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The Mail

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The CRIMSON has pointed to President Kennedy's "opportunity to prove Fidel Castro a puppet." For over a month now our government's clear statements that missile bases of an offensive nature would not be tolerated have been clearly audible in Havans. The opportunity for proof of good intentions is over. That is why President Kennedy has called the latest American move "a difficult and dangerous effort."

The American liberals' passion for rmpiricism- wanting to wait until all the facts are in an then act with certainty--can be carried too far. We have waited for certainty when reports came in that Castro was surrounded by Communist advisors. We have waited for certainty when arms began to come to Cuba in September of last year. The CRIMSON is indeed correct in saying that it is still possible to doubt the certainty that Castro is a Russian puppet. Yet the tragedy of any policy-making decision is that it must be made before all the facts are in; if it is not, it becomes not a policy decision but a retrospective analysis of events that have already become history. The most-difficult and dangerous art of policy making always consists of a leap into the uncertainties of the future. To liberals, such a leap may seem dogmatic; but only through a willingness to take such leaps will Americans liberals stop writing about history and start making it. Frederick Dietz, Jr. '63

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