CONTENT= // ACTUALITIES IN AUDIO SERVICES //
INTRO:
UNITED STATES PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WILL MEET WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN IN HELSINKI NEXT WEEK (MARCH 20TH AND 21ST). PRESIDENT CLINTON SAID ON SATURDAY THAT A HIGH PRIORITY WILL BE SEACHING FOR NEW WAYS TO REDUCE THE NUCLEAR THREAT. TWO TOP AMERICAN SPECIALISTS ON SECURITY QUESTIONS HAVE WRITTEN THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES SHOULD AGREE TO GO WELL BEYOND THE SECOND ROUND OF STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS, START TWO. WITH BACKGROUND, HERE IS VOA'S FRANK RONALDS.
HOST:
OVER FIVE YEARS AGO, PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN AND THEN U-S PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH SIGNED THE START TWO TREATY, UNDER WHICH THEY PLEDGED TO CUT THE NUMBER OF THEIR STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN HALF. THE TREATY HAS BEEN RATIFIED BY THE U-S SENATE, BUT HAS NOT YET BEEN RATIFIED BY THE DUMA, THE LOWER HOUSE OF THE RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT, WHICH BELIEVES THAT START TWO WOULD LEAVE THE UNITED STATES WITH A NUCLEAR ADVANTAGE OVER RUSSIA. WRITING IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, JOHN DEUTCH AND ASHTON CARTER PROPOSED THAT ARSENALS ON BOTH SIDES BE CUT BACK MUCH FURTHER -- NOT ONLY FOR STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS BUT FOR TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS WELL. JOHN DEUTCH, NOW AT A PROFESSOR AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SERVED AS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND THEN AS DIRECTOR THE THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. ASHTON CARTER, ALSO A PROFESSOR AT M-I-T, PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY. PROFESSOR CARTER SAYS POLICIES MUST BE CHANGED TO REFLECT THE PROFOUND CHANGES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR:
TAPE: CUT ONE -- CARTER
"AMERICANS AND PEOPLE EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD NEED TO PAY MUCH MORE ATTENTION THAN WE HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR THE LAST FEW DECADES TO THE RISKS OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION. WE TENDED DURING THE COLD WAR TO THINK THAT THE RISK OF NUCLEAR USE CAME OUT OF THE U-S/SOVIET STRUGGLE. AND THAT WAS TRUE OF THE COLD WAR. BUT NOW THE NUCLEAR RISKS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT. THEY ARISE FROM THE POSSIBILITY THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED BY ROGUE REGIMES OR TERRORISTS. AND THAT CHANGE FROM A NUCLEAR THREAT ASSOCIATED WITH SUPER-POWER WAR, AND A NUCLEAR THREAT OF TODAY, WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH LOOSE NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR PROLIFERATION, IS A VERY PROFOUND CHANGE. AND WE HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO MAKE THE ADJUSTMENT IN OUR POLICIES AND OUR WAY OF THINKING."
HOST:
PROFESSORS DEUTCH AND CARTER AGREE THAT REDUCTIONS IN STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS SHOULD, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, GO BEYOND THE LEVELS SET OUT IN START TWO.
FURTHERMORE, THEY SAY, NOT JUST STRATEGIC NUCLEAR ARMS SHOULD BE COVERED, BUT TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS WELL. AS RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES PROGRESSIVELY REDUCE THEIR ARSENALS, THEN OTHER NUCLEAR POWERS SHOULD BE BROUGHT INTO THE PROCESS:
TAPE: CUT TWO -- CARTER
"RUSSIA CONTINUES TO POSSESS MORE THAN 10,000 NON-STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS WHICH ARE NOT COVERED BY ANY ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT AT ALL. RUSSIA RETAINS ABOUT SEVEN TO TEN TIMES AS MANY NON-STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS THE UNITED STATES HAS. AND WE'RE CONCERNED THAT THE NUMBER OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS SUBJECT TO A LOSS OF CONTROL IN THE POLITICAL TURMOIL THAT STILL CONTINUES TO ENGULF RUSSIA. IF THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA CONTINUE TO REDUCE OUR ARSENALS, STRATEGIC AND NON-STRATEGIC, WE WILL GET DOWN TO THE POINT WHERE WE ARE CLOSE TO THE LEVELS THAT CHINA, BRITAIN AND FRANCE HAVE, AND EVENTUALLY, TO THE LEVELS WHERE COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA AND PAKISTAN MAY HAVE BUILT TO. THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS COULD ONLY OCCUR AFTER YEARS OF A PROCESS THAT BROUGHT IN ALL THOSE OTHER COUNTRIES, NOT JUST THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA."
