In fact, they are nearly as good as our best. What's more, the Soviets produce this very good stuff in extraordinary numbers. For quite some time now, nearly thirty Backfires a year have been rolling off Soviet production lines. The challenge is to prepare to fight an enemy that outnumbers and outguns us. Our best, indeed our only, chance for success is to outthink this worthy adversary.
Deterrence is a political philosophy.
Our job is to fight and to win. At the heart of the military profession is the art of war. The Soviets seem to understand that better than we do. By the time a Soviet officer advances to the higher ranks, he has spent far more time in professional military schools studying this art than his American counterpart. This poses an intellectual threat that is as real as the threat posed by wings of fighters and bombers, and if we are going to meet that threat, we have to do a better job of preparing our minds for war.