Evening star., 1960-01-20
We're Still Stronq

In their testimony before the House
Military Appropriations Subcommittee,
Defense Secretary Gates and General
TWining, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
OF Staff, have presented facts and figures
that should calm down the many critics
among us who have been noiSily be-
moaning the state of American armed
power visa-vis the armed power of the
Soviet Union.
Speaking and writing in the most
Cassandra-like terms, with every verb,
adverb, adjective and noun pregnant
with alarm, these critics have given the
impression that the Russians are mil
itarily three or four feet taller than we
are. And the blame for this alleged
superiority has been placed squarely on
the Eisenhower administration: The
President has let niggardly bookkeeperS
determine defense policy on a penny
pinching, budget balancing basis; hence
the Nation is threatened with. such
things as "the missile gap" and bal
ance-of-power change in favor of the
Kremlin.
But Mr.. Gates and General Twining
have drawn a quite different picture.
They have fatty asserted, for example,
that "the missile gap" has no real sig
nif1cance and that it will never have
any in terms of persuading the Russians,
as matter of sane policy, that they
are we'll enough ahead to take the risk
Of attacking us. This is so because Of
the plain and unadulterated truth"
that our country, along with the West
as whole, is at present definitely and
appreciably stronger than the Soviet
Union, and it is likely to continue that
way. In short, we still hold the edge;
we're still taller. AS Mr.. Gates has put it:
$50. the impression in some quarters
that the Soviet Union has overtaken or
even outdistanced the United States in
military power is simply not supported
by the facts. Manned bombers are still.
for both ourselves and the USSR, the
primary means of delivering heavy nu-
clear weapons in the volume and with
the accuracy needed to strike a decisive
blow. In this category the United States
far excels the USSR. We have several
times more intercontinental bombers and
more medium jet bombers . We are
well dHedQ OF J16 USOR IN dH-CO-ar
refueling capabilities, air-to- surface mis-
sile development and other important air.
warfare techniques. q. d. Even surprise
attack by all the missiles the Soviets
could muster would not suffice to destroy
enough of our retaliatory strike force to
enable him 1.-THE Kremlinl to make a
rational decision to attack.
The House subcommittee, for secu-
rity reasons, has made public only part
Of the Gates-Twining testimony, which
was presented in secret a week ago.
Certain significant details remain under
wraps, but obviously the Defense Secre-
Chiefs have submitted a decidedly con-
vincing case. If that were not so, Rep
resentative Mahon, the subcommittee
head and one of the most knowledgeable
and hardbitten military experts in Con-
gress, would not have hailed them for
offering "the most enthusiastic and rosy
and reasSuring presentation that we
have ever had"
Mr.. Gates and General Twining, Of
course, and Mr.. Mahon as well, are much
closer to this subject, and know far more
about it, than the critics who have been
berating the administration defense
policy. In the circumstances, it seems
altogether sound, we think, to accept
the testimony Of the experts in prefer
ence to that of the CaSSandras who are
on the outside looking in-and looking
in inaccurately.