Word: laird
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...begin the Safeguard anti-ballistic missile system, one ingredient of victory was President Nixon's pledge to review the ABM program annually. No one doubted, however, that the initial two sites approved were only the first steps toward a steadily growing complex. Last week Defense Secretary Melvin Laird went to Congress with plans for a "modified Phase 2," a gingerly expansion of Safeguard...
Extra Missiles. What the Pentagon already has is a congressional O.K. to build the first two missile installations and go ahead with research and development work on the intricate combination of Sprint and Spartan missiles, electronic detection systems and radar guidance apparatus that make up the Safeguard package. What Laird asked for last week was extra money for a third ABM site at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., further investment in technical refinements, extra missiles at the two bases already approved, and acquisition of land for five more sites strung out across the U.S. Laird wants Congress to authorize...
Doubts about Safeguard's strategic necessity and technical efficacy persist, but Laird pressed hard last week in its defense. His strongest argument is that American offensive missiles must be protected, at least partially, from a possible surprise attack by Russia's growing nuclear force. "The Soviets," said Laird, "are continuing the rapid deployment of major strategic offensive-weapons systems at a rate that could, by the mid-1970s, place us in a second-rate strategic position with regard to the future security of the free world...
...Senate would like to keep them narrowed. Senators Mansfield, Gore, Symington, Cooper, and Percy have deplored the secrecy about U. S. activities in Laos. Though Laird denies the presence of combat troops there, he refuses to discuss the U. S. role or specify the nature of current military operations on the Plaine des Jarres. Should the facts prove otherwise, he faces possible censure from the Senate. A Congressional amendment to a current appropriations bill forbids the dispatch of ground forces to Laos or Thailand. (This amendment contradicts the bilateral military agreements made with Thailand...
Because Nixon says he is going to end the war people believe him. Laird says that the withdrawal of troops is irreversible, and the public's reaction is an uncritical sigh of relief. Further antiwar demonstrations this spring will try to point out the fallacies in this position, but there is another. Administration contention that must also not escape challenge...