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From: renner@uiucdcs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Soviet arms control violations - (nf)
Message-ID: <29200142@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Aug-84 01:20:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.29200142
Posted: Thu Aug 23 01:20:00 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Aug-84 04:04:08 EDT
References: <41@ssc-vax.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:ssc-vax:-4100:uiucdcs:29200142:000:1635
Nf-From: uiucdcs!renner    Aug 23 00:20:00 1984

#R:ssc-vax:-4100:uiucdcs:29200142:000:1635
uiucdcs!renner    Aug 23 00:20:00 1984

   /**** uiucdcs:net.politics / eder@ssc-vax / 12:27 am  Aug 10, 1984 ****/
>       *  Soviet behavior constituted "material breaches" of half the
>  [arms] agreements they signed, covering nuclear and non-nuclear forces.
>  Of 25 arms control treaties, nine involved such breaches, with four
>  additional breaches in oral commitments (such as the Brezhnev promise
>  not to deploy more SS-20s targeted against Europe, Japan, and the US.).

I'm glad that somebody took the time to post this article.  I think it
establishes that the Soviets do in fact cheat on arms control agreements.
From this, I conclude that:

1.  Future agreements should be verifiable.  In view of the Soviet efforts to
    deceive US satellite reconnaissance (described in the base note), I think
    that nothing less than on-site inspection by US military officers will
    serve.  I don't understand why the Soviets should object, provided that
    they intend to honor the agreements.  And if they are going to cheat,
    then the agreements are of less than no value.

2.  We need to be prepared for the possibility that the Soviets may cheat on
    future agreements as well.  Otherwise we may find ourselves back in an
    arms race, but five or six years behind.  That is, we may find the
    Soviets starting to deploy new weapons when we haven't done the research
    on how to build them.  (Granted, this hasn't happened yet.  The Soviets
    always follow behind in new weapon types; eg. MIRV, cruise missiles.  I'm
    just glad that so far they have followed us, rather than the other way
    around.)

Scott Renner
{ihnp4,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!renner