The Nation : Panel Says ‘Star Wars’ Wouldn’t Work

President Reagan’s proposed “Star Wars” missile defense system likely would “suffer a catastrophic failure” the first time it was used to protect the United States against a Soviet nuclear attack, the congressional Office of Technology Assessment concluded after a study of almost two years. The Washington Post reported that the nonpartisan scientific group, taking issue with Reagan’s vision of the Strategic Defense Initiative, said the detailed computer instructions needed to destroy thousands of warheads streaking toward the United States probably cannot “be produced in the foreseeable future.” It said “there is broad agreement in the technical community that significant parts of the research being carried out under the SDI (program) are in the national interest,” and did not rule out that “such achievements may someday accumulate to form the basis for a highly effective missile defense system.”