OCR Text |
Show Sunday. September 5, 20O4 EDTTORIAL tQAKD EHOMLS I Manzi. President & Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Donald W. Meyers, Editorial page editor John Casteffi, Public adviser Christian Harrison, Public adviser Sam Rushforth, Public adviser Akert .. , iv f i '"ir;-:- . "! IN OUR VIEW -- J " : Nuclear testing an American issue are naturally sue, while others may see opposing with testing as interfering with, national that nuclear security. In short, other members of Congress are unfamiliar with resume in the scope of the problem Radioactive is not harmless, Matheson told the Herald last week that when he shows people as they were told a half century maps of where fallout has been deago. Utahns are not expendable of the "a low-us- e tected, they are more willing to populasegment back the bill. The maps depict a tion," as a declassified Atomic Enpoison carpet unwinding across ergy Commission analysis from 1951 states. the whole country. We hope that And they also know the suffering Matheson and Bennett can get that those lies have caused for those who information into the hands of more lawmakers. were sickened by the radiation. As for national security and inseries beginning toIn a two-paternational in the relations, any resumpHerald, Daily day reporter tion of testing could cause probN.S. Nokkentved shows the devaslems for the United States. We are tating effects of underground nunow trying to get North Korea to clear weapons testing in Nevada shut down its nuclear weapons that nevertheless spewed enormous amounts of killer radiation program, while Iran is moving toward expanding its own nuclear into the atmosphere. The fallout not, only spread over capabilities. Power plants are one thing, but Utah; it blanketed much of the nathe same processes that create tion over decades. them can also provide weapons-grad- e This should never again be almaterial lowed to happen How successful can the United The Bush administration's pro-States be at getting these rogue naposal to spend almost a half billion tions to shut down nuclear prodollars in the next five years to degrams if we're developing new batvelop two new nuclear weapons, tlefield weapons like the Robust reactivating the Nevada Test Site in the process, should alarm all Nuclear Earth Penetrator that would destroy enemy chemical and Americans, not just Utahns. We are all downwinders biological weapons caches, producliterally, tion facilities or command and not just symbolically. Scientific data show that radiacommunications centers hidden untion from past nuclear tests in derground, beyond the reach of conventional weapons? Nevada swirled as far away as the East Coast, at high enough levels They're robust, all right: from 20 kilotons to 1.2 megatons. Even the even to fog photographic film at mini-nukare not so Eastman Kodak's production plant in Rochester, N.Y. mini They have half the destructive Purportedly safe underground force of the bomb that destroyed tests have released radioactive maHiroshima. terial into the atmosphere. A 1962 Renewed testing could start anbomb test blew 12 million tons of other arms race, but this time our dirt skyward and set off Geiger counters in Salt Lake City. Radiaopponents may truly believe they have nothing to lose in an extion from one underground test in 1970 was tracked across America. change with the United States. The Defense Department has Utah Republican Sea Bob Bennett and DemocratRepSfim Mathbeen able to maintain the nation's nuclear arsenal for more than a eson -- r son of Utah's most famous decade without having tp test downwinder, the fortflergovernor Wiiric1nHriII tlnat havA nriwvAH bombs. Mil (IU . W VfWUVB 1I,IPI This should be sufficient proof won't stop nuclear testing outright that testing isn't needed in this day but will put enough rcadbtock&Sn., the way to ensure that the public' fi ,and age. New information isjtkery concerns will be taken into ecc$untr gto be marginal at best, experts say. r.UVSC physics professor Bill and that vital questions wuTbe fcrf ' Svensoa said the body of informa-cee- d swered before any test can prof ' .,J4 4 I i Vision collected from past atomic. ' '&5afficient, and tested legislation requires" before testing cmiesfumep-ijlgnsafijeadexist for every new ' to snow that steps wiu,oe,taKto eapon,proposea control radiation, reqiurepuqfig . ? it NucleSr testing is not a Nevada issue, nor, a Utah issue. It is an hearings and congressional f American issue. Not only this een-approval for tests, as well as; atiorris at risk but future ones. uuix uiuiiiiuia ui ally i.uuiiuAjr that requests it. It also stipuir" sal ffjpvewfafoit experts are now that Utahns must sit onbri j.3jf jjSlaimtng that underground! esting than ever before. overseeing tests. tiftifftq i Mafer .TheV sav radioactive material Matheson said support Joryi$ bilf is building slowly. Part o&he J can be contained to the test site Utahns , -- rt , d f HERALD POLL Herald poll V' I V' OUT TO ON THE temtftes i ab$lit fallout as bemg ft p&uilis- - gil Recently we asked the following question at the Daily Herald Web site, www.harktheherald.com: f "What should be done about 527 groups?" Restrict the money they receive JT 1 Ban them mtr from making political 1 1 ads 1 10 9lt f NOTE Results aw unscientific V andnumbets may w not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. TV 1 1 ... - Total votes: 448 Do you believe them? it , Media voices Current poU: "Whose side is God on, BYU or Notre Dame?" Polling is open at our Web. site until Thursday at 1145 p.m. Bush Ms in missing pieces during speech When it comes to being a hero, character counts RUBEN NAVARETTE JR. From The Washington Posti Sept. 3, 2004 on terrorism and national security, Bush devoted a significant part of his speech to domestic issues. anyone who hadn't been "Many of our most fundamental attention the past 3Vi systems the tax code, health covPresident Bush's speech erage, pension plans, worker trainwere created for the world ing Thursday night presented a robust defense of his first term and a force- of yesterday, not tomorrow Bush ful case