Who’s kidding whom’? Soviet insinuations that the United States is dragging its feet on arms control brought that rejoinder in Congress from Republican Rep. William S. Broomfield of Michigan. member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the ‘subcommittee on international security. it was time that somebody in an official capacity responded to Soviet statements. Reminded Broomfield: – It is President Reagan not the Russians. who has proposed withdrawal of all U.S. and Soviet intermediate nuclear weapons from Europe. – It is Soviet. not American SS-20 nuclearwarheads that are already in place and aimed at Western Europe. – It is the Soviets “‘who have invaded Afghanistan. directed the military takeover in Poland and who supply the chemical and biological weapons being used in Southeast Asia.” Broomfield said he wanted to set the record straight on “Soviet propaganda” that the U. S. is preparing to fight and win a limited nuclear war in Europe. “lt was the Soviet Union. not the U. S. and its NATO partners. that introduced new intermediate nuclear missiles in the European theater.” he asserted. “Their SS-20 missiles represent a potential force for intimidation. not to mention massive destruction. The West still has no comparable counterweight to these Soviet weapons.” The NATO decision. at Western European insistence, to place Pershing ll and Cruise missiles in Western Europe reflected agreement that it is necessary to offset the Soviets’ advantage caused by their deployment of the SS-10 missile, the congressman explained. “This counterweight will serve as a bridge between NATO’s tactical shortrange nuclear forces and the U.S. strategic nuclear missile force.” Under NATO doctrine. its weaponry will be used only defensively. This obviously contrasts with the philosophy of the Soviets who have lacked inhibitions in using military force to achieve its ends f o r e x a m p l e in Afghanistan Czechoslovakia and Hungary. American footdragging on arms control’? Broomfield said it’s the other way around. The U. S. would forego deployment of its Pershing II and Cruise missiles in Europe in exchange for Soviet removal of their SS-20 missiles. But the USSR has other ideas. “It proposes to freeze present deployment levels while we talk about it. That isn’t much of a deal. It would leave the Soviets with hundreds of intermediate range nuclear warheads aimed at Western Europe while NATO would have zero weapons of the same type.” V Broomfield should be commended for sharing his insights into the problem with Congress and the public.