SALT parities
It is far too early to descry the significance — let alone the meaning — of the Moscow Agreement on strategic arms limitation between Mr Brezhnev and President Ford. But their accord does signify that the round of talks and concessions, which had been brought to a halt partly by the obduracy of the Russians and partly because of the vigilance of Congress have regained momentum. If this is to lead to genuinely balanced force reductions on both sides, well and good. But SALT One had all the serious weakness ascribed to it by Senator Jackson: the concessions contained therein weakened the United States far more than they did the USSR, and weakened the allies of the United States in Europe in particular. So far as can be seen, the present agreement is designed to ensure parity of numbers in nuclear delivery systems between the two great powers, but nothing has so far been hinted about parity of firepower, in which the Russians are, at the moment, considerably superior. Much more remains to be done, and much care will have to be exercised by Congress in scrutinising any detailed agreement arrived at. For their part the European powers will have to look carefully to their interests as well.
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