I was rather dismayed when I read the Sept. 15 Letter to the Editor entitled "Raytheon's money is blood money." This article presents a very dangerous and myopic view.
While I have no intimate knowledge of the weapons industry, I highly doubt Miss Brosnihan does.
In fact, it is evident that she is taking issue with the very existence of the company and weapons manufacturers as a whole and no particular policy. Apparently she has forgotten that the world in which we live is a dangerous one. The very freedoms that she, and in deed all of us, enjoys are protected by force of arms.
It would be nice to believe that every situation could be solved in a civil manner but this is not the case. Put another way, there is a reason that members of the South Bend Police Department carry firearms.
Just as there exists persons who wish to do harm to their fellow Americans (theft, homicide, etc.) there also exists extra-territorial threats to American citizens. These threats are dealt with through diplomacy when possible and force exerted by the military when necessary. The brave men and women who compose the military and police forces are armed by companies like Raytheon.
Thus these companies - and the weapons they produce - make it possible for military and police to protect your freedoms. This is not to say that government policy regarding the use of the police or military is always noble.
However, the deployment of these forces is an entirely separate matter from the basic issue of their baring arms. It is simply a reality that this world necessitates, on occasion, the use of force to ensure liberty.
It is true that we must all work for a more peaceful world, but unilaterally disarming is simply not an option. In fact, it is likely that doing so would only decrease America's national security and the cause of bringing about greater stability and peace. After all, Pax Romana was not guaranteed by please and thank you but by brute force and clever diplomacy.
True, tolerance and some extent of cultural autonomy played a healthy role in stabilizing the empire but the backbone always consisted of its legions. In many ways, the world has changed since then, but human nature has not. Brosnihan would do well to do to remember these words: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
Jim Napier
junior
Siegfried Hall
Sept. 16
