NO CRUISE! NO PERSHING! DISARM. REAGAN. AND THATCHER AND REAGAN have might, of their commitment to I .' called in the slick sharks of the the 'zero option' they are simply advertisiny ayencies in a desperate trying to disguise the fact that bid to shore up the image of their what they aim for is a massive their war drive. Thatcher's Gover­ nuclear superiority over the USSR ment is shelling out £1 million to which would guarantee to Imper­ disposal at least 9,000 warheads) it can Such an arrangement would make the the Present Danger' and passionate op­ fund a Ministry of Oefense Cam­ ialism its dominance in world po­ be seen very clearly that the Western entire arsenal vulnerable to a success­ ponent of ratifying the SA LT 2 agree­ ~ii:ln on behalf of Pershing and litics, force the Soviet bureaucra­ States possess overwhelming superiori· ful attack .... unless, of course, the dense ment. But Rostow was obviously too C~uise missiles. The Reagan admi­ cy out of projects to aid or arm ty at present, whether they site Cruise pack is sent on its deadly mission first. wet for Reagan. He has been replaced movements of. national liberation and Pershing or not. The positioning by an up and coming bright star of the l)istration is reported to have set In this context Reagan and Thatch­ of Cruise and Pershing would represent US "New Right" - Adelman, an arch aside S65m for its own particular and enable the west to defeat the er's so-called 'zero option' is a laugha­ a decisive increase of the West's nu-' cold warrior appointed as a sop to the Public Relations campaign. US USSR in armed conflict. ble ruse which offers to maintain Im­ clear arsenals aimed directly at the New Right in the US Senate. Vice-President Bush has been shu­ Reagan and Thatcher are set on perialism's arsenals in exchange for So­ USSR. The intention is to install 572 maintaining and extending their esta­ viet disarmament. Under the 'Zero-op­ ttled around Western Europe try­ new missiles in Europe - 108 Pershing Elements of the Reagan team have blished overwhelming nuclear superio­ tion' Reagan and Thatcher have offer­ ing to mend the cracks that have 2 launchers due to be positioned in become increasingly worried about the rity, Back in the 1960's the US was ed to scrap the siting of Pershing and appeared amongst the Western front line West Gerl')'lany and 464 image of Reagan in the face of the So­ ble to maintain a 4 to 1 superiority Cruise in exchange for the dismantling bourgeoisie in the face of Andro­ Cruise Missiles to be PQsitioned l(1 G.er­ viet peace initiatives. The normally over the USSR in terms of nuclear hard­ of the Soviet S520$. It would leave all many, Britain, Italy, Belgium and the hawkish 'Time' magazine expressed its pov's stepped up peace drive. ware, The Soviet Union 'was able to of. Imperialism's arsenals intact - and Netherlands. fears that the US was being boxed in All. of this is evidence of two close that gap somewhat"'during the . - - the USSR with 'zero'. Only at that 9705, It ited~:,l land based' S§20s by Soviet diplomacy "Preposterous as tl ings., Firstly, Reagan and That­ ;rh Reaga admiDistratiCUk-has pint do th ~ imper i alists claim they it seems to Amerfeans, Andropov Is cher are set on ensuring that by - 220 of which were targ.eted at 'NATO committed itself to this gigantiC in­ would concede any reduction in their managing to portray the Soviet Union West Europe. In fact NATO's nuclear crease in its nuclear arsenals as a existing nuclear armaments. the end of 1983 they will have a as the Superpower most concerned a­ clear superiority in European land strategy has trad itionally eschewed the means of reasserting US imperialism's use of land based missile' launchers in faltering grip Qn the world. Not only is bout controlling nuclear weapons."ln based nuclear weapons. This will In reply Andropov and Gromyko Western Europe against the USSR. it honouring Carter's 1979 commit-· have bowled a quick succession of the face of mounting alarm in the af­ match their superiority over the The US withdrew its long range mis­ ment to site Pershing and Cruise in peace offers into Reagan and That­ termath of the Rostow sacking Reagan USSR in every other sphere of siles from Europe 20 years ago and has Europe by 1983. The Reagan admi, cher's armed camp. On the 21 st De­ attempted to reassure his main allies in nuclear arms. Secondly Reagan since relied on its Inter-Continental nistration has nearly doubled its nu­ cember Andropov offered to reduce a televised address "Our allies should Ballistic Missiles and submarine based not be concerned about