https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/bc851564865f877f8bbe53958b36d626.pdf a7cc52eb3fe46022e45f19c800bef6d6 PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act - Document I EXTERNAL AFFAIRS divu\^^^^^^fg^m£z^^'ii^&nation AFFAIRES EXTERIEURES MEMORANDUM The Under-Secretary TO A SECURITY CONFIDENTIAL SieurllS DATE :-/t FROM De Disarmament Division REFERENCE Washington' s telegram No. 3885 of December 2 1 , 1966. NUMBER Numero Reference SUBJECT FILE Anti-Ballisti c Missiles Sujei MISSION ENCLOSURES Annexes DISTRIBUTION January 1 6 , 1967* ec n-H-'r DOSSIER 3? Q7~ tV-S'S "P^ Attached for your signature, if you agree, is a memorandum for the Minister on the subject of anti-ballistic missiles. Also attached is a copy of the telegram on which the Minister indicated his interest in this matter. 2. As you know, a number of Divisions in the Department are in the process of considering an American paper on ABM's passed to us through the PJBD. .„ Disarmament Division Ex*. 407A/BII. (Admin. Services Div.) si </.f/**) 000200 �Document disclosed under the Access tcTTnferniation Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur l'aesss~e~lUnformation ^x A^Y* CONFIDENTIAL O* V*' * fJu Januar y 16, I967 MEMORANDUM FOR THE MINISTER A n t i - b a l l i s t i c Missile Deployment SEEN BY THE MINISTER 9 7 XX 7 ,5 On Washington Embassy's reply to the Prime Minister's telegram of 2.^* December 23, requesting Mr. Ritchie to call on Mr, Rusk re anti-ballistic /1'7"' 7 missile deployment, you indicated your wish to follow the matter closely. This memorandum brings the situation up to date and recommends instructions to the Embassy to follow up their earlier approach to the State Department. * 2. In the course of his January 10 message to Congress on the State of the Union, President Johnson had this to say about the arms race: "The Soviet Union has in the past year increased its longrange missile capabilities. It has begun to place near Moscow a limited anti-missile defense. My first responsibility to our people is to assure that no nation can ever find it rational to launch a nuclear attack or to use its nuclear power as a credible threat against us or our allies. That is why an important link between the Soviet Union and the United States is our common interest in arms control and disarmament. We have the duty to slow down the arms race between us, in both conventional and nuclear weapons and defenses. Any additional race would impose on our peoples, and on all mankind, an additional waste of resources with no gain in security to either side. I shall closely consult and seek the advice of Congress about the possibilities of international agreements affecting this problem." 3* We interpret this passage as follows: (a) the Administration is aware of the mutually cancelling effect which a new stage of the arms race would entail for the security of both sides (b) the President is thinking of the whole spectrum of nuclear weapons; the agreements referred to would include a "freeze" on all strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and not just to an ABM moratorium. (c) the President is alive to the domestic political pressures strengthened by "limited" Soviet deployment of ABM's around Moscow but has not succumbed to them. (d) no decision against deployment of ABM's has yet taken place. ... £- x- ijiy 000197 �- 2 - Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information CONFIDENTIAL ^JrK You might also be interested in knowing that General Burns in his " discussions with disarmament officials in Washington shortly before the President's speech, was informed that Foster, head of ACDA, had in a tentative and informal way taken up the ABM issue with the Soviet Union but without significant response. As you are aware, Llewellyn Thompson may also be approaching the Russians on this matter shortly when he returns to Moscow as USA Ambassador. GiT 7 \ if 5* Canada may derive some satisfaction from the resistance of the President to pressures to deploy ABM's but, as the option remains open, we cannot be confident that Congressional or military influences will not eventually prevail. The references in the speech to "consulting" and "seeking advice" of Congress are not particularly re-assuring. The situation would suggest that we should continue our examination of the implications of ABM deployment and maintain American awareness of Canadian views. To this end we would recommend, if w^agree, requesting our Embassy in Washington to expre^^mrmgJTo^^^ StateDepartment at a high level and on a suitable occasion, Canadian gratification that no decision to deploy has been taken by the USA administration. Our Ambassador might also welcome reported suggestions that Americans will be making increased attempts to discuss the ABM problem with Soviet Union in the near future. In addition, without overstressing the points already made in the Prime Minister's telegram, our Ambassador might repeat our interest in American intentions because of both arms control and defence considerations. \ p /TNS <>«£ M. C. 000199 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDBM00051 Title A name given to the resource Memorandum for the Under Secretary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1/16/1967 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-c, file 27-11-7, "DEFENCE - CONVENTIONAL AND NUCLEAR ARMAMENTS - ANTI - BALLISTIC MISSILES (ABM) = DEFENSE - ARMEMENTS DE TYPE CLASSIQUE ET NUCLEAIRE - ENGINS ANTIMISSILES (ABM)," vol. 10357, part 2, Library and Archives Canada, (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Anti-ballistic missiles Description An account of the resource ABMs Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en