President Carter decided to postpone – but not cancel – production of the controversial neutron bomb. U.S. officials said late Thursday. The presidential decision will be conveyed to North Atlantic Treaty Organization representatives in Brussels on Friday, these officials said. Neutron weapons are designed to inflict battlefield casualties with radiation while limiting blast damage.
The U.S. military wants the weapon as an equalizer against the possibility of a tank attack in central Europe, where the Russians have a 3 to 1 tank advantage. The weapon would kill invading tank crews with radiation while saving civilian lives and property on the periphery of the battlefield, its supporters say. The sources, who asked not to be identified, emphasized that Carter’s decision did not mean the neutron bomb would never be produced by the United States.
Meanwhile, the extraordinary strain caused by the abduction of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro is still growing, as Italian politicians ask themselves openly the questions that a few days ago were only whispered. Should Moro be left to die in the hands of the terrorists who are holding him, or should there be an attempt to negotiate his release? If negotiations were held, would they have a chance of success? Would a deal with the terrorists destroy the authority of the state and breed new disorders and new terrorism? Three weeks after his disappearance, officials concede that there is virtually no hope left that he may be found and liberated by force. Politicians and newspapers are also beginning to say openly that Moro has been broken emotionally and perhaps physically by his captors, the Red Brigade terrorist organization that is holding him hostage.
And Lebanon accused Israel today of resorting to “procrastination and evasion” in an attempt to delay its withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Lebaremier Salim government el Hoss would vowed mobilize the all its Arab and international friends to bring pressure on Israel for a quick total withdrawal. His statement was the first official Lebanese reaction to Israel’s partial pullback plan, which covers less than one-fourth of the 500 square miles it overran last month. Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization earlier called the plan a bluff and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim said it was “inadequate” because it wasn’t total.
And while debate was going on over the fate of the Neutron Bomb, that’s a small slice of what happened this April 7th from the CBS World News Roundup.
