European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 26, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A photo Chancellor Helmut Kohl last week toned Down his earlier endorsement of president reagans strategic defense calling it a risk As Well As an Opportunity for the Western by William Broad new York times allies in Western Europe seem increasingly worried by military and political Dan Gers they see for their countries in presi Dent reagans strategic defense popularly known As Star in Public Many european leaders Laud the project As a potent Force that brought the russians Back to the negotiating and they Hail its billion research program at least As a hedge against soviet efforts in developing space based defensive arms but dozens of interviews with european military experts and government officials and a review of government documents and official statements show deep and widespread apprehension about the Star wars plan As it relates to Western some strategists do find value for Europe in Rea Gans first set Forth in a speech in March when he proposed a space shield to Render All nuclear weapons impotent and but the prevailing is that american defensive space weapons would fail to protect Western Europe from soviet missile would probably bring on a threatening convention alarms and could Well split nato and increase the risk of at the recent Bonn Summit reservations came to the surface As France became the first major Power to reject outright the administrations offer for the allies to join in the so far no country in Western Europe has agreed to take although prime minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain has not ruled it out and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany has spoken favourably of the possibility of one of the attractions for apart from the merits or demerits of the defense plan is the Prospect of substantial nonmilitary applications of the High technology government leaders May be apprehensive about their political fortunes if they tie themselves too closely to the american according to some an opposition political especially in Brit Ain and West have made a Point of publicly denouncing Star wars As dangerous for election campaigns in the next two years will Proba Bly test the resolve of governing parties to publicly support the american at the heart of european concern lies a key technical consideration the Short time in which soviet warheads can reach Europe and the military judgment that Many of these weapons would slip underneath the most elaborate shield that the United states could place in the flight time for missiles travelling from the soviet Union to Western Europe is less than half the time it takes to reach the United said Lawrence head of War studies at Kings College of the University of London and a leading British for missiles launched from Eastern the flight time is even the task of intercepting the missiles is therefore correspondingly an official in the French foreign ministry asserted that this showed the futility of space based the military gain for Europe is almost he we dont believe for a moment that it is evokes deep concern in Europe echoing that Jonathan Deputy director of the Londo based International Institute for strategic no matter How Good the we will be More the Institute is a private organization known for its annual assessment of the global military in contrast to such the Reagan administration sees space based weapons As potentially effective in defending the United essentially be cause of increases in available response time that might be provided by new ground based defences in the past had Only seconds in which to work and thus could easily be overwhelm but in a layered system of defensive arms would theoretically have Many chances to destroy enemy missiles and even to attack ones slipping through the first or second lines of for the United space weapons would be intended particularly to counter soviet ss18 which have a Range of about Miles and can carry 10 nuclear according to Reagan administration space defences might also de stroy which have a Range of about Miles and present a threat to Western but West european because of the proximity of the countries of the Warsaw Are Primar ily worried about a different set of soviet weapons nuclear armed bombers and smaller cruise artillery shells and a variety of Low flying the missiles include ss21s with a Range of about 70 ss22s 550 Miles and ss23s 300 As distinct from strategic which travel Many thousands of these Are known As tactical mis in Europe we will always be said Yves a researcher at the French Institute of International relations in we May get the but the the artillery and the tactical missile will get an emerging question in Europe is whether such soviet weapons might be stopped by devising a new generation of anti tactical based on the ground rather than in these defensive weapons would Fly rapidly to obliterate soviet warheads closing in on one possible anti tactical missile might be an advanced version of the which is currently being deployed with Ameri can troops in Europe for defense against enemy the Pentagon has studied the possibility of design ing new defences against Short Range soviet in the months after reagans Star wars a panel headed by the american strategist Fred Hoffman said such research should reduce Allied anxieties that our increased emphasis on defences might indicate a weakening in our commitment to the defense of european responses have tended to be one fear is that ground based anti tactical missiles could easily be another is that Leaky while theoretically worthwhile for North would have few advantages for storage and troop concentrations Are always going to be More vulnerable than out in the if a bomb goes off Miles euro Pean targets Are intrinsically soft and therefore hard to in some administration officials have said that a Leaky defense of the United states would be worthwhile because it would protect Many missile silos if not cities thus discouraging soviet planners from launching a preemptive to some european the technical difficulties of trying to protect Europe in no Way less in the allure of space defences for the destruction of j soviet Long Range the Protection of North America they would suffice to increase european Security because the United states would be More willing to Aid its allies in a in this the current american nuclear Gua Rantee is a poor Promise at Best no american Presil Dent would order a nuclear strike to defend Bonn or i Paris when to do so would mean the destruction of american with the risks to America reduced by a system of the policy would become More said Gerald director of the Institute for european defense and strategic studies in the Institute is associated with the heritage a conservative research group in the counterpoint to this View is that space based defense might Foster isolationism in that the United technically Able to Retreat behind a defensive could abandon Europe to soviet according to some this whether real or might be enough to split the beyond the technical question of whether their land can be defended lies another contentious Issue for europeans whether american and soviet space Shields would Render impotent and obsolete not Only american and soviet nuclear missiles but Europe As the question is of special moment for Britain and which have their own nuclear Here raw numbers Are viewed As the soviet with its Large number of missiles and War might easily overwhelm european ground de while the More limited arms of the French and British might pose a weak threat in at stake Are Pride and