F4176 Eng 6mm To r Emu ism Oar THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON Was saw April 15 1988 Dear George I have just seen the revised U S unilateral signing statement on the Geneva Accords I must say I was surprised at the modification to subparagraph 2 Frankly I am disappointed that a statement which had been well coordinated and approVed by the President was changed in what I believe is a significant way Restraint implies that we must somehow balance our actions with those of the Soviets The President is under the impression that the Mujahedin will be supplied as we think they need to be supplied and not by any comparison to what the Soviets are doing with Kabul The only thing that was to constrain our military aid to the Mujahedin was a cutoff of Soviet aid to Kabul Only then would there be any restraint a cutoff on our side More disturbing to me is the fact we had discussed this widely within the interagency process and I had discussed it directly with Mike Armacost Our conclusion was that we would avoid any arrangement which allowed our conduct to be conditioned by Soviet conduct short of a complete cutoff We kept getting suggestions from your staff to the contrary We discussed it We thought we had an agreement and the matter was settled Some on your staff are anxious to step our aid even if the Soviets continue their aid You will recall that at a breakfast two weeks ago we rejected the proposal that we stop our aid for three months waiting to see if the Soviets were going to stop I believe the restraint addition was unnecessary and I am disappointed that it was done without any consultation or reference to others in the NSC family who have an interest or an equity in this matter Sincerely Colin L Powell The Honorable George P Shultz The Secretary of State - Washington D C 20520 Eli 755 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu