A Layman’s Guide to Fixing the INF Treaty

As the Senate winds up its debate over the INF treaty, there is one great question yet to be answered: will the Senate actually deliberate on the terms of the accord, or merely turn itself into a rubber stamp? The conventional wisdom holds that senators will fold before the Reagan Administration’s take-it-or-leave-it stance. Until recently, this has been a politically viable position—because the only people advocating amendments to the treaty were bent on treaticide. But that ground truth has changed in recent weeks. It has become clear that there are problems with the new agreement that even pro-treaty senators recognize may require fixing.

The simple fact of the matter is that, in a number of important respects, the fine print of this treaty will permit the Soviets to do things that the general provisions of the agreement are intended to preclude. If the Senate wishes to ensure that the benefits of eliminating two whole classes of nuclear missiles are realized, it had better take note of and insist upon closing the treaty’s “details gap.” Herewith an illustrative list:

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Frank J. Gaffney Jr.

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As the Senate winds up its debate over the INF treaty, there is one great question yet to be answered: will the Senate actually deliberate on the terms of the accord, or merely turn itself into a rubber stamp? The conventional wisdom holds that senators will fold before the Reagan Administration’s take-it-or-leave-it stance. Until recently, this has been a politically viable position—because the only people advocating amendments to the treaty were bent on treaticide. But that ground truth has changed in recent weeks. It has become clear that there are problems with the new agreement that even pro-treaty senators recognize may require fixing.

The simple fact of the matter is that, in a number of important respects, the fine print of this treaty will permit the Soviets to do things that the general provisions of the agreement are intended to preclude. If the Senate wishes to ensure that the benefits of eliminating two whole classes of nuclear missiles are realized, it had better take note of and insist upon closing the treaty’s “details gap.” Herewith an illustrative list: