New York, Aug. 28—There is a cool savoir-faire in our boy Reagan, and it is beginning to have an impact even abroad. Some of us get more impatient with Europeans than others and some of “us” includes many Europeans. Last fall, visiting America, Harold Macmillan said in accents intended to reach all of Europe that he simply could not understand why the United States should be held responsible for the protection of an area which, in its totality, is richer than we, and more heavily populated. That, however, is a moral judgment. We need—and if, in order to remember it, it is necessary to tie a bow around the little finger, do exactly that—to remind ourselves that however sluggish the Europeans are in the matter of their own defense, the United States would be far worse off—drastically worse off—with a Europe satellized by the Soviet Union than with a free Europe. From one end (satellization) to the other (independence) is, however, an arc, not a dichotomy; and Reagan’s position on the neutron bomb brilliantly recognizes this.
The unique nature of the neutron bomb is that for all intents and purposes it is a weapon useful only in Europe. Sure, the Afghans could have used it with singular effect. But primarily it is the natural weapon for Europe. Natural because it is utterly inoffensive, non-provocative—because it is defensive in nature. The Enhanced Radiation Warhead, positioned in artillery instruments, launches less than one hundred miles, and kills only personnel, preferably those driving huge Russian tanks lumbering over European soil.
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