There is a legitimate debate in the United States about our military posture. The argument over who is winning the arms race has been dangerously oversimplified. Despite various treaties, the arms race continues. The original 1972 SALT Agreement on Offensive Arms was negotiated under the intense pressure of presidential politics, and significant ambiguities in the agreement are the source of arguments regarding Soviet compliance. Mondale discusses the Vladivistok limits, the feasibility of slowing the strategic arms competition, and the fact that the U.S. is falling behind. He talks about the administration‘s desire to pump arms into East Africa, stating that improving the U.S. balance of payments is not a reason to sell weapons to another country. Yet self-restraint by the U.S. will not be enough, because it is so difficult to curb the transfer of conventional arms. There is also danger stemming from the transfer of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing plants to different countries.