Word: laird
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...insisted: "I am not a supporter of unilateral disarmament."* While many Congressmen have called for reduction of U.S. troop commitments in Europe, none have seriously suggested that NATO or any other U.S. military alliance be dismantled. Less than three months ago, Senator J. William Fulbright accused Defense Secretary Melvin Laird of using a "technique of fear." Fulbright has given aid and comfort to neo-isolationists at various times, but he does not advocate unilateral disarmament or the breakup of U.S. alliances. The dominant new mood in Congress is one of sober questioning, and Nixon's intemperate remarks...
Defense Secretary Melvin Laird had staked the Administration's case on the contention that the Russians aim to achieve nuclear supremacy. He maintained that they will have the capability by the mid-'70s to jeopardize the American power to retaliate against a first strike. If that forecast proves accurate, the foundation of U.S. nuclear strategy could disintegrate. There would be no capability to inflict "assured destruction" on the attacker...
Wiesner, who was President John Kennedy's science adviser, flatly denies that thesis. Utilizing the same basic data that went into Laird's projection, he sketched five scenarios of possible Russian attacks some time between 1975 and 1980. Depending on the situation, the U.S. would still retain a very powerful nuclear counterpunch by Wiesner's calculations: between 2,500 and 7,500 deliverable nuclear weapons. The launching of only a few hundred warheads would be necessary to devastate the Soviet Union...
...Defense Department is trying other measures in an effort to recapture national esteem. Laird and Deputy Defense Secretary David Packard last weekend led a contingent of Pentagon officials (and their wives) to Airlie House in Virginia. The purpose of the self-study was to seek ways of cutting the $80 billion defense budget and work out new procedures for keeping future spending in check. Strategists are also considering the possibility of shrinking the armed forces' size by about 1,000,000 men over the next three years. There are now 3,400,000 in uniform...
...Laird is expected soon to appoint an unprecedented official commission, including people from outside the Pentagon, to review the strategic priorities for the next few decades. To forestall any doubts about the commission's findings, the chairmanship will probably go to a prominent outsider, perhaps a journalist. Any new Administration could be expected to take at least a perfunctory reappraisal of the nation's military posture. Under attack, Nixon's men seem to be taking seriously the need for a genuine and comprehensive review...