Word: mcnamara
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...associates and I believe that incomparably the greatest threat to the future of our country-and all countries-is the threat of nuclear war," declared McNamara, articulating the quartet's cause: to persuade the U.S. and its NATO allies to pledge not to use nuclear weapons against a conventional Soviet attack in Europe...
...article called "Nuclear Weapons and the Atlantic Alliance,'' which was published last week in the spring issue of Foreign Affairs, McNamara and his colleagues argue that this strategic doctrine is antiquated even dangerous, and should be discarded. Since both superpowers now have such huge arsenals, the four contend, it is unlikely that any nuclear fighting could be limited to Europe. It would escalate into "general nuclear war, which would bring ruin to all and victory to none." The authors argue, furthermore, that first use is no longer credible because the U.S. would then be ensuring its own destruction...
...McNamara and his associates recognize that their proposal must be accompanied by a buildup of conventional forces on the Continent; they also question whether the alliance can summon the "necessary political will" to do so. Nonetheless, they argue, a shift in military policy would actually reduce the risk of Soviet cy would actually reduce the risk of Soviet aggression. While Moscow might be tempted today to seek a "quick and limited gain" that did not deserve a nuclear response, the Soviets would be less willing to take that gamble if confronted by a stronger conventional NATO defense. Although the authors...
...verifiable freeze on the development and deployment of nuclear weapons, the Reagan Ad ministration did not need another challenge to its nuclear strategic doctrine-especially from certified members of the foreign policy Establishment. The article's authors were discarding a doctrine that some of them had helped shape: McNamara included the first-use option in his "flexible response" strategy, and Bundy still believed in the option until last year. Indeed, all four now support a bilateral freeze of nuclear weapons...
When Secretary of State Alexander Haig learned about the article two weeks ago, he decided to launch, as one aide put it, "his own pre-emptive strike." The day before the McNamara press conference, Haig in a Washington speech derided the no-first-use policy as "tantamount to making Europe safe for conventional aggression." If NATO did renounce that option, the Secretary said, the alliance would have to match the conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. To do that, the U.S. would have to "reintroduce the draft, triple the size of its armed forces and put its economy...