Shawn Macomber's article is not directed toward eliminating the CTR program...
...Sincerely, Your friends at The American Spectator 10 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR March 2005...
...Also, as far as the heptyl facility fiasco goes, another question comes to mind: Why did DoD official Gloria Duffy reopen bidding on the heptyl facility and at whose insistence...
...taxpayer money...
...It's absolutely spooky...
...Iraq had neither attacked the U.S...
...2004/ Jan...
...Additionally, Senator Lugar's contention that the CTR project would no longer rely on Russian promises because of the signed agreements does not hold water: The agreements were initiated under duress after $200 million in CTR failures in quick succession and the Russians, two years later, have only signed two...
...Senator Lugar was clearly not informed of a credible link between CTR money and Russia's deployment of the new weapons' systems: Recently, Russia announced the successful dummy launch of the new SLBM "Bulava" missile from a submarine in the White Sea...
...FARVER Easton, Maryland "It's horrible to think that the Clinton years may not be over...
...2005) conduct more field research among out-of-the-beltway Republicans who voted for Bush instead of regurgitating the conclusion that the recent election was a mandate for President Bush's policies...
...Try looking at it that way...
...I hope he will accept my thanks for that...
...Pleszczynski's find as "bosomy...
...Pleszczynski, resembling the likeness of Senator Rodham Clinton...
...However, there is a philosophical gulf between treaty verification and buying Russian compliance...
...It is my understanding that the head of the IG team that wrote the final report was awarded a Secretary of Defense award for identifying over $600 million in misdirected CTR funds...
...On the other hand, when assigned to the CTR program I surfaced concerns regarding the counterintelligence coverage of the program and was told by a senior Lugar crony that CTR was a cooperative program and that no U.S...
...Nor has Iran...
...That is the time to go home...
...H.C...
...We don't have a clue as to what is going on inside the buildings, other than depending on Russian Federation integrity...
...intelligence or counterintelligence collection would be tolerated...
...personnel to visit the sites that we are financing...
...What happened to "millions for defense but not one cent for tribute...
...Once again, Mr...
...The $600million dollars identified as wasted by the DoD IG report could have been better used on well-conceived projects where they were truly needed...
...JIM WARE Baton Rouge, Louisiana Heaven's Numbers One nit to pick in Jonathan Aitken's interesting High Spirits column, "Heavenly Thoughts" (TAS, Feb...
...Staying one day longer looks like "mission creep...
...In 2001, as the Votkinsk SRMDF project was being rejected by the Russian side, the Votkinsk Plant was rewarded with another DTRA contract—a contract to dismantle SS-25 missiles...
...Undoubtedly, the letter was penned in the Pentagon by the same dissembling "peace at any price" liberals responsible for responses to MC Duncan Hunter...
...After the design and some infrastructure were complete, regional authorities refused to continue with the project, citing popular dissatisfaction (USAID funded one of the opposition groups...
...I know, I was there and worked the waiver package...
...From the Republicans whom I have spoken with, it hardly sounds like Bush's win could be interpreted as a mandate...
...Iran's regime...
Vol. 38 • March 2005 • No. 2
