peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (03/05/84)
For a good, balanced discussion of why one might reasonably terminate the MX and B1 programmes, see "Living With Nuclear Weapons" by the Harvard Nuclear Study Group (Bantam Books, New York, 1983), pp. 174-177. Whether or not to proceed with the MX is not clear cut, though there are very real concerns about its high cost-- but this does not do justice to the arguments presented in the book. The matter of the B1 is simpler; it is felt that B52's and air-launched cruise missiles will be effective until the Stealth bomber is available, in the 1990's, thus the B1 is just a costly mistake. I heartily recommend the cited book. I read it just after the post-The Day After USENet debate on nuclear arms and found it an eye-opening experience. Sometimes, one needs tens of pages, and not tens of lines, to even begin to discuss a topic. Fortunately, the pages of this book are well used to provide a balanced and comprehensive discussion of the issues and it is often fascinating reading. The Harvard Nuclear Study Group, by the way, is composed of six members of the Harvard political science community, who possess a variety of basic views. It was formed at the urging of the president of Harvard, "to try to supply the public as a whole with an objective account of the basic facts about nuclear arms control that sorted out the various issues and proposals and presented the arguments for and against each position" (from the Foreword, p. xvi). The only obvious assumption behind the book is the absolute need for arms control of some sort. peter rowley, U. Toronto