On Dec. 14, the New York Times editorial board cried out in alarm over how the Russians and Chinese have outdistanced us in military strength. It blamed what it described as our increasing weakness on our cumbersome military procurement system and preference for expensive, outmoded weapons, and warned that we must rapidly streamline and modernize our military establishment in concert with our allies if we are ever to catch up. While doing so, it said, we must maintain and upgrade our nuclear deterrent in order to prevent nuclear war. In the short run, that will mean increased military spending. Later on, we can think about arms control and eventual disarmament.

That argument is less than solid on several counts. It fails to mention that the U.S. by itself accounts for three-eighths of the world’s military spending and has more military bases at home and abroad than the rest of the world combined. It fails to mention how the Union of Concerned Scientists has amply documented the repeated occasions when we have nearly stumbled into nuclear war. When former defense secretaries Robert McNamara and William Perry looked back on their careers, they concluded that the main reason we have avoided nuclear war is dumb luck. Please note the adjective: Dumb.

The Times’ argument is a recipe for an indefinitely continued arms race, complete with all its expenses, risks and tensions, with no clear end in sight. Dumb.

John Raby
Scarborough