National Security: President Reagans Address on Defense and National Security 3/23/83

my fellow Americans thank you for sharing your time with me tonight the subject I want to discuss with you peace and National Security is both timely and important timely because I've reached a decision which offered A New Hope for our children in the 21st century a decision I'll tell you about in a few minutes and important because there's a very big decision that you must make for yourselves this subject involves the most basic Duty that any president and any people share the duty to protect and strengthen the peace at the beginning of this year I submitted to the Congress a defense budget which reflects my best judgment and the best understanding of the experts and Specialists who advise me about what we and our allies must do to protect our people in the years ahead that budget is much more than a long list of numbers for behind all the numbers lies America's ability to prevent the greatest of human tragedies and preserve our free way of life in a sometimes dangerous world it is part of a careful long-term plan to make America strong again after too many years of neglect and mistakes our efforts to rebuild America's defenses and strengthen the peace began two years ago when we requested a major increase in the defense program since then the amount of those increases we first proposed has been reduced by half through improvements in management and procurement and other savings the budget request that is now before the Congress has been trimmed to the limits of safety further deep Cuts cannot be made without seriously endangering the security of the nation the choice is up to the men and women you've elected to the Congress and that means the choice is up to you tonight I want to explain to you what this defense debate is all about and why I'm con vinced that the budget now before the Congress is necessary responsible and deserving of your support and I want to offer hope for the future but first let me say what the defense debate is not about it is not about spending arithmetic I know that in the last few weeks you've been bombarded with numbers and percentages some say we need only a 5% increase in defense spending the so-called alternate budget backed by liberals in the House of Representatives would lower the figure to 2 to 3% cutting our defense spending by $163 billion over the next 5 years the trouble with all these numbers is that they tell us little about the kind of Defense program America needs or the benefits in security and freedom that our defense effort buys for us what seems to have been lost in all this debate is the simple truth of how a defense budget is arrived at it isn't done by deciding to spend a certain number of dollars those loud voices that are occasionally heard charging that the government is trying to solve a security problem by throwing money at it are nothing more than noise based on ignorance we start by considering what must be done to maintain peace and review all the possible threats against our security then a strategy for strengthening peace and defending against those threats must be agreed upon and finally our defense establishment must be evaluated to see what is necessary to protect against any or all of the potential threats the cost of achieving these ends is total up and the result is the budget for National Defense there is no logical way that you can say let's spend x billion dollar less you can only say which part of our defense measures do we believe we can do without and still have security against all contingencies anyone in the Congress who Advocates a percentage or specific dollar cut in defense spending should be made to say what part of our defenses he would eliminate and he should be candid enough to acknow know that his Cuts mean cutting our commitments to allies or inviting greater risk or both the defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise the United States does not start fights we will never be an aggressor we maintain our strength in order to deter and defend against aggression to preserve freedom and peace since the dawn of the atomic age we've sought to reduce the risk of War by maintaining a strong deterrent and by seeking genuine Arms Control deterrence means simply this making sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States or our allies or our Vital interests concludes that the risks to him outweigh any potential gains once he understands that he won't attack we maintain the peace through our strength weakness only invites aggression this strategy of deterrence has not changed it still works but what it takes to maintain deterrence has changed it took one kind of military force to deter an attack when we had far more nuclear weapons than any other power it takes Another Kind now that the Soviets for example have enough accurate and Powerful nuclear weapons to destroy virtually all of our missiles on the ground now this is not to say that the Soviet Union is planning to make war on us nor do I believe a war is inevitable quite the contrary but what must be recognized is that our security is based on being prepared to meet all threats there was a time when we depended on Coastal Forts and artillery batteries because with the Weaponry of that day any attack would have had to come by sea well this is a different world and our defenses must be based on recognition and awareness of the Weaponry possessed by other nations in the nuclear age we can't afford to believe we will never be threatened there have been two world wars in my lifetime we didn't start them and indeed did everything we could to avoid being drawn into them but we were ill prepared prepared for both had we been better prepared peace might have been preserved for 20 years the Soviet Union has been accumulating enormous military night they didn't stop when their forces exceeded all requirements of a legitimate defensive capability and they haven't sto now during the past decade and a half the Soviets have built up a massive arsenal of new strategic nuclear weapons weapons that can strike directly at the United States as an example the United States introduced its last new intercontinental ballistic missile the Minute Man 3 in 1969 and we're now dismantling our even older Titan missiles but what has the Soviet Union done in these intervening years well since 1969 the Soviet Union has built five new classes of icbms and upgraded these eight times as a result their missiles are much more powerful