Word: laird
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First Attack. Therefore, Laird concluded, the Soviets have done more than construct a missile system restricted to retaliation in case the U.S. strikes first. They have gone on to build missiles that can only be intended to render the U.S. incapable of responding to a Soviet attack-which means that they propose to make the first attack themselves. "There is no question about that," said Laird...
...Laird's estimates, by 1975 the Soviets will have deployed some 500 S59 missiles, which-only if the U.S. takes no countermeasures-would enable the U.S.S.R. to knock out substantial numbers of U.S. ICBMs. Last December, however, a top Pentagon official said that the S59 was merely a retaliatory weapon, and was not designed for a first strike against the U.S. There has been no new intelligence since then. The Soviets had installed nearly 200 SS-9s by last summer; and they have now added roughly...
...only a part of the U.S. deterrent, it is unnecessary. Even if many of the 1,054 U.S. ICBMs were knocked out, the U.S. would still have not only its strategic bomber force but also its 41 nuclear-powered Polaris submarines. Each can launch its 16 missiles instantly. However, Laird reported that the Soviets are developing their own equivalent of Polaris.* He said that they are also launching nuclear-powered attack submarines designed to track down the U.S. subs wherever they go, and thus might be able to neutralize a key element of the U.S. deterrent by 1972. The Navy...
Dialogue of the Deaf. Except for Laird's disclosures, his presentation on Capitol Hill and the answering attacks last week resembled a dialogue of the deaf, in which debating opponents resolutely ignore each other's arguments. Laird first appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he preached to the converted and encountered skeptical questioning only from Missouri's Stuart Symington. When Laird later came to grips with hostile Republicans and Democratic members of Senator William Fulbright's Committee on Foreign Relations, there was scarcely a new idea on either side...
...before, critics argued that the proposed Safeguard system is unnecessary, unproved and likely to intensify the arms race. Laird maintained that construction of Safeguard is essential to U.S. security. It would not provoke the U.S.S.R., he said, because it was purely defensive...