53. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission in Geneva1
SUBJECT
- Official—Informal
1. Secret Entire Text.
2. SNP intends to put together a weekly Official-Informal report to you as state reps on your respective delegations. The intent is to keep you abreast of intra-state, interagency, and other events and trends in SNP’s purview. The information is drawn from the DARs of the past few days. Please treat this information as sensitive and for state eyes only. Following is the first such cable, covering the 2–6 Oct period. Let us know if it is useful.
3. START
Work Program. The PCC subcommittee met Oct 6 to discuss the START Work Program. The meeting went about as expected with state being given the lead on RV counting for future types and mobile ICBM verification. Two issues—ALCMs and NDMs—were deferred pending some additional “top-down” direction. On NDMs, the issue is whether we can reach a decision on an NDM position without knowing what U.S. numerical requirements would be under different options. High level guidance may be needed on this question before we again plunge into making an NDM decision.
Early PPM. There was a START verification WG meeting 6 Oct at Pentagon on developing a plan for “early PPCM walk-through tours.” WG also worked on a guidance cable on plan for “early PPCM.” Next version of this very much simplified plan should be ready this week.
START sooner or later? With OSD in the chair. A START working group reviewed issues remaining in the design and production of RV covers for the VSM demonstration and START. The Joint Staff Rep stated that covers for the MX would be ready for interagency viewing in November or December, and the D–5 “no earlier than May 1.” We will work with NSC to speed up the process.
4. D&S
Ad-hoc committee to be set up for Cooper Initiative visit. The NSC is leaning towards setting up an ad-hoc interagency committee to prepare the Soviets’ visit to SDI facilities. The plan is for the committee to [Page 376] be co-chaired by Kent Stansberry and someone for DOE, and would report to the NSC. The big issue is. Who’s going to pay for the Soviet visit? SDIO was nominated, but vociferously declined. No resolution of that issue.
OSD again refuses to come clean on test satellites. During D&S backstopping group meeting OSD again refused to provide a briefing on why the number 15 was chosen in the space testing assurance. During the last meeting they insisted there is a reason but that they won’t tell us. This time they said we should dust off the original papers circulated when the assurance was discussed, even though those papers don’t contain a rationale either. We suspect that OSD’s refusal to tell us how 15 was chosen indicates that their rationale is weak or non-existent. They admit they are afraid that State and JCS will then seek to change the number. In any event, we believe that OSD should be forced to come clean on this one. We will keep working on them.
OSD moves to erase Wyoming from history. During a sub-PCC meeting on defense and space, OSD made clear its attempt to make believe that the Wyoming Ministerial never happened. OSD rep said that since nobody “knows” that the Soviets will not accept the right to deploy, it should not be dropped from our position. Further, he pushed the idea that the Soviets might accept a repackaged non-withdrawal commitment. ACDA, while admitting that the Soviets are unlikely to give us the right to deploy, proposed a D&S treaty which gives either side the right to deploy immediately.
Canadian proposal on OSI of space launch facilities. The Canadians have promised to hold off until early next year their MOU with the Soviets on studying the feasibility of OSI of space launch facilities. In the meantime, they have suggested that our verification experts meet with theirs to discuss the MOU.
[Omitted here are sections on nuclear testing, the SCC, and ASAT]
- Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D890888–0353. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Walpole; approved by PM/SNP staff.↩