Reagan’s Legacy

Re “Laser Shoots Down Armed Rocket in Test,” Feb. 10: This minuscule 13-line article could well have been front-page news with a banner headline. The successful White Sands, New Mexico, test of a “ground-based laser to shoot down an armed, short-range rocket” portends the protection of cities such as Jerusalem from Scud missiles; the protection of our warships from Chinese Silkworm missiles and eventually the protection of nations from ICBMs. Even the innocent civilian population of aggressor nations would be spared the retaliatory strikes that are the basis of our current defense strategy.

Defense from missiles was the principle of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, a brilliant concept ridiculed by the U.S. press as “Star Wars” but taken seriously enough by the Soviet military to bring an end to the arms race and the Soviet Union.

How appropriate that this news item should appear just days after President Reagan’s 85th birthday--truly a belated birthday gift for America’s visionary president.

JAMES BONORRIS

Los Angeles

Huntington Beach