Nato in danger
Sir: As a long-standing Nato supporter, I endorse your opposition to the proposal to extend the alliance eastwards (Leader, 15 February). I am not concerned in the least with Russian susceptibilities. Moscow has more to fear from its former southern ,colonies than from a Nato emaciated by the peace-dividend' and the economic prob- lems of its European members. An alarming factor, from our point of view, is that the higher ranks of the former Warsaw Pact armies remain permeated with commissars appointed before 1989. Once Nato's operational secrets and codes are all in the wrong hands they will find their way to the Kremlin in no time at all.
I appreciate that Poles and others feel threatened by Russia and require Western reassurances — for what they are worth. However, Nato membership would be just one form of deterrence. Other, equally imperfect links with the new democracies of eastern Europe could easily be forged.
Lionel Bloch
Halcyon, Ormond Avenue, Richmond, Surrey
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