a UNCLASSIFIED u 6 33 #in 32 34 lam 012mm mg-r m mm RELEASED IN FULL Ufa i Havewber-2l 1979 Cy I feel that the following is impartaht enough to warrant I ycur attention even at this busy time I understah that at the V88 lunch on today you approved the reply to Brezhnev's message on the false alert which I have marked Unfortunately and prebably inadvertently you were working from a DOD draft that I Reggie and at least some ofthe NSC staff feel is gratuitously insulting and inappropriate for the Carter Brezhnev channel - I strongly suggest and I feel Reggie whuld concur that you work the draft marked which incorperates Reggie s ideas hose of the NSC starr n3 we31 as my awn Gm-Wm hay 2 4L W-alga fl Qwth y vvmlazmg 1 CV 01% hf 211% 5' 15 5 0 '49 n m 15 5% 39W 3 i a 34 L fil mig31' 3 m J Q6331 Max 15 v i Met Wa- rm q VQ yf Of Lam 7 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW AUTHORITY THEODORE SELLIN ID 23 DEC 2002 399804489 UNCLASSIFIED 5743 195 2 7 12an Draft Oral Message to President Brezhnev You expressed concern in your message over reports of a technical malfunction during a military training exerciSe I want to make clear that the instance to which you refer is not a legitimate basis for questioning United States control of its forces This instance in fact demonstrates that the multiple safeguards we employ operate reliably in precluding any in hppropriete consequences Having looked into the matter thoroughly 1 can tell you that the press accounts upon which your message was baeed were incomplete and therefore mieleading At the time of the reported incident the degree of alert of Us etrategic offensive forces was not raised above its usual level It does not serve the purposes of peace or mutual understanding to exaggerate such instances in I diplomatic exchangestjar to exploit them for purposes ex 1 of propagandag You may be assured that the control of the offensive in Vp nhww use of our forcee is totally reliable UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW AUTHORITY THEODORE SELLIN ID 23 DEC 2002 199804489 - UNCLASSIFIED 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