Now it can be told
It is amazing how much misunderstanding was generated by Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, a missile defense plan he once proclaimed would make nuclear weapons obsolete. We now have the complete text of a National Security Decision Directive 119, signed by Reagan on Jan. 6, 1984, the first presidential order launching the missile effort. An ...
It is amazing how much misunderstanding was generated by Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, a missile defense plan he once proclaimed would make nuclear weapons obsolete.
It is amazing how much misunderstanding was generated by Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, a missile defense plan he once proclaimed would make nuclear weapons obsolete.
We now have the complete text of a National Security Decision Directive 119, signed by Reagan on Jan. 6, 1984, the first presidential order launching the missile effort. An earlier version of NSDD-119 had been released only in part.
What’s interesting about this document is the part that was redacted. The secret that had to be kept included this paragraph:
There is also growing concern over a potential Soviet breakout from the ABM Treaty. Evidence of Soviet efforts to develop a ballistic missile defense capability makes it incumbent on the U.S. to do its utmost to acquire its own strategic defense options as one possible response to a Soviet breakout.
Well, the Soviets were nowhere near a breakout of the ABM Treaty, and they were a lot closer to a breakdown. They had tried but largely failed to master the advanced technologies needed for an effective missile defense shield. The U.S. fears of a breakout were exaggerated.
Both sides share the blame for some deep Cold War misperceptions of each other on missile defense. There’s more here (in a piece for Arms Control Today.)
Thanks to Jason Saltoun-Ebin, author of The Reagan Files, for finding the full text of NSDD-119, and to the George C. Marshall Institute for posting the earlier version.
David E. Hoffman covered foreign affairs, national politics, economics, and served as an editor at the Washington Post for 27 years.
He was a White House correspondent during the Reagan years and the presidency of George H. W. Bush, and covered the State Department when James A. Baker III was secretary. He was bureau chief in Jerusalem at the time of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, and served six years as Moscow bureau chief, covering the tumultuous Yeltsin era. On returning to Washington in 2001, he became foreign editor and then, in 2005, assistant managing editor for foreign news. Twitter: @thedeadhandbook
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