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Reagan's decision on the MX amounted to a broad statement of Administration nuclear-weapons policy. Said he: "I intend to search for peace along two parallel paths-deterrence and arms reductions." Reagan described U.S. military vulnerabilities in the most sweeping terms he has used to date, declaring: "In virtually every measure of military power the Soviet Union enjoys a decided advantage." There is no certain deterrence against a possible Soviet attack in such a state of imbalance, he suggested, and no incentive for the Kremlin to agree to arms reductions. The Reagan policy, in short: to rearm America...
Whether the Administration can realize its goal of a vastly strengthened military depends largely on Congress. The decision to go ahead with the $26 billion MX system is certain to provoke stormy debate among the lawmakers, who are sensitive to growing public uneasiness about nuclear arms and the Administration's increased defense spending. The outcome of the argument, which may begin this week, could profoundly affect arms negotiations between the two superpowers, the economies of both nations, perhaps even the chances of a nuclear...
...drive home his plea for the MX, and indirectly for more defense spending in general, Reagan used electronic graphs that showed-simplistically, and some experts say misleadingly-the red line of Soviet military might darting far beyond the U.S. blue. While the U.S. defense budget (in constant dollars) rose during the Viet Nam War, it dropped sharply to $116 billion in 1976, and has recovered to just $195 billion this year. Soviet defense funding, by contrast, increased steadily from $137 billion in 1962 to $275 billion in 1982. Two decades ago the U.S. had 3,090 strategic missiles and bombers...
...that "it's not right to ask our young men and women in uniform to maintain and operate such antiques." Therefore, he said, "we must replace and modernize our forces, and that's why I've decided to proceed with the production and deployment of the MX." He called it "the right missile at the right time." The four-stage, 71-ft.-tall missile is designed to carry ten nuclear warheads, each only 5½ ft. long and 17 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The weapon is indeed a wonder of modern rocketry...
Perhaps that is what the President had in mind when he asserted he might be willing to use the MX as a bargaining chip at the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the Soviets in Geneva. "What we are saying to them is this," Reagan explained. "We will modernize our military in order to keep the balance for peace, but wouldn't it be better if we both simply reduced our arsenals to a much lower level?" Reagan aides deny that he wants the MX primarily so he can trade it away, but they leaked his private pre-speech comment...