The rhetoric of the freezeniks appears to be based on six fatal fallacies.
1) “The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are equal threats to peace because they both have an overkill capability in nuclear weapons.” But this notion of equal guilt is essentially anti-American, as well as being historically false.
In the years when the United States possessed massive superiority and could have used our nuclear weapons for war or aggression without the slightest risk to ourselves (1945-1967), we used them exclusively to promote and maintain the peace of the world. We sheltered the Free World under our nuclear umbrella; we kept the world safe from nuclear war and Western Europe safe from Communist aggression.
The Soviets, on the other hand, have proved repeatedly that they will commit aggression and atrocities against defenseless countries anytime they think they can get away with it. That is the lesson of the invasions of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Afghanistan.
2) “Nuclear weapons are inherently evil.” But material items do not have attributes of right or wrong.
A gun in the hands of a policeman, a burglar, or a murderer has very different potentials. The policeman uses the gun for moral purposes in defense of innocent citizens. The burglar (who does not intend to kill) can use the gun for accidentally immoral purposes. The murderer uses the gun for deliberately immoral purposes.
Likewise with nuclear weapons. In the hands of the United States, nuclear weapons are the most powerful instrument for peace ever built by man. In the hands of the Kremlin bosses, nuclear weapons are the most powerful instrument for aggression, blackmail, and world conquest ever built by man.
3) “The atom bomb can be uninvented.” But the genie cannot be put back into the bottle, much as we might like that to happen.
Moaning and groaning about the horrors of nuclear weapons, while dreaming of an earlier, simpler day when such massively destructive weapons did not exist, is a waste of time and is evidence of juvenile immaturity. When gunpowder replaced bows and arrows, there probably were similar dreamers who yearned for an earlier, simpler day.
4) “It would be a safer and less expensive world if there were no nuclear weapons.”
On the contrary, the United States and the rest of the Free World would be much less safe, and we would be forced to spend much, much more on conventional (non-nuclear) weapons.
While there is some dispute about the relative balance between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in strategic nuclear weapons, there is no dispute at all about the massive Communist superiority over the West in conventional weapons. Soviet superiority over the West in conventional weapons is at least four-to-one. In a non-nuclear world, the Russians could occupy and take over Western Europe within 30 days.
Furthermore, for the United States to undertake to build our country up to parity with the Soviets in conventional weapons, the defense budget would have to be many times the size of our present one and the military draft would have to be reinstated at once. Conventional weapons and troops are far more expensive than nuclear weapons.
5) “Verification is credible and realistic.” But believing that verification is possible is equivalent to believing that we can trust the Russians to behave like Americans.
No matter how good our satellite surveillance is, it cannot see through roofs or into the nose cones of missiles. No verification agreement without on-site inspection is worth the paper it is written on, and the Soviets will never allow on-site inspectors to come into their closed, controlled society.
Most of the nuclear freeze resolutions voted on in legislatures and on referenda include the word “verifiable.” The use of that word is the only factor that makes public opinion about the nuke freeze resolutions even close.
A large percentage of the American people say, “Sure, I’m for the freeze if it is verifiable”; or, “Why bother opposing the freeze as long as the word ‘verifiable’ is in the resolution, because the Russians will never, never allow verification.”
6) “Arms control is our goal.” No, it isn’t—and it shouldn’t be. Our goal is the preservation of our American freedom and independence.
