Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site uwmacc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!hao!seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!myers From: myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: The real issue about nuclear weapons Message-ID: <514@uwmacc.UUCP> Date: Sun, 2-Dec-84 14:25:00 EST Article-I.D.: uwmacc.514 Posted: Sun Dec 2 14:25:00 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 5-Dec-84 00:54:14 EST References: <29200165@uiucdcs.UUCP> <29200167@uiucdcs.UUCP> Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center Lines: 38 > > Now it's up to the freeze proponents. You need to show why a nuclear > freeze would be better at preventing nuclear war than the "build-down" > approach. I wish you luck; I believe you will find that *demonstrating* > the advantages of a freeze is more difficult than *assuming* them. > > Scott Renner > {pur-ee,ihnp4}!uiucdcs!renner What advantage does build-down have over tear-down? Keeps the companies building bombs happy, I s'pose. Current weapons have decent accuracy and tremendous destructive capability. If you are interested in reducing nuclear weapons to a "safe" level, why take the "two steps forward, one step back" approach? Admittedly, a freeze followed by a tear-down would need to keep in consideration the fact that weapons may simply get old. This might be taken care of by building weapons identical to the ones wearing out. Introducing physically smaller, more accurate weaponry will hardly help reduce tensions. However, it may come to light after a negotiated freeze that some kind of new weapons system does have stability enhancing effects. In that case, an exception to the freeze could be negotiated if both sides developed such a weapon in cooperation. This scenario seems rather unlikely, in my opinion. It would be better if we collaborated on growing food more efficiently, or setting up a lunar colony. Now it's up to the build-down proponents. How is building weapons which are better at destroying things going to make the world safer? How does building newer, better weapons aid stability? -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of my employers. Madison Academic Computing Center ARPA: uwmacc!myers@wisc-rsch.arpa uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!myers