Soviet leaders probably get a lot of laughs out of the frequent comments made by well-meaning but grossly misinformed Americans concerning the vulnerability of mankind. For example, Walter Cronkite, whose business is to inform, has declared on his nationwide news telecast that there are enough nuclear bombs on hand to “obliterate the world a hundred times over.” Secretary of State Kissinger has also fallen for this line. When asked why the Soviets agreed to the Vladivostok pact concerning SALT II, Mr. Kissinger replied: “I would suppose that the General Secretary [Brezhnev] has come to the same conclusion that we have: that whatever level you put at the ceiling, it is enough to destroy humanity several times over, so that the actual level of the ceiling is not as decisive as the fact that a ceiling has been put on it.”
The Soviets rejoice at such comments because their strategic planners realize that the propagation of this error, loaded as it is with emotional concern for the fate of mankind, will stir up resistance against any proposal for arms development by our Defense Department. Worse than that, this gross misconception may promote a false feeling of security in America because of the belief that no national leader will start a nuclear war if all of humanity is going to be destroyed. Worst of all, this line of propaganda conveys the idea that nothing can be done to protect mankind from the effects of nuclear weapons—that efforts at civil defense are futile.
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