]]]]]]]]]]  THE ARMENIAN EARTHQUAKE AND SOVIET CIVIL DEFENSE    [[[[[[ 
                                                              (1/6/89)
1/1/89
Dear Prof. Beckmann:
     What does the aftermath of the Armenian earthquake indicate about 
Soviet Civil Defense? Could it be that FIGHTING CHANCE stretched the 
truth to suit their dogmatic religious agenda?
     If so, they embarrassed me and YOU. I had sent copies of the book 
to many friends and relatives.
     Do you think that their claims regarding Soviet Civil Defense can
be still defended? If not, do you agree with me that they should be 
"hung by their b***s?"
    Sincerely,
    R.P., Palo Alto, Calif.

Dear R.P.:
     Try reading AtE more attentively before hanging people. I quote 
from the June 1986 AtE Editorial, "Chernobyl:"
     "Third, the Soviet contempt for human life is not limited to 
their policy on containment buildings... They have a full-fledged 
civil defense in place, but it is meant for war, and nuclear black-
mail, not for nuclear disasters. They didn't use it for 36 hours dur-
ing which hundreds must have been accumulating lethal radiation doses. 
Perhaps they thought the fire would be put out quickly and hope to get 
by with a few hundred unseen deaths in preference to a visible evacua-
tion. But more probably, and more frighteningly, they failed to use 
their civil defense through sheer incompetence."
      That latter hypothesis has been strengthened by their behavior 
in Armenia. Quite apart from civil defense, foreign aid and supplies 
were taken to some villages only to be taken back to Yerevan airport 
because no bureaucrat willing to sign for it could be found.
      But when used as a military weapon, Soviet CD will work just as 
everything else in the military works -- the only part of the USSR 
that does work.
      FIGHTING CHANCE (Box 1279, Cave Junction, OR 97523) is doing a 
superb job in substituting for a weak, negligent and opportunistic 
government. They continue to have my full support -- and I hope every 
Freeman's, especially now that Dr Art Robinson has been suddenly and 
tragically bereft of his wife and carries on alone.
      Sincerely,
      P.B.


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