OPINION:
“Learning lessons from World War II and the Cold War” (Web, July 7) points out the obvious truism that weakness is provocative because it inevitably emboldens enemies. Throughout the Cold War, America, with the Western allies Britain and France, maintained strong nuclear-deterrent forces to deter the Soviet Union. The stand-off acquired the moniker MAD, or Mutual Assured Destruction, clearly indicating that there could be no winner of a nuclear war.
The world has changed significantly since the fall of the Soviet Union, and we are now far less secure than we were during the Cold War. The problems we now face were foreseeable 15 years ago, causing us to write a series of articles proposing two courses of action: Continue to improve and deploy an effective missile defense, and work with allies to develop ways to enhance security in this increasingly unstable environment.
Sadly, there has been little progress; the effectiveness of our missile defenses are still unproven and little has been attempted to develop other ways of enhancing security.
The very points highlighted by Clifford May as lessons we should have learned from the two World Wars of the previous century remain unlearned. We have grown comparatively less secure while those hostile to us have grown stronger.
Some may consider that the current COVID-19 pandemic has made concern about nuclear weapons and missiles moot. We, however, believe that as a sovereign nation we should be prepared to repel every form of attack. It is noteworthy that the concerns we have expressed for so long still do not get listed among the priorities of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in the National Defense Strategy. We still have a great deal to accomplish.
STANLEY ORMAN
Rockville, Md.
MAJ. GEN. EUGENE FOX
U.S. Army (retired)
Plano, Texas
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