The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 12

Viewpoints The MAD concept New nuclear targeting strategy is being nullified by its creator by permission of The St. Louis Globe-Democrat) In a sudden change of direction, President Carter recently announced that he is adopting a new nuclear targeting strategy that gives priority to attacking military targets and political leadership centers in the Soviet Union, thus abandoning the Mutual Assured Destruction policy that appeasers in Washington have subscribed to since the early 1960s. Longtime MAD supporters, Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie and his predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance, are pouting in their teacups because they weren't consulted on the move.

The MAD doctrine, introduced by former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, is based on the assumption that both the United States and the Soviet Union can deter nuclear war by holding the population of the other hostage to nuclear destruction. This doctrine assumed that both sides would cooperate in not trying to defend their civilian population and in not developing weapons which could threaten the ability of the other's nuclear forces to retaliate. But while the United States scrupulously observed MAD, the Soviets never did. They developed super missiles that soon will have the capability of destroying more than 90 percent of our land-based missiles.

They have built elaborate air defenses including ABM weapons capable of knocking down our missiles. It was well known by U.S. military professionals that MAD really was a mad concept that never made sense from the first day it was proposed. But when President Carter came into office he continued to pursue the policy, even going so far as to delay and cancel new weapons systems that could be used to implement the strategy he says he now favors. As a result, the nation does not have the capability to carry out the "counterforce" strategy President Carter claims to be putting into effect.

Minuteman missiles, which comprise about 1,000 of our nuclear force, are not large and powerful enough to destroy the hardened sites that house the Soviets' huge SS-18 and SS-19 silos, which were built specifically to knock out our land-based missiles, B-52 airfields, and ports where up to half of our nuclear submarines might be found most of the time. Fifty-four Titans possibly could attack hardened Soviet sites, but their relatively small number rules them out as a major factor. They also used liquid propellant that takes a number of hours to pump into the system, ruling out their use as a quick response to a Soviet missile attack. Nor are the Minuteman missiles capable of carrying out the mission of destroying hardened command control sites in the U.S.S.R. They are "area" weapons designed to attack population centers, and were not built for a precision attack on hardened sites.

Brig. Gen. Al Knight, U.S. Army, a consultant for the Heritage Foundation points out that "upon entering office the Carter Administration made strategic program decisions which substantially undermined the implementation of such a doctrine (counterforce). The B-l bomber program was cancelled.

The initial operating capability (IOC) of the Trident submarine program was pushed back two years. All of the cruise-missile programs (air, ground and sea) saw their lOCs likewise stretched out." Therefore, says Knight, "the United States does not have the operational strategic weapons systems to execute such a policy." Carter's plan deals almost entirely with offensive nuclear targeting. The only defensive proposal in the new strategy is an order to create more effective procedures for protecting civilian and military leaders in the event of a nuclear war. The rest of the population can go hang, according to this plan. Neither the necessary anti-ballistic missile defense system nor Civil Defense is included in the new doctrine.

The American people therefore are still hostages of Soviet nuclear missiles. This, sad to say, is the reality of President Carter's supposedly stronger new nuclear strategy. Once again he is speaking loudly and carrying a small stick, pretending to implement a new strategy which his own actions have nullified. Atomic 35 years (Reprinted by permission of The Philadelphia Inquirer) It was 35 years ago this month on Aug. 6 and Aug.

9, 1945 that American atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For many who are old enough to remember that climactic week of World War II and the Japanese surrender a few days later on Aug. 14 it may not seem all that long ago, but most of the world's inhabitants today were not yet born. Generations have grown accustomed to living under the terror of potential nuclear war. Atomic bombs have evolved into hydrogen warheads many times more powerful.

Delivery systems, with intercontinental range, have become incredibly swift and sophisticated, missiles can span oceans in 20 minutes. A war could be started, literally, at the push of a Hundreds of millions of people could die within hours. Weapons proliferation continues, with more and more nations joining the "Nuclear Club" or aspiring to. Meanwhile, efforts to control the nuclear monster are stalled. The SALT II treaty which would have had only limited effect anyway on the arms race, went on the shelf indefinitely with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the loss of any possible chance of early ratification by the U.S.

Senate. The Soviet Union and the United States continue to plan and build ever-more- costly ways of annihilating each other. President Carter, without consulting or even informing Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, recently adopted a new strategy that puts more emphasis on military installations as nuclear targets in the Soviet Union. In 35 years the world has learned how to escalate the destructive capacity of nuclear weapons systems but has failed dismally in nuclear weapons control.