HOST:
PROFESSORS DEUTCH AND CARTER PROPOSE THAT AMERICA AND RUSSIA SHOULD MOVE, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, FROM START TO WHAT THEY CALL CART:
TAPE: CUT THREE -- CARTER
"CART WOULD BE CONTINUOUS ARMS REDUCTIONS TALKS. AND THEY WOULD DIFFER FROM START, THE STRATEGIC ARMS REDOUCTION TALKS, IN THREE RESPECTS. FIRST, THEY WOULD BE CONTINUOUS, NOT STEP-WISE, AND WOULD COVER ALL TYPES OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NOT JUST STRATEGIC ONES, LIKE START DID. SECOND, THEY WOULD NOT JUST REQUIRE THE PARTIES TO REMOVE NUCLEAR WARHEADS FROM THE TOPS OF MISSILES OR FROM BOMBERS, AND ELIMINATE THE MISSILES IN BOMBERS, BUT ACTUALLY ELIMINATE THE NUCLEAR WARHEADS THEMSELVES -- ELIMINATE THEM FOREVER. AND THIRD, THE CART PROCESS WOULD INVOLVE ULTIMATELY OTHER NATIONS THAN JUST THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA. START IS JUST A U-S/RUSSIAN AGREEMENT. SO THAT IN ALL THREE OF THESE DIMENSIONS, CART WOULD DIFFER FROM START VERY DRAMATICALLY."
HOST: (BEGIN OPT)
PROFESSOR CARTER POINTS OUT THAT SINCE 1990 THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH RUSSIA AND THREE OTHER COUNTRES WHICH FORMERLY HAD NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- KAZAKHSTAN, BELORUS AND UKRAINE -- TO LESSEN THE DANGERS INHERENT IN SUCH WEAPONS. SO FAR, $2 BILLION HAS BEEN SPENT UNDER THIS PROGRAM, PROPOSED BY TWO U-S SENATORS, SAM NUNN AND RICHARD LUGAR:
TAPE: CUT FOUR -- CARTER
"THAT PROGRAM IS FUNDED OUT OF THE UNITED STATES DEFENSE BUDGET BECAUSE THE PENTAGON HAS VIEWED IT AS ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS IT CAN MAKE IN THE SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES. THROUGHOUT RUSSIA AND OTHER FORMER SOVIET STATES, U-S AND THEIR RUSSIAN AND OTHER COUNTERPARTS ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO BUILD SECURITY FENCES ABOUT NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS, TO DISMANTLE MISSILES, TO PROTECT WARHEADS FROM BEING STOLEN -- A WHOLE HOST OF VITAL POST-COLD WAR SAFETY AND SECURITY MEASURES IN RUSSIA." (END OPT)
HOST:
PROFESSOR CARTER SAYS THAT WE CAN'T MOVE FULLY INTO THE POST-COLD WAR ERA UNTIL WE HAVE COMPLETED THE PROCESS OF RATIFYING AND IMPLEMENTING THE COLD WAR AGREEMENTS. ONCE START TWO IS RATIFIED, HE SAYS, THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATING ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAN BEGIN IN EARNEST.
(SIGNED)
NEB/FSR/NES
11-Mar-97 8:56 AM EST (1356 UTC)
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