Deterring Chemical War: The Reagan Formula


 

Publication Date: June 1983

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Manfred R. Hamm

Research Area: Military and defense

Keywords: National security

Type: Report

Abstract:

Congress again is debating the Reagan Administration's program to deter chemical warfare by modernizing America's aging and obsolescent inventory of chemical weapons. History teaches that chemical warfare erupts only against weak and unprotected forces incapable of retaliating. To prevent chemical attack, the U.S.-- in World War I1 and after--has had ready an arsenal prepared to respond in kind. No longer. In the past decade, America's chemical arsenal has grown increasingly weaker. This the Administration is attempting to reverse with a cautious force modernization program.