Word: sdi
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...REYKJAVIK SUMMIT raised hopes about an agreement for the abolition of nuclear weapons, but it appeared to founder on the President's intransigence over his Strategic Defense Initiative. One proposed utopia appeared to defeat another. How should we think about SDI and the long-term future of nuclear deterrence...
...technological solution has received the greatest attention in the past three years. President Reagan has called his SDI a "moral imperative." But the language of morality has been bandied about loosely and inappropriately by both sides in the so-called "Star Wars debate." It is a good example of stunted moral reasoning in the discussion of nuclear issues...
...MARCH 1983 speech, the President suggested that strategic defense might provide an exit from the dilemmas of nuclear deterrence. The goal of SDI was to make nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete." But to escape from deterrence requires a leak-proof defense not only against ballistic missiles, but also against bombers, cruise missiles and weapons smuggled into our cities. Such a perfect defense seems unlikely...
...rationale would be to enhance rather than replace deterrence. That goal is very different from the President's original speech. In a sense, the public is being sold a product that does not match its packaging. An elementary concern for truth in advertising should lead us to distinguish "SDI 1" (The March 1983 brand) and "SDI 2" (the partial defense being developed...
...SDI 2" is no more a moral imperative than are alternative ways of enhancing deterrence. While a case can be made (and debated) for such defense, it has to surmount the obstacles of feasibility and cost in terms of competing strategies and competing moral claims on resources. It is not moral simply because of good intentions...