CHECKPOINT

( third rough draft )

Washington perspective

Vol. II No. 4

April 1973

For the past generation:- WE HAVE LED THE WORLD CREATING GLOBAL WAR SYSTEMS

For the next generation:- WE CAN LEAD THE WORLD CREATING GLOBAL PEACE SYSTEMS

THE U.S. EARTH RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE (ERTS-1) SURVEYING THE EARTH continuously since July 1972 is an outstanding example. After eight months of operation, the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, held a "Symposium on Significant Results Obtained from ERTS-1", March 5-9. A thousand scientists and specialists in many professions from the U.S. and abroad participated. Instruments in this satellite survey the earth's surface in 100 mile wide paths, covering the entire planet visually at least every eighteen days, beaming to the ground hundreds of thousands of clear images of value to scientists of all nations in the fields of agriculture, forestry & range resources . . . environmental surveys air, water & land . . . mineral resources, geological structure & landform surveys . . . water resources . . . air and water and land pollution monitoring . . . land use & mapping . . . marine resources & ocean surveys . . . weather forecasting . . navigation . . . search & rescue and many other fields capable of improving the production of food, clothing, housing, clean air & water, health, education and wellbeing for humanity-as-a-whole. The real world results of this experiment far exceeded the greatest hopes of the planners.

WITHOUT JEOPARDY TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY THE U.S. CAN NOW LAUNCH THE CONSTRUCTION OF A GLOBAL INFORMATION COOPERATIVE (as projected in Vol. II No. 3. CHECKPOINT) linked to a greatly increased series of civilian and military earth-orbiting "eye-in-the-sky" satellites. All nations would be invited to cooperate in (1) maintaining a public inventory of potential public danger for the entire planet( whether danger from pollution, or from war, or from drought, or from hurricane, or from blight, or from shipwreck or from any other potential public threat, and (2) maintaining an earth resources development service to assist all nations in improving their production of the necessities of life. Global technology can serve humanity.

A FLEETING OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO OBTAIN FULL BASIC INFORMATION:- TOP NASA OFFICIALS and scientists have just made a detailed report to Congress on the mind-boggling accomplishments of the first eight months of this pioneering pro-human experiment. QUICKLY, write to Congressman James W. Symington, Chairman, Subcommittee on Space Science & Applications, House of Representatives, Washington D.C. 20515. Ask him if he will be so kind as to send you a copy of the Record of the Subcommittee Hearings on H.R. 4567 NASA AUTHORIZATION BILL, Fiscal Year 1974, held in March 1973. Only a limited number will be printed. The staff advises it will not be reprinted. This will be a rare basic document for faculties, for students of all ages, from school individuals and groups seriously concerned with future lasting world peace through law. Congressman Symington has his hand on the doorknob which could open the door to a new era of American leadership toward a safe and decent future for all men, women, and children on the planet. Do you want him to open the door?

Howard & Harriet Kurtz

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# THE WHITE HOUSE CUT THE BUDGETS FOR THE PRO-HUMAN SATELLITES. WHY ?

THE MEN INSIDE THE SECRET SANCTUARY IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHO DIRECT THE PRESIDENT'S attention to strategic objectives for U.S. global power, do not consult with the elected government in Congress. The President's principle advisor, Henry Kissinger, is a genius in the 19th Century games played with the power to kill people.

UNDERNEATH THE POLITICAL RHETORIC ABOUT "DETENTE" AND "GENERATIONS OF PEACE" THE global arms and power race continues to escalate. Kissinger is preoccupied with essential strategy for wielding ever-increasing American power to destroy mankind, balanced against ever-increasing Soviet power to destroy mankind, balanced against ever-increasing future Chinese power to destroy mankind, balanced against ever-increasing future European and Japanese power to destroy mankind, balanced against the fact that in ten years nuclear bombs will be so cheap that perhaps thirty nations can possess these weapons to ignite final obliterating world holocaust (like tossing one lighted match into a large fireworks factory), balanced against the fact that by then non-nations, like the Mafia, may possess these weapons to hold mankind hostage. Kissinger is the President's strategist for a runaway global power race which the United States can not possibly win, and dare not lose.

