Correspondence

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 13, 1999

Of Spies and Culprits and Government Leaks

Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania dishonors himself and Insight by falsely accusing former energy secretary Hazel O'Leary of leaking a classified diagram of the W-87 warhead ["It Was O'Leary!" Aug. 23].

The diagram in question is an artist's rendering that was published in U.S. News and World Report in 1995 and later reprinted in the Cox committee report on Chinese espionage. In both cases, the source of the information in the diagram is identified clearly as the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, an environmental organization. NRDC officials publicly have confirmed that they provided the information to the magazine's graphic artist.

The U.S. News diagram reveals nothing that hasn't previously appeared in the public domain and omits crucial design features of the W-87 warhead. Furthermore, it includes at least one error. The notion that a government official would "leak" an erroneous and misleading diagram of a nuclear warhead is highly improbable, to say the least.

In light of these facts, Weldon's accusations and his repeated references to O'Leary as a "culprit" are contemptible. He owes O'Leary and your readers an apology.

Steven Aftergood
Director
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists

China's Beachhead in Panama Threatens U.S. Security

You have done a great service to our nation by publishing "China's Beachhead at Panama Canal" [Aug. 16], by J. Michael Waller.

With the final turnover of the Panama Canal Dec. 31 to the corrupt Panamanian government, which in turn is giving ultimate control to Red China, it will be only a matter of time before China's military installs nuclear missiles at our abandoned military bases and targets the continental United States.

With President Clinton turning a blind eye to this threat and Congress exposing the nation to blackmail or worse, the seeds for World War III are being laid right at our back door.

Without a missile defense -- which Clinton has constantly sabotaged -- our freedom and ultimate survival are in as much danger as at any time since Pearl Harbor or the Cuban missile crisis. This catastrophe in the making can be avoided in only two ways: invalidate the Panama treaty at this 11th hour and retake the canal or invoke the Monroe Doctrine and expel Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. forthwith. But it will take a new president and a courageous Congress to see that China is expelled from the canal. If not, our survival will be in jeopardy.

Robert A. Hitch Milford, N.J.

The Usurpation of Power Through Executive Order

Thank you for running the article by Catherine Edwards on the imperial presidency and executive orders ["Emergency Rule, Abuse of Power" Aug. 23]. I am a retired lawyer who long has believed that nothing poses a greater threat of tyranny to a free people than this unbridled usurpation of power. The practice makes monitoring the Federal Register worthwhile, since such orders become "law" when published there.

J. Bates via the Internet

Reader Objects to the Profile of a Defender of Clinton

I was thoroughly disgusted to read the puff piece on New York Republican Rep. Peter King, a throwback to all ward-heeling politicians of the past [Picture Profile, Aug. 9].

King became an apologist for President Clinton during the months of Clinton's lying and stonewalling. Now a judge assessed a $90,000 fine on Clinton for lying and misconduct, which King defended consistently and religiously. What was Insight thinking by giving this lowlife wardheeler unwarranted, favorable and free publicity?

Dan Calabria South Pasadena, Fla.

Write: Insight, CorrespondenceEditor, 3600 New York Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20002. E-mail: Insight@wt.infi.net. Fax: (202) 529-2484. Please include an address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for space.3