ACCESSION NUMBER:212644
FILE ID:TX-401
DATE:01/30/92
TITLE:EDITORIAL: STRENGTH IN PURSUIT OF PEACE (520) (01/30/92)
TEXT:*TXT401 01/30/92 92013001.TXT POEDIT VOA EDITORIAL AS
EDITORIAL: STRENGTH IN PURSUIT OF PEACE (520)
(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America January 30,
reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)
President George Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address on
Tuesday (January 28). Speaking before the members of the U.S. Congress, he
said, "We gather tonight at a dramatic and deeply promising time in our
history, and in the history of man on earth." President Bush said the past
year brought enormous changes to the world. In what used to be the Soviet
Union, a failed coup brought an end to a failed communist system. No
longer does the United States have an avowed enemy that is a superpower.
For the first time in 35 years, said President Bush, U.S. strategic bombers
are no longer on round-the-clock alert. Children can go to school and
study history and how plants grow. No longer do they need to have air raid
drills in which they crawl under their desks and cover their heads in case
of nuclear war. "There are still threats," Bush stressed. "But the long,
drawn-out dread is over."
President Bush pointed out that the Cold War didn't simply end -- it was
won. It was won by Americans and others who fought faithfully for freedom
-- in places like Korea and Vietnam, as well as last year in the Persian
Gulf. President Bush also gave credit to U.S. taxpayers. For half a
century, he said, "the American people have shouldered the burden, and paid
taxes that were higher than they would have been, to support a defense that
was bigger than it would have been if imperial communism had never
existed."
Now that the Soviet communist threat is gone, the United States can
accelerate its cuts in military expenditures. President Bush said the
United States will limit the production of the B-2 bomber and cancel the
small ICBM program. It will also cease production of new warheads for
sea-based ballistic missiles, stop all new production of the Peacekeeper
missile and not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles. Moreover,
1resident Bush will meet this weekend with Russian President Boris Yeltsin
to discuss further mutual arms reductions on the part of the United States
and the new Commonwealth of Independent States.
But as President Bush stressed, the world is still a dangerous place. The
United States "cannot repeat the mistakes made twice in this century, when
armistice was followed by recklessness, and defense was purged as if the
world were permanently safe." He said it is especially important to
continue support for the Strategic Defense Initiative, which is designed to
protect the United States and its allies from limited nuclear missile
attack.
President Bush also took issue with proponents of U.S. isolationism. He
said, "I will continue to lead in support of freedom everywhere -- not out
of arrogance, and not out of altruism, but for the safety and security of
our children. This is a fact: Strength in the pursuit of peace is no
vice; isolationism in the pursuit of security is no virtue."
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