EAST-WEST: Next Spring

Moscow may wait for SALT II

As part of his Administration's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter asked the Senate in January to suspend deliberation on the SALT II Treaty. The President was—and still is —committed to ratifying the treaty. But he recognized that SALT II was doomed to rejection if the Administration forced the issue. Better wait, Carter figured, until outrage over the Afghanistan invasion has died down—and until the Executive Branch is in a stronger position to press for ratification. That might mean after the November elections, when either a re-elected Carter or his successor...