A troubling document
Odeen, Philip
PHILIP ODEEN A document that is troubling -in two ways THE BISHOPS' DRAFT PASTORAL letter on peace and war is an impressive document and, to a person who has been directly involved in national...
...But the focus of our strategy and targeting is Soviet military power, not Soviet population...
...The choices in the defense and arms-control area are seldom of that type...
...In many cases, all the options are unattractive or at least morally questionable...
...I will leave that debate to the theologians...
...No agreement can be completely foolproof and verification cannot be certain under all circumstances and scenarios...
...The letter had four themes that I believe are worthy of the urgent attention of our leaders and Soviet leadership as well...
...The thirty-seven years since the end of World War II have been far from peaceful...
...Both the U.S...
...Moral theologians may well lose sleep over their issues, but I submit their task is easier...
...The pastoral letter helps one raise one's sights and focus on the more central issues...
...Second, the pastoral letter is sharply critical of traditional American nuclear deterrence policy...
...Nor would the church be likely to thrive considering its treatment at the hands of the Soviet and Chinese governments...
...Arms control has a fundamental moral basis as well as a military and diplomatic purpose...
...But, in large part due to the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons, the U.S...
...Many experts share this concern, for practical political and military reasons as well as for reason of ethics...
...This approach has dominated American strategic thinking...
...I am at a loss to think of cases where non-resisting nations did anything other than suffer when they were in the way of aggressive, imperialistic powers...
...The letter questions the morality of attempting to deter non-nuclear attacks with nuclear weapons...
...The total megatonnage (destructive power) of both the U.S...
...The most useful contribution of the letter, to me, was its heavy emphasis on the urgency of arms control and the specific suggestions that are made...
...The easy way, politically and bureaucratically, is to hold out for the perfect agreement, where every eventuality is covered and all ambiguities are removed...
...PHILIP ODEEN A document that is troubling -in two ways THE BISHOPS' DRAFT PASTORAL letter on peace and war is an impressive document and, to a person who has been directly involved in national security matters, a troubling one...
...They are a deadly serious effort to reduce the risk of war or at least make its outcome less than catastrophic...
...and the USSR are observing the SALT II agreements even though they are not technically in force...
...Our nuclear policy and programs are not built around threats to attack cities, nor is our nuclear targeting focused on killing Soviet civilians...
...Serious arms control negotiations are underway, covering both theater level and strategic nuclear forces...
...In many ways, the challenges are more akin to those of the church hierarchy in Poland...
...American objections were largely based on the concern that our NATO allies would not be willing to face up to the costs of the conventional force improvements that would be required...
...Let me first touch on my questions...
...These issues are not clear-cut, and our national security officials labor long and hard over the choices...
...All the choices involve some element of moral risk as well as pain and suffering for their flock...
...Moreover, despite the continuing U.S./Soviet arms competition, the picture is not totally bleak...
...The only dissents came from a small minority on the right pushing "war-winning" approaches or an equally small minority on the left (usually extreme arms control advocates) who favor an obviously immoral, minimal nuclear capability only able to threaten large Soviet population centers in a retaliatory strike...
...2. While reducing the numbers and lethality of the major powers' arsenals is important, we must not lose sight of the need to eliminate destabilizing weapons and perhaps more importantly to limit the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the handful of nations that now have the technology...
...The American defense establishment has been trying for twenty years to reduce NATO's reliance on nuclear weapons and to raise the "nuclear threshold...
...The strongest opposition to the recent article in Foreign Affairs proposing a no-first-use doctrine came from Europeans...
...This guarantees that nothing will be achieved...
...Pacifism may have a role in some situations and for some people...
...The letter asserts, "History has demonstrated that an upward spiral even in conventional arms, and a continuing, unbridled increase in armed forces, rather than securing true peace, is provocative of war...
...spends a far smaller share of its GNP on military programs today (about 6 percent) than it did in the 1950s and 1960s (8 to 10 percent...
...and the USSR have avoided conflict despite sharp confrontations...
...Those of us who have been involved in arms control for years often grow jaded on the subject...
...Other new types of weapons and mediums of employment also will be developed in the future...
...Whether one is comfortable or not with deterrence as a strategy, it has been a success...
...3. Although it may be too late to eliminate the current generation of nuclear weaponry, there still is time to preclude the spread of weapons into space or the renewal of the anti-ballistic missile deployment race...
...It seems to accept the caricature of mutual assured destruction, derided by some with the acronym MAD...
...The real focus has been on deterrence through Soviet awareness that even if they launched a massive, surprise first strike, we would be able in retaliation to destroy much of the Soviet military machine, industrial targets critical to its military power, and the Communist party structure that started the war...
...My major concern is the heavy emphasis on pacifism, especially in the early portions of the letter...
...But space limits force me to focus my comments in a few areas...
...I hope the American bishops recognize that the choices of peace and war for our leaders are equally difficult...
...Europe has been peaceful for nearly four decades, and the deterrent of American nuclear weapons must get some of the credit...
...If the bishops wish to push a "no-first-use" policy a letter to the French, Dutch, Belgian, and German bishops may be in order...
...While I don't wish to defend an arms race, the authors should test such assertions carefully, even though they seem superficially plausible...
...It is troubling in two ways...
...Limiting such an extension of nuclear arsenals should be a major goal of our arms control policy...
...Casualties would doubtless be heavy and millions of civilians would die...
...1. Arms-control negotiations are not just a diplomatic exercise, an opportunity to score propaganda points or build political support...
...History also reveals cases where build-ups did not lead to war, and others where, without a build-up (or where only one side built a strong military force) wars took place...
...The U.S...
...Finally, the letter misrepresents the mainline of American nuclear strategy...
...Given the richness of the document, I had many reactions...
...First, because I have questions about some of its major premises...
...and Soviet strategic forces is down significantly compared to ten to fifteen years ago even though the number of weapons has increased sharply...
...We frequently get so immersed in technical details that we lose sight of the urgent areas where arms-control measures can truly reduce the risk of war or at least ameliorate its consequences...
...The threat of nuclear war has also helped contain conflicts in the Middle East and Korea that could easily have escalated...
...He is currently partner-in-charge of the Management Consulting Croup in Washington, D.C...
...Second, because it forced me to rethink some of my convictions about defense planning and arms control...
...In part I differ with the letter's approach on the basis of our experience and in part because I believe it incorrectly portrays the main thrust of our strategic nuclear policy over the past twenty years...
...4. Finally, the need for progress in limiting and reducing nuclear arms is is so urgent that we must be willing to take risks, prudent risks, but risks nonetheless...
...They have choices between right and wrong, good and bad...
...The more difficult course, and the one I believe must be followed, is to move more decisively, take some measured chances, but make progress toward the central goal of reducing the likelihood of nuclear war...
...Nuclear proliferation certainly poses the greatest risk of nuclear war, although not the magnitude of destruction that the major powers ' stockpiles could cause...
...PHILIP A. ODEEN served as Director, Program Analysis, National Security Council, reporting to Henry Kissinger, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis), dealing with a wide range of defense planning and program issues...
...But like most Americans, it is hard for me to imagine that the greater good would be served by a pacifist policy given Soviet military actions in Hungary and Afghanistan, or Moscow's suppression of the Poles and the Czechs...
Vol. 109 • August 1982 • No. 14