for giving him a second said. "We will transform these The president trumpeted some of systems so that all citizens are his achievements at home and equipped prepared and thus truly abroad and began to fill in the free to make your own choices and blanks that have been missing so far pursue your own dreams." But while his diagnosis was apt, from his convention and his cam-- . paiga what another four years of a his proposals were short on detail. Bush administration would bring. When he turned to the United Unlike many of the speakers who States in the world, Bush was even more impassioned, describing in preceded him, Bush dealt rather gently with his opponent, Massachustirring terms a nation promoting setts Sea John Kerry. He offered a liberty throughout the globe. "The wisest use of American stirring vision of spreading democracy in the Middle East and laid out strength is to advance freedom," Bush said "As the citizens of an ambitious, if gauzy, set of goals like reforming the tax code and Afghanistan and Iraq seize the moment, their example will send a building an "ownership society." The chief difficulty with Bush's message of hope throughout a vital speech wasn't so much what he put region." in. hut what he left out: the misstens This vision contrasted sharply and difficulties that have marred his not only with Bush's far more modest foreign policy goals four years first term and wiD make many of the goals he cfted difficult to obtain ago but also with Kerry's increasAfter three days of convention-eerin- g ingly cramped description of U.S. ; -thaf Ibcused almost entirely aims in Iraq and elsewhere. For ' j Clarification - ,." A letter from Mary Benson of Orem, "Ruzicka discards logic on gay marriage," published Aug. 25 was written by Mary Ellen Benson. whole controversy over John and the Swift boat veterans me seasick. For starters, it's irrelevant,. As I have been saying for ntore than long beforKerry eight months secured the Democratic nomination --this presidential election has tcVjbe aboat the future and not the past. Lipouldn't care less what Keiry.snfeiyone nmtung QioW didnt do for president this durmg the Vietnam War. t; In fact, the only reason thfc issue ; keeps coming up is because both the media and the political parties are dominated by self centered baby boomers I who can't get past the bitterness of Vietnam and who seem to have decided that what matters to them should matter to the world. And yet for many Americans, especially those of us who were born after 1965, what matters much more is that those running for president have an effective strategy for winning the wars that count the war on terror and the war in Iraq. Until recently, I never had much luck trying to convince Kerry supporters of that. Many liberals couldn't resist talking about the Vietnam War, hoping that Kerry could finally vanquish the stereotype that Democrats are mushy on national security. Interestingly enough, I tended to find a more receptive audience amotg the supporters of President Bush, none of whom seemed all that eager to dwell on his service in the Texas Air National Guard. New thanks to Swift Boat Veterans This ; ye, -- . for Truth ' a vindictive brotherhood of Vietnam vets using television ads to get back at Kerry for his antiwar activities after his service in Vietnam the roles have flipped. Suddenly, it's the Kerry ; supportera'who are trying to put the past behind them, and the Bush supporters whocjan't get past 1971, when a d John Kerry testified before Congress about alleged atrocities committed by US. troops in Vietnam. . , ;: . And yet I don't think either side has thought their 'new position all the way through. Whether they realize it or not, Democrats really want this debate on Vietnam service and Republicans feally don't. When the topic of discussion is terrorism, the poll numbers bend toward President Bush, who comes across to many Americans as strong, consistent and decisive. Likewise, when the subject is Vietnam, Kerry cant help but come out on top. After all, this much is not in dispute: While other young men spent the late 1960s and early 70s trying to find . creative ways to avoid going to Viet-naKerry volunteered for duty and put himself in harm's way. For those who want to make this election about courage and character, that should count for something. And at kitchen tables all across America, itH probably count for quite a bit. Americans have enough common sense to figure out that, in any armed are going to be those who caiflict. get medals pinned on their chest but don't deserve them, and others who deserve medals but never get them. And they're enough to give chest-thumper- long-haire- tle fair-minde- d Kerry credit for leaving the comforts of home and going of his own free will into a war zone, where he was shot at and where he shot back. If that's not heroic, I don't know what is. And it's more than you can say for s who gathmany of the ered at Madison Square Garden this past week, including Bush and Vice President neither of whom seemed all Cheney that anxious to rush into the jungles of Southeast Asia 35 years ago. Citing other priorities, Cheney requested and got five deferments. Not exactly a profile in courage. Carry on this discussion long enough, and voters will figure out who deserves respect and who doesn't. So, if the Republicans are smart, they'll change the subject and get back to friendly terrain making the case that President Bush has acted heroically in leading the country and the world after Sept. 11, 2001. That's a debate Republicans can wia The one they're engaged in at the moment will, sooner or later, blow up in their face. Dont get me wrong. I'm still sick of hearing about Vietnam. As someone born in 1967, 1 still consider it a blessing to not have to carry around that baggage. And I still think this is an absolutely insane way to go about picking a president, or even a vice president. But that doesn't mean I'm anxious to rewrite history so that the valiant are painted as cowards and the cowardly as valiant. i I Ruben Navaretti Jr. is a columnist with the Dallas Morning News. |