Office of the Historian

29. Memorandum for the Record1

Washington, April 5, 1985

SUBJECT

  • Nitze–Linhard Meeting, April 5, 1985

Nitze gave Linhard a paper2 with themes the USG should use when addressing SDI and a memo noting his problems with the President’s March 29 speech.3 Linhard scanned the themes and said they looked fine; he would undertake to turn them into “policy” from the NSC. Regarding the President’s speech, Linhard understood Nitze’s concerns but there were strongly held views in the White House; he had done what he could to improve on the original draft.

With regard to the transition paper, Linhard said he had some basic problems. While he wanted to reflect further on the paper, he offered three preliminary comments:

(1)
the paper’s focus on terminal defense was inconsistent with recent NSDDs which focused on “high-leverage” defenses, i.e., [Page 89] space-based systems that would attack ballistic missiles in the boost and mid-course phases;
(2)
he was unsure about the paper’s focus on doing away with hard target kill systems; and
(3)
the offensive force levels needed to be considered in light of US targeting requirements.

Nitze emphasized that the paper was a first cut and was premised on a cooperative transition between the US and USSR. The USG would have to think about the uncooperative scenario, which was the more likely case.

Linhard doubted that ground-based terminal defenses were politically doable in the US, e.g., “the dump trucks full of environmental impact statements.” He was concerned the Soviets might agree to a cooperative transition but restrict it to terminal defenses (in which he felt they might have a competitive advantage). Moreover, terminal defenses were more appropriate for a hardened target set, an area where the Soviets were clearly ahead.

Linhard promised to send over his detailed comments on the transition paper. In the meantime, he strongly urged that the paper not be sent to the IG.

  1. Source: Department of State, Ambassador Nitze’s Personal Files 1953, 1972–1989, Lot 90D397, March and April 1985. Secret. Drafted by Pifer.↩
  2. See footnote 6, Document 30.↩
  3. For Nitze’s memorandum, see Document 30; for Reagan’s March 29 speech, see Document 27.↩