U.S. SECURITY AND POLITICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100060030-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: August 29, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/24: CIA-RDP91-00561R000100060030-2
ARTICLE AP EREZ
ON PAGE
NEW YORK TIMES
29 AUGUST 1980
? U.S. Security and Politics
Charges Traded by Backers of Carter and Reagan
Are Reminiscent of 1960 Debate on 'Missile Gap'
. ,.
..' By RICHARD BURT i
: ,
SPecial to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28? Whether the approving a new bomber but also said the
two major-party Presidential candidates President was moving ahead on the
are misusing sensitive intelligence infor
_ development of cruise missiles, a new
.mation and unaercutting encan n _ submarine-launched missile, the Trident
Dona security as a result of their politi- 1, and the Air Force's MX mobile rocket
cal tactics has emerged as one of the live- Program- ; - .
. her issues of the 1980 cam- At the same-time, the Administration's
Pa attempt to improve its image raises trou-
News In l . last 'Week,-Support_ bling questions about the impact of cam-
Analysis era of President Carter and Paign politics on national security. For
- of his Republican opponent, example, Republicans, such as Senator
Ronald Reagan, have traded John G. Tower of Texas, charged last
charges reminiscent of the "missile gap" weekend that in disclosing the progress
debate of 1960, when the Democratic con- that had been made in reducing Moscow's
tender. John F. Kennedy, accused the ability to detect American aircraft, Mr.
Eisenhower Administration of covering Carter and Mr. Brown had "violated the
up a growing Soviet edge in missile sanctity of some of the most tightly con-
power. Subsequently, Mr. Kennedy ac- trolled and highly classified inforrna-
knowledged there was no gap. ? ticrn." .
This time, it is the Republicans who are Charges and Denials
on the offensive, charging that Mr. Car- Another Republican, William R. Van
ter and his aides are recklessly using se- _leave, an adviser to Mr. Reagan on mili-
cret information to bolster his chances tary matters, told reporters that "Jimmy
for re-election. In support of their argu- Carter is obviously so concerned about
ment, they cite last week's disclosure of a the emerging truth of the dangerous state
Pentagon project to build a bomber that of our military capability after three
would, -be almost invisible to enemy years of his Administration that he is
.radar.
willing to put in jeopardy the eventual
President's Aides Reply
success of this program by announcing it
In response, senior Carter aides, in- prematurely."
eluding Secretary of Defense Harold Mr. Van Cleave and other Reagan ad..
Brown, are contending that by exagg,er- visers also suggested that in announcing
ating American military deficencies, the a new nuclear policy in the midst of the
Republicans are undermining national campaign, the Administration was more
security. ' interested in scoring political points than
To the surprise of many political veter- in strengthening nuclear deterrence.
ans in Washington, national security, at Mr. Carter's supporters have heatedly
least for the moment, is dominating the denied these charges. Defense aides, for
campaign debate. The Republicans, in instance, contended that the nuclear-tar-
their platform adopted last month in De- geting decision had not been prompted by
troit, seized the initiative in the debate by Republican attacks but resulted from
charging that American defenses under more than two years of careful inter-
' Mr. Carter had become a "shambles" agency review. The decision last week to
and by promising that with Mr. Reagan, discuss efforts to make aircraft "invis-
as President, the 'United States . could ible" to Soviet radar, they added, was no-
once again obtain "military superiority." cessitated by budget considerations: To
In recent days, however, the Demo- obtain increased financing from Con-
crats have counterattacked by 'taking plass next year, the Administration had
several steps that are widely regarded as to inform Capitol Hill of the project,.
an effort to dilute the charge that Mr. which, in the view of the Pentagon, made
Carter is "soft" on military matters. In a disclosure of the program inevitable.
speech last week,- Secretary Brown de- Strong Language From Brown
tailed the Administration's new nuclear
But while denying that it is playing
targeting policy, which, as the Republi-
politics with defense, the Administration
can platform does, calls for American
is charging that Mr. Reagan is guilty of
forces to be able to knock out military
forces in the Soviet Union.
this practice. Asked last week about Mr.
' . ? Reagan's criticisms, Secretary Brown
- New Generation of Planes used uncharacteristically strong Ian-
- Two days later, in a news conference at guage in asserting that the Republicans
the Pentagon, Mr. Brown announced that had magnified the nation's military prob-
the Administration was working on a new lems. "I think it is a serious matter when
generation of aircraft, "invisible" to individuals claim the' United States is
Soviet radar, that would "alter the mili- very weak," he said. ?
tary balance" with the Russians. Behind these charges and counter-
These moves have probably helped Mr. charges, there nevertheless seem to be.
Carter refurbish his image on defense, some important differences between the
which was tarnished in 1977 in the view of two candidates on national security.
some critia by his decision to cancel the While both have called for an accelerated
B-1 bomber and a year later by deferring' defense effort, Mr. Carter has laid ,
production of the neutron bomb. In his ad- greater stress on the role that arms con-
rfrosta 1 a at ursaalr 1411. riven:vv, wont tv.r.1 _
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/24: CIA-RDP91-00561R000100060030-2