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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there would be “an extremely dangerous possibility” of a nuclear surprise
attack, on the assumption that a first strike would so cripple an
adversary that the attacker’s defenses could ward off most retaliation.
Without a comprehensive arms control agreement, “as the United States
and the Soviet Union begin to deploy [ballistic missile defense], each
might easily suspect the other of attempting to gain military advantage
by seeking the ability to destroy most of the opponent’s land-based
missiles and then use defenses to keep retaliatory damage to a very low
level,” a perfect recipe for a first strike, the study states, adding that “It
is important to note, however, that no one has yet specified just how
such an arms control agreement could be formulated”—while many
have explained why it is precluded by SDI. An effective US system might
decrease the threat of a preemptive Soviet strike, the study argues, but
only with “a considerable degree of Soviet cooperation,” namely,
substantial reduction of Soviet missile forces; exactly the opposite of
what is anticipated. Contradicting repeated statements by President
Reagan and his associates about a huge Soviet lead in missile defense,
the study states that “in terms of basic technological capabilities . . . the
United States remains ahead of the Soviet Union in key areas required
for advanced [ballistic missile defense] systems.” Few serious observers
have many doubts on this score. 34
Along with many others, Peter Clausen observes that
Through Soviet eyes, however, the SDI offers ample grounds for an
alarming worst-case analysis of the U.S. threat. From Moscow’s
vantage point, a U.S. territorial defense, deployed in combination
with new hard-target-kill weapons like the MX, Trident II, and the
Pershing II, would look like a first-strike posture. With roughly
two-thirds of its warheads on vulnerable land-based missiles,
Moscow must worry that the United States could destroy the