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74 Pol. Sci. Q. 1 (1959)

handle is hein.journals/pclscceqry74 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume LXXIV POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY TRANSPORTATION: ACHILLES HEEL OF NATIONAL SECURITY I HE function of the transportation system in a modern economy has been likened to that of the circulatory system of the human body. Just as the degree of adaptability and reserve capacity in the circulatory system is of decisive importance in determining the extent to which the human organism can withstand unusual strain, so the degree of adapta- bility and reserve capacity of the transportation system sets limits to an economy's ability to withstand the unusual strain to which it is subjected by modern full-scale war. The present article is based upon the twofold conviction that our transpor- tation system is not prepared to meet the requirements of a future full-scale war and that in neither official nor popular thinking is there full awareness of this fact and its implications. One reason for this situation may be that those charged with the responsibility of planning national defense have become so preoccupied with the spectacular character and implications of satellites and intercontinental missiles as to have neglected the prosaic business of taking the measures necessary to insure that the transportation system will be adequate in the event of a future conflict. Yet neglect of the latter task may well prove to have as fatal consequences as failure to prepare for, and to maintain leadership in, space warfare. Unless corrective meas- ures are taken, transportation may prove to be the vulnerable spot-the Achilles heel-in our provisions for national security. A second contributing factor may be the belief in some quarters that the next war will be of a push-button character, fought with nuclear weapons which will decide the issue in such a short time that the adequacy of the transportation system could scarcely be a matter of decisive importance. There would prob- ably be general agreement that, unfortunately, in all aspects of I Number 1 March 1959

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