LETTER TO THE HONORABLE EUGENE V. ROSTOW FROM WALTER J. STOESSEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002100110031-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 20, 2008
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: February 13, 1982
• Content Type: LETTER

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'82 FEP 15 AS :46
SECRET
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
WASHINGTON -
. February 13, 1982
Thank you for your letter' to the Secretary of February 4
enclosing the ACDA draft on the Middle East Nuclear Weapons
Free Zone and other Middle East arms control issues.
I think a full analysis by ACDA of the concept of a
Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free. Zone (MENWFZ) would be a
useful step toward the development of U.S. policy on that
issue. However, your first draft, stimulating though it
was, raised a number of fundamental questions.
Attempting, for example, to use Israeli concessions on
the.nuclear issue as a trade-off to obtain Arab concessions
on the peace process seems to me to be doomed from the start.
A strong suggestion that runs through the draft is that the
Arabs are so actively worried about Israeli nuclear prolifer--;
ation that they would be prepared to trade concessions in the
peace process for a diminution of that threat. This I believe
is putting the cart before the horse. While Arabs and
Israelis are quite obviously concerned about each other's
nuclear potential, the dynamics of the peace process are far
more immediate and important to them.
To a certain extent of course, we already take the peace
process into consideration when making arms sales decisions.'
To go beyond that and apply more stringent controls on weapons
we provide friendly countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan
and others would, I am afraid, be severely counter-productive
and damage our priority efforts to build security against
Soviet or regional threats to the key nations of the region.
Ironically, such stringent controls might even stimulate Arab
nuclear ambitions.
State Dept. review completed.
The.Honorable
Eugene V. Rostow,
Director,
United States Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency.
SECRET
RDS-3 2/1C/89
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SECRET
I think the general analysis in the first part of the
ACDA draft makes a .useful start in describing some of the
issues of the area. I would therefore suggest? Gene, that
your people put together another draft which concentrates
as a. first step on the MENWFZ, per se, and on its implica-
tions for U.S. policy in the context of regional realities.
We would be glad to look at such a draft.
With best regards,
Sincerely,
Walter J. Stoe.ssel, Jr.
Acting Secretary
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