and accurate than they were several years ago and they continue to develop more while ours are increasingly obsolete the same thing has happened in other areas over the same period the Soviet Union built four new classes of Submarine launched ballistic missiles and over 60 new missile submarines we built two new types of Submarine missiles and actually withdrew 10 submarines from strategic missions the Soviet Union built over 200 new backfire fire bombers and their brand new Blackjack bomber is now under development we haven't built a new longrange bomber since our B-52s were deployed about a quarter of a century ago and we've already retired several hundred of those because of old age indeed despite what many people think our strategic forces only cost about 15% of the defense budget another example of what's happened in 1978 the Soviets had 600 intermediate range nuclear missiles based on land and were beginning to add the ss20 a new highly accurate mobile missile with three Warheads we had none since then the Soviets have strengthened their lead by the end of 1979 when Soviet leader BNF declared a balance now exists the Soviets had over 800 Warheads we still had none a year ago this month Mr brn pledged a moratorium or freeze on ss20 deployment but by last August their 800 Warheads had become more than 12200 we still had none some freeze at this time Soviet defense minister HOV announced approximate parity of forces continues to exist but the Soviets are still adding an average of three new Warheads a week and now have 1,300 these Warheads can reach their targets in a matter of a few minutes we still have none so far it seems that the Soviet definition of parity is a box score of 1300 to nothing in their favor so together with our NATO allies we decided in 1979 to deploy new weapons beginning this year as a deterrent to their ss20 is and as an incentive to the Soviet Union to meet us in serious Arms Control negotiations we will begin that deployment late this year at the same time however we're willing to cancel our program if the Soviets will dismantle theirs this is what we've called a z00 plan the Soviets are now at the negotiating table and I think it's fair to say that without our planned deployments they wouldn't be there now let's consider conventional forces since 1974 the United States has produced 3,50 tactical combat aircraft by contrast the Soviet Union has produced twice as many when we look at attack submarines the United States has produced 27 while the Soviet Union has produced 61 for armored vehicles including tanks we've produced 11,200 the Soviet Union has produced 54,000 nearly 5 to1 in their favor finally with artillery we've produced 950 artillery and rocket launchers while the Soviets have produced more than 13,000 a staggering 14 to1 ratio there was a time when we were able to offset Superior Soviet numbers with higher quality but today they're building weapons as sophisticated and modern as our own as the Soviets have increased their military power they've been emboldened to extend that power they're spreading their military influence in ways that can directly challenge our Vital interests and those of our allies the following aerial photographs most of them see secret until now illustrate this point in a crucial area very close to home Central America and the Caribbean Basin they're not dramatic photographs but I think they help give you a better understanding of what I'm talking about this Soviet intelligence collection facility less than 100 miles from our Coast is the largest of its kind in the world the acres and Acres of antenna fields and intelligence monitors are targeted on key US military installation and sensitive activities the installation in lordes Cuba is manned by 1500 Soviet technicians and the satellite ground station allows instant Communications with Moscow this 28 squ M facility has grown by more than 60% in size and capability during the past decade in Western Cuba we see this military Airfield and its complement of modern soviet-built Mig 23 aircraft the Soviet Union uses this Cuban Airfield for its own long range reconnaissance missions and earlier this month two modern Soviet anti-submarine Warfare aircraft began operating from it during the past two years the level of Soviet arms exports to Cuba can only be compared to the levels reached during the Cuban Missile Crisis 20 years ago this third photo which is the only one in this series that has been previously made public shows Soviet military hardware that has made its way to Central America this Airfield with its mi8 helicopters anti-aircraft guns and protected fighter sites is one of a number of military facilities in Nicaragua which has received Soviet equipment funnel through Cuba and reflects the massive military buildup going on in that country on the small island of Grenada at the southern end of the Caribbean chain the Cubans with Soviet financing and backing are in the process of building an Airfield with a 10,000 ft Runway Grenada doesn't even have an Air Force who is it intended for the Caribbean is a very important passageway for our International Commerce and Military lines of communication more than half of All American oil imports now pass through the Caribbean the rapid buildup of grenada's military potential is unrelated to any conceivable threat to this island country of under 110,000 people and totally at odds with the pattern of other Eastern Caribbean States most of which are unarmed the Soviet Cuban militarization of Grenada in short can only be seen as power projection into the region and it is in this important economic and strategic area that we're trying to help the governments of El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras and others in their struggles for democracy against guerillas supported through Cuba and Nicaragua these pictures only tell a small part of the story I wish I could show you more without compromising our most sensitive intelligence sources and methods but the Soviet Union is also supporting Cuban military forces in Angola and Ethiopia they have bases in Ethiopia and south Yemen near the Persian Gulf oil fields they have taken over the port that we built at camran Bay in Vietnam and now for the first time in history the Soviet navy is a force to be reckoned with in the South Pacific some people may still ask would the Soviets ever use their formidable military power well again can we afford to believe they won't there is Afghanistan and in Poland the Soviets denied