THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 FEBRUARY 1976

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006015034
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: February 19, 1976

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The President's Daily Brief
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February 19, 1976
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 58(1),(2),(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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1 .11/i_, 1 1A1_,J.11..."1_,L
February 19, 1976
Table of Contents
MBFR: The Warsaw Pact presented a new proposal on
Tuesday at the force reduction talks in Vienna.
(Page 1)
Iceland-UK: Iceland apparently hopes the US, West
Germany, and Norway will continue efforts to
settle the fishing dispute. (Page 2)
Notes: USSR; Turkey; Yugoslavia; Morocco-Algeria
(Pages 3 and 4)
FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
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MBER
The Warsaw Pact presented a new
proposal on Tuesday at the force reduc-
tion talks in Vienna.
The proposal calls for force reductions to
take place in two stages. In the first stage,
which would be carried out this year, the US and
USSR would reduce their forces in Central Europe
by 2 to 3 percent of the overall numerical
strength of their respective alliances. The units
withdrawn would be disbanded. Force strengths of
the other participating states would be frozen at
their present levels.
The proposal also calls for equal reductions
of US and Soviet armaments--aircraft, missiles,
and tanks--including nuclear weapons and delivery
systems. This is the first time the Soviets have
officially acknowledged that they have nuclear
weapons in the reduction area. The size of force
reductions in the second stage was not stipulated.
The new proposal is intended to counter the
"Option III" introduced by NATO last September.
It is essentially a reworking of previous Warsaw
Pact reduction programs, however, and retains the
Pact's approach of equal percentage reductions
and its rejection of NATO's concept of asymmetri-
cal reduction to a "common ceiling."
Even though the Pact now accepts the Western
idea of phased reductions, with US and Soviet
forces being cut back first, and goes into more
detail regarding the armaments to be reduced, the
new package is even more disadvantageous to the
US than earlier proposals, because the proposed
reductions involve second-rate Soviet systems as
opposed to more advanced American equipment.
The Soviets are under no illusion that their
proposal will be acceptable to the West or that
the NATO countries will regard it as a substan-
tial concession. They evidently hope they can
use it to capitalize on NATO's willingness to
include nuclear elements in the reductions. A
sensitive source has indicated that Moscow may
entertain the idea of a package trade of addi-
tional Soviet tank reductions in return for more
American nuclear elements.
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A./.1--./ %.! ?.1--/
ICELAND-UK
Iceland apparently hopes that its
decision to break diplomatic relations
with the UK will encourage the US, West
Germany, and Norway to continue efforts
to settle the fishing dispute.
If the break in relations does not lead to
progress, however, the cabinet may vote to with-
draw its NATO delegation from Brussels. A motion
to do just this was defeated by only one vote on
Tuesday. A complete break with NATO does not seem
likely at this time. Reykjavik needs NATO as a
forum for its dispute with London, and Icelandic
leaders are aware that concern and sympathy for
their position would end with a NATO break.
At stake, as far as the US and NATO are con-
cerned, is the US-manned NATO base at Keflavik,
which serves primarily as an anti-submarine war-
fare and early warning site. In addition, Iceland's
withdrawal from NATO would have a certain psycho-
logical impact on the other member countries.
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NOTES
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Soviets
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Turkish Prime Minister DemireZ's shaky, four-
party coalition government has survived a major
effort by parliamentary opposition leader Ecevit
to bring it down.
The government won a vote on the budget yes-
terday by a comfortable margin. Turkish parliamen-
tary rules now call for separate consideration of
each budget item and then another vote on the en-
tire bill. A turnaround seems unlikely.
Despite his latest illness, planning continues
for Yugoslav President Tito's trip to Latin America
in mid-March.
His visit to Cuba has been canceled because
Castro will not be in Havana at the time of Tito's
tour. Castro reportedly plans to see Tito and
other East European leaders early next month after
he attends the Soviet party congress.
Tito yesterday talked with Portuguese Communist
leader Cunhal, the first foreign figure he has seen
since he was reported ill in January.
(continued)
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Arab League Secretary General Riad will try
today to revive the Arab mediation efforts aimed at
resolving the dispute between Morocco and Algeria
over Spanish Sahara.
Riad has resisted suggestions in the past that
he attempt to mediate the dispute since he regarded
such an effort as having little chance of success.
His about-face may have resulted from Egyptian pres-
sure.
Both Rabat and Algiers remain unwilling to com-
promise, and Riad's effort indeed seems unlikely to
prosper. Little is expected either from the re-
cently concluded five-day visit to Spanish Sahara
by the personal envoy of UN Secretary General Wald-
heim. The UN will probably try to limit its in-
volvement in the dispute to pro forma considera-
tion of the UN mission's report.
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Top Secret
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