https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/dea8397294a4b8958f3267d707a1fe1c.pdf 1774a53bf86af3fb837243a74963fc57 PDF Text Text *$$Lnt ment di >^y d under the Accessto lniojmati6ffAct en vertu d i la Lorsur Faeces a I'injormation DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL (AFFAIRS ft Subject. Date Max.1, 19.6.9 v? Publication The...New„York._Times_ ' Agnew Assails Safeguard Foes, Terming Their Criticisms Weak Special to The New York Times \ SAN FRANCISCO, May 7— Mr. Arnevr, ending a vacaVice President Agnew edclared tion in Hawaii, had made two had a $l,000-a-coutoday that "A responsilbe ma- speeches, p'le cocktail party and held a jority i nthe scientific commu- news conference yesterday in ',iiity" believed in the workabil- Sacramento, where he and his i t y of Safeguard, the contro- wifs spent the night at th e 'versial antiballistic missile sys- residence of Gov. and Mrs. Ront e m approved by President ald Reagan. His appearance at the Com .'Nixon. Club drew a stand * Mr. Agnew, addressing 970* monwealth ovation, which was followe members and guests of the ing 'Commonwealth Club of Califor by another of almost half a .nia at the Sheraton-Palace minute at the end of his talk. -Hotel, observed that a group He was heavily applauded— ••of scientists and academicians to the but not the [sponsored by Senator Edward surprise distress of some Democrats M. Kennedy, Democrat of Mass present—for a tribute to Mr. ba'chusetts, had reported the Reagan, whoe re-election next Vsystem to be not feasible. year is generally regarded in * He predicted that Xhe "weak- the present political atmosness" of arguments presented phere as certain. hy Safequard's critics, "will be The Vice President expressed ,exposed." gratitude for the "support we £ "The system will work," he are egttin gin Washington from said. "I am convinced it will your gre?,t Governor." He dework," he said. "I am con scribed Mr. Reagan as having vinced it will work." "indicated the greatest aware *; And so, he said, is "a re ness" and determination to ma sponsible majority" of scien ter the intricacies of state govtists. ernment "of anyone I knowE, �Says it may never be made Decision on ABM tie to NORAD political, "Ttotteatf-say*--By JOHN DAFOE Globe and Mail Reporter OTTAWA —The decision on whether anti-ballistic .missiles should come under the North American Air Defense Command is a political, not a military, decision, Prime Minister. Pierre Trudeau told the Commons yesterday. He said the Government would fulfil its political responsibilities in the matter but added that the decision may never have to be made. New Democratic Party Leader T. C. Douglas questioned the Prime Minister about a statement Tuesday by Lt.-Gen. Frederick Sharp, the Canadian Deputy commander of NORAD, that from a military standpoint an ABM system should come under NORAD. Mr. Douglas asked Mr. Trudeau to promise that the Canadian Government would make no commitment to bring an ABM system under NORAD without first referring the matter to Parliament. The Prime Minister replied that Gen. Sharp had clearly implied that the question was made for a political decision and not one to be decided on military grounds alone. "It is of course the intention of the Government to take its political responsibilities in such matters.. "But it may be that the Government will not want to discuss this question in front of the House if it does not feel it has to come up with a decision." <' He did not elaborate but it is clear that the Government would not have to make a decision if the United States abandons its plan for an ABM shield for its retaliatory missiles, or if the United States decides to go ahead with the system on its own without involving NORAD. The renewed NORAD agreement, which Canada signed a year ago, specifically exempts Canada from any commitment to participate in an ABM system. Mr. Trudeau, who in recent answers in the Commons has . said that he does not want to interfere in the debate going on in the United States on the ABM system, indicated yesterday that he was in no hurry to give a Canadian opinion. "We have been pressed by the House to make some announcements as soon as possible on Phase Two of Canada's defense system arid I believe we will give that top priority before deciding on the defense system's of other countries," he said Defense Minister Leo Cadieux told the House that the Government was not considering a proposal to designate the NORAD base at North Bay as an alternative headquarters in . case NORAD headquarters at Colorado •Springs is put out of action by a nuclear attack, r