Making nuclear var "thinkable
Socialist Press1980 1980-08-13Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 5 →
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AS he CUICID W: JdE promises to be the dea iththroes of his miserable Pr esidency, Jimmy Carter has made further moves to appease the extreme re tionary forces who h: ave thrown their weight beh: ind Ronald Reagan's Cold I Nar candidacy.
Not only has Carter ta ken the first steps towards rein itroducing conscription for American youth; massi vely increased the US arms bud get; and openly threatened to use military force to preserve imperialist control in the Middle East and other strategic areas; he has now signed Directive 59, which fundamentally changes military perspectives.
As a result of this, the fire power of the gigantic US nuclear arsenal will be targeted to a much greater extent on Soviet military targets-missile em placements, command bunkers, troop concentrations and transport centres.
In other worlds the prospect is opened up of a future attempt at a limited American nuclear strike against the USSR, stopping short of the traditional concept of Mutually Assured Destruction which has been the basis of strategy on both sides since a virtual balance was achieved in the 1960s.
With trigger-happy Cold War generals in the Pentagon longing for an opportunity to put their billions of dollars worth of nuclear hardware to destructive use, this shift of policy by Carter opens up a far greater danger of nuclear war.
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Page 6 SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesday 13 August 1980