EACH YEAR IN THIS HOPELESS GLOBAL POWER RACE, AMERICAN BUDGETS FOR "DEFENSE" WILL GO UP, as our cost of living goes up, our taxes go up, our air & water become more polluted, our domestic energies and resources become more scarce . . . as our urban crisis, poverty crisis, education crisis, youth crisis, old age crisis, human crisis, violence crisis and drug crisis grow worse beyond control . . . and as our international balance of payments fictions collapse.

**IS THERE ANY HOPE?** YES:- IF A KIND OF LEADERSHIP EMERGES QUICKLY IN THE CONGRESS capable of directing large scale research and development and creativity toward future global systems and institutions. There is urgent need for a New American Purpose, a new pro-human U.S. global objective and strategy which can earn the support of the entire spectrum of American opinion . . . and in time can win the support of the entire spectrum of world opinion. . . to bring an end to war in inter-nation relations, and to release the scarce energies and resources of the planet for the production of food, clothing, housing, clean air & water, health education and wellbeing for living men, women and children everywhere. No such Congressional leadership has yet emerged.

HGK HBK

BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND: Howard G. Kurtz and Harriet B. Kurtz

Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have devoted more than twenty years to the study of escalating world crisis and the clarification of initiatives the United States can safely launch to lead world civilization toward a new world order free from war. In 1947 when George Kennan's "containment" paper was published on U.S. global strategy, they were studying at Columbia University's Russian Institute. Failing to find reassurance from history that the oncoming crisis could be averted, they have worked with experts in many fields searching for new means toward lasting peace.

War Control Planners, Inc. was founded in 1963 as a vehicle for this study and public education activity. Its purpose is to increase public awareness of the possibilities now at hand for controlling war and enhancing global safety. In 1968 a project for citizens participation was started — the Citizens Committee for Global Safety, and its newsletter, CHECKPOINT.

**Howard G. Kurtz** is an engineer by training, a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Air Force, and a management consultant by profession. He graduated as a management engineer from Pennsylvania State College in 1930, having graduated from the U.S. Army Flying School as a pilot in 1929. He spent twenty-two years (1932-1954) in airline management positions in American Airlines, Inc., American Overseas Airlines, Inc. and Pan American World Airways, Inc. He then spent twelve years (1954-1966) as the senior associate in the nationally known management consulting firm of Handy Associates, Inc. Since that time he has devoted full time as President of War Control Planners, Inc.

**Harriet B. Kurtz** graduated from Wellesley College in 1937, and Union Theological Seminary in 1962. She was ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Christ in 1964 with this mission in the field of war and crisis as her particular charge. They have two young people, a son and a daughter, both in their twenties and both married.

**The Media:** In 1970 public discussion of these studies widened considerably with four major stories in national newspapers, an hour-long panel telecast (WBZ-TV Boston) featuring discussion and the A-V presentation, The War Prevention Decade, a half-hour telecast on WCBS-TV New York, Sunday, May 30 "The Way to Go", and many minor events.

May 1971 **Generation**, "A Generation View: Management Strategy for Global Power"
November 1, 1970 **The Space Letter**, "Life Support Systems for Planet Earth"
December 1970 **Tempo**, "The State of the World" and "Life Support Systems for Planet Earth"
September 1969 **War Control Planners, Inc.**, "The War Prevention Decade" (Earth)
May 1969 **Military Review**, "The Collapse of U.S. Global Strategy"
March 15 1969 **Tempo**, "Man's Space-Haunted Future"
February 1968 **War Control Planners, Inc.**, "New American Purpose"
May 1968 **Computers and Automation**, "Technology to Produce Global Safety"
February 25, 1968 **Youth**, "Can Man Control War?"
June 1967 **Renewal**, "Global Compassionate Power"
July 1966 **Insurance**, "War Safety Control - Calamity Prevention"
August 1963 **War Control Planners, Inc.**, "War Safety Control Report" 103pp.
April 1963 **World Campus**, "War Safety Control - Pipe Dream or Last Chance?"
May 1960 **Foundation for Instrumentation & Research**, "Control of World Crisis"
October 8, 1960 **America**, "War Safety Control"
October 1959 **Public Relations Journal**, "Survival - Public Relations Responsibility"
September 1957 **American Engineer**, "Engineer versus War"
March 1955 **Flying**, "Toward Tomorrow - The Goal of Universal Safety"

