Word: buildups
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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What was most perplexing about the whole affair was the number of questions that remained unanswered. Was there really a buildup of Soviet forces in Cuba? If so, since when, and by how much? What exactly was the Soviet brigade doing in Cuba? Was it merely training Cubans, or did it have a combat role? Did its presence represent a Soviet gesture to support Castro's maintenance of 40,000 Cuban soldiers in Africa? Was it guarding Soviet information-gathering installations that eavesdropped on the U.S.? And if U.S. intelligence did not know the answers...
Church's position undeniably emboldened the opposition to SALT. Senator Scoop Jackson, who opposes SALT anyway, charged that the Soviets were building a "fortress Cuba." He noted that Cuba in the past two years has acquired sophisticated MiG-23s theoretically capable of penetrating the southeastern U.S. The military buildup, said Jackson, represents "a major change in what the Soviets and Cubans believe they can get away with in this part of the world." He demanded that the Soviets withdraw not only their combat troops but their planes, and that they promise to provide Cuba with no more submarines...
...Western political and military experts that was sponsored by Georgetown University on the theme "NATO: The Next 30 Years." In an extemporaneous speech remarkable for its passion, Kissinger warned that the U.S. nuclear umbrella over Europe is fast losing credibility in face of the Soviets' military buildup in general and their nuclear versatility in particular. The Soviet Union's improving and multifaceted nuclear capacity, he said, not only is making it increasingly difficult for the U.S. to defend against Soviet missile systems, but also is cornering the U.S. into the "absurd" single nuclear option of destroying Soviet cities...
...that the slipping balance of Western European defense must be redressed before it is too late, even at the expense of domestic spending programs. If any consensus emerged, it was that voters in NATO countries on both sides of the Atlantic must prepare for a period of costly defense buildup, even if it comes in an economic era when they can least afford...
Paradoxically, however, dedicated arms controllers have lost ground during the hearings because the price of the treaty is almost certain to be a U.S. arms buildup. This was not only Kissinger's message, but that of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Harold Brown, Democratic Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia and others. Indeed, the main issue no longer appears to be whether SALT II will pass, although that is not yet certain; instead, it is what kind of measures will accompany the treaty to strengthen the nation's defenses and send the right signals to the Kremlin...