The Written Word
for July 12, 2000

When Ronald Reagan came out with his Strategic Defense Initiative, otherwise know as Star Wars, many applauded this as just the kind of good old horse sense one had come to expect from the Gipper. Why, if the United States couldn’t be successfully attacked by Soviet missiles, that meant the end of the threat of nuclear war. Didn’t it?

But as always is the case, there is another side to the question and the Soviets under then President Gorbachev were quick to raise their objections, objections that were quickly and offhandedly dismissed by Americans as sort of, to quote Mandy Rice Davies of the Profumo scandal in the 60s, "They would say that, wouldn’t they. The Soviet objections might be summarized thusly "No offence, Uncle Sam, but you say you won’t strike at us behind that shield of yours, but how can we be so sure? We accept your assurances, Mr President, but what about your successors. For our part we must defend our country against potential assaults which means we must work overtime to find a way to crack your shield in case some future president gets naughty ideas and we need to be able to deter him with our own ability to retaliate." Of course the Soviets ran out of money shortly thereafter. Star wars didn’t become a reality … it just sort of faded away. But it’s returned under President Clinton except this time it’s aimed at so-called "rogue" countries like North Korea and Iraq. And once again the Americans give Russia assurances that this shield is by no means an offensive device and has nothing to do with them – it’s simply there to make sure that when North Korea gets the capability to hit New York the Americans will be able to destroy the missiles in the sky.

The trouble is, the Russian president Mr Putin, isn’t having any of this. He sees it, by way of analogy, like me guaranteeing that I’ll only pee in my half of the swimming pool. The effect of Mr Clinton’s version of "Star Wars", according to Mr Clinton is for rogue states only while Mr Putin, not illogically says, how does that work? Are you saying Mr Clinton that only missiles starting in North Korea and Iraq are targeted? What happens, as will no doubt happen, when South Korea gets the ability to fire missiles from submarines? Then what?

What indeed.

Happily, in the short term, the three American experiments have had one very mild success and two utter failures. You might not think that would deter the Americans but this program and its failures are enormously expensive and the political opposition is very strong indeed.

And the Russians have a point. The Americans think they should be trusted. So, perhaps, do the Nato powers. But why would Russia? The Cold War is over but the melody lingers on and no Russian leader could long stay in power if the Americans not only had nuclear superiority but were the only ones who could deliver a warhead.

Whether intended or not, the latest version of "Star Wars" is a blow and a serious blow to bettering relations between the United States, the most powerful nation in the world, and Russia still the second largest whose coming economic recovery will enable then to go back to the nuclear drawing board if necessary.