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From: medin@ucbvax.ARPA (Milo Medin)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: poll  (nuclear disarmament verifiability)
Message-ID: <5650@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 20-Mar-85 12:24:28 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.5650
Posted: Wed Mar 20 12:24:28 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 21-Mar-85 04:09:12 EST
References: <5202@ucbvax.ARPA> <386@abnji.UUCP> <5544@ucbvax.ARPA> <634@tty3b.UUCP>
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 29


Well, the fact that noone can enforce treaties is the inherent
downfall of arms control agreements.  You say that a treaty is
valid as long as both parties agree to it, and if one side
didn't, that would abbrogate the treaty. You are assuming
that both sides are symmetric.  The USSR can violate trre4aties
and the press calls it an 'ambiguity in the treaty', we propose
to do something similar, and they want Reagan's head on a platter...

I want 100% verifiablity, because treaties shouldn't be based
on trust and the good will of the other side.  Because 100%
verifiability is impossible for us, I reject arms control treaties.

And what's so great about arms control treaties? b We wouldn't have this
first strike problem without MIRV's, and because SALT treaties
count launchers not warheads, its a great encouragement for
everyone to MIRV!  Now you say, you see, its folks like you
and other hawks who refused to ban MIRV back in SALT I.  And
I admit to that, because you can't verify things like numbers
of warheads.  So what's my point?  Its simple, arms control
treaties haven't slowed things down, what they have done is
make things LESS stable.  Even if I grant you that SALT has
restrained the number of warheads (which I don't), I'd
much rather have more missiles and more stability than fewer missiles and less
stability.  Its stability that's important here, something that
arms control advocates seemed to have forgotten...


					Milo