WAR CONTROL PLANNERS, Inc.

Box 19127 - Washington D.C. 20036

Phone (202) 785 - 0708

Checkpoint

NEWSLETTER OF WAR CONTROL PLANNERS, INC.

BOX 19127, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036
PHONE (202) 785-0708

Vol. II No. 3 February, 1973

Washington Perspective

THERE IS A STRANGE STILLNESS IN WASHINGTON. INSTEAD OF "GENERATIONS OF PEACE" people read *The Washington Post* each morning to see if the cease-fire still holds. There is no joy. There is no vitality. There are no inspiring speeches in the Congress. There is no great goal or purpose or mission to draw us all together, to once again feel proud that we are Americans.

FOR EIGHT YEARS THE VIETNAM WAR HAS DOMINATED OUR NATIONAL LIFE, AND PARALYZED OUR sense of worth. The "doves" and the "hawks" in Congress, and on the editorial pages. . . the "pacifists" and the "militarists". . . have fought each other over Vietnam. . . further dividing our already divided generations, families, communities and congregations. . . exhausting our nation. . . as neither side has offered any noble American commitment to lead the world out of approaching crisis. The uneasy cease-fire finds us divided and lost.

WE ELECTED A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT AND A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS IN THE VAIN HOPE THAT they might find common ground to bring us back together again. But instead the President is petulant and hostile to the Congress. . . and the Congress is petulant and hostile to the President. . . and we are being torn asunder into hostile groups. Our foreign policy is based on an assumption of endless contention between escalating American powers of violence, and escalating Soviet powers of violence, and escalating Chinese powers of violence, and escalating European and Japanese powers of violence in a game they call "balance of power" diplomacy. We all know that the generations of peace during the 19th century "balance of power" diplomacy came to a crashing and tragic end in World War I — and that repetition of these 19th century games (no matter how rationalized for the nuclear age) at some time in the future will again come to a crashing and tragic end.

WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, ARE CAPABLE OF MORE WORTHWHILE COMMITMENT. WE NEED A re-united national government, re-uniting our divided America behind a great new American purpose to re-unite this divided society. For the sake of pro and con and expansive public and professional discussion, we offer one of the strategic initiatives War Control Planners, Inc. has been crystalizing through the years of the Vietnam war.

The President of one of the largest professional societies in the U.S. invited War Control Planners, Inc. to write a discussion document on just one projected U.S. large scale strategic initiative, for possible publication and dissemination nationally, as a basis for open discussion. The manuscript has been completed and submitted. Pending publication, the following is a thumbnail sketch of the idea...

[lc]

-2-

The American people, through their Congress and the President, will announce to the world a large scale, long range, sustained commitment to build a giant open-to-the-public GLOBAL INFORMATION COOPERATIVE. . . linked to a greatly expanded ten year series of earth-orbiting intelligence-gathering satellites and other global information-gathering sources. The objective will be twofold:-

I. To maintain a public inventory of potential public danger for the planet, whether from threat of pollution, or drought, or hurricane, or war, or blight, or shipwreck or any other threat to the general wellbeing of human beings everywhere, and

II. To provide earth resources development information assisting the economic progress and human wellbeing for people of all nations.

All nations will be invited to cooperate as part of an eventual broader War Prevention Decade of new research and development and testing.

