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3RD DRAFT
this ultimate aim of approximate parity of ground forces should
be made by the United States and the Soviet Union, both of whom
occupy a special place in their respective Alliances, and whose
military resources are far greater than those of the other
participants.
28. The Warsaw Pact for its part has proposed equal percentage
reductions in all the forces of both sides. Although at lower
levels, this would perpetuate the current imbalance of forces
in the Warsaw Pact's favour and would do nothing to correct the
imbalance which the West believes to be a serious potential threat
to political stability in Europe. Nor would it be compatible
with the principle agreed by both sides that the outcome of MBFK
should assure undiminished security for both East and West at a
lower level of forces. On the basis proposed by the Warsaw Pact,
the smaller NATO forces could be reduced to a level at which they
could no longer effectively defend the existing (and irreducible)
frontier against the still superior Warsaw Pact forces
facing them; in which event their deterrent value, and hence the
security of the West, would be seriously impaired.
29. The West's preparations for the negotiations have been meti-
culous;
and its objectives and strategy have been the subject of
the closest possible consultation, as befits negotiations of such
crucial importance for the security of the Alliance. The unity
of the Alliance's negotiators is a powerful tribute to the flexi-
bility of the NATO consultative machinery and to the willingness
of members to subordinate national preoccupations and aims to the
common interest.
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