Reagan Fails The Test

For several years now, many of us have argued that the only way to stop the nuclear arms race is simply to stop. We've put forward the idea of a freeze on the production, testing, and deployment of new nuclear weapons systems as a realistic first step toward disarmament. Many of us have also argued that stopping the arms race requires a bold initiative from one of the superpowers.

At each step of the way, U.S. advocates of this approach to disarmament have continually had to answer the question, "Would the Soviet Union really go along with that? Can we really take that kind of chance?" But since August 6, 1985, the shoe has been on the other foot.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the Soviets made a bold unilateral initiative for peace by declaring a five-month moratorium on nuclear testing. It wasn't just a proposal for a moratorium or a proposal for negotiations on a moratorium. They actually stopped testing and challenged the United States to join them in ending the arms race.

At the end of the five-month moratorium, despite the Reagan administration's rejectionist posture, the Soviets went the second mile and extended their unilateral test freeze for another three months. This time the invitation came as part of a detailed proposal to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000 and included a proposal for on-site verification of a test ban (see "A Shield Against Disarmament," Sojourners, April 1986).

As the March 31 date for ending that moratorium period approached, the Soviets extended their efforts even further and said they would not test nuclear weapons again unless the United States first did so. As this is written, the Soviets have gone more than eight months without a nuclear weapons test.

During that time the Reagan administration has clearly demonstrated that, beneath the candy-coated rhetoric about "peace shields," it is committed to a permanent arms race as a matter of principle. Before the first Soviet moratorium had expired, the United States conducted a test for the nuclear-powered X-ray laser component of the proposed Star Wars system. During the second three-month freeze, the United States tested a warhead for the upcoming Midgetman missile system, the latest entry in the Pentagon's ill-fated search for a mobile and concealable land-based ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile). Finally, on April 10 the Reagan administration defied Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev's last offer with a test on the capabilities of warheads for the first-strike MX and Trident II missile systems.

Apparently this test was the last straw. The Soviets have announced that they are now preparing to resume their testing program. The United States' commitment to disarmament has been thoroughly tested and, at least for now, we have failed the test.

HOWEVER, THE SOVIET initiative did succeed in forcing the testing issue to the forefront of international and U.S. domestic debate. A group of neutral and non-aligned governments--including Sweden, Tanzania, India, and Argentina--came forward in strong support of a global test ban and offered their services in monitoring and verifying such an agreement. In the United States, while slow in getting started, church and peace movement groups were active in calling for the United States to join the Soviet moratorium.

When the Soviet moratorium began, the Reagan administration single-handedly framed the debate. Their dismissal of the initiative as "propaganda" was regurgitated by the mass media without question. By April that at least was no longer the case.

The importance of a comprehensive nuclear test ban as a first step toward ending the arms race does not end with the Soviet moratorium. While one unique opportunity seems to have passed, the level of interest it generated in the international arena, in the U.S. Congress, and among the American public ensures that the test ban issue will continue to be high on the disarmament agenda. The projected U.S.-Soviet summit later this year will undoubtedly present another opportunity for discussion of an end to testing.

During the eight months of the Soviet moratorium, direct action and civil disobedience at the Nevada test site have emerged as one very important and increasingly visible part of an ongoing campaign to end testing. The Nevada Desert Experience, initiated by the Western-region Franciscans, has continued to maintain a religious presence at the test site, and another organization, the American Peace Test, has emerged from the ranks of freeze campaign supporters to focus on direct action around testing, especially at the Nevada site.

Danny Duncan Collum is a Sojourners contributing editor.