Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

The Race to Destruction
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
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fully ban nuclear weapon tests.” 19
In September 1985, the USSR proposed a 50% reduction in the
strategic nuclear arsenals of the US and the USSR in exchange for
banning of Reagan’s SDI. 20 The Times reported that Reagan “welcomed”
the Soviet proposals and that the Administration responded with
“optimism that the Soviet Union was finally weighing in with a serious
proposal . . .” In fact, the proposal led to consternation as to how best to
evade it, and it was hardly the first “serious proposal.” Only a week
before, the majority of the 90-nation conference reviewing the antiproliferation
treaty supported the Soviet position on banning of nuclear
weapons testing, following the unilateral Soviet 5-month suspension of
weapons testing on August 6, which the US refused to join. UPI reports
that “The United States, backed only by Great Britain, became the odd
man out by refusing to support a full nuclear test ban—the burning issue
in this year’s conference,” and cited Senator Carl Levin, after visiting the
conference: “What struck me the most,” he said, “is the nearly
unanimous view of US allies that the United States should return to the
negotiating table with the Soviets relative to a comprehensive test ban
treaty. Repeatedly I was told the United States is hurting itself by
refusing to even sit down and negotiate.” The evasive Times report on
this conference is headlined “Parley Criticizes Nuclear Powers.” The
Times commentary on the September proposal also noted, this time
accurately, that the Administration was concerned over Soviet
“shrewdness and finesse”; the unstated problem is that this
“shrewdness” makes it difficult to evade the proposals. 21
The August 6 announcement of a Soviet test moratorium elicited an
effective US government disinformation operation, which virtually
eliminated it from awareness. On learning of the proposal, the US
moved to undercut its impact before it was made public by announcing
an “unconditional” and “unilateral” offer to the USSR to monitor a US