prestige As Well As military one fear of the French and British is that their status As world Powers would be lost by a switch to expensive systems of space based defense beyond the Means of their National the nuclear game is the last Opportunity for France to be a major said one French in his nuclear deterrence has his coun try has played a role in that strategy and in has enhanced his country europeans actually tend to like nuclear said Alford of they dont say we want More and More of but they say it is nuclear weapons on the their the fear they which has made it impossible to contemplate Over the Europe has stockpiled nuclear weapons mainly to counter the numerical superiority of conventional forces in the nations of the Warsaw although a recent goal has also been to reply to Mimrane and Star wars the Pentagon says space weapons might destroy such soviet missiles As is which have a Range and threaten Western but most european strategists say Many other nuclear like the is 23s and would easily slip under the proposed space barked on expensive programs to upgrade nuclear mis Siles on their the financial and social costs of such deployments have been Over easter weekend in West Ger Britain and tens of thousands of people protested the stationing of missiles in yet the Price is often viewed As negligible compared to the consequences of not having nuclear weapons in Benoit an arms control official in the French foreign emphasized the Point in a recent making the world Safe for conventional he is not at All appealing for euro sceptical of space based european leaders have tended to cautiously Back the research while objecting to testing and deployment of defensive in october the North Atlantic which is composed of legislators from nato coun reluctantly endorsed reagans research however undesirable some feel an american bal Listic missiles defense system would the statement the presence of solely a soviet system would be still less while soviet missile defense research there is every reason for american research to continue but the next Spring France publicly disparaged both the strategic goals and the at the Geneva disarmament conference of the United its new York times Francois de la said defensive weapons in space could threaten the stability and thus the peace that has resulted so far from the invulnerability of the Means of nuclear he added that reagans announcement alone of the intention to go Forward with the research constitutes in itself a Spur to redouble the Effort to build offensive systems As a Way to try to defeat any possible de the British reaction was Cool and be in a quid pro Thatcher agreed to support the research in Exchange for reagans agreement to these four Points the Western aim must not be to achieve superiority deployment of a space based de sense system would be a matter for negotiation the Overall aim must be to not deter and East West negotiations should aim to re Duce Levels of offensive in sir Geoffrey the British foreign raised the level of tacit criticism by caution ing that we must make sure we Are not developing what might prove to be Only a limited defense against weapons of devastating destructive in a major he listed a Host of questions and implied that answers to them might prove in West initial reaction to the Star wars plan was in defense minister Manfred Woerner said the strategic goals would Lead not to but soviet military Power Balette other naval 3d Ott Eidos 270 Otter 72 Iso naval Aufata 440 ground forces broken Down in tactical units motorized Rifle divisions 140 tank divisions 51 airborne divisions 7 coastal defense division 1 Page 14 the stars and stripes 86 divisions Union of soviet socialist republics 30 divisions it it Afghanistan nuclear forces icbms slams 940 just the but in a speech to the West German gave a warm endorsement to Star wars he said his government would not let itself be rushed into a decision but generally favored taking part in the were receptive to the american he told on March defense Secretary Caspar Wein Berger formally invited the allies to join in Star wars he set a deadline for response of 60 the offer was widely characterized by West european officials an ultimatum and viewed by Allied officials As a loyalty your country can do the Job exactly by a West German official so what it is really looking for is political Weinberger eventually backed Down on the but debate on the cooperation Issue has heated the main reason is that Europe feels it lags badly in High technology and sees Star wars re search As one Way to catch areas of application of the billion research program Are Likely to include materials science and space the head of the Star wars research James Abrahamson of the air told a group of american military contractors in april that he was fully confident our allies will be Able to Par he they will be in some against though Many West european companies have also voiced fears include a scientific brain Drain to the United states and Pentagon controls on the flow of Star wars according to company the Pentagon might want to limit the Exchange of techniques Between american and european researchers and to inhibit the Export of military technologies by in the the Reagan administration has tightened such controls in an attempt to halt the flow of High technology to the soviet according to Francois a former International Security adviser to the French defense one Way for european countries to overcome the barriers they fear is to form a banded european companies might be Able to work on such Pentagon projects As the quest for High Speed integrated he these Are going to be used in ski and everywhere they have tremendous but the program is completely closed to the theres no partly in response to such the French government in april proposed the founding of a euro Pean research coordination or the Agency would conduct peaceful scientific research in areas similar to those of a european alternative to the space defense plan is the last thing desired by american they hoped for a firm endorse ment of the research plan at the Bonn Summit meet besieged by questions and especially from the British and administration officials then said they would Settle for a vague supporting paragraph in the final but there was no such and president Francois Mitterrand took the occasion to reject the invitation to take part in the the immediate Issue for countries other than France is whether to accept the West Germany is widely considered Likely to take Kohl said that joining in the research could increase Bonns influence on questions of deployment and but Karsten the foreign policy spokesman for the opposition social dismissed Kohls position As to participate in the research is to endorse the Voigt we say dont take part in ski by Means of Public agreements or we have nothing against participation on a private com Pany to but to think you can buy influence by taking part in a research program is an and if you join the you Are also part of possible East West conflicts that an official in Kohls office saying the stakes were too High to merely sit on the negotiations in Geneva Promise Radical reductions in the soviet he and therefore Strong Allied support of the american position is he added that successful negotiations might paradoxically eliminate altogether the need for the deployment of space based beyond debates Over arms talks and political expediency lies what appears to be a fundamental Consen by All european officials want Noth ing to do with the actual deployment of space based governments fear that for Europe space arms would be useless and York May the stars and stripes Page 16