WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS EXPANDING SENTINEL DEFENSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300110047-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 9, 2006
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: November 13, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

N '4 i t4' 1104ogn
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70B00338R000300110047-2
White House Weighs expanding Sentinel Defense
By JOHN W. FINNEY
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. .12
The Johnson Administration is
postponing a decision on
whether to use the planned
anti-Chinese.":missile defense
system to protect United States
missile sites against Soviet at-
tack.
The 'purpose is to keep the
door open, to Feast-West disar-
mament measures.
To keep the domestic advo-
cates of an anti-Soviet ballistic
missile 'defen'se at baythe Ad-
ministration is` cloaking this
postponement in considerable
semantic confusion,
At a relatively small addi
tional cost, the `'thin" anti-
ballistic missile defense system
that the Administration. has. de-
cided to. build against ;the
emerging Chinese missile threat
could also be adapted to pro-
tect at least some' of..the Min-
utemen intercontinental missile
sites against Soviet attack.
The "anti-Chinese system, now
given the name of Sentinel, will
be 'designed to .,provide "area
defense", for the. entire United
States, using relatively long-
range Spartan missiles to inter-
cept incoming- Chinese mis-
sile. warheads in space.
The defense Department has
maintained that the Sentinel
system: would , be incapable of
contending, with a massive mis
sile attack such as the Soviet
Union could launch, but it has,
raised the possibility, that the'
system could provide additional
protection for the 'deterrent
force of. Minutement missiles.
Thus,; the. elaborate `radar
Sentinel system, then the Ad-
ministration will "run into crit-
icism on the domestic front
from members of Congress con-
cerned about the growing size
of the Soviet intercontinental
This political dilemma, ac-
cording to officials, explains, in
large measure the ambiguity
in the Administration's public
position on whether the Sen-
tinel system will . be given- a
secondary role as a defense
against Soviet missiles.
When the decision, to build
the Sentinel system' was an-
nounced in September, the Ad-
ministration left the impression
that it planned an anti-Soviet
role for the-Sentinel system.
Thus Defense Secretary Rob-
ert S. McNamara, in outlining
the subsidiary "advantages" of
the Sentinel system, said in a
speech Sept. 19 in San-
Fran-cisco:
"The Chinese-oriented ABM
[antiballistic missile] deploy-
ment would enable us to add
as a concurrent benefit :a fur-
ther defense of our Minute-
men sites against Soviet at-
tack, which means that at
modest cost we would in, fact
be adding even greater effec-
tiveness to our offensive mis-
sile force and avoiding a much
more costly expansion of that
force."
Mr. McNamara was ` more
emphatic in assigning an anti-
Soviet role to the Sentinel sys-
tem in an interview a week
later with Life magazine.
Noting that the Russians
"have been building up their
strategic missile forces," Mr.
McNamara said:
"We had no choice but to
take some additional steps to
maintain the adequacy of our
own deterrent. We considered a
number of alternatives-adding
more missiles, a new manned
bomber, or even a new strategic
system 'required for the Senti-
nel system: could also be used
to track: incoming Soviet'mi~-
siles.
Then, by adding" the rela-
tively short-range Sprint mis-
siles around the Minutemen
bases, it would be possible to
provide some "point defense"
for the missile deterrent force
against Soviet attack.
But the Administration finds:
itself caught between foreign
and domestic political consid-
erations in deciding how far to
go in openly promoting the
Sentinel ,system as a defensive.
move against the Soviet Union.
If it, openly gives an anti-
Soviet purpose to the, Sentinel
system, the Administration is
.fearful that it will complicate
chances for the nuclear non-
proliferation treaty, Arid a mis-
sile "freeze" agi'edment"';with
iovoke another upward spiral
in"the nncl it irinsApprove
missile system.
"We reached the, c
iu have not yet '[made
one least likely to force the So-
viets Into a counterreaction,
was the deployment of an ABM
system which would protect our
Minuteman sites,' so that spur
own deterrent is not dimin-
ished."
Administration officials hint
that the McNamara interview
was hastily prepared and inade-
quately coordinated before be-
ing cleared for publication, with
the result that it went too,; far
in seeming to give an anti-
Soviet motivation to the Senti-
nel decision.
The Defense Department then
sought to clarify the situation
in a speech by Paul C. Warnke,
Assistant Secretary of Defense
for International Security Af-
fairs on Oct. 6 in Detroit.
Emphasizing, that the Sentinel
system was directed against
Communist China, Mr. Warnke
said that the proposed ABM
deployment "poses no possible
threat to the Soviet deterrent,"
does "not signify in any way a
change in our attitude toward
the Soviet Union" and "need
lead to no acceleration of the
Soviet-American strategic arms
race.
He, emphasized the Adminis-
tration's continuing interest in
reaching agreement with the
Soviet Union for a limitation on
the numbers of offensive and
defensive nuclear missiles.
that decision]?" Representative
Craig Hosmer, Republican of
California, asked.
"No, we have, not ttaken that
step, no," Dr. Foster replied.
But then today, in response
to inquiries, the Defense De-
partment seemed to return to
the original suggestion that an
anti-Soviet purpose was planned
for the Sentinel system.
Asked to clarify the seem-
ingly contradictory statements,
the Defense Department offered
the following statement:.
"The Sentinel system planned
includes the 'use of Sprint
missiles around certain Minute-
men `sites. The decision as to
when the incremental defense
for Minutemen should be de-
ployed does. not have to be
made At this time."
Then last week, in testimony
before a Congressional Joint
Atomic Energy subcommittee,
Paul. H. Nitze, Deputy Secre-
tary of 'Defense, and Dr. John
S. Foster Jr., Director of. De-
fense Research and Engineering,
suggested that for the present
at least no anti-Soviet role. was
intended for the Sentinel sys-
tem.
"The deployment of the Sen
tinel permits us any time with-',
in a year to make a decision'
on whether or.not we want to