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From: keller@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Answer to Freeze Question Revisited - (nf)
Message-ID: <6377@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 24-Mar-84 23:29:04 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.6377
Posted: Sat Mar 24 23:29:04 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Mar-84 21:01:09 EST
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#R:decwrl:-641600:uicsl:16300058:000:2361
uicsl!keller    Mar 24 12:45:00 1984

If Reagan did make the zero-option proposal knowing that the Soviets
would never accept it he may have been justified in doing so. I say
this because the Soviets had been hoping that the Freeze-Unilateral-Surrender
movements in Europe would succeed in stoping deployment of Pershing II and
cruise missles thus preventing the West from answering the technological
advance made with the SS-20s. Reagan and the European heads-of-state had to
do something to demonstrate that they were not the agressors in Europe, but
simply felt the need to defend the countries from a new threat.

I don't agree with the freeze position for several reasons. Technological
advances cannot be regulated in armaments, nor should they be since such
regualtion would lead to sudden obsolescence when one side eventually made a
big breakthrough. You must consider your enemy and whether they are
interested in stability in the power balance. I don't think stability is
possible in the long term relationship of nations. History shows only short
term stability. The best motivation for stability is fear of the alternative.
I'm afraid of the Soviets and if they are smart they will fear the USA.

The peace movements are a natural outgrowth of tense situations. Fear is
hard to handle, and the constant low level tension any rational person feels
because of all the missles aimed at them combined with the universal faults of
political leaders leads to occasional breakdowns and pitiful wailing. New
weapon deployment, elections and propaganda campaigns combined to bring
about the major peace demonstrations. Since the elections have passed and
deployment has started the demonstrations have shrunk to near zero.

I've just read some speculation about where Iraq is getting the poisons it
is using against Iran. I had heard the Iraq has a factory somewhere in the
country, but this latest report speculated that the yellow rain component
(Iraq is using a combination of gas and microbes) came from the Soviets. As
you probably know the Soviets have large stockpiles of nerve gas and
probably still work on new biochemical weapons. We had demphasized such
weapons while maintaining large stockpiles, but recently have begun research
on new biochemical weapons. From the descriptions of WWI soldiers and the
recent Iranian victims this type of weapon is only topped by THE BOMB.

-Shaun