THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
``Happy landing closer'' (editorial Feb. 24) praises the efforts ``to make Oceana the home of more than 160 Hornets, the Navy's premier warplane.''
What has happened to our thinking that we so blithely not only ``accept'' but aggressively seek and campaign for the funding and the placement here of such instruments of international bullying, murder and destruction?
How can we talk world peace out of one side of our mouth when we devote so much of our capital and our energies to being the leader in world war-making? And how can we want that in our neighborhood?
One F-14 costs $38 million. Think of into how many plowshares those swords could be beaten.
If this is a question of how ``money talks,'' as your editorial suggests, think of how that money could be used to channel military know-how into productive peacetime industries, such as mass transportation, water purification, desalination, temporary housing.
Think of how those ``sprawling 6,000 acres'' could be used as a bird sanctuary, a public park, a shelter for the homeless, a mediation center for world peace.
Once again, we have met the enemy and he is us.
ROBERT E. YOUNG
Virginia Beach, Feb. 24, 1995 by CNB