A cartoon depicting Soviets using a wrench to twist the Strategic Defense Initiative drawn during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union reveals the Russian fear of SDI and the Soviet attempts to safeguard their nation. The Soviets' restraint of SDI, along with manipulative arms negotiations and secrecy about the Russians' own military projects, guided the USSR through the threatening era of Star Wars.

SDI, or Star Wars, was an advanced plan of military defense that would be located in space to shoot down any missiles heading toward the US. Although it was never proven feasible, Star Wars was a 26 billion dollar project that wasted nearly a decade of testing and experimentation. Headlines such as "Holes in the Impenetrable Shield" and "Scientists Shoot Down Star Wars" cast doubt of the plan's probability over a leery American public.

Although feasibility is a main theme to any project, the issues creating the most turmoil over SDI were entirely political. When Reagan introduced Star Wars in a speech on March 23, 1983, his intentions were unclear. He said the plan was an attempt to render offensive missiles "impotent and obsolete." In an article published in The New Republic, "Nuclear Realism, Nuclear Idealism", Leon Wieseltier wrote that Reagan had became an idealist and that he believed SDI was a path to peace ridding the earth of all nuclear weapons. Reagan believed that if the Soviets knew there was a shield to counter-act on-coming missiles, maybe they wouldn't launch any. He foolishly ignored, however, that perhaps the US militarization of outer space would only prolong the nuclear Cold War. Usually, a build-up on defense simply leads to more offense. In the eyes of the Western arms control community as well as many peace activists, Star Wars would only revitalize the arms race.

In the cartoon, the wrench is a tool used by the Soviets, who were intimidated by SDI, to dismantle or take the bolts out of Star Wars. The Soviet Union was currently at an advantage with its land based missiles when Reagan proposed SDI. Star Wars was unlike anything the Russians had ever seen. In 1985, a leading West German defense analyst said, "I have never seen Soviet officials so emotional as they are over Star Wars." Competing with SDI was considered one of the greatest challenges the Soviets had faced in years. But Gorbachev knew there was one way to get around Star Wars, and that was simply not to allow it.

Gorbachev, like the wrench in the cartoon, was simple but harsh. He would not agree to any arms control talks until the development of Star Wars was stopped. Similarly, when Reagan wanted to internationalize atomic energy, the Soviets demanded a ban on all atomic weapons. Now Gorbachev wanted to ban Star Wars. Reagan remained stubborn and experimentation was not ended. It was limited, though, and decreased much more than Reagan had anticipated. All meetings and relations between the US and the Soviet Union were now on Gorbachev's terms.

The wrench can also be seen as a tool used to twist something, like President Reagan's arm. The Soviets wanted, as did many US officials, Reagan to trade SDI away for significant reductions in the Soviet land-based missile force. This negotiation, though supported by many realists and liberal Americans, remained vague and unpursued. Reagan announced several times that he would not let SDI, part of his presidential legacy, become a bargaining chip. However, according to articles in Time and U.S. News and World Report, if Reagan did not halt Star Wars or bargain it away, the US would be put on the defensive internationally with NATO and other such organizations. Reagan would be deemed uncooperative with arms negotiations. Geoffrey Howe, British foreign secretary, claimed, "The Soviets are even unwilling to take yes for an answer."

Lastly, the KGB officers give the cartoon an aura of secrecy and mistrust. Although the Soviets insisted on banning US's new weapons, they spoke very little about their own military progress. The Soviets had constructed a defensive warning system in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, and the city of Moscow was protected by the world's only anti-ballistic missile system. Zagladin, the Communist Party international affairs specialist, said the Soviets were not working on anything like SDI, then later added, "We have the potential to develop laser and particle beams if necessary." Actually, Soviet scientists were working on laser beams that might have been deployed in space. When asked about the lasers, Soviets said they were for medical applications.

This double-standard is the aspect of the cartoon that makes the wrench an "anti-missile weapon" and not simply a tool. The Soviets were denying the US of Star Wars yet keeping their current advantage in strategic weaponry. They had advanced land-based weapons and the US had nothing to protect itself. Retaliation would once again be the only alternative.

Development of Star Wars continued, with no reward, through the 1980's. Soviet officials monitored US laboratories while US scientists looked in on Soviet experimentation. The probability of SDI ever existing died with the Cold War and was virtually forgotten after the Reagan administration. Although many believe the US "won" the Cold War, Gorbachev played the key role in ending it. If anything, Reagan and his

plan for Star Wars only prolonged the end.