The Tribune`s reference to arms reduction negotiations as a poker game in a recent editorial entitled ”Join us for poker, Gov. Dukakis?” is dangerous and irresponsible. It seems to me that your editorial writer is the one who badly needs a lesson in how to bargain.
Lesson No. 1 in bargaining is to show good faith. By declaring ”we don`t need SDI,” Gov. Dukakis demonstrates to the Russians tht he is serious about limiting the scope and lessening the possibility of wars in the future. In any bargaining session, one must give a little and take a little. If both sides insist that they have to have superior defense and offense systems as bargaining chips, there will never be a meaningful arms reduction agreement.
In my opinion, your shoot-from-the-hip editorial only encourages the hawkish politicians to increase our taxes and squander them on arms.
