Word: warheaded
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Domestic political opposition to the neutron warhead is particularly acute in West Germany, where Chancellor Helmut Schmidt faces a strong disarmament movement within his own Social Democratic Party. The S.P.D. has called upon the government, in which it is the senior coalition partner, to make clear that "these weapons will not be deployed in Europe." Said Deputy Party Chief Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski: "The Reagan Administration is obviously not yet well enough acquainted with the situation in Europe...
...European reaction was unfavorable to the Administration's decision. France, which is not a member of the NATO military organization and is developing its own neutron warhead, gave what amounted to a qualified endorsement of the weapon. Said Charles Hernu, the Defense Minister in the new Socialist government of François Mitterrand: "The neutron bomb must not obscure the reality of the threats posed by the [Soviet] Euromissiles." In West Germany, Franz Josef Strauss, who was the conservative Christian Democratic opponent to Schmidt in last year's election, said that the "dismal situation of defense budgets...
Reagan last week introduced a major new factor into any future arms-control talks: he decided to proceed with construction of the enhanced radiation warhead, commonly known as the neutron bomb. President Carter deferred production of the weapon in 1978 but allowed development of its components. On Friday, the U.S. began informing its NATO allies of his decision and pledging that the weapons will not be deployed in Europe without allied approval. But one Administration official noted: "Of course the Europeans are going to wonder when the other shoe is going to drop." The neutron bomb, which kills humans...
What if the warhead had been nuclear? Then, says the Pentagon soothingly, the accidental launch could never have occurred; safety procedures for nuclear-armed missiles are much more complex. Happily, St. Croix has no early warning system to alert it to a missile attack, and presumably no second-strike capability if it thinks it is being attacked. What if the errant missile had been fired across, say, the Soviet border? The Pentagon trusts no missile would ever be so unguided...
...communications-intelligence network, designed to control military maeuvers from a central point, which works, under ideal conditions, 38 per cent of the time; the TOW missile, launched by a soldier, which demands that he stand absolutely still in the middle of a battlefield for ten seconds while guiding his warhead at a far-off tank; missiles guided by t.v. cameras that destroy fenceposts as often as enemy targets; and even an Air Force flashlight so electronically sophisticated that almost every pilot bypasses it for $1.50 Japanese models that have the advantage of fitting inside their flight suits. Again and again...