Word: abm
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...sides were violating existing treaties. Two weeks ago the U.S. accused the Soviets of four and "probably" three more violations, including the use of chemical warfare in Laos and Afghanistan, and of building a radar system that could be used for antiballistic missiles, which were limited by the 1972 ABM treaty. Last week the Soviets retaliated with similar allegations, including the claim that the U.S. was building an ABM radar system of its own. Arms-control experts said the charges were actually quite moderate. Indeed, in the looking-glass world of nuclear negotiations, the muted accusations were seen...
Reagan may send this report to Congress in January. It will mention that the Soviets are operating a large radar base in Siberia that the U.S. suspects will be used to guide the kind of antiballistic missiles that have been banned under the SALT I-ABM treaty and will question Moscow's compliance with important parts of SALT II as well. Yet the Soviets would have a point in asking what right the U.S. has to complain about violations of SALT II, a treaty it has refused to ratify. If the arms-control agreements start to erode, all restraints...
...Speak softly and carry a big stick" is one of the most sensible policies to come out of the U.S. in this century. Ronald Reagan is doing just the opposite with his still unproved space-based ABM system...
Late in the Johnson Administration, at the Glassboro summit, Robert McNamara patiently tried to persuade Premier Alexei Kosygin that it was in the interests of both countries to forswear large-scale antiballistic missile (ABM) defenses, since a defensive arms race would only escalate the offensive one already under way. Each side would feel compelled to increase the number and destructiveness of weapons with which to "penetrate" the defenses of the other. Eventually, in the first round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) during the first Nixon Administration, the Soviets agreed to limit ABMs...
...wonder. Given their belief that more is better and most is best, since the late '60s they have tended to lead in gross numbers and would naturally like to see their quantitative advantage frozen. The SALT I Interim Agreement on Offensive Weapons, a five-year companion to the ABM Treaty of 1972, held the U.S. to 1,710 launchers for intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (ICBMs and SLBMs). That was about 700 fewer than the U.S.S.R. already had in place...