Dukakis SDI Stand Fuzzy, Bush Charges

George Bush today charged opponent Michael S. Dukakis with shifting positions on military programs and said “it’s sometimes hard to keep up” with the Democrat’s line on defense.

“Does he believe in defense against strategic missiles or doesn’t he?” Bush asked in a speech to the Illinois Federation of Republican Women.

Dukakis in Louisville on Thursday told a news conference that he would consider deploying the Strategic Defense Initiative--or “Star Wars”--if research showed that it would work and if it was in the national interest. It was the first time the Democrat had suggested any circumstances under which he would support deployment of the Reagan Administration’s space-shield proposal, designed to destroy incoming Soviet missiles in space.

“His position on SDI, calling it a fantasy one day, something he won’t rule out the next . . . suggests a confusion on basic facts,” Bush told his audience.

He also questioned Dukakis’ claims that he would modernize land-based weapons if essential, while re-examining the MX and Midgetman missiles.

“How do you modernize the land-based leg if you oppose the MX and Midgetman?” Bush asked.

‘Sometimes Hard to Keep Up’

“I’ve tried to be fair and accurate as to my opponent’s positions, but lately they seem to have been shifting so rapidly it’s sometimes hard to keep up,” Bush said.

His sharp criticism comes a day after he accused Dukakis of seeking to restrain the nuclear capability of the United States when he advocated a nuclear freeze.

While insisting that he wasn’t challenging Dukakis’ patriotism, Bush slammed the Democratic presidential nominee after overseeing the destruction of two U.S. Pershing nuclear missile engines on Thursday. The engines were destroyed under a U.S.-Soviet arms-reduction pact that the vice president claimed could not have been negotiated under a Dukakis presidency.

In his speech today, Bush said what he witnessed at the Army ammunition plant in east Texas the day before “was unforgettable.”

“These acts of destruction were acts of peace,” he said. But, he added, “yesterday would not have been possible” had Dukakis been in office.