On the front page of the Dec. 27 Bangor Daily News appeared an article titled, “The dangers we face,” a story about Caspar Weinberger and why the defense budget should not be cut. The first sentence read, “In a volatile age when dictators, terrorists, extremists and rogues of every stripe have access to weapons that can imperil the planet, America could find itself at any time in a war it is not prepared to fight.”

In the capitalist society we live in, it’s apparent the monster was created by the imperialist powers of this society. When Saco Defense is selling weapons to “who knows who,” the system is creating a situation to make more, hence keeping the whole paranoid-violent thing going and the defense contractors in big money.

The Bath Iron Works book, “The First Hundred Years,” by Ralph Snow, lists dozens of Aegis Destroyers as having been built but their destinations were left blank. Where did they go? Who has these dangerous weapons capable of simultaneously firing 100 Tomahawk missiles each? People should be proud of what they build and sell; it should be public information as to who is so heavily armed out there. In this age of information, or, rather, disinformation, we’d like to know who these supposed terrorists are. Is it all a scam to keep the people down? A scam to keep them from speaking out? A scam to dish out paranoia in society so money will flow from the big piggy-tax trough into the coffers of defense contractors?

National security is threatened every day when these things happen. National security is a myth. Stop twisting facts, Tom Weber of the NEWS staff, and print a front page article about the peace movement. Bob LeVangie Penobscot