Shultz Disputes Weinberger on Deploying SDI

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, reluctantly setting up a clash with Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger over the “Star Wars” program, said Tuesday that no decision on early deployment of a space-based missile defense system can or should be made this year.

Shultz’s comments, made in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, followed a closed meeting earlier in the day between President Reagan and Republican congressional leaders. Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said that at the meeting, Reagan appeared to support Weinberger on the early deployment issue.

Dole’s remarks created immediate controversy, prompting the White House to issue a statement that no such decision on deployment has been made. And, on Capitol Hill, one Democratic congressional staff member said, “Congress has done all it can to say, ‘We ain’t deploying yet.’ ”

Shultz said that research on “Star Wars”--the Strategic Defense Initiative--is making better progress than expected but stressed that he does not believe that the Administration is close to a decision on near-term deployment.

“At what point there will be material in hand to make a decision (of) ‘yes, we can go ahead and deploy,’ I don’t know . . . but it isn’t right now,” he said. When asked whether the decision could be made this year, he replied: “I shouldn’t think so.”

Shultz disclosed his views--which differ markedly with those of Weinberger--only after repeated questioning and indicated that he had been hoping to avoid an open confrontation with his fellow Cabinet member.

“I believe what I’ve stated is consistent with what he stated. The differences between us are usually exaggerated,” Shultz maintained, adding that “I think it’s a matter that needs to be continually reviewed and appraised, appraising the program and seeing where it stands.”

Review of Project’s Progress

But one senior Administration official, when informed that Shultz had differed in public with the Pentagon chief on the deployment issue, noted: “That’s not the first time.”

The debate erupted on the same day that Reagan and senior national security officials attended a formal White House meeting to review progress on the project. A senior Administration official said they were looking at “the ramifications of some kind of restructuring of the program, in terms of cost and survivability and its relationship to the ABM treaty.”

Opponents of the system, adopting a narrow interpretation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, argue that the pact bans deployment of a missile defense system, as well as certain research and development crucial to progress on such a project.

The system is being developed in accordance with the narrow reading of the ABM treaty, Shultz said, and Reagan continues to adhere to that definition--even though he says that a broader interpretation allowing “Star Wars” deployment could be justified.

Initially, the White House argued that the multibillion-dollar Strategic Defense Initiative is no more than a long-term research project designed to determine whether a defense against long-range, nuclear-tipped missiles is feasible. Recently, however, Weinberger has begun promoting the possibility of deciding to attempt to quickly deploy the initial elements of such a defense system.

Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson, director of the Pentagon’s Strategic Defense Initiative Office, has briefed Reagan and other top-level officials, telling them in effect that “the progress has been enormous--much more than we expected in the past year,” a senior Administration official said.

But officials have also recognized that time is running short for key decisions to be made in the Reagan presidency, which has only two years left, and that there is no guarantee that his successor will favor the effort.