Polemic on General Line of International ... - From Marx to Mao

3. The U.S. Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff hasmapped out plans for nuclear war against the Soviet Unionand other socialist countries. Robert McNamara, the U.S.Secretary of Defence, declared at the beginning of this year:. . . we have provided, throughout the period underconsideration, a capability to destroy virtually all of the“soft-” [above-ground] and “semi-hard” [semi-protected]military targets in the Soviet Union and a large numberof their fully hardened missile sites, with an additionalcapability in the form of a protected force to be employedor held in reserve for use against urban and industrialareas. 1The United States has strengthened its network of nuclearmissile bases directed against the socialist camp and hasgreatly strengthened the disposition of its missile-equippednuclear submarines abroad.At the same time, the troops of the NATO bloc under U.S.command have pushed eastward this year and approachedthe borders of the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia.4. The Kennedy Administration has reinforced its militarydispositions in Asia, Latin America and Africa and madegreat efforts to expand the “special forces” of its land, seaand air services in order to cope with the people’s revolutionarymovement in those areas. The United States hasturned southern Viet Nam into a proving ground for “specialwarfare” and increased its troops there to more than 16,000.5. It has strengthened its war commands. It has set upa “U.S. Strike Command” which controls a combined landand air force maintaining high combat readiness in peacetime, so that it can be readily sent to any place in the worldto provoke wars. It has also set up national military commandcentres both above and below ground, and organized an Emer-1R. S. McNamara, Statement Before the Armed Services Committeeof the U.S. House of Representatives, January 30, 1963.234