NOW EVERYBODY, ESCALATE!

EVERY U.S. Administration has, of course, its own Newspeak. The New Frontier's private language has a certain eyeball-to-eyeball drama to it, and nowhere more so than in the area of national defense. Thus a news inter view with a Top Government Spokesman might go like this:

Reporter: I suppose everybody over at the Pentagon is busy on weaponry and such?

Top Government Spokesman: Oh, indeed. They have Nukes to think about. Also the Nuclear Threshold. And Counterforce Strategy. They're right in there, Opting all the time.

R.: Opting?

T.G.S.: You have to Opt. There is the question of Overkill and of X Number of Megadeaths. And you have to watch the Escalate Factor every minute.

R.: Sounds dangerous.

T.G.S.: Not if you Opt for a Flexible Stance.

R.: How do you do that?

T.G.S.: You simply Quantify your Permissive Response.

R.: That brings to mind the problems of a Nuclear--er. Nuke Force for NATO, and the attendant difficulties with France.

T.G.S.: Fortunately, that situation now Smells of Reality. In Europe, we are off The Monnet Track and on the Nuclear Track.

R.: Was there a danger of too many nations seeking a nuclear capability?

T.G.S.: Eh?

R.: I mean Proliferation.

T.G.S.: Right. Proliferation. The Multilateral Track was best. The Multinational Concept was Less Viable. It Restricted Opts. If they want the Bang, they have to be Willing To Pay For It.

R.: How does all this affect Berlin?

T.G.S.: There was a possibility of a Crunch with the enemy. He was aware of a Disadvantageous Confrontation.

R.: He didn't like that, eh?

T.G.S.: It was Counterproductive.

R.: And now?

T.G.S.: Now, of course, there is some distrust in the Alliance, and a certain Asymmetry in this distrust. But still not so much as to Invite a Soviet Pre-emptive Attack. He's aware of the Devastating Power of our Second Strike Capability, so he prefers to Opt for Pressure along the Economic Track.

R.: But why?

T.G.S.: He's a Scavenger of the Transition.

R.: And Cuba?

T.G.S.: A Gut Issue. But the Pentagon has exercised good Crisis Management.

R.: And the White House?

T.G.S.: When the Soviets Opted to Escalate the Cuban Affair with Nukes, the White House made a Flexible Response. Thanks to good Threat Perception, our Options Broadened.

R.: One Option was the Selective Blockade?

T.G.S.: Right.

R.: Is it Viable?

T.G.S.: No. But it is a Sculptural Process.

R.: What about an American invasion of Cuba?

T.G.S.: There was Dialogue and A Feasibility Study was conducted.

R.: And the conclusion was that an invasion is. . . .?

T.G.S.: Feasless.

R.: Thank you.

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