the will of the people and in so doing demonstrated the world how their military power could also be used to intimidate the final fact is that the Soviet Union is acquiring what can only be considered an offensive military force they have continued to build far more intercontinental ballistic missiles than they could possibly need simply to deter an attack their conventional forces are trained and equip not so much to defend against an attack as they are to permit sudden surprise offensives of their own our NATO allies have assumed a great defense burden including the military draft in most countries we're working with them and our other friends around the world to do more our defensive strategy means we need military forces that can move very quickly forces that are trained and ready to respond to any emergency every item in our defense program our ships our tanks our planes our funds for training and spare parts is intended for one all important purpose to keep the peace unfortunately a decade of neglecting our military forces had called into question our ability to do that when I took office in January 1981 I was appalled by what I found American planes that couldn't fly and American ships that couldn't sail for lack of spare parts and trained personnel and insufficient Fuel and ammunition for essential training the inevitable result of all this was poor morale in our Armed Forces difficulty in recruiting the brightest Young Americans to wear the uniform and difficulty in convincing our most experienced military personnel to stay on there was a real question then about how well we could meet a crisis and it was obvious that we had to begin a major mod modernization program to ensure we could deter aggression and preserve the peace in the years ahead we had to move immediately to improve the basic Readiness and staying power of our conventional forces so they could meet and therefore help deter a crisis we had to make up for lost years of investment by moving forward with a long-term plan to prepare our forces to counter the military capabilities our adversaries were developing for the future I know that all of you want peace and so do I I know too that many of you seriously believe that a nuclear freeze would further the cause of Peace but a freeze now would make us less not more secure and would raise not reduce the risks of War it would be largely unverifiable and would seriously undercut our negotiations on arms reduction it would reward the Soviets for their massive military buildup while preventing us from modernizing our aging and increasingly vulnerable forces with their present margin of superiority why should they agree to Arms reductions knowing that we were prohibited from catching up believe me it wasn't pleasant for someone who had come to Washington determined to reduce government spending but we had to move forward with the task of repairing our defenses or we would lose our ability to deter conflict now and in the future we had to demonstrate to any adversary that aggression could not succeed and that the only real solution was substantial Equitable and effectively verifiable arms reduction the kind we're working for right now in Geneva thanks to your strong support and bipartisan support from the Congress we began to turn things around already we're seeing some very encouraging results quality Recruitment and Retention are up dramatically more high school graduates are choosing military careers and more experienced career personnel are choosing to stay our men and women in uniform at last are getting the tools and training they need to do their jobs ask around today especially among our young people and I think you'll find a whole new attitude towards serving their country this reflects more than just better pay equipment and Leadership you the American people have sent a signal to these young people that it is once again an honor to wear the uniform that's not something you measure in a budget but it's a very real part of our nation strength it'll take us longer to build the kind of equipment we need to keep peace in the future but we've made a good start we haven't built a new long range bomber for 21 years now we're building the B1 we hadn't launched one new strategic submarine for 17 years now we're building one Trident submarine a year our land-based missiles are increasingly threatened by the many huge new Soviet icbms we're determining how to solve that problem at the same time we're working in the start and INF negotiations with a goal of achieving deep reductions in the Strategic and intermediate nuclear arsenals of both sides we have also begun the long needed modernization of our conventional forces the Army is getting its first new tank in 20 years the Air Force is modernizing we're rebuilding our Navy which shrank from about a th000 ships in the late 1960s to 453 during the 1970s our nation needs a superior Navy to support our military forces and vital interests overseas we're now on the road to achieving a 600 ship Navy and increasing the amphibious capabilities of our Marines who are now serving the cause of Peace in Lebanon and we're building a real capability to assist our friends in the vitally important Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region this adds up to a major effort and it isn't cheap it comes at a time when there are many other pressures on our budget and when the American people have already had to make major sacrifices during the recession but we must not be misled by those who would make defense once again the scapegoat of the federal budget the fact is that in the past few decades we have seen a dramatic shift in how we spend the taxpayers dollar back in 1955 payments to individuals took up only about 20% of the federal budget for nearly three decades these payments steadily increased and this year will account for 49% of the budget by contrast in 1955 defense took up more than half of the federal budget by 1980 this spending had fallen to a low of 23% even with the increase that I am requesting this year defense will still amount to only 28% of the budget the calls for cutting back the defense budget come in nice simple arithmetic they're the same kind of talk that led the democracies to neglect their defenses in the 1930s and invited the tragedy of World War II we must not let that Grim chapter of history repeat itself through apathy or neglect this is why I'm speaking to you tonight to urge you to tell your senators and congressmen that you know we must continue