Defense: Round 2 on ABM

When the Administration won its fight in Congress last year to begin the Safeguard anti-ballistic missile system, one ingredient of victory was President Nixon's pledge to review the ABM program annually. No one doubted, however, that the initial two sites approved were only the first steps toward a steadily growing complex. Last week Defense Secretary Melvin Laird went to Congress with plans for a "modified Phase 2," a gingerly expansion of Safeguard.

It had also seemed in 1969 that once the first stage of Safeguard had squeezed through the Senate by a one-vote majority, making the program an accomplished fact,...