COLD WAR OF BASES & BOMBS AT FIRST GLIMPSE, IT CERTAINLY BORE 
ALL THE SIGNS OF A U.S.-SOVIET DEAL . FIRST THE NEWS 
BROKE THAT PREMIER KHRUSHCHEV, IN A SECRET LETTER TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY, 
HAD AGREED TO REMOVE THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO A NUCLEAR TEST-BAN 
TREATY BY PERMITTING ON-SITE INSPECTIONS IN RUSSIA . SOON AFTERWARD, THE 
U.S . CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS PREPARING TO DISMANTLE ITS JUPITER 
BASE IN TURKEY, THE VERY THING THAT KHRUSHCHEV HAD DEMANDED WHEN 
THE U.S . FORCED HIM TO GET HIS MEDIUM-RANGE MISSILES OUT 
OF CUBA, AND ITS BASES IN ITALY, TOO . WAS THERE 
REALLY A DEAL ? NO . THE TWO EVENTS HAVE REALLY 
NO CONNECTION . THE KHRUSHCHEV OFFER, WHILE PROOF OF HIS CONTINUED 
MELLOWING, IS NEGLIGIBLE ; ANY TEST BAN WOULD DEPEND ON CONDITIONS 
VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FULFILL NOW . AS FOR THE REMOVAL OF 
AMERICAN MISSILE INSTALLATIONS FROM TURKEY AND ITALY, ITS PURPOSE, SAID PRESIDENT 
KENNEDY, IS SIMPLE TO PUT THE U.S . " IN A 
STRONGER POSITION / BY SUBSTITUTING POTENT POLARIS SUBMARINES FOR THE IMMOBILE, 
VULNERABLE IRBMS, SITTING DUCKS FOR SOVIET RETALIATION . SOLID V . 
LIQUID . MONTHS BEFORE KHRUSHCHEV SUGGESTED HIS CUBA-FOR-TURKEY SWAP, THE JOINT 
CHIEFS HAD BEGUN CONSIDERING THE PHASE-OUT OF BASES IN TURKEY, ITALY, 
AND IN ENGLAND AS WELL . THE DISMANTLING OF THE 60 
THOR MISSILES IN BRITAIN IS TO BEGIN THIS SPRING . MORE 
THAN COMPENSATING FOR THEIR LOSS ARE EIGHT POLARIS SUBS OPERATING OUT 
OF HOLY LOCH, SCOTLAND, EACH TOTING 16 MISSILES . TO REPLACE 
THE 15 JUPITERS IN TURKEY AND THE 30 IN ITALY, THE 
U.S . PLANS TO DEPLOY POSSIBLY SIX SUBS IN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS 
. TOTAL FIREPOWER : 96 MISSILES, EACH WITH A NUCLEAR-TIPPED WARHEAD 
PACKING THE EQUIVALENT OF 800,000 TONS OF TNT . COMPARED WITH 
JUPITER'S 1,500-MILE REACH, THE CURRENT POLARIS MISSILES HAVE A RANGE OF 
1,380 TO 1,725 MILES, AND BEFORE LONG THE SUBS WILL GET 
A-3 MODELS WITH A 2,875MILE RANGE . THOUGH MOSCOW IS HARD 
AT WORK ON ANTI-SUB DEVICES, U.S . EXPERTS SEE NO EVIDENCE 
THAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE COME UP WITH AN EFFECTIVE DEFENSE AGAINST 
THE FLEET OF 41 POLARIS SUBS THAT WILL BE AT SEA 
BY 1967 . BOTH TURKEY AND ITALY SWIFTLY ACCEPTED THE CHANGEOVER 
. TO PROVIDE BERTHING FACILITIES FOR THE SUBS, THE U.S . 
