Letters, Oct. 8, 1979

Soviets in Cuba

To the Editors:

So President Carter is deeply concerned about the Soviet combat brigade in Cuba [Sept. 17]. I suppose he will demonstrate his toughness by insisting that they change to civilian clothing.

George F. Platts

Ormond Beach, Fla.

The Soviets have us coming and going. They put troops in Cuba, we panic, and they agree to remove their troops if we sign the SALT II agreement. That's what I call strategy!

Dorothy Diehm

Paramus, N.J.

We feel we have the God-given right to station thousands of troops and sophisticated armaments in countries surrounding the Soviet Union and to maintain a naval base in Cuba, but we now feel threatened by a few Soviet troops in Cuba. What arrogance! What hypocrisy!

Jose Ramon

Costa Mesa, Calif.

The Panama Canal was given away for fear the U.S. Army couldn't defend it against rebels, but these same old goats are going to stop the Soviet army in Cuba.

Mo J. Green

Redfield, S. Dak.

Lyndon Johnson said that American troops were fighting the Communists in Viet Nam so that later generations would not have to fight them on American shores. Now, 90 miles from the sand of Florida, 3,000 Soviet combat troops are deployed. Will the generation born in the 1960s have to do just what Johnson wanted to avert?

Nguy True

Arlington, Va.

This information is just what the SALT II critics have been waiting for in order to kill the treaty. The SALT II treaty is the product of hard work by devoted individuals and many concessions by both sides. It would be a pity for it all to be discarded merely because of the timing of an announcement concerning a virtually harmless Soviet brigade in Cuba.

Leigh Anderson

Seattle

You refer to Majority Leader Robert Byrd of Virginia. He is not. This Senator Byrd is from West Virginia.

Rabbi Israel B. Koller

Charleston, W. Va.

The Name Is Kennedy

How foolish, all this talk of Ted Kennedy for President [Sept. 17]. The only thing Kennedy has going for him is the name. Why don't we put this legend behind us and stop thinking of the Kennedys as our saviors? We have a decent, hard-working President in Jimmy Carter, and we should be thankful.

John H. Bullard

Ogden, Utah

By virtue of his consistency, intelligence and charisma, Ted Kennedy inspires the spirit that Jimmy Carter has always tried to capture. He is the vigilant knight who knows how to lead a stagnant country into a new era.

Frederick Cleveland

Milford, Mich.

It's coming, it's coming! It'll be here in January 1981. Camelot II.

David M. Snapp

Atlanta

In a sink-or-swim situation, do you really think we can trust Ted?

Elmer W. Flaccus

Tucson, Ariz.