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Oregon daily
emerald
Friday, April 1, 1983
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84, Number 123
Space defense network a dream, savs Prof
Technical problems would hobble
viable laser-based defense plan
By Michele Matassa
Ol th« Emerald
If Pres. Ronald Reagan is
looking for a foolproof space
defense system, he’s dream
ing, according to two Universi
ty political science profes
sors.
Prof. William Baugh says
there are "enormous technical
problems to be overcome” in
developing the space-based
laser defense which Reagan
publicly sketched for the first
time in a speech last week.
And, in the nuclear age,
perfection is important, Baugh
says.
The laser system works on
the assumption that the
beams make contact with
enemy nuclear weapons in
order to damage them beyond
use. If one missile penetrated
the lasers, it could do great
damage.
Baugh says he always
analyzes ‘‘leakage rates”
when judging a defense
system’s effectiveness.
“The British won the Battle
of Britain by being able to
knock down about ten percent
of the German bombers that
were flown against them,
which meant that they had to
absorb the bomb loads of
ninety percent of the German
bombers. And they survived.
“In the nuclear age you
can’t do that,” Baugh says.
Prof. Arthur Hanhardt ad
mits certain space defense
systems would be feasible but
agrees that technical capabil
ities wouldn’t allow for
perfection.
Planning to solve those
technical problems within
even 20 years would be a
‘‘heroic assumption," Han
hardt says.
If Reagan's proposed
research does lead to deploy
ment of space lasers, the
result would be a continuation
of the arms buildup, say
Baugh and Hanhardt.
“Assuming that you could
get the network.. .into space,
you would have to prevent the
Soviets from putting up a com
parable network. That is, you’d
have to use the weapons,
which is an act of war,
presumably.
“If you didn’t use them and
you allow the Soviets to put up
their network, then you’ve
reestablished a stalemate.
You’ve simply extended the
weapons stalemate to new ter
ritory, namely outer space,"
Baugh says.
But he suggests that arms
escalation in space may not be
such a bad idea, compared to
its alternative.
“An arms competition in
space would not have to be a
terrible thing if it directed the
focus of attention and com
petition off of things that
destroy people and property
on the surface of the planet,"
he says.
Hanhardt points out the
danger of a race toward
workable anti-ballistic missile
systems (ABMs).
Graphic by Shawn Bird
"The first country to get to a
credible ABM system would
have an invulnerable force and
wouldn’t have to worry about
retaliation," Hanhardt says.
This safety would cause a
“great temptation to engage in
a first strike,” he says.
Is Reagan preparing for a
first strike?
Hanhardt downplays the
possibility but says deploy
ment of the system could
spook the Soviets and their
leader, Yuri Andropov.
“The U.S. probably doesn't
plan to engage in first strike
capabilities but you’ve got to
put yourself in the place of Mr.
Andropov,” he says.
The Soviets may not expect
a first strike from across the
Atlantic, but they could still be
too wary to ignore the
possibility, Hanhardt says.
Both professors deny scat
tered concerns that Reagan’s
proposal violates the Anti
Ballistic Missile Treaty of
1972, signed by the United
States and the Soviet Union. It
banned the deployment of all
ABMs except for one system
ringing each country’s capitol.
Because Reagan is calling
for research only, not deploy
ment, he has not violated the
ABM Treaty, the professors
say.
Nuke weapons protesters released
Most were given ‘bar-and-banned’ forms
By Richard Burr
Of th« Emerald
Four University students were released
Tuesday from a California prison following a
non-violent demonstration at Vandenberg
Air Force Base.
The students, members of Eugene
Direct Action, were released from Lompoc
(Calif.) Federal Penitentiary after being
threatened with contempt of court unless
they revealed their true names, says Beth
Plowman, an EDA member who attended the
demonstration. About 10 University
students were among more than 800 ar
rested March 22.
Most people arrested were released on
“bar-and-banned” forms that prohibit them
from returning to the base, Plowman says.
Some demonstrators, including the four
students, were held longer because they
penetrated so deep inside the large base
confines that they breached base security.
One EDA member reached the shuttle
launch center, she adds.
"We never really conceived or planned
of people being held this long,” Plowman
says. Students took care of registration
before they left, she says.
But Andrew Harvey, a freshman fine
arts major, is still in custody, Plowman says.
The man, along with several other pro
testers, is being held in Florence, Ariz.,
because the California prisons apparently
are full and can’t handle the numerous
demonstrators, Plowman says.
The group does not know when Harvey
will be released, she says.
EDA members were arrested at a similar
protest staged in January. At that time,
members were released on “bar-and
banned.”
Some of those demonstrators returned
to the base despite the forms’ prohibition,
Plowman says. Although they were
photographed and fingerprinted last time,
the authorities apparently find it too costly
to run computer cross-checks on the pro
testers, she says.
The group originally planned to protest
MX missile testing at the base, but Con
gress’ reluctance to fund the missiles caus
ed a delay, Plowman says.
Demonstrators instead protested the
biweekly test-firing of Minutemen missiles
and fitting of Minutemen missiles with MX
warheads, she says.
Group members protested against the
missiles because they are first-strike
weapons, Plowman says.
The EDA plans to return in June for
more non-violent protests.
Reagan offers Soviets
weapons reduction plan
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pres. Ronald Reagan’s offer to trim
the number of nuclear missiles to be deployed in Europe if the
Soviets pare their arsenal of medium-range warheads is being
well received by America’s European allies.
But the man who negotiated the SALT II treaty for the
United States says the Soviets probably will find “there’s
nothing in it for them.”
There was no immediate official response from Moscow as
Reagan prepared to further explain the U S. policy shift in a
speech today to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
But American arms expert Paul Warnke, in Washington,
said, “To the extent that it appears to call for equality of
warheads between the United States and the Soviet Union, it
would mean that the Soviets — if they made a 50 percent cut —
would then be confronted with the entire deployment of
American ground-launched cruise missiles and Pershing 2s,”
Warnke said.
Reagan is en route to a four-day holiday weekend at his
ranch near Santa Barbara and stopped in Los Angeles to make a
speech originally billed as a major arms policy address.
Adminis-ration officials had said privately that Reagan
would announce in the speech the expected shift from his pro
posal to ban all U.S. and Soviet missiles aimed at Europe. But,
when it was learned that most European newspapers would
miss the speech because of holiday schedules, Reagan sum
moned NATO ambassadors to the White House and announced
the essence of his new negotiating position before departing for
the West Coast.
The NATO allies, who had been consulted before the pro
posal was put on the negotiating table in Geneva earlier this
week, said in a statement that "it represents a significant step
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