CIA WARNS OF ARMS VERIFICATION SCHEME

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000401650012-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: April 7, 1989
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sl Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/24: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401650012-0
The Washington Post
The NOW York Times
The Washington Time
The Wall Street Journal
The Christian Science Monitor
New York Daily News
USA Today
The Chicago Tribune
CIA Warns of Arms Verification Scheme
By David B. Ottaway
Waatoyton Moat Starr Minor
STAT
liam H. Webster said yesterday.
Speaking to a group of reporters,
the CIA director said the Soviet
Union has "that whole wasteland" in
which to conceal sites and weapons,
where U.S. territory is more easily
inspected. "It may be [like compet-
ing on] a little uneven playing field
to have total reciprocal inspec-
tions," he said.
His remarks came in response to
a question about a letter published
in The Washington Post yesterday
from the chief arms control adviser
to the Soviet armed forces general
staff, Col. Gen. Nikolai Chervov.
The letter defended the Soviet pro-
posal for "comprehensive verifica-
tion of all available strategic weap-
ons as well as of their manufacture
and movement," and for inspection
even "of any train" to assure there
was no mobile missile launcher
aboard.
Webster said there were "con-
cerns" in the defense community
Comprehensive verification pro-
cedures the Soviet Union is propos-
ing in current strategic arms con-
trol negotiations could be "difficult
if not dangerous" for the United
States "to go whole hog on," Central
Intelligence Agency Director Wil-
"that this may in fact be difficult if
not dangerous for us to go whole
hog on. It has to do with emerging
defense strategies and other con-
siderations," he said, especially "lo-
cations of some of our more sensi-
tive operations" that have never
been subject to inspection.
"To give them [the Soviets] un-
restricted access to our most sen-
sitive areas is a very heavy price to
pay" for U.S. confidence that the
Soviets are not cheating. "So it's a
tough trade-off."
Chervov's letter was in reply to a
March 24 column by Rowland Ev-
ans and Robert Novak that said the
Defense Intelligence Agency had
warned President Bush that the So-
viets could easily breach the pro-
posed limit of 6,000 warheads on
strategic delivery vehicles, and that
there was no way to monitor reli-
ably the deployment of Soviet mo-
bile missiles.
The CIA was known to be among
U.S. agencies opposed to the Soviet
proposal, but Webster's comments
provided a rare public appraisal.
Asked about possible cooperation
between the CIA and its Soviet
counterpart, the KGB, he said there
was "some suggestion" the two
agencies "might do something to-
gether about terrorism." But he
said that raised "a whole other is-
sue" about bilateral relations be-
tween the two intelligence agencies
that had not been resolved.
Webster said it should still be
possible to agree that plane bomb-
ings-such as that of Pan American
Airlines Flight 103 that killed 270
on Dec. 21-constitute "criminal
activity" that has no justification on
political grounds.
"In those areas, there may be a
basis for some kinds of discussions,"
he said, adding he expects to decide
soon whether cooperation on ter-
rorism might be possible. Diplomats
from both sides plan a first official
meeting in Moscow later in the
spring to explore possible joint ac-
tion on terrorism, the Los Angeles
Times reported.
Webster also appeared to doubt
the wisdom of the Reagan admin-
istration's indictment of Panama's
military strongman, Manuel Anto-
nio Noriega, last year as part of its
abortive campaign to force him
from power.
Law enforcement agencies
should "think long and hard" about
trying to seize drug or terrorist sus-
pects in other countries, he said,
"and we also have to think about
difficult questions such as indicting
heads of state and what we're pre-
pared to do about it after we have
indicted them."
Z
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/24: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401650012-0