7/8/2023

July 8, 2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of the July 7 students massacre in Burma. On July 8, 1962, the military regime blew up the historic Rangoon University Students' Union (RUSU) building, which had been the symbol of the anti-colonial nationalism struggle since the 1920s. In 2023, many citizen groups used this anniversary to call for the end of the military dictatorship through truth-loving spirit & strong determination. Brave folk!

An overactive military has plagued Burma for my entire life. It’s just a reminder that weapons are often used for self-inflicted wounds. Whatever weapons you procure or sell can be used in unanticipated, regrettable ways.

            That’s why it’s a wonderful thing that we have almost completed the task of destroying our stockpile of 51,000 M55 rockets with GB nerve agent that have been around since the 1940s. Did you know that’s been quite a costly, complicated job involving robotic equipment, microbes & furnaces that get up to 1,000 degrees?

            That’s also why I don’t want you sending those cluster bombs to Ukraine! What a terrible weapon! Even when used as intended, it’s totally indiscriminate, the complete opposite of the kind of precise weapon that most military personnel prefer.

            I’m feeling most inarticulate on this matter. Kingston Reif, assistant secretary of defense, could do a better job of making my case. Recently he wrote about the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) that got $505 billion to contract with companies like Boeing, Honeywell International, Lockheed Martin & Northrop Grumman to design & build more nuclear weapons. So much $$ being used to build things that few Americans can comprehend. Why is the NNSA under the department of energy with so little oversight? Wouldn’t it be better to use the $$ to build ASMR stimulators or pay teachers?

WINTA!

BYBS,