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∂AIL Scientific American↓415 Madison Avenue↓New York, N.Y. 10017∞
.double space

Sirs:

	Kosta Tsipis's demonstration that lasers can't be useful as
weapons seems to involve considerable wishful thinking.
It ignores the recent leaks about X-ray lasers, assumes that large
precise mirrors are permanently impossible and supposes that an
anti-missile system must get all missiles to have been worth building.

	I must confess wishful thinking in the opposite direction.
I wish we could be more sure that no Russian general could convince
his bosses that a first strike has a chance of knocking out
retaliation.

	I also msut confess being so disappointed at the post-Apollo
collapse of the space program and its present dim prospects that
I welcome any prospects for space development - even military.

.sgn