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From: gjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg Kuperberg)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: MX Missile Vote (really about European nukes)
Message-ID: <379@talcott.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Apr-85 21:42:15 EST
Article-I.D.: talcott.379
Posted: Mon Apr  1 21:42:15 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 3-Apr-85 02:25:57 EST
References: <282@ttidcc.UUCP> <537@whuxl.UUCP>
Organization: Harvard
Lines: 26

...
> I do not have the tables at hand to dispute your contention that the
> Soviets have 7,000 ICBM warheads to our 2,000 ICBM warheads.
> However I do know that in fact the missiles currently being deployed
> in Europe are partially in addition to and partially substitutes
> for weapons we already have deployed in Europe.  In fact for
> some time we have had approximately 5,000 nuclear warheads in Europe.
...
>           tim sevener   whuxl!orb

You're right that 2,000 ICBM's is way off.  However, the 5,000 nuclear
warheads you are referring to are not missiles.  They are tactical nuclear
warheads, and most of them could not reach Soviet soil unless we mobilized
our troops, which is very unlikely in a missile exchange.  Although I
think these tactical nukes are wrong and should be removed, the Soviet
threat there is real---they put in MIRVed IRBM's to "balance" our nuclear
shells and nuclear-capable artillery.  At the moment they have 350
missiles, which makes over 1000 warheads which can be delivered in less
than 20 minutes.  We have put in 100 (single-warhead) Pershing II's so
far to counter.
-- 
			Greg Kuperberg
		     harvard!talcott!gjk

"No Marxist can deny that the interests of socialism are higher than the
interests of the right of nations to self-determination." -Lenin, 1918