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Show Ift&ghiiigtxxii By Richard Richards ri Chairman, Republican National Committee ml A HOT FREEZE OR A FRESH START? People would think it unfair un-fair if a footrace began with one contestant yards ahead of the other, but the arms race could be run, and ultimately ul-timately lost, in the same manner if some well-meaning folk have their way. The various proposals for limiting or reducing the threat of nuclear war are many and confusing, but fortunately, the one point of agreement is the goal: that the possibility of nuclear nu-clear war must be endlessly reduced. The simple proposals for a nuclear freeze have a solid modicum of support, possibly possi-bly because it is based on the simplest concept. Under freeze proposals, the United States and the Soviet Union would agree to stop producing pro-ducing nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, Un-fortunately, there is an explosive ex-plosive fly in the diplomatic ointment. During the SALT I years of the 70's, the U.S. did not deploy one new intercontinental inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) or one new submarine-launch ballistic missile mis-sile (SLBM ). But during that same period, the Soviets raced ahead in the biggest military buildup in history. The dangerous flaw in the freeze proposals is that there is no way of verifying verify-ing whether the Soviets are living up to the agreement. We would have no way of determining how powerful their missiles are, nor how many new missiles they deploy. de-ploy. It's a little like playing play-ing poker with cards faceup face-up on the table, while your opponent is hiding his own hand. Fortunately, an all-out arms race is not the only alternative to the freeze proposals. pro-posals. President Reagan's proposed Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) call on the U.S. and the Soviets So-viets to begin dismantling nuclear weapons instead of merely limiting their growth. START also insures that neither contestant has advantages ad-vantages over the other, and that all nuclear weapons capabilities ca-pabilities are verifiable. Good intentions can count for a lot, but lasting peace can only be secured by knowing the facts and keeping a level head. |