Western proposals should be drafted so that they can be used to educate NATO publics that nuclear weapons exist to offset Soviet conventional superiority. Agreement should be reached on procedures that would be followed for any reintroduction of forces with clear demarcation lines and reporting requirements. Any agreement should build a system that would make timely warning clear and unambiguous. These talks could help determine whether Secretary Gorbachev s offer to discuss military doctrine and deployments is a serious opportunity to improve communications between these two military forces. Because satellites are becoming more important to military operations on earth, and because each side is investigating space-based missile defenses, the role of ASATs is growing.
Negotiations can play an important role in safeguarding our major space assets.
While the Soviet Union seems more interested in our potential defensive capabilities, America s primary concern should be with Soviet offensive forces, especially their large ICBMs. At the same time, we are not simply trading our defenses for their offensive forces. SDI is not a bargaining chip, but a lever. In the interim, the United States should continue to adhere to the traditional interpretation of the ABM Treaty. The Treaty continues to be in our own national interest because it reinforces Soviet restraint.