Word: safeguarded
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Happier News. In his assertive defense of the controversial ABM system, Laird made what seemed like a startling revelation. The "Safeguard" system was absolutely necessary, he said, because "there is no question" that the Russians are marshaling a first-strike force of giant intercontinental ballistic missiles that could destroy large numbers if not most of the Minuteman U.S. ICBMs. Laird insisted that without Safeguard the U.S. strategy of retaliatory deterrence would be dangerously undermined. Laird's report about the Russian first-strike capacity is still unconfirmed by the White House and doubted by many experts...
...Nixon Administration's proposed anti-ballistic missile system promises to be the most complex weaponry ever devised. Difficult as it is for laymen to comprehend the technical and strategic functions of the ABM, the great debate over whether the U.S. should deploy the Safeguard system is made infinitely more complicated by public uncertainty as to what the Russians may be planning in the way of offensive or defensive weapons. Last week, to bolster the Administration's case for ABM, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird made public some startling-and previously classified-information...
...line of reasoning among critics of ABM has been that, since Safeguard would defend 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...
...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...
Canadian Debate. While the Soviet press handled Nixon's ABM announcement routinely, there was anxiety and outrage in Canada. Since the first Safeguard bases would be a few miles south of the Canadian border, and since Chinese or Soviet ICBMs would come in over the North Pole, the nuclear-armed ABMs sent to intercept them would probably be detonated over Canada. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was kept posted of Lyndon Johnson's Sentinel plans, but he was not informed in advance of President Nixon's switch to Safeguard. In an emergency debate in Ottawa, Socialist Leader Tommy...