All nations will be invited to assign experts and research teams to work together in a large Global Information Research Park surrounding the Information Center. There will be no classified information - no secrets. Anything that can be seen or detected or discovered through outerspace instrumentation will be available to the people and the nations of the world. Information will be made public on large information display walls, and will be stored in computers for reference. Communications links will be maintained with the world's radio, television and printed information channels.

This gradual experiment in openness will proceed with American initiative, no matter what nations hold back at first. Nations will be free to join the cooperative experiment at any future time. There is no need to first "negotiate" with potential enemies before the American Government begins to open the door to a new historic era. Potential enemies on both sides of all confrontations will be invited to see inside their own country, and inside the United States, what American and Soviet spy satellites already see. All nations will be invited to launch their own satellites, or design information-gathering instruments for American satellites, all linked to the planet-wide public inventory of potential public danger. All nations will be encouraged to build their own open-to-the-public information centers, linked directly to the surveillance satellites.

This may be just the beginning of a historic public reappraisal of U.S. global objectives. The above paragraphs open up great unexplored areas for future research and education in the professions of military strategy, political science, economics, international law, technology, public opinion, and ethics. A generation of creativity has become imperative if mankind is to have a future on a planet with scarce and limited energies and resources.

This would be a more creative challenge than last generation's task of research and development and testing of the power to kill every man, woman, child, animal and plant now alive. Ask your Senator or Congressman if he is interested in such a challenge.

Howard G. Kurtz

Harriet B. Kurtz

-3-

[LC]

## the small society

Washington Star Syndicate, Inc.

11-16

BRICKMAN

FOR HOWARD AND HARRIET KURTZ, WITH ALL GOOD WISHES - MURIELY BRICKMAN

## by Brickman

### WASHINGTON — GATHERING PLACE FOR MISGUIDED MEN IN COMMAND OF POWER

For a generation NATO security planning, Japanese security planning, and American security planning have been based on a threat that, at a certain threshold of attack, the President of the United States would "push the button" for a massive nuclear attack.

For years some politicians, columnists, and alarmed peace group leaders have been claiming that nuclear war would destroy all world civilization, but the national security planners have dismissed such talk as being pure "rhetoric". Such talk no longer can be dismissed.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (18 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AL, England) maintains an inventory of the military weapons and capabilities of all nations, in an objective, scholarly, factual continuous summary. Their latest published document titled, *The Military Balance 1972-1973*, reveals on page 86 their scholarly conclusion to the effect that if either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. would launch a nuclear war, the nation launching it would be obliterated in the ensuing holocaust. This document cannot be dismissed as "rhetoric".

The core of NATO, Japanese and American "strategy of deterrence" is a bluff. Soviet and Chinese strategists obviously have known this for more than five years. The President of the United States would not dar "push the button" for nuclear attack for 'first strike' or for 'second strike' or for 'retaliation' or for 'deterrence' or for any other deceptive slogan. . . lest he kill off the American people along with the dead of the world in the final world holocaust. The basic military assumptions are acknowledged to be collapsing!

The sinking national security of the United States will not be regained until there are global systems and institutions guarding the national security of ALL nations, large and small.

A New American Purpose has become imperative. Time is running out.

[C]

-4-

## AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT LASTING WORLD PEACE — POLL FINDS

Public opinion pollster Louis Harris in December 26, 1972 *New York Post* says: "The number who say they would like to see permanent peace has gone from 96 to 99% in four years, but the number who think 'an end to all wars' can be reached in their lifetime has slipped from 32% in 1968 to only 11% of the public today."

## CREATIVE FUTURIST CAMPUS MINISTRY

Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Hoffman at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, provides a new character of campus ministry. He is offering a continuing series of Chapel services and student/faculty seminars on the subject of "Alternatives to War".

H&H Kurtz spent two busy days on campus, providing an audio-visual Chapel perspective and involved in lively discussion sessions for students and faculty.

