
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991                   TAG: 9103210454
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ARMS BUYERS SAW MILITARY'S CHOICE

A MARCH 8 article, "War may spur new race for high-tech weaponry," quoted defense analyst Gregory Fetter as saying: "The war just enhanced [`smart weapons'] marketability. It showed they do work. And people - the arms buyers - saw right on their TV screens how well they work."

People saw what the military wanted them to see. An earlier article in your paper reported that the laser-guided smart bombs worked only a little better than 50 percent of the time. What's so great about that? Bombs are bad enough without missing their targets and hitting something else almost half the time.

The war in the Middle East was fought for oil, national pride and weapons economy. The news coverage we received was little more than an advertisement for the military-industrial complex. BECKY KIMBALL FLOYD

by CNB