LETTER TO RONALD REAGAN FROM STEVE SYMMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01370R001201620041-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: April 11, 1984
• Content Type: LETTER

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April 23, 19E4
Dear Senator Symz~s s
'rhur~k you for your April 11 letter to the
President in which you and Senator Hatch
e~presscd a number of your concerns regarding
comments you received frotr~ the.Arms Control
and Disarr~amenl Agency with resgect to
veri~ iability of the SALT II Treaty.
ke appreciate knowing of your serious
concerns in the matter of verifiability as
it relates to both past and future arms
agreements. Flease know that your statement
o? concern has been shared Stith the President
as well as his key foreign policy advisers.
.Let me assure you that your request to be
advised of a schedule of reports on these
problems under Section 37 of the Arns Control
Act will be carefully reviewed.
t7ith best wishes,
Sincerely,
P:. D. Oglesby, Jr.
Assistant to the President
The Aonvrable StcvEn D. Syru:ts
United States Senate
i:as ;ircgton, D.C. ?0510
2-IBO/FRJ/tjr
cc: w/copy of inc to Thomas Graham, Cong
Affrs,- ACDA - for DRAFT
cc: w/copy of inc to NSC Secretariat - FYI
cc: w/copy~c-~e-~1,\ir George, Regis
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WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
April 11, 1984
The Honorable Ronald Reagan
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On Se tember 16, 1982, we received a letter from the Director of
p which contained two
the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
alarming revelations.- First, the letter stated:
"The most recent analysis of the verifiability of the
SALT II Treaty ... is a 1979 verification study. There
Tans to carry out a systematic review
are no current p
and updating of these analyses.
We believe that it was a serious misjudgment for. ACDA not to have
restudied the verifiability of the SALT II Treaty, which even you
yourself have stated is unverifiable.
Second, the letter also said:
"With regard to U.S. capabilities to verify Soviet
. the U.S.
compliance with arms control agreements .
however
has experienced some degradation in the past,
specific programs designed to enhance current
capabilities and offset such degradation have been
instituted ."
This too is a shocking admission. In view of reports that the
huge Abalakovo ABM radar had been under constructisomethingemusto
years before it was finally discovered last July,
be seriously wrong with U.S. NancenthatecorrectiveameasuresLare
verification. We seek reassura
currently effective.
Senior Administration officials have told us that any potential
new START or INF treaties are li~econcernewhenvwe1readlenatheALT
II. Hence you can understand ou revelation, that:
September 16, 1982 letter the third alarming
"The Administration is currently engaged in an intensive
study of the verification provisions which will be
required for the START and INF proposals on the table in
Geneva ."
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The President
April 11, 1984
Page 2
Thus the ACDA has admitted that the U.S. has already proposed
negotiating provisions without first, establishing if they are
verifiable.
Now we read in The Washington Post of January 19, 1984 that:
"Senior Administration officials [have concluded that]
future arms agreements must be simpler than in the
past, because monitorin of earlier pacts has turned
out to be much more d fficult than anticipated"
It is reasonable to conclude from this ACDA letter that the
unratified SALT II Treaty may not be verifiable due to Soviet
concealment measures, the imprecision of many provisions, and the
degradation of U.S. National Technical Means of verification.
Further, if the verifiability of INF and START may be comparable
do SALT II, we believe that a study should be done to ascertain
this.
Several possible failures to comply with Section 37 of the Arms
Control And Disarmament Act may be involved in these acknowledged
verification difficulties. First, the verifiability of SALT II
should have been restudied by the Reagan Administration and
reported to Congress. Second, any degradations in U.S. National
Technical Means of SALT verification should have been reported to
Congress, and promptly corrected. Third, the verifiability of
the U.S. START and INF proposals should have been studied prior
to their submission to the Soviets, and reports should have been
made to Congress. Section 37 states:
"It is the sense of the Congress that adequate
verification of compliance should be an indispensable
part of any international arms control agreement. In
recognition of such policy and in order to assure that
arms control proposals made or accepted by the United
States can be adequately verified, the Director [i.e.
of ACDA] shall report to the Congress, on a timely
basis ... in the case of each element of any
significant arms control proposal made to a foreign
country by the United States ... [i.e. and] in the case
of any arms control agreement or treaty that has
entered into force, any significant degradation or
alteration in the capacity of the United States to
verify the various components of .such agreement or
treaty ..." (Emphasis added.)
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The President ..
April 11, 1984
Page 3
Please advise us of a schedule of reports on these problems under
Section 37 of the Arms Control Act.
With warmest personal regards.
Sincerely,
CC: Secretary of State
Secretary of Defense
Director, ACDA
Chairman, JCS
Director, CIA
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