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siles (since grown!), the NATO
allies agreed to deploy a combina–
tion of 572 Pershing 11 and ground–
launched cruise missiles (GLCM,
or, as strategists call them, ..g lick–
ems"). Unlike NATO's present
firepower, these missiles would be
able to strike important targets in
the Soviet Union, though the
Pershing lis wouldn't be able to
reach Moséow. And these 572 mis–
si les wouldn't be ready untiJ 1983,
at the earl iest.
The Pershing lis will have a
range of a bout 1,000 miles–
enough to reach as far as Kiev. lt is
a fast, accurate missile. The g lick–
ems have a longer range ( 1,500
miles), are slower, but even more
accurate.
Even when NATO has all 572
missiles in place, it will st ill be out–
numbered in warheads, because its
missiles have only one warhead,
whereas each Russian SS-20 has
three.
NATO plans to spread the new
missi les throughout Western Eu–
rope: West Germany to receive
204, the Netherlands 48, Belgium
48 , Britain 160 and Italy 11 2.
Frlghtened People
The react ion of a signi fi cant and
vocal part of the Western European
populace has been d ifferent from
that of their leaders. While many
Europeans did sit back and greet
the news of the SS-20s with a
bored yawn, the vocal part of the
younger generat ion is terrified of
the new N ATO missiles!
Spec ifi ca ll y, Europea ns are
afraid the new missiles will make
them the targets of a Soviet sur–
prise attack. Europeans, particu–
larly West Germans and the Dutch,
have greeted N ATO's attempt to
redress the situation with mass
demonstrations and loud protests
about nuclear weapons.
To some degree, this response
has been ttie result of a calculated
Soviet propaganda campaign . Ac–
cordin g to diplomatic sources
quoted by Reuters, the Soviets are
appeal ing over the heads of West–
ern governments to public opinion
in those countries. The Soviet tac–
tics, according to a repor t in the
London
Times,
include a s teady
28
s tream o f Sovie t press attacks,
meetings with ..detentnik" West–
ern politicians, and support of
Western Europe's pacifist move–
men
t.
The aim of the propaganda
campaign is to stop the deploy–
me nt of t he new NATO mis–
siles.
The Soviet propaganda campaign
was just achieving a full head of
steam when the Reagan adminis–
tration announced its decision to
bui ld the neutron bomb. The deci–
sion has caused much anguish on
the part of the Soviets! ..Cannibal–
istic," " barbarie," ..extremely dan–
gerous," ..inhuman," and like
charges were hurled by Soviet com–
mentators. The propaganda cam–
paign heated up even more. The
neutron bomb is, charged th e
Soviet Union, the ul timate ..capi–
talist weapon" becavse it destroys
people but leaves property. One
Western wag retorted t hat the
bomb is really a ..communist weap–
on" because ít destroys a whole
"class" of people (tank crews) but
leaves the ..means of production"
intact.
At the same time as the Soviet
propaganda campaign has come a
Soviet disarmament proposal. The
Soviets want a ..missile freeze."
This means the U.S.S.R. would
keep the SS-20s it already has
whi le NATO would drop its plan
to deploy its own missi les in
1983.
Western observers do not
bel ieve the Soviet Union would
agree to remove its SS-20s in
exchange for NATO dropping its
missile plans. Thus the " freeze"
would only ..freeze" Soviet supe–
riority!
The Soviet propaganda cam–
paign has borne fr uit in Western
Europe. The disarmament band–
wagon {disarmi ng the West,
not
the East) is in fu ll swing. In the
words of the
Daily T elegraph,
"Never has there been such an
impressive parade of noncomm\1-
nist worthies from all walks of
life, wittingly or unwittingly, to
al low themselves to be exploited
by the
apparatchiks
[professional
Soviet propagandis ts]."
It
has
come to the point, the same páper
reports, that many pastors sol icit
signatures for antinuclear peti–
tions as their parishioners leave
church services!
The Soviet campaign has been
successful in other ways as well.
About 120,000 demonstrators
staged a big anti[-Western]nuclear
rally in Hamburg. Demonstrators
in skeleton suits have picketed
defense offices in Bonn, West Ger–
many. West German newspapers
give prominent space to the ..peace
movement. "
State of Dlsrepalr
Yet for all the protests, NATO
forces ha rd ly pose any threat,
offensive
threat, to the Eastern
bloc. Consi der jus t how wea k
NATO has become. NATO is out–
numbered 4 to l in tanks, 2.3 to l
in tactical ai rcraft. It is down by
more than 200,000 in troops, and 4
to l in overall nuclear weapons.
The alliance suffers from chrónic
shortages of ammunit ion.
It
suffers
shortages of fue!, missi les, infantry,
vehicles, ai rcraft (whích work),
guns, trucks, howitzers, replace–
ment parts. A secret Pe ntagon
report, revealed by respected inves–
tigative reporter J ack Anderson,
admits:
"At present, war reserves in
Europe are inadequate to support a
st rong ini tial defense."
And given Soviet and Warsaw
Pact strategy, an " ínitial defense"
is about all NATO would have time
for should the Soviets move west.
Soviet strategy emphasizes surprise
attack and blitzkrieg war.
Not only do the Soviets and their
allies have an overwhelming lead in
quantity- but the
quality
of their
fo rces is at least as good as
N ATO's. A s General Bernard
Rogers, supreme commander of all
NATO forces, declares, "The War–
saw Pact's weapons are equal or
superior to any fielded by U .S. and
NATO forces ." Newer Soviet
weapons, in particular, are of the
highes t quality.
Soviet planners intend to win the
next war
quickly.
Given emphasis
on speed , surprise and other offen–
sive tactics, Soviet forces will have
the war won before supply lines
f rom the United States could be
established!
The PLAIN TRUTH