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Show The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Sunday, November 10, 1996 Nuclear-Arms Reduction Necessary, BY JESSICA MATHEWS. well as with the familiar list of proliferstors YOK THE WASHINGTON Post marches on. Tactical nuclear weapons have been removed from ships and overseas bases, strate gic bombers are no longer on alert, START I calls for deep cuts in U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, and 4 comprehensive test banfinally has been achieved But Washington has not yet askeditself what it needs nuclear forces for now, how many such weapons are needed, and how to deploy them. Deterrence remains the strategy, withits requirement that weapons be ready for launch immediately upon warning of an attack. Most U.S, strategic forces — the ICBMs and submarine based ballistic missiles are, ‘The commission recommends a series of relatively noncontrover sial steps, including taking nucle ar forces off alert, removing war heads to safe storage, making additional cuts in US. and Rus. sianforces and discontinuing test ing, Whereit fails to makeits case, to my mind, is inits view that the necessary first step is an un equivocal commitment to elimi nating nuclear weapons 1 don't know whether achieving zero nuclear weapons is feasible but | do believe that declaring it as the goal probably makes it harder rather thaneasier to move in that direction. Thereis an anal achieved unless the states. My hunchis that the oppo site is true on both counts A great many people who be developed lieve that US. nuclear forces AA13 could be cut by 90 percent don't think that zero is possible or per haps even desirable Whichever of these views is correct, there will be one great value to this debate: Shifting the boundaries of legitimate analysis automatically shifts the center That alone could enable the Unit ed States to take some steps Ahat the end of the Cold War made possible some years ago Jessica Mathew isa senior fel low at the Council on Foreign Ke lation countries lo th h current standard of living and that that must besaid, beginning now Oth ers (myself among them) believe that improved practices and new technology will make it possible FASTCASH tion drastically without lowering standardsof living Whichever view is correct, it is certainly true that rather than commit to a lower standardofliv ing for their children and grand children, most people would For home improvements, to pay off bills, or any purpose to reduce consumptionandpollu choosetodig in their Loan Amount 240 ims “'APAG5) $ 20,000 $ 173.56 $ W000 $ 260.35 $ 50,000 $ 433.91 " r gage Vales as he ls and do nothing. Raising the issue now is therefore self-defeating, as well 160 tos $ 196 $ 295.42 $ 492.57 OF 1/4/45 and | 120 mus, APR 10.21 % 247.97 $ 37196 $ 619.93 are tye! Wo change The commission's logic appears to be that therisk of further pro bates There are those who believe culties of moving the current nu clear powers toward smaller and feed its soldiers, Last week the 16,000 employees had not been paidfor five months ‘The only risk from Kussia today (other thantheft or sale of weap: ons or fissile material) is froman accidental launch. Arguably, our high-cost, short-fuse alert pos ture, which Russians must match actually reduces our security by putting added stress on their crumbling system. But changing established ways means rethinking long-held dic tums, whichis politically danger ous, bureaucratically difficult and scary work for all but the most intellectually honest few. It is far © to address new threats in the old way by build ing new systems. Andsothe stra tegic debate, such as it is, con cerns whento build a costly new national missile defense While official policy marches forward down the familiar Cold War paths, a new debate is begin ning, moving in the opposite di rection. A growing number of ex perts, some with unimpeachable military credentials, are thinking seemingly impossible that nu ar weapons should and could be eliminated ‘The most notable such exercise is the recently released Canberra Commission report from aninter national panel conver by the government of Australia The two American members are former FROM SALT LAKE CITY TO; FROM SALT LAKE CITY. TO: FROM SALT LAKE CITY TO: mara and Gen Lee Butler, for BOISE ALBUQUERQUE KANSASCITY The commission's argument rests on two central pillars. The first is that timeis not onour side that nuclear weapons cannot be retained indefinitely without their one day being used, acciden tally or by choice This is not a surprising view LAS VEGAS LOS ANGELES(LAX) ST. LOUIS OAKLAND RENO/TAHOE PHOENIX ‘Those who have been decision makers in wartime — cold or hot and thone who study war close ly generally have the greatest ap PORTLAND played by accident and miscaleu lation. Secretary MeNamara’s SACRAMENTO preciation of the enormous role views were heavily influenced by discovering, in a retrospective among US. and Russian partici pants in the Cuban missile crisis that both sides made fundamental misjudgments about what the oth er would and would not do The second argument holds that a worldof eight nuclear pow SAN DIEGO SEATTLE SPOKANE ers and 175 non-nuclear ones is toodiscriminatory to last for long The nuclear states cannot argue that these weapons, as the com mission report puts it, “provide Hurry! Available now for Novembertravel. unique security benefits, and yet reserve uniquely to themselves the right to own them Possession of these weapons is a “constant stimulus states to acquire them.” to other The con cern here is with advancedstates like Japan and South Korea as yoREE Windshiel” Fly SouthwestAirlines to any ofthe abovedestinationsfor these greatlow fares through April 4, 1997. Just purchase your tickets within one day of makingreservations,at least seven daysprior to departure, and by December 31. In addition, you'll also love the Legendary Customer Service weve been providing for 25 years. Call your travel agentor SouthwestAirlines or visit us at wwwiflyswa.com to purchase TicketlessTravel Online. 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The dan ger Russia poses lies in ite weak ness, not ils strength It cannot merly the commander of ail US strategic nuclear forces _| as premature by many decades ogy here to environmental de that a sustainable world cannot be recting bureaucratic thinking and force planning in the weapons But Is Zero a Legitimate Target? NEWYORK — It is now more than half a decade since the end of the Cold War, but its rationale safer forees, and that a commit ment to zero is necessary to redi (re [igs Cat operate during ve 1A Nefunicathe, tan tniay be af with Prends Ay Free Fare bs rk Wich |
