Word: sentinel
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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President Nixon yesterday called a nationally broadcast press conference for Friday to announce his decision on the Sentinel antiballistic missile system, the most controversial issue his administration has faced so far. It seems likely that Nixon's decision will be to make no decision...
...spending should not be at the expense of social-welfare efforts. There is apprehension about being drawn into a project of questionable military value that may end up costing ten times the initial estimates, or even more. The fact that the Pentagon organized a promotion program to create pro-Sentinel sentiment raises the old fears of the military-industrial complex that Dwight Eisenhower once warned against. With the Russians now pressing for arms-control talks, the hope exists that a possible agreement would make ABM unnecessary. Finally, there is widespread opposition by voters from areas that do not want nuclear...
...Itself The Administration has given the opponents of Sentinel ammunition by shifting its justification for immediate deployment of the weapon. Originally, Sentinel was billed by the Johnson Administration as a "thin" shield against a possible attack by the relatively small and primitive missile force that the Chinese are expected to have in five years or so. Then the argument was introduced that the ABM might protect the nation against an accidental missile firing from anywhere abroad. As the Soviets continue to increase their offensive missile force, the thin Sentinel began to appear not as an end in itself, but only...
...does the same. But since no one can be sure when talks will begin or how long it will take to reach agreement, the question remains as to what the U.S. should do now. For the current fiscal year, about $1 billion has been appropriated for Sentinel. The budget request for the year starting July 1 is $1.8 billion. The overall cost of even a thin system, originally pegged at $3.5 billion, is now officially estimated to be more than $5 billion. Some critics think that a more realistic figure for the defense system would be closer to $10 billion...
Hottest in Years. Exactly what would the money buy? Proponents of the Sentinel have a simple answer: a reduction in casualties of perhaps millions of Americans in the event of nuclear war, plus an additional deterrent to enemy attack. Opponents of Sentinel, including Senator Edward Kennedy, answer that the Sentinel represents "false security" because it would only accelerate nuclear-arms competition. Some distinguished scientists, notably Hans Bethe, Ralph Lapp and Jerome Wiesner, argue that the system would not live up to its advance advertising. Previous attempts to develop ABMs have faltered on the theory that they would be obsolete...