After non-military alternative are exhausted, conventional forces will be the primary deterrents. Americans must therefore be willing to lose lives in conventional battles. That, from my perspective, is a more palatable option than killing the whole planet in an all-out thermonuclear war.

Since terrorists and third-world dictators are now more likely than superpowers to threaten use of nuclear weapons, it makes sense to develop an anti-ballistic missile defense system.

This glorified Patriot missile program would afford limited protection in case a renegade government or terrorist cell launched a nuclear missile. America could share the technology and its costs with U.S. allies.

Such a system might violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty of 1972, but Soviet President Gorbachev said last Saturday that he was willing to discuss the development of non-nuclear missile defense systems. If linked to American concessions on economic aid, the Soviets might indeed agree to modify or abolish the treaty.

IT IS UNCLEAR HOW much money the military reductions will save in the near future. Money must be spent to dispose safely of the weapons eliminated under Bush's proposal.

Funds should also be made available to the Department of Energy to clean up the sites where these devices were created, many of which are still contaminated years after weapons production ended.

It is highly unlikely that President Bush will declare a peace dividend, spending the windfall on domestic programs or on deficit reduction.

But hope springs eternal. The savings from a canceled B-2 could double the salary of every teacher in America next year, and that need hasn't vanished with the Iron Curtain.

With the announcement on Saturday of cuts made by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Bush's gamble seems to have paid off. With the easing of East-West tensions, we can all rest a little bit easier than before.

Bush's plan deserves the praise that it has received. He should just follow the logic of the new game a little further, scrapping the costly B-2 project and taking the necessary steps to develop an effective anti-ballistic missile system.

The super-powers don't have their fingers poised on the little red buttons anymore

Bush and Gorbachev have been trading nuclear reduction speeches on international TV, but they shouldn't let the momentum fail.