Dear Cha-Wel-Dor-Sue:

I have just returned from a week in the Nation's Capital spending the first three days at the National Defense University (NDU) with the Defense Orientation Conference Association (DOCA). The last three days were spent with the World Federalist Association (WFA) with the sessions being held at the Quality Hotel in Arlington, Va. Though troubled with a cold and an aggravation of an old disk syndrome, I enjoyed the week immensely.

At the NDU sessions we were briefed on the state of the world by the leading experts on their countries with special emphasis on Russia and China. Russia, in short, is a mess troubled with unemployment, workers who have not been paid for months, wide spread crime and the Mafioso, a disorganized military establishment, worthless currency, and a government lacking a respected leader. Some 75% of the people are in favor of returning to communism! China is a power to be with its enormous population and potential. For the moment, however, it is in no position to carry out any large military campaigns. They view us as a potential enemy by virtue of our support to Taiwan but want us as a buyer of their products. We are their best customers (mainly textiles). Much of one day was spent in discussing the concept of JOINT WARFARE in which future wars will be fought as a team, and not as in the past when each service carried out its role independently. Emphasis was expressed on the need for Rapid Deployment Forces with abundant heavy airlift. Forces will still be located forward in specific areas on the world. Lastly, the importance of information and intelligence was deemed critical, as the one with the best info should win any conflict.

The third day at NDU was spent with the Intelligence Community and briefs were made by the:

NSA - National Security Agency
CIA - Central Intelligence Agency
DIA - Defense Intelligence Agency
NRO - National Reconnaissance Organization
NIMA - National Imagery and Mapping Agency

A panel discussion was held in which the intelligence section of each of the services participated. No doubt these services will some day be grouped together. Only a few years ago these intelligence agencies were all classified and secret. Today they are acknowledged and, in fact, it may be possible for DOCA to visit the CIA next year.

The last three days were devoted to the annual meeting of the World Federalists of America and the sessions were held at the Quality Inn at Courthouse Square in Arlington, Va. The room accommodations there were far better than those provided by the Hilton at the airport, and at considerably less cost.

This year the WFA was most concerned with fact that the U.S. had not paid its dues to the U.N., and on the first morning busses took a group of us to capital hill to meet our senators and congressmen and their staffs to plead that they support legislation to pay up our arrearage. We have both a legal and moral obligation to do so. Were we not to do so we would lose our vote and find ourselves outside the only international organization of its kind. In my case the matter was simple as senators Dodd and Lieberman and representative Larson were already in favor of meeting our obligations. Our second mission was to persuade them to make the U.S. a party to the agreement on the establishment of an international court of criminal justice. Some 120 nations signed this agreement in Rome this past July. Libya, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran are also among those who have refused to join the creation of this much needed court. Such a court would allow us (peoples of the world) to charge and convict individuals (not nations) of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Some people would also add the crime of aggression to this list. At Nuremberg the charges were made and sustained against the Nazis but this was after the fact and after the deeds were done.

Hazel Henderson was our speaker on our opening evening's program, and she was most impressive. She is a renown globalist and futurist and much of what she had to say was a bit beyond my immediate comprehension. However, it dealt with the future of the world in all of its aspects and, no doubt, made sense. In order to understand her remarks better I bought her book entitled "Building a Win-Win World." She emphasized the point that one does not judge a nation's wealth solely in financial terms (GNP) but on the values of its peoples and social institutions, and on the extent of its "love economy" or the amount of time devoted to volunteerism. Environmental degradation and the many pollutants contaminating our planet are problems that can only be solved on a global basis and this should be obvious to all. The need for sustainable development is something the third world needs to consider and not the rapid exploitation of its natural resources. The world will hear a great deal more from this unusual woman who began her career in NYC where as a political activist she started the clean air movement.

On a free afternoon I visited the Congressional Budget Office along with a fellow DOCA member, Ike Leighty, who was calling on an old friend from Iowa. She had graduated from Grinnell College and secured her master and doctorate degrees in economics from Harvard. It was interesting that she refused to allow her daughter to apply to Harvard, insisting that all of the college courses are taught by student assistants or graduate fellows and it is only in the graduate school that one meets the professors of distinction. Her daughter is enrolled in the fall semester at Oberlin. The CBO occupies an entire floor of a large building and their are 266 economists and clerks who work there. It is their responsibility to estimate the costs of any project envisioned by the government and they are absolutely non-partisan.