whether we're and Thatcher are fast losing their I clear spending compared with four the USSR nuclear armoury to that of credibility as protectors of the systems! years ago. In 1979 S 12.1 billion was the combined strength of France and lacking in determination or whether peace of the world. Their hand NA TO High Command, for example, allocated for nuclear spending. By the UK so long as the 572 new missi- we are, indeed, in disarray. We're not." on heart protestations of peaceful has at its disposal 400 nuclear missiles 1983 that figure has reached S22 bil­ _ les wer.e not sited ir:' Europe. In early based on Poseidon submarines. France lion. Next year Reagan is set on hit­ January the Warsaw Pact followed this The West German elections present­ intent, their feigned indignation ed the Reagan administration with a t Soviet "aggression" have been and Britain between them maintain ting the .30' billion mark!! Military up by proposing a pact guaranteeing 162 nuclear missiles which are formal: . major problem. All of the Pershings cutting less and less ice, as the strategy and Siting practice is being the non-use of military force between Iy independent of NATO but targeted altered so as to ma'ke a first strike NATO and the Wars.aw Pact. By now, and 96 of the Cruises are due to be si­ date for the deployment of the directly on the USSR and the Warsaw "wipnable" nuclear war more possible. Andropovand Gromyko were openly ted there. Hence the legitimate fears of lethal cruise and Pershing systems Pact. If one adds to thi's the enormous There is no other logic to last year's signalling that they were prepared to millions of Germans as they are dragg­ draws near. When Reagan and arsenal of the US inter-ball istic missiles attempt to 'dense pack' 100 US based d~troy withdrawn SS20s and capping ed closer to the abyss of a nuclear ho­ Thatcher talk of matching Soviet aimed at the USSR (the US has at i ts "MX missiles with 10 warheads each. their proposals with the offer of a locaust. SPD candidate Vogel has set 500~600 km nuclear free zone in Eu­ out to exploit these fears in order to rope. defeat Christian Democrat Kohl, and At first the Reagan and Thatcher with definite results. With an eye on <lxis tried to stonewall these various the opinion polls Vogel declared the VICTORY peace sorties. A December 3rd offer Warsaw Pact offer to be .. in the direc­ from Andropov to reduce Soviet nu­ tion I agree with." He el icited more clear stocks by "hundrEjds of missiles" concrete promises from Andropov in was dismissed by Thatcher because it Moscow and urged greater flexibility would not,"Keep the essential balance on Reagan. Even Kohl was reportedly TO THE WATERWORKERS!. security'~To shaken from his commitment to Rea­ which is required for our scale of most of their work places. The To make this strike really effective THE OVERWHELMING REJEC­ the proposal that French missiles be gan's zero option during Gromyko's re­ signs are that this could become a 19n9 means breaking the Tories' anti-union TION by waterworkers of the em­ calculated as part of 'Imperialism's mur­ cent trip to West Germany. The shock dispute,every day must be turned to laws. That was the purpose of intro­ ployer's reformulated pay offer derous arsenal Mitterand's foreign mi­ forces dispatched to re-fuel the morale the advantage of the stri kes by i mpro­ ducing them in the first place. To stop must be a springboard to greatly nister Cheysson disingenously replied, of the German bourgeoisie' were spear­ ving local and regional co-ordination, the chlorine, to bring out the fitters intensified direct action. 'What does Mr. Andropov want, that headed by the 'socialist' Mitterand. a potential counterweight to the 'natio­ either by arguments or by pickets we integrate ourselves into the Atlantic Flying into Bonn as soon as Gromyko nal leaderships. means bringing into the dispute wor­ The response of union 'Ieaders alliance, that our missiles come under left he made it plain that the French So far the strikers have relied main­ kers who are not directly involved. like Ron Keating and Eddy New­ American control." Reagan tried to ig­ missiles were firmly committed to lyon the 'non-repair of burst water This means the police can be used ei- all immediately after the vote nore the offers and press ahead with common action with the US and were mains and the slow deterioration of . ther to break up pickets or to arrest was announced was typical, they his armament plans - he derided the of­ not to be itampered with by the Gene­ filter beds to bring pressure on the individual organisers.