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Show Laura Colts makes a point during a presentation to the Cedar City Kiwanis Club last week. She and Arlene liraithwaite presented the anti-MX side, while Air Force officials of-ficials were in town presenting the pro view. MX missile issue certainly not dead By BRUCE LEE Record Editor The issue concerning the possible deployment of the MX missile system in the valleys of the Great Basin is far from dead Cedar City residents found out last week. The City was the site of several speeches and presentations by pro- and anti-MX groups and individuals May 13. The day started with a presentation to the Cedar City Kiwanis Club telling why the massive missile system should not be deployed in Utah and Nevada and ended with various Air Force officials of-ficials telling why the system is necessary. "Can we as a nation afford to put so much of our tax money into a sysem that is basically flawed?" was the question asked by Arlene Braithwaite and Laura Cotts as they spoke to the Kiwanis Club. The pair cited arguments concerning lack of water to morality' to impacts of local government as adequate reasons to light against the deployment of the system in the area. Agriculture is already limited in the deserts because of a lack of water, said a slide presentation shown by the two. "Future development could be doomed." if MX deployment were allowed to swallow up the 26 million gallons of precious water it would need. Braithwaite pointed out that the recent statement by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pointed out the moral problems with the proposed system. The two also pointed out that basing the system in this area would make it a "sponge" of a first attack. In addition, "Local government would be overwhelmed," said the slide presentation. The limited tax base would fall far behind money brought to the area by MX growth. Concerning possible MX impact mitigation funds, Cotts countered that the funds had to be appropriated by Congress, and that they were not as certain as some would lead to believe. In fact, she said, three of the four Congressional committees say the see MX on page A4 MX continued from page A 1 funds aren't necessary. She stated that area residents needed , to stop "viewing the MX as a golden goose," because it isn't. Rebuttal to the arguments was offered of-fered that afternoon at a new conference con-ference with Colonel Ken Van Dillen and Major Bob McMains, both assigned to MX capacities by the Air Force. "There has been so much nisin-formation," nisin-formation," said VanDillen, some from various groups and some from the Air Force's mistakes. Concerning the argument that Utah and Nevada would become a prime target area if MX were deployed, the pair had numerous moral and technical answers. McMains noted that 29 states currently have bases with nuclear weapons. "This area would be sharing that burden with the rest of the cduntry. So the whole country's a 'sponge'," he said. 1 "You can't hide from a nuclear war," Van Dillen added. "It's total and complete devastation of the environment. en-vironment. The whole idea of MX is to not have that happen." Van Dillen also pointed out that it would take Zi USSR missile to destroy one MX missile. "The MX shelter system is not a lucrative target." he went on. With those 23 missiles, the Soviets could blow up 23 cities, or 23 submarines or 23 airplanes. Concerning the statement by the U)S Church, the two officers said that it would go to the various committees and individuals involved lo be considered along with the many other statements made in the past. "Their statement of concern is not necessarily unique to the IDS Church," , said Van Dillen. "Letters and statements and petitions come in every day from across the nation." The pair also said thai it simply isn't true that impact mitigation funds were not being looked at very carefully. Ralph Starr, coordinator of the Four-County Four-County MX Policy Board, added that committees and officials involved are generally supportive of Congress passing a bill establishing a block grant to the area "' mivw mitigation. |