Word: mx
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Moreover, Dukakis can seize the initiative on the defense issue by noting the hypocrisy in Bush's positions. Although Bush is fond of using the Midgetman and MX missles in his speeches, it would be somewhat awkward for him to explain why "his" Administration dumped the Midgetman in Congress as "too expensive," or why it scrapped Carter's plans to deploy the MX in the Southwest without offering an alternative, giving it a quiet death...
...issue of a new intercontinental ballistic missile is more complex. The Reagan Administration wants to deploy the ten-warhead MX on railroad cars -- a scheme that might be even more vulnerable to surprise attack than our current system of triple-warhead Minuteman ICBMs in underground silos. Many in Congress (along with Schlesinger and myself) favor the single-warhead Midgetman deployed on mobile launchers, but the very high cost of such a system cannot be ignored. Another option consistent with Dukakis' position would be the deployment of Minuteman in multiple protective shelters (the so- called shell game). The real test...
Your campaign statements to date have done little to dissipate such concerns. You have explicitly opposed America's latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the MX; plans for a small, single-warhead mobile ICBM, the Midgetman; the B-1 and Stealth bombers. You have also urged a ban on all missile test flights. You have indicated that you would terminate or radically reduce the Strategic Defense Initiative...
...much of the Soviet Union's military incentive for compromise and thus destroy much of America's leverage in negotiations. In recent months, as you have moved toward the political center, you have acknowledged the continued necessity for nuclear deterrence and have indicated that, despite your opposition to the MX and Midgetman, you are not necessarily against a new ICBM in principle. Yet you will find that any new missile program is impossible unless you back off from your commitment to a missile test-flight ban. We cannot have a new missile system unless we test...
...these issues where they are diametrically opposed, I don't know. Remember voodoo economics? Every place I went ((in 1980)) people were saying, hey, explain these differences between you and Reagan. Dukakis and Bentsen have a litany of differences. You can just walk through them, whether it's MX missile, support for the contras, support for the Reagan tax cut, gun control in the Southwest -- imagine trying to defend a person who strongly favors federal gun control in Texas. I don't think Bentsen will try to do that in Texas...