That is a recipe for disaster. The most effective defense policy would be a universal ban on nuclear weapons. It won't be achieved as long as governments and peoples lull themselves into an attitude of indifference by believing they can "live with the nuclear bomb" when in fact it is more likely, without a change in course, they will die with it. Write the News! Materials for the Our Readers Say column may address any topic or area of interest as long as they are not libelous, are not specific consumer complaints against a private business and stay within the bounds of good taste. These items should be restricted to 300 words in length, should be legibly printed or typewritten and should contain the writer's signature, address and telephone number.

Only the writer's name and town of residence will be published. John D. Lofton Newspaper bloopers prove one thing we all make misteaks- right? WASHINGTON My fear about this column is that there will be some typos typographical errors in it, and they will louse up the typos. But I'm ahead of myself. Since it was founded in 1961, the Columbia Journalism Review's most popular feature has been the hilarious collection of bloopers culled by readers from newspapers across the country and published under the title, "The Lower Case." This feature is so popular that although it can accomodate only 15 to 20 items, the Review receives an average of 300 submissions per issue.

Now these bloopers have been published in a booklet, "Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim and Other Flubs from the Nation's Press" (Dolphin Books, Doubleday). Here are my favorite flubs: In The San Juan (Puerto Rico) Star, a caption beneath a picture of a broadly smiling President Carter and Soviet Leader Brezhnev reads: "President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev are all smiles as they meet for the first time since they boarded the vessel and discovered bales of marijuana." In The Milwaukee Sentinel, a caption beneath a U.S. weather map, with the Midwest colored gray, reads: "Shaded parts of map locate area occupied by Israel since 1967." A one-column headline on a feature in the Yellville, Mountain Echo, which rectifies previous errors, reads: "Corection." A headline from The Atlanta Journal: "Sneak Attack By Soviet Block Not Foreseen." From The San Francisco Chronicle: "Blue Skies Unless It's Cloudy." "Former Man Dies In California," reads a headline from The Fremont County Chronicle News. Headline on a story in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "Tuna Biting Off Washington A Tampa Tribune article was headlined: "City May Impose Mandatory Time for Prostitution." Oh, what a difference a comma can make. An Atlanta Journal article was headed: "Connie Tied, Nude Policeman Testifies." The Washington Post obituary for a former official of the Federal Reserve System was headlined: "Chester Morrill, 92, Was Fed Secretary." A Boston Globe dispatch from Central America informed us, in its headline: "Nicaragua Sets Goal To Wipe Out A story in The Indianapolis Star was headed: "Newspaper Is America's Most Valuable Educa- tionl Agency." "CIA Reportedly Sought To Destroy Domestic Flies," said a headline in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Another story in The Washington Post was headed: "Man Robs, Then Kills Himself." And finally, in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I wrote one of the blooper headlines in this book. In 1972,1 was editor of First Monday, the monthly publication of the Republican National Committee. One article I ran was a piece of puffery about how President Nixon had cut some red-tape for a military man which had expedited the adoption of a son. The headline I wrote read: "Thanks To President Nixon, Staff Sgt. Fryer Now Has A Son." OK, OK.

Calm down. Nobody is perfect. We all make misteaks, right? Copyright, 1980, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Jack Anderson Will President authorize a pre-election day invasion of Iran? WASHINGTON On Jan. 8, Jimmy Carter was asked at a news conference about rescuing the American hostages from their Iranian kidnappers.

A military rescue, he warned, "would almost certainly end in failure and almost certainly end in the death of the hostages." This was the assessment, indeed, of the military experts. Then the president's popularity began to plunge in the polls. The public mood, as charted by the polls, indicated that he could lose several crucial presidential primaries to challenger Ted Kennedy. A major complaint against the long-suffering Carter, the polls also showed, was his tendency to mope about the hostage crisis rather than do something about it. So he ordered a military rescue attempt.

Sources who helped plan the April mission believe Carter was more concerned about his own political fate than the fate of the hostages. The mission, as Americans are painfully aware, turned out to be a fiasco. Now once again, the president's re-election is in jeopardy. He is lagging behind Republican candidate Ronald Reagan in the polls. Unfortunately for the besieged Carter, election day will fall on the anniver- sary of the hostage seizure.

This will remind the voters forcefully of the hostage horror as they are going to the polls. If it appears that he has mishandled the problem, they might express their displeasure on the ballots. Conversely, political studies show that Americans have always rallied around their president during a national emergency. It is against this background that Jimmy Carter has ordered preparations for a limited invasion of Iran. For planning purposes, D- Day has been set in October on the eve of the election.