to restore our military strength if we stop in Midstream we will send a signal of decline of lessened will to friends and adversaries like free people must voluntarily through open debate and Democratic means meet the challenge that totalitarians pose by compulsion it's up to us in our time to choose and Choose Wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving Peace and Freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of Freedom grow stronger day by day the solution is well within our grasp but to reach it there is simply no alternative but to continue this year in this budget to provide the resources we need to preserve the peace and guarantee our freedom now thus far tonight I've shared with you my thoughts on the problems of National Security we must face together my predecessors in the Oval Office have appeared before you on other occasions to describe the threat posed by Soviet power and to propose steps to address that threat but since the ad of nuclear weapons those steps have been increasingly directed toward deterrence of aggression through the promise of retaliation this approach to stability through offensive threat has worked we and our allies have succeeded in preventing nuclear war for more than three decades in recent months however my advisers including in particular The Joint Chiefs of Staff have underscored the necessity to break out of a future that relies solely on offensive retaliation for our security over the course of these discussions I've become more and more deeply convinced that the human Spirit must be capable of rising above dealing with other nations and human beings by threatening their existence feeling this way I believe we must thoroughly examine every opportunity for reducing tensions and for introducing greater stability into the Strategic calculus on both sides one of the most important contributions we can make is of course to lower the level of all arms and particularly nuclear arms we're engaged right now in several negotiations with the Soviet Union to bring about a mutual reduction of weapons I will report to you a week from tomorrow my thoughts on that score but let me just say I'm totally committed to this course if the Soviet Union will join with us in our effort to achieve major arms reduction we will have succeeded in stabilizing the nuclear balance nevertheless it will still will be necessary to rely on the Spectre of retaliation on Mutual threat and that's a sad commentary on The Human Condition wouldn't it be better to save lives than to avenge them are we not capable of demonstrating our peaceful Intentions by applying all our abilities and our Ingenuity to achieving a truly lasting stability I think we are indeed we must after careful consultation with my advisers in including the Joint Chiefs of Staff I believe there is a way let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope it is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive let us turn to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great industrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy today what if free people could live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the threat of instant us retaliation to deter a Soviet attack that we could intercept and Destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies I know this is a formidable technical task one that may not be accomplished before the end of this Century yet current technology has attained a level of sophistication where it's reasonable for us to begin this effort it will take years probably Decades of effort on many fronts there will be failures and setbacks just as there will be successes and breakthroughs and as we proceed we must remain constant in preserving the nuclear deterrent and maintaining a solid capability for flexible response but isn't it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war we know it is in the meantime we will continue to pursue real reductions in nuclear arms negotiating from a position of strength that can be ensured only by modernized in our strategic forces at the same time we must take steps to reduce the risk of a conventional military conflict escalating to nuclear war by improving our non-nuclear capabilities America does possess now the Technologies to attain very significant improvements in the effectiveness of our conventional non-nuclear forces proceeding boldly with these new technologies we can significantly reduce any incentive that the Soviet Union may have to threaten attack against the United States or its allies as we pursue our goal of defensive Technologies we recognize that our allies Rely Upon Our strategic offensive power to deter attacks against them their vital interests and ours are inextricably linked their safety and ours are one and no change in technology can or will alter that reality we must and shall continue to honor our commitments I clearly recognize that defensive systems have limitations and raise certain problems and ambiguities if paired with offensive systems they can be viewed as fostering an aggressive policy and no one wants that but with these considerations firmly in mind I call upon the scientific community in our country those who gave us nuclear weapons to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace to give us the means of rendering these new nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete tonight consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty and recognizing the need for closer consultation with our allies I'm taking an important first step I am directing a comprehensive and intensive effort to define a long-term research and development program to begin to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating the threat posed by strategic nuclear missiles this this could pave the way for arms control measures to eliminate the weapons themselves we seek neither military superiority nor political Advantage our only purpose one all people share is to search for ways to reduce the danger of nuclear war my fellow Americans tonight we're launching an effort which holds the promise of changing the course of human history there will be risks and results take time but I believe we can do it as we cross this threshold I ask for your prayers and your support thank you good night and God bless you

Channel: Reagan Foundation

Views: 91,666

Keywords: national security, reagan speeches

Id: ApTnYwh5KvE

Length: 29min 29sec (1769 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 16 2009