Another Hot Autumn

In October, 1962, the Soviet Union began to place nuclear missiles just 90 miles off the Florida coast, thus initiating the tense confrontation we know as the Cuban missile crisis.

In December, 1983, the stage will be set for a Cuban missile crisis in reverse. This time the United States intends to place cruise and Pershing II missiles within a few minutes' striking time of the Soviet Union. The roles are reversed, but the results will likely be the same: an escalation of nuclear tension and confrontation that can only lead us nearer to nuclear war.

The cruise missile is marked by its pinpoint accuracy and small size. Only 20 feet long, it can be hidden in trucks or storage sheds, making verification of agreements or treaties almost impossible. The Pershing II ballistic missile is also frighteningly accurate. From its base in West Germany, this missile can strike within feet of its target in the heartland of the Soviet Union. More importantly, a Pershing II missile could reach its target six to eight minutes from the time of launch and destroy a Soviet command center with virtually no warning.

This threat of a surprise attack would give the Soviets reason to fear a U.S. first strike, making their adoption of a launch-on-warning posture almost inevitable. The arms race would then move into a hair-trigger situation, in which the slightest provocation—or even a false alarm—could launch the weapons of World War III.

The current administration plans to place these destabilizing weapons in Europe this year, and Congress has affirmed this plan by authorizing production of the weapons. This has occurred despite growing opposition from Europeans and Americans alike.

The European peace movement has grown enormously since the 1979 decision to deploy the new U.S. medium-range missiles in Europe. Majorities of the population in each country where the U.S. missiles are scheduled to be placed oppose their coming. Recently CBS News reported that two-thirds of the German people are clearly against deployment.

However, this overwhelming public sentiment has been unable thus far to change the decision and stop the scheduled arrival of the missiles. That reality is yet another example of how government decisions to further escalate the arms race are essentially undemocratic, flying in the face of expressed public opinion. It reveals again that real disarmament will require the removal from power of the decision-making elites which now dominate military policy.

It must also be said that the U.S. peace movement has not provided the leadership and commitment needed to stop the cruise and Pershing II from going to Europe. The mainstream organizations, like the freeze campaign, have been far too cautious and shortsighted on this crucial issue and have simply not adequately perceived nor responded to the historical moment. In contrast, many grassroots peace groups did act on the European missile issue, and for many months strong voices on both sides of the Atlantic pointed to the impending crisis and pleaded for clear action. But too many organizational leaders paid more attention to the typically timid Democratic liberals in Congress. Only recently have Euromissiles become a real priority. It has been a sad case of too little, too late.

While the U.S. government has remained intransigent in the face of the growing opposition to the missiles, the European peace movement has grown more steadfast in its commitment to block the missile deployment. All summer, workshops and camps have been held in Europe, training people of all ages and backgrounds in the methods, spirit, and discipline of nonviolent direct action. The U.S. military has vowed to shoot anyone who attempts to obstruct the deployment of the missiles. Europe is once again bracing for a "hot autumn."

In the rising tide of resistance on both sides of the Atlantic lies great hope for us. We have always known that halting the arms race would not come easily or quickly. We are also learning that it will take more than a major shift in public opinion. It will take broad and concerted action, public non-cooperation, and costly resistance to end the threat hanging over all of us, now made even more perilous with the scheduled deployment of the cruise and Pershing II.

The need for such costly action has developed as a result of the European missile crisis and will increase whether or not the missiles are finally deployed. Our resistance must not only continue to grow, it must deepen. For Christians that means an ever greater dependence on the One in whom our hope finally rests. In the company of Jesus we will find the strength and the grace to do what needs to be done.

Jim Wallis is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine.