Substitute for Bombs

A shrill bell rang in Athens' marble Parliament chamber, and the top ministers of the 15 North Atlantic Treaty nations sat down once again to debate the question of atomic weapons. As had been obvious for weeks, Washington's longstanding scheme to give NATO its own nuclear striking force was virtually dead before the annual spring conference began. Britain, with its own bomb, was not interested, and Charles de Gaulle was too busy developing France's force de frappe to concern himself with putting nuclear weapons in the hands of others. In fact, the U.S. itself now was less than enthusiastic about the idea; among many Washington officials, there is a nagging doubt as to the wisdom of putting 15 fingers on the trigger of the Bomb.

A compromise scheme to soothe the disappointed West Germans and Dutch --and to give Europe a greater sense of participation--was an American proposal to furnish all NATO governments with some more precise information about the stockpiles of U.S. atomic weapons based on their soil, including a general outline of the targets assigned to each weapon. A more tangible substitute for a nuclear striking force: Washington announced that five missile-armed Polaris submarines henceforth will be assigned to NATO.

The vessels will remain under U.S. admirals, with U.S. crews, but the move should bolster confidence in the U.S. readiness to defend Europe.

Apart from weapons talk, the task of the U.S. was to clarify for the skeptical West Germans and French its proposals to the Soviet Union in the latest round of probing talks on Berlin (TIME, May 4).

Most of the clarifying took place at table.

By the time everyone had his meals and his say, it seemed clear that NATO's more important members were in general agreement with the U.S.'s initiative to seek a Berlin settlement--if the Russians really want one.

Following the familiar cyclical pattern, after the brief period of reduced tensions, a hard tone was creeping back into the U.S.-Soviet dialogue. Reason: Moscow's continuing insistence that any deal include removal of Western troops from Berlin. With U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk standing firm. Pravda unleashed another of its blasts at the U.S.

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