November 30, 1965

Dr. Jerome B. Weésner

Dean, Faculty of Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Jerry:

You might have little difficulty in persuading me that I'm on the wrong

track with the proposal enclosed - or more likely that it is unrealistic

to work on the supposed accommodation. But it seema to me the United

States could negotiate with the USSR precisely on the terms that a joint ao
ABM program would

(1) not impair the strategic deployment of the nuclear deterrent, 1.e.,
would preserve the stalemate;

(2) stabilize the world situation vis a vis Chine and France; ~.

(3) discourage them and other parties from costly but futile bomb-development
programs of their own;

%

(4) give the major powers a defensive value they can offer as a token for
the cooperation of their respective allies ‘in place of aggressive
(deterrent) weapons.

Your proposal to postpone the production of the ABM may have anticipated
the need to settle these political issues, and on these grounds T would
fully support it.

Sincerely yours,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics