NSDD 65 Establishment of National Security Council Arms Control Verification Committee

90804 (NSC/ICS-400270) THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON INCLASSIFIED November 10, 1982 National Security Decision Directive Number 65 ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL ARMS CONTROL VERIFICATION COMMITTEE Compliance with the provision of existing and future arms control agreements is essential to their success and therefore to US national security. Effective verification is necessary to ensure compliance with those agreements. Verification serves to detect possible violations of an agreement and provides timely warning of threats to our national security arising under an arms control treaty regime. Verification is also necessary to assure the confidence of the Congress and the public at large that specific arms control measures are compatible with our security. Effective verification may involve a number of policy judg- ments in addition to judgments about intelligence monitoring of the technical provisions of specific arms control agreements. The government must be organized and prepared to deal with all aspects of arms cóntrol monitoring, verification, and compliance issues in a systematic, orderly and timely manner. be The degree of verifiability of proposed agreements must adequately described for policymakers and judgments of effective verifiability must be fully integrated into the arms control planning and decision process. In the past, considerations of verification issues, especially allegations of violations and/or deceptions concerning various agreements, have proved to be unusually complex and difficult to resolve. In order to address issues of arms control verification and compliance more effectively and is as an integral part of the arms control policy process, it essential that an appropriate mechanism be established to deal with them comprehensively, in an integrated fashion, and on a continuing basis. Declassified/Released on 5-17-91 under provisions of E.O. 12356 OADR by S. Tilley, National Security Council (F87-1035)