With the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. today involved in veiled global confrontation, each holding the power to destroy mankind, the rising generation is being given a choice for losers. There must be a larger option, and Dr. Hoffman is leading Ohio Northern University in the search for it. You may wish to keep in touch with him.

## PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE

In War Control Planners, Inc. we are concerned for the national security of the United States, and the national security of all nations in the way that Air Traffic Control is concerned for the safety of all airplanes flying blind in a cloud. For the first time in history, expanding global technology, management skills and professional knowledge in many fields is making it feasible to develop global systems and institutions, more complex and effective than the present United Nations, capable of bringing an end to the arms race, and capable of releasing the scarce energies and resources of Planet Earth for pro-human purposes instead of producing weapons of violence and destruction.

Our objective is to raise this issue and to secure it a place on the public agenda for discussion and action.

## RECOMMENDED BOOK

*The Politicas of the Ocean* by Edward Wenk Jr., University of Washington Press 1972 ($14.95) 438 pages plus 33 appendices.

This book is highly readable and most informative. It is a record of Dr. Wenk's personal experiences in the U.S. Government as the dawn of this particular era broke. A perfect gift for anyone interested in the oceans, in future world order, or in the complexities of national government in Washington, D.C.

## MANY THANKS FOR GOOD RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR FUNDS

Every little yellow envelop our readers have sent and every appreciative comment go a long way toward keeping this activity rolling. Things are gradually falling into place in the new Washington location. More later!

Vol. II No. 3 February, 1973

War Control Planners, Inc. is a non-profit educational corporation incorporated in the State of New York (Box 35, Chappqua, N. Y. 10514). The newsletter CHECKPOINT will be sent free to any who request it. Contributions are invited to cover costs of printing and mailing and are tax-deductible. The co-ordinators are Howard and Harriet Kurtz. Address all correspondence to the Washington Office. Box 19127, Washington, D.C. 20036 Telephone 202/785-0708.

## WAR CONTROL PLANNERS, INC.

Address Correction Requested

Non-Profit Org.
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WAR CONTROL PLANNERS, INC.

PUBLIC STATEMENT BY THE LATE PROF. KENT ROBERTS GREENFIELD . . .

leading authority in the history of United States military strategy, Chief Historian of the U.S. Army (1946-1958), and author of the book, *American Strategy in World War II: A Reconsideration* (John Hopkins Press, 1963).

The following was his review and evaluation of the book, *War Safety Control Report*, published by War Control Planners, Inc. in 1963:

1. What you propose offers a possible escape from negatives and a reign of terror. "Defense" and disarmament are negative, barren, and bleak objectives. As you point out, the defense that we have constructed, however necessary as a deterrent, does not provide us with security and it contains a built-in nightmare. Disarmament, if successful, would require the surrender of all other national aims, including security. Nobody who thinks can, I believe, take it seriously as an honestly intended aim of strategy.

2. Here, as I see them, are grounds for hope that your program can be effected: —

a. It makes logical sense.

b. It makes technical sense — as far as it is possible for outsiders to see.

c. Notwithstanding its colloidal cost in resources and effort it might well be supported by public revulsion against the anxiety and horror with which our present course weighs us down.

d. It marshalls the military-industrial complex to move, on a grander scale, in the direction in which it is now moving, to refine a system of detection in support of our declared strategy.

e. It rests on the assumption that the best persuader is a realistic demonstration of practicability. Your analogy with the development of confidence in aviation seems to me to be historically sound and persuasive.

You are quite right, as far as I can see, that under our system the key to success is a presidential decision. There is everything to be gained by a vigorous debate if it results in indications that he would have powerful public support, should he choose to make it. On the other hand, if history means anything, he will not make it (and should not) unless he is convinced that its success is technologically feasible.

The risk which your program involves is that its success might speed up the advent of Orwell's Big Brotherhood of 1984. This is a fate that, if anticipated, might be controlled and averted. I am grateful for the stimulation of my thinking that you have given me.

(Signed)

KENT ROBERTS GREENFIELD