Troubled planners suspect that Carter has been guided more by his political studies than their military assessments. It has taken my associate Dale Van Atta three months to piece together the elusive, secret details Looking backward U.S. P.S, 213400 FOUNDED IN 184S TEXAS' OLDEST NEWSPAPER Dedicated to the Growth and Progress of Galveston and Galveston County MANAGEMENT TEAM LESDAUGHTRY Editor and Publisher ANN BORDELON Managing Editor RICHARD FOGALEY City Editor WADE J. PARKER Business Manager DAVID LYONS Advertising Director RONALD B. SCHULTZ Retail Advertising Manager GARY GENGOZIAN Classified Advertising Manager BILLY TUMA Circulation Manager ROBERT LEYVA Mail Room Foreman DALE THOMPSON Production Manager BILL COCHRANE Composing Room Foreman CECIL DILL Press Room Foreman Published every morning by Galveston Newspapers, B522 Teichman P.O.

Box 628. Gslveston. Texas 77553. Second Class Postage Paid at Galveston, Texas. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use or republication of all the local news of spontaneous ongin printed this newspaper.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY CARRIER. $5.25 per month, BY MAIL, $60.00 per year U.S., $120.00 Outside U.S. Readers are encouraged to submit their statements or opinions on local matters for publication on this page. Letters to the editor, also are always welcome. PHONE 744-3611 By SALLY REEDY 25 YEARS AGO August 22, is vast flood damage to eight Northeastern states, legacy of Hurricane Diane.

Damage will run well over a billion dollars. The world's premier atomic- powered vessel, the Nautilus, will leave the builder's yards at Groton, Connecticut, soon. The American Women's Voluntary Services has some 200 members and was founded early in World War II by Mrs. Daniel W. Kempner.

Mrs. Louis Pur jet is the present general chairman of the hopsital project and is assisted by Mrs. David Bowie. Mrs. Henry Beissner is chairman of arts and crafts.

Mrs. Edwin B. Krohn is president of the volunteer organization. Ball High coach, John Garrison downed Tommy Cruse, 3-1 to win the Galveston Country Club Invitational Tourney. The contract cost for the San Luis Pass road is $290,000.

Pitcher Chop Devine's bases- loaded grounder drove in J. Isaias with the winning run as the Galveston Lulacs beat the Rosenberg Lulacs 6-5. Those wanting to play in the Pro- Ladies golf meet should contact Mrs. Peter Oshman or Mrs. E.B.

Ritchie. 50 YEARS AGO August 22, Forsgard won the junior trapshopt title in Dayton, Ohio by breaking 95 targets out of 100. His nearest competitor, two clays behind, was Bob Hardy of Galesburg, 111. (Box Hardy is this author's cousin). H.J.

Baumgartner will succeed R.H. Buckhorn as Chief of the Texas City volunteer fire department. Galveston stands to gain from the new arrangement by the United States shipping board because ships can be operated more economically here than in any other Texas Port DOONESBURY as Galveston's Wharves are located whithin an hours time from the open seas. Mrs. W.L.

Woody Ill's horse, Gulf Breeze, took first place in the ladies' three-gaited event at the Illinois State Fair. Misses Eleanor Buttleman and Margaret Boss entertained with a farewell party in honor of Miss lola Schultz, who is moving to San Antonio. Candidates for degrees at the summer session of the University of Texas from Galveston are: Mrs. Henry Clay Bailey, Weldon Stephens, Russell Markwell and Bernard Bemardoni. because, in the name of national security, the invasion plan has been carefully disguised.

Only a selected few are privy to the president's real intent. Deceptive cover plans and alternate plans have been devised to mislead the thousands of people who necessarily must prepare for any major military operation. Even some of the top tacticians, who meet "Behind the Green Door" as the entrance to the Penta President Carter has secretly agreed to the request, and some planners have been told this is the reason for all the military activity in the Persian Gulf. Other cover stories have been invented about stand-by forces and training exercises. But documents so secret that even the classification stamp is classified, identify Carter's real target as Iran.

Sources familiar with these documents fear that the limited invasion Carter favors could ignite into a major war. The ostensible objective of saving the hostages, they add, is not likely to be achieved. Footnote: Of course, the president can always call off the invasion plan and then pretend it never existed. by Garry Trudeau THE-QUESTION. MR CARTER.

AHAT EX- ME ID KNOW ACHY PIP YOU DO AHPfALi- THE MONEY? 10 FIND OUT, 15 THAT YOUR. QUAIXTWAYOF TAKING THE HFTH, MR CARTER? HBIL.HO'. I GOTNOJHIN' TDHIPB A5K JIMMY. ONE LAST TIME, THEN, MR, CAKJSR. KJHATIWYOU DO mm THE UlHO'S MINE UNITED STATES SENATORS.