Elizabeth Dole Delivers Reaganesque Call for Defending America Against Missiles and a Denuclearizing C.T.B.T.

(Washington, D.C.): In a campaign appearance in Charleston, South Carolina yesterday,
former
Secretary of Labor and presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole powerfully
illuminated two serious
vulnerabilities: 1) that of the American people to the growing threat of ballistic missile
attack
and 2) that of the Clinton-Gore Administration to principled criticism of its
incompetent, if
not malfeasant, conduct of U.S. security policy. On the latter score, she declared:

For the past seven years, under the Clinton-Gore Administration, that leadership,
strength, and resolve have been sadly lacking. With the end of the Cold War, many of
our opportunities to create a safer world and increase our own security have been
squandered….

The result of this kind of policy-making is clear: The reliability and credibility
of the United States as an ally and global power have been seriously eroded. Our
ability to advance our interests with the world’s major powers, and contain its
rogue regimes, has waned. The world remains a very dangerous place, and we
Americans are today even more vulnerable to missile attack than we were
seven years ago.

A Call to Arms

In a speech marked by repeated commitments, if elected, to return to the successful foreign
and
defense policies of Ronald Reagan, Mrs. Dole made three especially noteworthy pledges:

In the Dole Administration, this era of wishful thinking, vacillation, and equivocation
will end. I will lead the United States firmly and resolutely….The United States will
rebuild and restore its military. We will develop and implement national and
theater missile defense systems. Once and for all, Americans will be defended from
foreign attack. Indeed, there can be no higher priority for any president.

Second, I will end the United States’ adherence to the now invalid
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. There are only three options for this treaty: modify it,
replace it, or ignore it as invalid. Common sense tells us that the authors of this
treaty did not intend to bind us to a deal that reflects the technology and security
environment of 27 years ago. But this is the precise effect of current policy.

Third, I will strongly oppose making the United States a party to the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This treaty is neither effective nor verifiable.
And there is no evidence that it would reduce proliferation. Rogue regimes can
be expected to refuse to sign it –or sign it, and still violate it. If North Korea
launches a missile at Hawaii, or even our mainland, neither this treaty nor good
intentions can turn it back.

At least until such time as our country and its forces and allies overseas are
protected by robust missile defense, we must assure that the ultimate
guarantor of our security – our nuclear arsenal – is as safe and effective as
we can make it. Our nuclear deterrence can only be sustained if there is
confidence in that deterrent. And this confidence can only be sustained
through testing, which this treaty would prohibit.

The Bottom Line

The Center for Security Policy welcomes this forthright statement of the need to provide
effective anti-missile protection for the American people, to end the U.S. observance of the
“invalid” and increasingly dangerous ABM Treaty and ensure the continued effectiveness of
America’s nuclear deterrent by permitting its weapons to be realistically and periodically tested.
The Center calls upon the other candidates for the presidency to affirm that they will not permit
defective arms control agreements to prevent or tarry the steps needed to ensure that the United
States’ strategic offensive and defensive capabilities are all they need to be.