it eases the problem but doesn't make a strategic difference. The Dulles idea of talking tough can't be sustained in practice. We talk softer than our actions. The Left is strong in Europe; we paralyze them by talking soft. That is what you are up against with McClellan.
The President: If I were the Soviets, I would use the Congress.
Kissinger: These numbers games on SALT miss the point. The firm approach means we must sustain a 10 to 15 percent budget increase, be prepared for crises like Berlin, and so forth.
I wanted to use this peculiar year -- with liberals going conservative -- to get a ceiling on strategic forces beyond which we wouldn't go anyway.
We couldn't sustain an arms race.
The President: Without a direct threat.
Kissinger: The Liberals will soon say we have too much. If we need more, it is in the tactical area.
I am pleased by Abrams' report on three more divisions.
The President: He is a great man. He made a real effort.
Kissinger: You have a good team. I don't know Holloway.
The President: Nor I. But I don't think he is another Zumwalt.
Scowcroft: No. Deliberately not so.
Kissinger: Zumwalt is an opportunist.
On CSCE -- we never wanted it but we went along with the Europeans. It includes some basic principles, something on human contacts, no change of frontiers, and what they call "confidence-building measures."
The Soviet Union wants it as a substitute for a peace treaty. They more or less have that. The big hang-up is on freedom of movement. It is meaningless -- it is just a grandstand play to the left. We are going along with it.
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