THE PRESIDENT'S DEFENSE STRATEGY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R001704290013-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 5, 2010
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: March 25, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2010/01/05: CIA-RDP88B00443RO01704290013-8
The Director of Central Intelligence
Wdshtn lon. D C. 20505
MEMORANDUM FOR: Jay Keyworth
Herb Meyer
SUBJECT: The President's Defense Strategy
Following up on our conversation yesterday, I would insert after the
first paragraph of Jay's memo something like this:
To deal with the efforts of those working to limit and
undercut the full scope of the President's objectives--
the opposition on both sides of the Iron Curtain--it is
essential to redefine and clarify the President's proposals
to bring out more clearly and forcefully these aspects of
his proposal:
1. The President is striving for a strategy which will
establish defense as not only less threatening, but as
cheaper and more effective than offense.
2. We have technology which makes this strategy feasible
with respect to conventional as well as strategic arms.
3. The President is ready to discuss the timing and method
of integrating strategic defensive capabilities into the
force structure but not to give anyone a veto over the
deployment of capabilities which will spend billions to
develop if they will protect the safety and interests of
the United States and its allies and contribute to strategic
stability. (Last qualification on strategic stability may
give rise to too much debate and might best be dropped from
the paper here.)
4. The allies need to understand that we can deploy at an early
date conventional capabilities which can significantly raise
the nuclear threshhold. Conveying this to the world can
greatly strengthen the strategic initiative by broadening
the area of debate and highlighting the worth of our
technological prospects. We will be in deep trouble with
our allies if they learn about these capabilities after they
have based their defenses on obsolete weapons which are more
expensive and less effective.
William J. Casey
Approved For Release 2010/01/05: CIA-RDP88B00443RO01704290013-8