Word: sdi
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...baby-talking commercials and the simplistic Astrodome-vs.-Armageddon rhetoric give an illusion of clarity to what is still an arcane subject. "The quality of the debate hasn't been very good," says Democrat Dicks. For their part, the anti-SDI forces say they welcome complexity. "If you oversimplify Star Wars, it sounds terrific," says Squier. "The more they explain it, the worse it sounds...
Supporters of SDI do not quite agree about what it is actually supposed to do. Is it meant to be a "perfect defense" or is it designed to "enhance deterrence"? President Reagan and High Frontier's Graham seem to suggest that Star Wars can render nuclear missiles obsolete by providing a foolproof shield. Rather than continuing to base security on the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, Reagan likes to say, why not aim for a world in which neither side has the capacity to destroy the other? When pressed, most proponents of SDI acknowledge that perfection is probably a pipe...
...between the true believers and the naysayers are many who regard SDI as a strategy that has yanked the Soviets back to the bargaining table by exploiting their greatest fear: that Uncle Sam will pull a technological rabbit out of his top hat. Some see Star Wars as the ultimate bargaining chip, to be traded away for sizable reductions in offensive weapons. Others want to take the cautious path of continuing research to see if a space shield is feasible before deciding whether to build it or negotiate with...
...Administration argues that the tough decisions on Star Wars are still years and years away. Not until research is completed in the early 1990s, they say, will Congress have to vote on billions in SDI budget requests, or junk the project. But that relaxed timetable could be disrupted by an enticing Soviet arms-control offer or a massive Soviet buildup. Ultimately, of course, the choice will be a political one. But perhaps by then the public discussion of SDI will have moved beyond rainbows and building blocks. --By Richard Stengel. Reported by Jay Branegan and Michael Duffy/Washington
...question is whether the President is willing to negotiate on his Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as Star Wars. This is the kind of issue that puts the two sides of Reagan's persona at conflict. The visionary side sees SDI as a salvation for mankind, a foolproof way of rendering the nuclear threat impotent. The pragmatist in the President may realize that some sort of compromise on SDI, perhaps an agreement to forgo its development and deployment phases for a time, might be the only way of winning Soviet agreement to deep cuts in the mounting arsenals of offensive...