HOPES TO EXPAND ITS NAVAL BASE AT ROTA ON SPAIN'S ATLANTIC 
COAST . QUESTION OF BOXES . THE CHANCE OF A WORKABLE 
NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY SEEMED EQUALLY REMOTE . ACTUALLY, KHRUSHCHEV FIRST AGREED 
TO THE PRINCIPLE OF ON-SITE INSPECTIONS WAY BACK IN 1959, WHEN 
BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER MACMILLAN WAS IN MOSCOW, ONLY TO SHELVE IT 
AFTER HE BROKE THE THREE-YEAR TEST MORATORIUM IN 1961 . BUT 
HAVING CONCLUDED HIS OWN LATEST NUCLEAR TEST SERIES, KHRUSHCHEV DOUBTLESS FIGURES 
THAT HE HAS LITTLE TO LOSE FROM AN EFFORT TO STOP 
ALL TESTING FOR A WHILE . " THE TIME HAS COME 
NOW, " KHRUSHCHEV WROTE KENNEDY JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS, " TO PUT 
AN END ONCE AND FOR ALL TO NUCLEAR TESTS . WE 
ARE READY TO MEET YOU HALFWAY . " TO NIKITA, HALFWAY 
MEANT TWO OR THREE INSPECTIONS EACH YEAR TO INVESTIGATE SUSPICIOUS TREMORS 
; THE U.S . THOUGHT THAT EIGHT INSPECTIONS WOULD BE THE 
MINIMUM, HAVING WHITTLED THAT DOWN FROM ITS ORIGINAL TWELVE . WHILE 
THE U.S . HAS BEEN DEMANDING THAT AT LEAST A DOZEN 
UNMANNED SEISMIC DETECTION STATIONS, OR " BLACK BOXES, " BE INSTALLED 
ON SOVIET SOIL, KHRUSHCHEV SAID THAT THREE WOULD DO ONE EACH 
IN SIBERIA'S ALTAI MOUNTAINS, THE VIRGIN LANDS OF SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA 
AND THE SOVIET FAR EAST . " WE BELIEVE, " HE 
CONCLUDED, " THAT NOW THE ROAD TO AGREEMENT IS STRAIGHT AND 
CLEAR . " ATMOSPHERIC NOISE . THIS WAS CLEARLY NOT KENNEDY'S 
VIEW, BUT HE DECLARED HIMSELF " ENCOURAGED, " SUGGESTED THAT EXPLORATORY 
TALKS BE HELD AND, AFTER THEY GOT STARTED, ORDERED A HALT 
TO THE CURRENT SERIES OF U.S . UNDERGROUND TESTS TO IMPROVE 
THEIR CHANCES OF SUCCESS . LAST WEEK SOVIET U.N . AMBASSADOR 
NIKOLAI T . FEDORENKO AND VETERAN GENEVA NEGOTIATOR SEMYON K . 
TSARAPKIN WERE CLOSETED IN WASHINGTON WITH U.S . ARMS CONTROL AND 
DISARMAMENT AGENCY CHIEF WILLIAM C . FOSTER AND BRITISH AMBASSADOR SIR 
DAVID ORMSBY GORE . THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF PROBLEMS . 
IN MOSCOW, DOUR FOREIGN MINISTER ANDREI GROMYKO DECLARED, " FRANCE MUST 
SIGN, " FULLY AWARE THAT DE GAULLE HAS NO INTENTION OF 
JOINING A TEST BAN . ANOTHER QUESTION WAS HOW TO RING 
IN RED CHINA, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO EXPLODE AN A-BOMB BY 
YEAR'S END . SINCE PEKING HAD NOT YET DONE SO, GROMYKO 
SAID, THE PROBLEM WAS " ARTIFICIAL . " ANXIOUS TO KEEP 
THE TALKS GOING, U.S . OFFICIALS GRASPED AT STRAWS AND HOPEFUL 
PHRASES . " I DON'T THINK THIS CLOSES THE DOOR, " 
SAID ONE . " IT'S JUST ATMOSPHERIC NOISE . " 