91. Notes by Secretary of Defense Weinberger of a National Security Planning Group Meeting1

NSC—Sit [Situation] Rm [Room]

President

V.P.

GPS [George Shultz] Even if USSR thought it was a US recon [reconnaissance] plane—they shot it down w/o any inquiry. No hotline, etc.

Shows they’d do a 1st strike. We should use this to help us get Big Defense Budget & to get rid of Boland-Zablocki amend [amendment].2

& maybe in Lebanon.3

Sanctions—try not to hurt us.

USSR—says they regret loss of human life but blame us.

Options

State Civil aviation options

RR [Ronald Reagan] But something to get reparations

CW [Caspar Weinberger]—Ct [Court] of Int’l Justice—& direct demand of USSR for reparations

RR—they shot down our planes in 50s & 60s

RR—what if we just turn around a USSR ship going into Corinto4

[Page 316]

CWW—seek meetings of NATO & ASEAN

RR—get other countries to join with us for reparations & in actions to block USSR Aeroflot

RR—make public list of US planes shot down by USSR in 50s & 60s

Don Regan—Economic sanctions probably won’t get agreement of other countries

Stop tourism & ask other nations to do same until we could get answers fr [from] USSR

Stop imports from USSR—allies wouldn’t [unclear—budge?]

Titanium & chrome

No on blocking USSR assets deposited

CWW rescue task force

INF

GPS Gromyko meeting

General Vessey—[unclear—Soviet recon missions?]

RR need arms reductions. We should proceed & meet with them.

Rescue mission

Reparations.

Stop sending ships to Nicaragua or we’ll stop them for you

GPS Mistake not to go to Madrid

Mistake to refuse to talk to people

Shorter meeting

Agenda

Shoot down

Human rights—Shcharansky

Compliance with treaties

Ed Meese—need to do more things that relate to air safety

Memorial service at Nat’l Cathedral and [unclear—churches?]

RR—Attitude

INF—great opportunity to go after USSR—the best way to stop deployment—if you eliminate then we won’t deploy. But we [unclear—can or could?] leave table if you [unclear—leave Eur?]

You have [unclear]

Statement by President

Planning—what can be done on behalf of victims

[unclear—Tape?]

GPS—Range of options

[unclear—Comments?]

[Page 317]

[unclear—call for?] react [reaction] & condemnation & general support

Lebanon—McFarlane

  1. Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Weinberger Papers, Appointment and Diary File, Box 9, Notes Set B, 1983 #25–41. No classification marking. The editor transcribed this text from Weinberger’s handwritten notes of the NSPG meeting. An image of the notes is Appendix D. The NSPG meeting to “discuss the Soviet attack on the Korean civil airliner” was held in the Situation Room from 6 p.m. to 7:57 p.m. (Reagan Library, President’s Daily Diary) No formal record of the meeting was found.
  2. See footnote 5, Document 89.
  3. Weinberger wrote “Arms reduction” in the margin in a box on the left-hand side.
  4. Corinto is a port city on the northwest Pacific coast of Nicaragua.