Gen. Sharp had said on Tuesday that NORAD had made that proposal to the Government. Mr Cadieux told the House yesterday that the move would not require any extension of facilities at North Bay "As conceived and as operating now, the installation at North Bay could be used as an alternative base to Colorado Springs. The only thing that would be new in this particular case would be for the Government- lo accept the Harold Winch (ti^kfiznproposition and formalize an arrangement with the U.S. couver East) askecS^ther government to use the North the Government was considerBay base as an alternate base ing that proposal. "No, Mr. in case Colorado Springs is Speaker," Mr. Cadieux replied « knocked out." Wf c» H \o ON C 81 Kb o to I 000204 �nt disclosed unctertFe A ccess to Information Act ^ • f t j h e n t divulgue en ver^u de J^ bcAsurjThcces&Tinforma ion t DEPARTMENT OF/0CTERNAL AFFAIR? Subject Date &£..Mk. ^L1>...}?.® Publication. GLOBE AND MAIL Another look at the ABMs perhaps? ..As Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau prepared to meet President Richard Nixon in Washington a few weeks ago, he said he hoped to learn more about the technology of Anti-Ballistic Missiles or ABMs before deciding on their political aspects. Dismissing narrow fears that ABM defenses might endanger Canadian territory and especially Canadian citizens, he said he was "more interested in seeing that the policy which is followed by the United States is one that protects all of humanity...." A detailed study just released under the auspices of Senator Edward Kennedy suggests the proposed Safeguard system may protect neither humanity nor Canada. Drawing together evidence and arguments from a group of distinguished academics and former government officials, the report condemns the ABM project on four major counts. It argues first that the Safeguard system is u.nlikely to work as planned in the face of nuclear attack. A new and possibly damning point in support of this is the alleged extreme difficulty of programming the system's core computers to handle a large-scale attack. Next, the report says, the ABM screen would be highly vulnerable to penetration. This has long been obvious to everyone aware that the number of incoming warheads, mingled with vast numbers of distracting dummies, could be counted in the tens of thousands. Should, say, 50 real warheads be targeted on Washington (which will be Safeguarded), the successful passage of at least one seems a mathematical certainty. Further, say the authors, the Safe- guard network is not well adapted to perform the missions of protecting either cities or offensive missile sites. Since the ABMs' interceptor missiles can move only in response to radar signals, an attacker would merely have to knock out a relatively small number of radars described as "an easy target". Finally, the report recalls the widely stated point that deployment of an American ABM system would unleash a new phase in the arms race and impede progress toward an agreement on arms control with the Soviet Union. To these arguments of substance, writer Theodore Sorenson, a former assistant to President John F. Kennedy, adds the observation that the ABM is causing "deep anxiety" in Canada which might lead to disaffection with the North American Air Defense Command. Mr. Sorenson's reminder that ABM missiles failing to intercept enemy missiles would fall into Canada and spread radiation here does nothing to allay this concern. Mr. Trudeau, after his Washington visit, made an offhand and surprising reference to the ABM system as designed "for the protection of the world". He has never — publicly — elaborated on that theme. But any thought he might have of following through on his new stress on continental defense by backing this' specious, multi-billion-dollar exercise in Cold War posturing should be put to flight by Senator Kennedy's "other side" of the story. . 000205 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDBM00250 Title A name given to the resource Transcript from NYT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 5/8/1969 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-c, file 27-11-7, "DEFENCE - CONVENTIONAL AND NUCLEAR ARMAMENTS - ANTI - BALLISTIC MISSILES (ABM) = DEFENSE - ARMEMENTS DE TYPE CLASSIQUE ET NUCLEAIRE - ENGINS ANTIMISSILES (ABM)," vol. 10357, part 6, Library and Archives Canada, (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Anti-ballistic missiles Description An account of the resource Agnew Assails Safeguard Foes, Terming Their Criticisms Weak Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en