The American people and their Congressmen used to take it for granted that military superiority over any combination of possible aggressors was a fixed U.S. policy goal. Then, during the years that Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and Secretary of. State Henry Kissinger were designing our national strategy, it was replaced by the nebulous concepts of parity, equivalence, and sufficiency. No one ever could figure out how those terms correlated with any specific quantity of weapons.
It is good news that a new Congressional group, calling itself the Coalition for Peace Through Strength, has resurrected the concept of military superiority. The 155 Senators and Congressmen in the Coalition have been joined by other prominent Americans such as former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon and two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Thomas L. Moorer and General Lyman L. Lemnitzer.
The timing of the new Coalition is fortunate. The need for a group dedicated to rebuilding the former U.S. military superiority has never been greater. The United States has been falling steadily behind the Soviets in numbers, power, and modern improvements of missiles, submarines, and bombers.
There are also indications that Congress is ready to pick up the challenge posed by the growing Soviet arsenal. Congress increased this year’s defense appropriation over what the Carter Administration originally requested and also included $2.1 billion for a new nuclear carrier that the White House strongly opposed.
News accounts of the new Coalition were quick to point out that its members are a minority in Congress. However, the disarmament coalition in Congress, which is the counterpart of the new group, has always been a minority. Only 175 Senators and Congressmen belong to the disarmament lobby called Members of Congress for Peace Through Law, but working together they have had a great impact on our defense policy.
Members of Congress for Peace Through Law signed a commitment to work for “general and complete disarmament,” and then proceeded to oppose all advanced strategic weapons production. They have kept up a steady drumfire of opposition to the antiballistic missile, the Trident, mobile missiles, the B-1 bomber, and the cruise missile.
There probably would not have been even that many Members of Congress for Peace Through Law if it had not been for the political action group called the Council for a Livable World. Founded in 1962 by the late Dr. Leo Szilard, it stated its objectives as to “press the U.S. Government to maintain its position against deploying an anti-missile defense system and urge the Soviet Union not to deploy one.”
The Livable Worlders then opened up a lobbying office in Washington from which they could “press” the U.S. Government, but no Moscow office from whence to “urge” the Soviets to do anything.
The Livable Worlders were only a handful of persons with only a small amount of money. But the United States never built the second ABM in Washington that the SALT I Treaty allowed us to build, and we closed down the one we did have at Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The Livable Worlders gave political and financial backing to disarmament-oriented Congressional candidates. One of the recipients of their aid in 1962 was George McGovern, who won his first Senate race by only 600 votes. So the Council may deserve the credit (or blame) for projecting him onto the national scene to meet his dramatic fate ten years later.
American scientists and engineers have successfully tested an antiballistic missile system capable of protecting our cities against enemy missiles. Thanks to the genius and hard work of American defense manufacturers, our country has produced the best missiles, submarines, fighter planes, and bombers in the world. But weapons on the drawing board cannot defend us against attack. Only weapons on the alert can do that.
The new Coalition for Peace Through Strength has promised to work for U.S. military superiority, the establishment of a large-scale civil defense program, a more cautious approach to arms control, and positive non-military means to roll back the growth of Communism. The Coalition should have a positive impact on U.S. foreign and defense policies.
