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SALT Treaties

1. Richard Nixon took the next step toward weapons control when he assumed the Presidency in
1969. Facing deep divisions in a country torn apart by the Vietnam War, Nixon wanted to restore
national and international stability. Although he was suspicious at first of seeming to appear
weak by being willing to compromise, he soon came to realize that a nuclear pact could rest at
the center of a network of contacts with the Soviet Union. Arms control could provide the
"linkage" for all the elements of his foreign policy. Thirty months after negotiations called the
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) began, the SALT I Treaty was the result. Signed in
Moscow on May 26,1972, and ratified by the Senate several months later, the SALT I Treaty
included an agreement restricting each nation to developing and deploying two antiballistic
missile systems, on the ground that such defensive systems might encourage a nation to launch a
pre-emptive strike. There was also an interim agreement for five years that set ceilings on
intercontinental and other ballistic missiles in an effort to find a point where the two nations
would be relatively evenly matched.

Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the
Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems The United States of America and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, Proceeding from the premise that nuclear
war would have devastating consequences for all mankind, Considering that effective measures to
limit anti-ballistic missile systems would be a substantial factor in curbing the race in strategic
offensive arms and would lead to a decrease in the risk of outbreak of war involving nuclear weapons,
Proceeding from the premise that the limitation of anti-ballistic missile systems, as well as certain
agreed measures with respect to the limitation of strategic offensive arms, would contribute to the
creation of more favorable conditions for further negotiations on limiting strategic arms, . . .

Declaring their intention to achieve at the earliest possible date the cessation of the nuclear arms race
and to take effective measures toward reductions in strategic arms, nuclear disarmament, and general
and complete disarmament, Desiring to contribute to the relaxation of international tension and the
strengthening of trust between States, Have agreed as follows:

Article I

1. Each Party undertakes to limit anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems and to adopt other measures in
accordance with the provision of this Treaty.

2. Each party undertakes not to deploy ABM systems for a defense of the territory of its country and
not to provide a base for such a defense, and not to deploy ABM systems for defense of an individual
region except as provided for in Article III [permitting two systems] of this Treaty.

Article II

1. For the Purpose of this Treaty an ABM system is a system to counter strategic ballistic missiles or
their elements in flight trajectory.

...

Interim Agreement Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
on Certain Measures with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms The United States of
America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, Convinced
that the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems and this Interim Agreement on
Certain Measures with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms will contribute to the
creation of more favorable conditions for active negotiations on limiting strategic arms as well as to
the relaxation of international tension and the strengthening of trust between States, Taking into
account the relationship between strategic offensive and defensive arms, . . .

Have agreed as follows:

Article I

The Parties undertake not to start construction of additional fixed land-based intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM) launchers after July 1, 1972.

Article II

The Parties undertake not to convert land-based launchers for light ICBMs, or for ICBMs of older
types deployed prior to 1964, into land-based launchers for heavy ICBMs of types deployed after that
time.

Article III

The Parties undertake to limit submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers and modern
ballistic missile submarines to the numbers operational and under construction on the date of signature
of this Interim Agreement, and in addition to launchers and submarines constructed under procedures
established by the Parties as replacements for an equal number of ICBM launchers of older types
deployed prior to 1964 or for launchers on older submarines.

...

2. Because the interim agreement was to last only five years, negotiations for a new pact began
almost immediately. President Jimmy Carter, who took office in 1977, supported a SALT II
Treaty, and negotiations culminated in a document signed in Vienna, Austria, on June 18,1979.
This treaty began with the preamble reproduced here, which was then followed by detailed
restrictions far more complex than those in previous treaties. While SALT II was a step forward,
it met with a chilly response in the United States. Supporters of arms control claimed that it
legitimized arms competition. Opponents contended that it gave too much away. With the Senate
divided, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, on its southern border, killed any possibility of
ratification, for legislators were afraid of seeming to approve of the incursion, and Carter
withdrew the treaty. The episode indicated that the cold war was still very much alive.

The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as
the Parties, Conscious that nuclear war would have devastating consequences for all mankind, . . .

Attaching particular significance to the limitation of strategic arms and determined to continue their
efforts begun with the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems and the Interim
Agreement on Certain Measures with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, of May
26, 1972, Convinced that the additional measures limiting strategic offensive arms provided for in this
Treaty will contribute to the improvement of relations between the Parties, help to reduce the risk of
outbreak of nuclear war and strengthen international peace and security, . . .

Guided by the principle of equality and equal security, Recognizing that the strengthening of strategic
stability meets the interests of the Parties and the interests of international security, Reaffirming their
desire to take measures for the further limitation and for the further reduction of strategic arms, having
in mind the goal of achieving general and complete disarmament, Declaring their intention to
undertake in the near future negotiations further to limit and further to reduce strategic offensive arms,

Have agreed as follows: . . .

Here followed page after page specifying caps on the number of warheads that could be placed
on missiles, limiting the numbers of multiple-warheaded missiles, and freezing the number of
weapons-delivery systems permitted.

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