American Military Strength Abroad

Archive Report

New Emphasis on Defense

Decline of U.S. Military Commitments

Declaring that the recent Soviet invasion of Afghanistan “could pose the most serious threat to peace” since World War II, President Carter, in his third State of the Union address, called for a renewed U.S. commitment to national defense. In blunt language, Carter warned the Soviets to stay out of the oil-producing region of the Persian Gulf. Any attempt by an outside power to gain control of the area, he said, “would be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.”1 Carter did not specify at what point and under what conditions military force would be used.

In the parlance ...

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