Spectral lines: Arms control II

Public apprehension about the possibility of nuclear war continues to mount. In a poll of 1420 adults across the U.S. taken by the New York Times and CBS News Poll May 19¿23, 43 percent said it was ¿fairly likely¿ or ¿very likely¿ that the U.S. would become involved in a nuclear war within the decade. Soon after, U.S. Department of Defense policy makers made the public aware of a five-year defense plan that assumes nuclear conflict with the USSR could be protracted and defines the strategy for fighting such a nuclear war. Part of that strategy, for example, would be reliance on the so-called decapitation principle ¿ that is, strikes aimed at political and military leadership and communications lines.