JOINT CHIEFS CHALLENGE STAND ON ANTI-MISSILES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300090067-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 9, 2006
• Sequence Number: 67
• Publication Date: February 22, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

(.z Po s r-
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70B00338R000300090067-3
faint ChIefs Challenge
Stand on Anti-Missiles
U.S. Still Sees Hope
For an Agreement .
Averting Arms Race
By Murrey Marder
Washington Post Staff Writer
The U n i t e d States em.
phasized yesterday that there
is still hope for Soviet-Amer
ican agreement to limit an
antiballistic missile race.
A new comment on the pos-I
sibility for an accord was is-1
sued, in part, to counter re-
ports from Moscow that tended
to doom in advance the pro-
spects for any agreement.
The Johnson Administration
is engaged in what it regards l
as a critical two-way struggle
to hold open the chance for
what President Johnson last
week called "a watershed" de,
cision in East-West arms com-
petition.
In effect, the Administra-
tion has one wary eye on Mos-
cow, and the other on Capitol
Hill. In Congress there are
signs of rising pressure on the
Administration to insist on
deploying a multi-billion-dollar
missile defense system wheth-
er the Russians expand their
system or not - and double
See ABM, A18, Col. 1
ABM-From Al
insistence if the Russians say
no to an accord.
Officially, the Administra.
tion is not committed to de-
ploy its own ABM system even
if the Russian answer is nega-
tive. Nevertheless, many politi-
cal analysts believe that Presi-
dent Johnson and other offi-
cals have left the Administra-
tion's position in such a public
posture that if the Soviet re-
sponse is no, the political pres-
sure on Capitol Hill to pro-
ceed with an American system
will be irresistible.
State Department Press Of-
ficer Robert J. McCloskey said
yesterday that President John-
son's proposal for averting an
ABM race was discussed in
Moscow Saturday.
That was one of the topics
raised in a lengthy talk be-
tween U.S. Ambassador Lle-
wellyn E. Thompson and Pre-
mier Alexei N. Kosygin, Mc-
Closkey told newsmen.
"It is assumed there will be
further contacts with the So-
viets on this matter," said Mc-
Closkey.
"These continuing contacts
reflect interest on both sides
in exploring the possibilities
of arriving at an understand-
ing on strategic missile prob.
lems."
Guarded Position
According to other sources,
the Soviet position in the Ko-
sygin-Thompson talks was an
exceedingly guarded one that
avoided any commitment. Ad-
ministration analysts say that
it is an unsurprising posture
for the Russians to take in this
stage of preliminary talks. The
Thompson talk was the first
substantive one in Moscow on
this topic. Previously, the sub-
ject was discussed here with
Soviet Ambassador Anatoly F.
Dobrynin `and Secretary of
State Dean Rusk and Deputy
Under Secretary of State Foy
D. Kohler.
There has been a clouded,
zigzag pattern to Soviet public
statements. In London, on
Feb. 10, Premier Ko-sygin gave
what was interpreted as a cool
response to the question of
whether he believed the
United States and the Soviet
Union could agree on a
"moratorium" on deploying
ABM systems.
Kosygin justified a "defen-
sive" weapons system, which
is what an ABM system is, and
said that it is offensive" weap-
ons that cause world tension.
Pravda More Positive
Five days later, however,
Pravda, the official Commun-
ist Party newspaper, made a
more positive statement say-
ing that Kosygin in London
"declared that the Soviet gov-
ernment was ready to discuss
the problem of averting a new
arms race, both in offensive
and defensive weapons."
But then some newsmen in
Moscow reported that they
were informed that the Pravda
statement was incorrect and i
was, in effect, withdrawn.
There has been no official
comment on the withdrawal,
however. But according to in-
formed sources, Kosygin, in
his talk with Thompson took
a position that was closer to
his originally quoted com-
ments than it was to the sub-
sequent and more optimistic
and disputed Pravda line.
In view of the historic Rus-
' Asian emphasis on defense, and
the fact that the United States
Chas boasted of its 3 to 1, or 4
to 1, strategic missile superior-
ity over the Suviet Union, ana-
lysts here note, it is axiomatic
to find super-caution from the
Russians on this topic, what-
ever their intentions. Even if
these probing talks make any
progress, American sources be-
lieve, it may be months before
that is discernible.
The political difficulty for
the Johnson Administration,
meantime, is to acquire time
on Capitol Hill for prolonged
diplomatic probing. One sign
of storm clouds was the pub-
lication this week of a Repub-
lican National Committee re-
port on missilry. The legend
on the cover summed up the
problem that faces the Ad.
ministration: "IS LBJ RIGHT,
Russia Deplores Anti-Missile
Network; U.S. Refuses tc
Keep Pace.':
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70B00338R000300090067-3