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was felt char rhe Srraregic Arms Limi–
rarion Talks, begun 2 1/z years ago ar
rhe behesr of Washingcon, would
buy, meanwhile, precious rime for che
Unired Srares - rime ro exploir
America's presenr rechnological lead
over irs formidable foe, while puning
che brakcs on newer and more pow–
erful Sovicr missile emplacemenrs.
Srruggle for World Supremacy
In his June
1
speech before Con–
gress, releviscd narionwide. Presidcnr
ixon assured rhe American people
rhat, as a result of SALT, and conrin–
uing Ameri can vigilancc, "no power
on earrh is srronger rhan che Unired
Srares of America roday. And none
will be srronger rhan rhe Unired
Srares of America in che furure."
Bur che mood of America is dcfl–
nirely changing. The naüon's desire
ro be "number one" and
ro
be rhe
flagbcarer for freedom in a largely ro–
ralicarian world is vanishing. Twenry–
seven years of cold war wirh a surly,
parien~
competicor has Jefe irs mark
on rhe mass America n psyche. The
g rowing appeal
ro
rurn che nation in–
ward ro solve irs mounring domesric
crises is rhe mosr dramaric manifesra–
rion of America's polirical tempera–
cure roday. The increasing rrend
wirhin che Unired Srarcs ro "drop
our" of che world does nor change
rhe unpleasant faces of life in roday's
war-threatcncd world.
1
e has never been che habi t of
Americans, so blessed with rheir fabu–
lous nacional riches, ro rhink vcq
much abouc such conccpts as "powcr
polirics" or "rhe balance of powcr."
Tbese are rhoughr ro be age-old
·'European" ideas, harkening back ro
rhe time of rhe czars, and Bismarck.
Wherhcr rhe Unired Stares Jikes ic
or nor. ir is srill in a life-or-dcarh
compeürion wirh rhe Soviet Union.
The Sov iets are derermincd ro
achieve eg ual iry wirh rhe United
Srares in educarion. indus rry, welfare
and per capi ra wcalrh; in ourer space,
sea powcr and hnd power. They suf–
fer from a seveie inferioriry complcx.
(Text C0111Ímted 011 pttge
12)
PLAIN
TRUTH
August 1972
The Nuclear
Score Sheet
T
I IE MOST
imporranr arca of
agreemenr reached ar che Mos–
cow Summir involved rhe murual
limirarion of srraregic weapons. One
rreary limirs borh rhe Unircd Srares
and che Soviet Unioo ro
200
anribal–
lisric missiles -
lOO
missiles ar cach
of cwo sires. Each narion will be per–
mirred ro defcnd irs nacional capital
plus one of ics land-bascd offensive
missile-launching sires.
Along wirh che ABM accord, an
accompanying "exceu civc agree–
mcnr" freezcs furrher dcvclopmenr
of ofTensive ballisric missiles - borh
land-based and sca-based - for five
years. 'This agrccment, which guar–
ancccs a three
ro
rwo missilc rario in
favor of rhe Soviers. dismayed rhe
Presidenr's more conservarive crirics.
Thc
U.
S. mi ssi le arsenal is frozen ar
che level
ir
reached live years ago -
1,054
land-bascd ICBMs plus
656
submarine-launched ballisric missib
- a coral of
1,710
missi les. The So–
viet Union wil l be allowed ro com–
plete missiles now under
consrrucrion. giving rhc Russians
ulcimarely a roral of abour
2,350
mi ssiles (ovcr
1,600
ICBMs plus
around
740
SLBMs).
Offserring che numerical Russian
advanrage, however, is rhe facr rhar
rhe Unired Srares will conrinuc
ro
mainrain more chan rwicc as many
delivcrable nuclear warheads as che
Russians -
5,700
ro
2.500.
Because
of irs early hcadsrarr in rhc develop–
mcnr of che MIRV - '"multiple
independently rargered re-cnrry ve–
hiele" (meaning severa( separarely
cargcccd warhcads arop cach missile)
- rhe Uni red Sra res is bcl ieved ro
possess a rwo-
w
flve-year lead in
nuclear wcapon rechnology over the
U.S.S.R.
The posirion of U. S. srraregic
arms advisors
is
rhis: Since rhc
Un ircd Srares presently enjoys a vir–
tual monopoly on rhe highly sophis–
ricared MI RV sysrcms, ic can afford,
for rhc momenr, ro ler rhe Soviets
have more missile launchcrs and
even more rora! megaronnage -and
in sheer mcgaronnage, rhe U.S.S.R.
presenrly has ar leasr a
3
ro
1
edgc
over che Un ired Srarcs! Also. rhc
Unired Srares outnumbers rhe So–
viets in long-range srraregic bomb–
ers,
530
ro
140.
Thus che guesrion of which su–
pcrpower ac rhe presenr rime is in
rhe lcad in rhe arms race, or who
"won'· or who "losr" in rhe lirsr
round of rhe Srraregic Arms Limira–
rion Talks is rarher academic.
The arms race has slowed clown
- or rarher shifred course.
Quttli–
ta/Ítle
improvemenr of che srraregic
arms permirred on borh sides is nor
covered by che arms agreemcnrs.
Neicher is rhe devclopmcnr of
wholly ncw weapons sysrems -such
as lasers.
The Unired Srares will acrempr ro
mainrain irs lcad in rechnology and
weapons developmcnr - againsr
g rowing inrcrnal pressure ro cur
back milirary expendirures. includ–
ing rhosc for research and develop–
menr.
Thc Soviet Union. now ollicially
recognizcd by rhe Unired Srarcs as
irs nuclear equal, will be pushing
ahead rapidly ro closc rhe tcch–
nology gap.
9