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However, there were—and still are —serious political obstacles. Schmidt has warned that he opposes basing the new weapons on West German soil, unless other Continental NATO countries also accept them. This deployment could invite a destructive pre-emptive Soviet attack, and Schmidt, reasonably enough, wants to "spread" this danger. Says he: "We Germans are not prepared to be alone in taking the risks." Bonn also insists that the new arms, unlike the short-range nuclear weapons currently under dual U.S.-West German control, must remain completely in American control. By keeping Bonn's hands off these nukes, Schmidt hopes to avoid fueling fears of a resurgent German militarism. Says a West German general:
"The suspicion is always there among our neighbors in all directions. We must make sure that it's not heightened." The worst suspicions, of course, smolder still in the Kremlin.
As next week's NATO conference approaches, it seems certain that Britain, Italy, Belgium and West Germany will accept the new missiles. So too might The Netherlands, which has been the most reluctant to endorse deployment of nuclear weapons. The Dutch government, as well as the governments of some other NATO countries, faces vocal and well-organized pacifist and left-wing opposition to almost any arms modernization measures. To a great extent, it has been to placate these groups that NATO plans to try to negotiate arms cuts with the Soviets.
If, as expected, the NATO ministers approve the proposed new measures, the alliance will be on its way to countering the latest Soviet threat. But until the new theater nuclear weapons start reaching their European bases in 1983, NATO will remain vulnerable to the Kremlin's exploitation. "It is not going to be an easy three years," predicted a Western diplomat last week. Even so, NATO at least is demonstrating that after a quarter-century of challenges from the East, it is prepared to face its newest threat.