FIRING LINE DEBATE, A: RESOLVED: WE SHOULD GO FULL SPEED ON STAR WARS {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Part one of two. One in this talk/interview series hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr. This program takes the form of a panel discussion on the following resolution: "We should go full speed on Star Wars." Speaking in favor of the resolution are Buckley, presidential science-policy adviser George Keyworth, retired general Daniel O. Graham, and Wall Street Journal editorial writer Gregory Fossedal. Responding against the resolution are Robert Shrum, chairman of the Fund for a Democratic Majority; Georgetown law professor Barry Carter; Harvard public-policy professor Albert Carnesale; and John Pike, director of space policy for the Federation of American Scientists. After the moderator, University of South Carolina president James B. Holderman, gives an introduction, Buckley officially proposes the resolution, stating that in regard to the Reagan administration's proposed Star Wars (the Strategic Defense Initiative) program, "You are better off dealing with a potential aggressor by protecting yourself against him than by killing him." To that end, he proposes "shielding human beings from destruction rather than threatening to destroy human beings in order to deter destruction" and calls the SDI "a step in a civilized direction." In presenting the counter-argument, Shrum asserts that he favors "reasonable research on Star Wars at a reasonable pace," but warns that SDI will probably fail to protect people. Next, the panelists take turns making opening statements and questioning the opposition. Graham calls for a change from the existing deterrence of mutually assured destruction and suggests the protection of the SDI's defensive umbrella. Carter says he fears that American employment of Star Wars might prompt the Soviet Union to build more weapons and/or frighten the U.S.S.R. into a first strike. Fossedal maintains that SDI is unnecessary to deter Soviet planners from spending billions on weapons that may never get to their targets. And Carnesale argues that the dangers posed by the Soviets' finding ways around the proposed American program would far outweigh the benefits of a protective shield. Continues with T:59790.
(Network affiliation varies; this program was also syndicated from 1966 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1977.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore R. Stanley.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: May 10, 1985
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:54
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:61389
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI); U S - Foreign relations - U S S R; U S S R - Foreign relations - U S
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Warren Steibel … Producer, Director
- Paul Sweeney … Associate Producer
- George Kahookele … Direction (Misc.), Assistant Director
- Dorothy McCartney … Researcher
- William F. Buckley, Jr. … Host, Panelist
- James B. Holderman … Moderator
- Albert Carnesale … Panelist
- Barry Carter … Panelist
- Gregory Fossedal … Panelist
- Daniel O. Graham … Panelist
- George Keyworth … Panelist
- John Pike … Panelist
- Robert Shrum … Panelist
- Ronald Reagan