Our speaker at one of our lunches was Tim Worth, president of the U.N. Foundation. He is a former senator and the one selected by Ted Turner to spend a billion dollars at the rate of 100 million dollars per year for the next ten years on behalf of the U.N. He says the monies will be spent or focused on four areas: (1) population stabilization, (2) preservation of the planet's environment, (3) concern for the children of the world and their health, and (4) gender equity or the problems of the women in the world. He noted that 50% of the people in the world are 15 years or less and their well being and education are most important, particularly the young girls for whom a knowledge of reproductive planning is imperative. He would also like to see the corporate sector follow the example of Ted Turner and establish foundations to address global problems.

I was asked to participate in a panel discussion on "Making Waves and Using Informational Technologies," i.e. computers and the internet. It was obvious that this new medium would enable new ideas to reach around the world at the speed of light, and should be used more frequently and creatively.

John Anderson, our president, spoke of the need to gradually rid ourselves and the world of the archaic idea of sovereignty and to accept the concept that this planet is all we have and that many of our problems are global in scope and cannot be resolved if we fight over borders, cultures, and religious differences. The establishment of the Euro Union is a step in the right direction.

One morning was spent on the forthcoming Hague Plan For Peace which is to be held at the Hague this May. Over 2000 activists representing hundreds of peace groups have already registered for the event. The Secretary General of the U.N. is to address the group on its final evening and plans have been made to bring its thoughts and conclusions to the U.N. at a session in NYC before the formal opening of the Assembly later this year. Much hope rides on the success of this undertaking. It is being held this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the original plan for peace held in 1899 when the Czar of Russia and the Queen of the Netherlands met at the Hague to discuss ideas for abolishing warfare on the continent. At that time they discussed disarmament and the civil treatment of prisoners of war. This year the scope of their problems is much broader and includes the environment, gender inequity, child care, international commerce, and the tragedy of genocide. Ellen is going to Washington to participate in a junior group which will approach these same problems, and some 200 youths from many states and foreign nations will be present.

One of the most exciting sessions was devoted to Kosovo, and the speaker, a young American who received his Ph.D. in foreign relations from the University of Prague, felt is was our moral duty to get rid of Milosevic and stop the ethnic cleansing. As I write this we are engaged in carrying out his wishes. As I see it we fought two wars in the Pacific (Korea & Vietnam) against a foreign ideology; in this instance we are taking a moral stand against genocide.

A former Russian who was a tank commander in the Soviet Army and is currently an American citizen spoke to us on Russia and its current problems, and warned us about the possible participation of the Russians in the Kosovo conflict. Hopefully it will not be the start of a greater war.

Robert Muller, a Deputy Secretary General at the U.N., was the banquet's final speaker and his remarks were brilliant. He spent 38 years at the U.N. and began his career during the second year of the U.N.'s existence. It was his job to assist in the formation of the 18 special agencies, identify the 14 world problems, and coordinate the agencies' activities . No one anywhere has had more experience in the U.N. than has this gentleman, and he was well prepared to address the Federalists on the subject of globalization. We are no longer an isolated community, state or nation and we share many of the earth's problems in common. I had my picture taken with him and he presented me with an autographed copy of his book "The Birth of a Global Civilization." The reading of this book should be mandatory in all of our schools. In Canada, as you may or may not know, a picture of the earth taken from a satellite is in every classroom in the country, and serves to remind the students that this is our only home and we had better take good care of it.

The two cab rides I took were interesting; in one the driver was from Hungary and in the other the driver was from Iran. The boy who carried my bags in the Hilton was from Afghanistan and in the Quality he was from Nepal, and finally the maid at the Quality was from Salvador. What would Washington be without these immigrants, legal or otherwise?

One of the most pleasant moments was that which I spent with my niece Julie who lives in Washington and who works as a counselor for people who suffer from diseases associated with stress. She mentioned that she had been invited to join two others and make a trip to Kosovo to counsel those members of the OSCE (Office of Security and Cooperation in Europe) who might be having problems in this war torn country. There are some 2000 individuals there who were monitoring various activities in that country and who have been under stress for sometime. Now, with advent of our shelling of Kosovo, the offer has been withdrawn.

Now that I am back in Delray Beach I have resumed my walks with my tape recorder and currently am listening to the series "Religion and Philosophy in the West." Man since the dawn of time has sought an explanation for our being and the state of the world and many religions have been created in an effort to help our understanding of the subject. Today, according to Robert Muller, there are over 5000 religions in the world. To claim one and only one is the religion and the best in the world is the cause of many of Man's conflicts.

Till we meet again,

Dad and Pop-Pop