Opinion Saturday, July 25, 1981 The Michigan Daily The Michigan Daily Vol. XCI, No. 48-s Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Arms control Six months and running WE HAVE ENDURED six months of Ronald Reagan's administration, and a general review of its pros and cons finds a disproportionate abundance of the latter. Rarely in American history has there been such a dramatic political shift in direction. Rarely have the actions-and intentions-of the federal government aroused such fun- damental reassessment of our institutions, private and public. Rarely have so many citizens been directly or indirectly affected by a change of leadership. With international concerns being sub- jugated and trivialized, our leaders have con- centrated almost exclusively on domestic economics. Proposed budget cuts have per- petuated a bitterly divided Congress, embit- tered a legion of prospective social service recipients, and jeopardized entire in- dustries-among them mass transit, the arts, and public broadcasting. Our deteriorating cities can expect little or no support. Concurrently, tax cut proposals offer little relief to the members of society most needing relief, while tempting the wealthiest Americans with wholesale slashes in their financial commitment to the government. Better times are coming, we are told, a little sacrifice now will pay off later. The en- ds-stability and prosperity-will justify the means-social turmoil. We hope so, the price has been incalculably high. What foreign policy has emerged has been disconnected, vague, and rhetorical. Its ob- sessive East-West infatuation has worried our allies along with our adversaries, and has vir- tually dismissed critical North-South concer- ns. Our growing alliances with El Salvador, Chile, and South Africa have dismayed our friends, as has our grievous indifference toward arms control. Within the foreign policy establishment, internal disputes have been alarming and embarrassing. On the positive side, we have seen the nomination of Sandra O'Connor for the Supreme Court-a wise and timely move, and an important rebuff of a belligerent Israel. Little else. Supporters of the Reagan administration point to a revived national spirit, to enhanced pride. This may be rather deceiving, though-the national anxiety accompanying such social disruption is harder to detect than patriotic proclamations-and this anxiety ap- pears far more profound than these optimists will admit. for the '80s: An outline of 1 1h By Alexander Haig, Jr. t What follows are excerpts more than doubled their SS-20 from a July 14 address by force. Already 750 warheads have Secretary of State Alexander been deployed on SS-20 laun- Haig, before the Foreign chers. The Soviet Union has con- tinued to deploy the long-range Policy Association. Backfire bomber and a whole What are the prospects for ar- array of new medium- and short- ms control in the 1980s? We could range nuclear and nuclear- achieve quick agreements if we capable aircraft. This com- pursued negotiation for its own prehensve Soviet arms buildup is sake or for the politicalssym- in no sense a reaction to NATO's bolism of continuing the process. defense program. Indeed, NATO But we are committed to serious did very little as this alarming arms control that truly buildup progressed. strengthens international InDecember 1979 the alliance security. That is why our ap- finally responded in two ways. proach must be prudent, paced First, it agreed to deploy 464 new and measured. U.S. ground-launched cruise ... By the end of the year, the missiles in Europe and to replace United States will be embarked 108 medium-range Pershing upon a new arms control en- ballistic missiles already located deavor of fundamental impor- there with modernized versions tance, one designed to reduce the of greater range. Second, the Soviet nuclear threat to our alliance agreed that the United European allies. The impetus for States should pursue negotiated these negotiations dates back to limits on U.S. and Soviet systems the mid-1970s when the Soviets in this category. began producing and deploying a This two-track decision whole new generation of nuclear represents explicit recognition systems designed not to threaten that arms control cannot succeed the United States-for their unless it is matched by a clear range was too short-but to determination to take the defense threaten our European allies. measures necessary to restore a These new weapons, and in par- seuebln. ticular the nearly3,000-mile . . . When I meet with Soviet range SS-20 missile, were not just Foreign Minister Gromyko at the modernized replacements for United Natons this September, I older systems. Because of their will seek agreement to start the much greater range, their U.S.-Soviet negotiations on these mobility, and above all their weapons systems by the end of multiplication of warheads on the year. We would like to see the each missile, these new systems U.S. and Soviet negotiators meet presented the alliance with a to begin formal talks between threat of a new order of mid-November and mid- magnitude. December of this year. We intend The pace of the Soviet buildup to appoint a senior U.S. official is increasing. Since the beginning with the rank of Ambassador as of last year, the Soviets have our representative at these talks. In the course of 50 years of SALT negotiations,conceptual questions have arisen which must be addressed. For instance, how have improvements in monitoring capabilities, on the one hand, and new possibilities for deception and concealment, on the other, affected our ability to verify agreements and to im- prove verification? Q. ur efforts to control existing nuclear arsenals will be accompanied by new attempts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The Reagan Ad- ministration is developing more vigorous policies for inhibiting nuclear proliferation. ... It may be argued that the "genie is out of the bottle," that technology is already out of con- trol. But technology can also be tapped for the answers. Our policies can diminish the in- securities that motivate proliferation. Responsible export practices can also reduce dangers. And internationalnor- ms can increase the cost of nuclear violations. With effort we can help to assure that nuclear plowshares are not transformed into nuclear swords. ... It is one of the paradoxes of our time that the prospects for arms control depend upon the achievement of a balance of ar- ms. We seek to negotiate a balan- ce at less dangerous levels but meanwhile we must maintain our strength. Let us take to heart John F. Kennedy's reminder that negotiations "are not a substitute for strength-they are an in- strumentation for the translation of strength into survival and peace" o 4 4 I 4