BARELY three years ago Congress attempted to force Robert McNamara's Defense Department to go beyond the research and development stage of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) by voting $168 million for initial hardware. The skeptical McNamara, backed by the White House, refused to spend the extra funds. The very next year, in the face of domestic political pressure and continued weaponry development by the Chinese and Russians, the Johnson Administration reluctantly reversed itself. Now the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Melvin Laird seems eager to press ahead at full speed with an ABM system called...
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