Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume X, Eastern Europe

127. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense Weinberger to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (McFarlane)¹

Washington, July 20, 1984

SUBJECT

• Exports to Romania (U)

(U) I wanted you to have my views on the three cases we discussed at the recent Export Administration Review Board meeting.

(S) There is, I think you will agree, a consensus that it is not in the national interest to proceed in the Landsat case. It is clear from the evidence that there is no viable civilian use for the system and that it is almost certain to be compromised.

(S) I cannot support the CDC-ROM coproduction proposal for 200 megabyte disc drives. Defense and CIA agree that this technology is quite important to the Warsaw Pact and, despite our best efforts, they will gain a lot from this transfer. It is also the case that in COCOM we have agreed not to transfer computer technology to the Bloc, although we are willing to sell some limited equipment to legitimate users. We cannot be the first to break ranks on a policy we offered in COCOM. Moreover, so far as I can tell, as the CDC-ROM case would require a general exception request in COCOM, there is no contract sanctity issue on this license request.

(S) The third case is more an issue of existing policy than of substance, as the proposed transfer involves an old computer of no strategic importance. Our view on this case is absolutely consistent with National Security Decision Memorandum (NSDM) 247, which has been in effect since March 14, 1974.² That Decision Memorandum opposes the upgrading, however marginally, of Soviet Bloc computers with Western Equipment. The COCOM computer negotiations recently concluded reflect the NSDM 247 policy.

Cap

1. Source: Reagan Library, Paula J. Dobriansky Files, Romania—Landsat (6). Secret. Above the addressee line, Weinberger wrote, “Bud.”
2. Reference is to “U.S. Policy on the Export of Computers to Communist Countries,” which was also issued as the Council on International Economic Policy Decision Memorandum 22. For the text, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–15, Part 1, Documents on Eastern Europe, 1973–1976, Document 10.