373. Personal Note Prepared by the Deputy Secretary of State (Dam)1
[Omitted here is material unrelated to the Soviet Union.]
I attended the Secretary’s meeting with the arms control negotiators this afternoon. The discussions were basically procedural up to the end when we got into a very interesting discussion of what will be the central problem, not only in negotiations with the Soviets but also in explaining our position here at home: How do we square the emphasis on SDI in our programs with the argument that we are trying for deep reductions? There are various fancy theories as to how that is so, but this is obviously a difficult point in our own thinking. The fact of the matter is that SDI and deep reductions are both articles of faith with the President, and the question of how they are presented in a consistent way is being left to an interagency process which is simply unable to confront basic questions of this nature. Fortunately Paul Nitze is with us, and he has been doing some rather interesting thinking about how the future might evolve such that we could move on both fronts simultaneously. The Soviets are doing everything they can to argue that the two goals are inconsistent and that, if SDI goes forward, they [Page 1376] will have to build up, rather than reduce, their intercontinental ballistic missile force.
[Omitted here is material unrelated to the Soviet Union.]
- Source: Department of State, Executive Secretariat, S/S–I Records, Deputy Secretary Dam’s Official Files: Lot 85D308, Personal Notes of Deputy Secretary—Kenneth W. Dam—Oct. 1984–June 1985. No classification marking. Dictated by Dam on February 27.↩