OCR Text |
Show Page 6 Friday, December 3, 1882 HILL TOP TIMES Editorials aoi!a.dl;mfieis?y WD threaten the peaceful existence of the By 1st Lt. Roger Overturf AFLC Public Affairs United States and its allies than they 10 years ago? The Soviet threat. It's a subject we were, say, to that question is answer The hear, about a lot. We hear frequently priorities, from the secretary of defense on the crucial to the structuring offederal exthe and to the subject. The president makes ecutiveCongress, branch, especially in the prereference to it almost every time he of huge budget sent environment speaks on national defense. deficits and the need to cut federal outline Slick, publications its immensity and capabilities. And, spending. The answer to that question can be the perception of that threat is the found only by looking at how the driving force behind many of the pro- Soviets have built their military grams, initiatives, and plans" being might. The answer becomes, clear undertaken by the Air Force today. when you compare Soviet capabilities But what is the threat? Are the to what the western powers have to Soviets really in any better position to counter that might. , four-col- or ballots doctor m. 't ighi eDectDorD races Abseimvee The 1982 elections will be remembered for some of the most exciting finishes in recent times. A few with outcomes might have been turned around if more people had voted. Several Senate and House seats and three governorships were decided by one or two percentage points. In five states, winners survived by less than 45,000 votes. In Rhode Island, it was several days after the election before a winner in the Senate race could be determined because there was only a 9,000-vot- e difference and some 15,000 absentee ballots were still to be counted. The governorship of Illinois was not immediately decided for the same reason as Rhode Island too close to call and what could be a still to be counted in absentee ballots. Federal Voting Assistance Program thin-margin- ed tie-break- er officials, responsible for helping absentee voters exercise their right to vote, have stressed the importance of each vote, and this year's tight races have borne this out. One persistent problem that shows up in every major study on absentee voting is late.receipt of ballots. In the 1980 elections, 182,000 military members were unable to vote because their absentee ballots arrived too late or not at all. In one instance this year, a Vermont county court ordered an additional eight days for counting absentee ballots after the polls closed. The FVAP contacted the secretary of state in Vermont after learning that' a military voter stationed in California had registered and would receive his ballot from his home district too late to vote. That one voter set the wheels in motion to effectively reschedule counting of absentee ballots and through cooperation with the state of Vermont his vote was counted. (AFNS) programs It must be said that the Soviet com- - mitment to an aggressive, expansionist foreign policy has not changed in its inherent character in 65 years. In relative terms', the Soviet buildup . Since the successful Leninist revolu- is even more impressive. They outnumber us 2.4:1 in manpower, 5:1 in tanks, 2.5:1 in ICBM warheads, and 2.4:1 in tactical aircraft. Despite their clear numerical superiority in those areas, the current Soviet military production outstrips the United states by 3:1 in aircraft and tanks, 9:1 in infantry combat vehicles, and 10:1 in artillery. 1981 was the ninth consecutive year the Soviets produced more than 1,000 fighter aircraft. This compares to the 182 fighters the United States will purchase this year. Similar disparities in efforts dedicated to defense exist in the fields of research and development and space exploration and exploitation. These areas are espetiaUy; important since, for years, the United States and its allies have boasted clear technology superiority over the Soviets. That superiority may be and fast. fading Faced with these facts, it must be tion in 1917, the Soviet march toward what they consider to be their destiny of world domination has continued unabated. Even in the "peaceful coexistence" era, Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, with the most obvious examples of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, was total, and ' at", I times brutal. The years of "detente" were not much different. Cubans, acting as Soviet surrogates in Africa, expanded the Soviet influence through Angola and Ethiopia, and the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan has demonstrated Soviet determination to project their power in Southwest Asia. This persistent policy has been accompanied by an equally persistent policy of military buildup. The magnitude of that buildup is clearly shown by the fact that the Soviets are concluded that the "threat" is not a currently devoting 12 to 14 percent of of anyone's imagination. It's their gross national product to figment not a false vision. military programs. Compare this to The ominous spectre of Soviet exthe current U.S. defense spending and they is level, which is only five to six percent pansionist philosophy real, are rapidly approaching the point of of the American GNP. and technological In strict dollar terms, the Soviets both numerical have outspent the United States by superiority over the western world. 50 percent or more in each of the last' To recognize the threat for what it five years, and over the past decade is represents the first step toward have invested an estimated $450 countering it, and it is the first responbillion more than the United States in sibility of those of us sworn to defend defense. this nation. (LOGNEWS) so-call- ed ' ; -- . TITAN II MM II SS-- MM III I MX SS-- 9 7 SS-- 8 SS-1- i i 63 62 Set example by using 1 66 75 1980s US AND SOVIET ICBM DEVELOPMENTS restraints and teacher don't use yours? Set a By Ron Baertsch Safety Office Help yourself and the family by restraining everyone in the car with seat belts. One out of five auto accident injuries happen's when passengers within the car collide with each other. As the driver, be the first to buckle up. Why should passengers use theirs if you don't use yours? Think about it! Why should children use a safety belt if you as the driver life-savi- ng good example. Whether it's full restraint systems or safety belts, auto restraint systems save lives in a crash. And you and your passengers need all the help possible in an accident. It's the time of year for children. Use a crash-teste- d child restraint, infant restraint or safety belt for them. Set the example by using yours. Use a little restraint Buckle Up! Everything advertised in the Hill Top Times must be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to the race, creed, color, national origin or sex of the purchaser, The Soviet Union continues to develop and deploy succeeding . "generations" of intercontinental ballistic missiles at a pace far outstripping that of the United States. With four generations of Soviet ICBMs already deployed and a fifth in development, there is no indication that the Soviet Union will slacken its ICBM buildup.- - Over the past 17 years, the Soviets have deployed six new ICBMs while the U.S. has deployed only one. The most destabilizing of the Soviet ICBMs are the "fourth generation" SS 17, SS 18 and SS-1missiles. Armed with multiple independently retargetable vehicles, each of these missiles has a strike - range exceeding 5,000 nautical miles. The SS-1has a greater throw weight than any U.S. ballistic missile. silos in Combined with the 520 SS-1- 1 the Soviet ICBM arsenal, the fourth generation ICBMs give the Soviet Union the po- tential to destroy a large percentage of US. missiles without expending its entire ICBM force. $$17 S$-1- $S-1- 8 9 9 NUMBER OF SILOS OEPLOVED 308 ISO MAXIMUM 4 ISO NUMBER OF VEHICLES 10 silo-base- n&l Project Warrior, user or patron. A confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal opportunities by an advertiser will result in the refusal to print advertising from that source. . MorMedia Sales, 1152 West Riverdale Road, Ogden, Utah 84403. Phone Sorry, classified ads by mail only. Send $3 to P.O. Box 445, Roy, Utah 84067. 394-965- 5. |