Talking Tough

Carter warns Russians

As Commander in Chief, Jimmy Carter has plunged underwater on a nuclear attack submarine, climbed into the sky in an E-4A Airborne Command Post and descended underground to inspect Strategic Air Command headquarters. Last week the President renewed his military travels by helicoptering with his wife Rosalynn from Savannah, Ga., to the deck of the nuclear aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower to view a series of combat exercises.

These outings have been largely symbolic, demonstrating Carter's commitment to a strong defense force. But with senatorial opposition to any potential SALT II agreement growing, and with Carter's reputation for military toughness diminished by his refusal to approve production of the B-1 bomber, the President tried more directly last week to convince critics that he is no dove on defense. In a speech at North Carolina's Wake Forest University, Carter warned the Soviet Union against its "ominous inclination to use its military power; to intervene in local conflicts with advisers, with equipment, and with full logistical support and encouragement for mercenaries from other Communist countries."

If such Soviet military activities do not stop, Carter suggested, the U.S. public may turn against detente, endangering any type of cooperation between the two superpowers. Citing a ''massive" buildup in Soviet conventional forces, which could be used "for political blackmail and could threaten our vital interests," the President vowed: "We will match, together with our allies and friends, any threatening power through a combination of military forces, political efforts and economic programs. We will not allow any other nation to gain military superiority over us."

Carter said the U.S. still "retains important advantages" over the Soviet Union in strategic nuclear power. But in nuclear arms too, he noted, the Soviets have been building steadily and have now reached what Carter called "functional equivalence" with the U.S. If this continues to the point where it clouds "the clear invulnerability of our strategic deterrent," said the President, he will not hesitate to order "fullscale deployment and development" of an advanced Trident II submarine-launched missile and the M-X missile system. The M-X would make land-based ICBMS elusive targets by moving them through underground tunnels.

Conceding that U.S. land-based missiles could become "increasingly vulnerable to a Soviet first strike," the President nevertheless confirmed the continuing commitment to the three-legged "triad" (air- and sea-launched and land-based strategic missiles) of the American nuclear deterrent. Any such Soviet strike against the Minuteman missiles, Carter warned, "would amount to national suicide for the Soviet Union; but, however remote, it is a threat against which we must constantly be on guard."

The President sought to reassure those who worry that any new SALT agreement would be dangerous for the U.S. by declaring: "We are not looking for a one-sided advantage. Before I sign a SALT agreement I will make sure that it preserves the strategic balance, that we can independently verify Soviet compliance, and that we will be at least as strong relative to the Soviet Union as we would be without an agreement."

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