Editing 78-14-B4 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Our Secretary of Defense has tried to reassure us by saying that a successful
Soviet nuclear strike against our missile silos would be followed with an attack by our
submarine-launched missiles against Moscow, Leningrad and other cities. The assumption
is that Russia would never launch a first strike and risk our follow-up attack. This is
hardly a credible assumption since the Russians have enough nuclear forces for a second
strike against our cities.

Dr. Rostow, in the address I've been quoting for the past five days, sums up our
present policy with these words-- "Our first new bomber in many years -- the B-1 --
has been cancelled. The neutron warhead which might have given NATO a firm shield for
10 years has been remitted to the shades. The U.S. has closed down the Minuteman III
production line and delayed the initial operating capability of the missile which was
supposed to replace it. MX is on ice for the time being. Furthermore, the Trident
(submarine) program has been stretched out." Then he says that, while the
President assures us our treaty obligations are still firm and we stand behind our
allies in the Pacific and Atlantic, our former chief of naval operations has testified
that our navy can't guarantee the sea lanes beyond Hawaii. Secretary of Defense Brown
has told the Japanese we cannot assure the naval defense of Japan. We're further
reducing our navy and we haven't introduced a new missile system since 1960. The Soviets
have unveiled five. Just what is SALT II supposed to do for us?

Rostow says-- "Around the world, people are seriously worried about our
state of mind. They wonder whether we have the understanding and will to defend
ourselves and our interests in world politics, or whether we are in a mood of suicidal
appeasement. As the brilliant leader of a moderate sized country in Asia said recently,
"the greatest external threat (to his nation) is the weakness of the West. The
West is paralyzed and divided."

Our goal is a stable peace. Who has ever met an American who favored war with the
Soviet Union? Rostow concludes with the warning that the Soviet rulers will expand
their power as long as the risks are not excessive. His closing lines should be heard
by every American. "The kind of SALT agreement the administration is so
frantically trying to sell the country is not a step toward detente or toward peace,
but an act of appeasement which can only invite more Soviet pressure and more risk. It
would freeze us in a position of inferiority, deny us the opportunity to redress the
balance, weaken our alliances and isolate us.

It would be a step toward war, not peace."

Those are the thoughts of an unquestioned liberal, a scholar who desires peace
above all and who finally spoke out because he thinks we could be on the road to war. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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