Engineer Memoirs
On Tuesday morning Ambassador Dubinin arrived at the State Department with a
photo of a SS-20. It was a poor image, obviously sent by fax to Washington
overnight. The CIA looked it over and said that while it was a poor photo, it
would do.
True to form, the Soviets tried one more delaying tactic at the eleventh hour. On
Tuesday morning, just hours before the two o'clock signing ceremony, the Soviets
reopened the question of German missiles in the United States. There was some
thought of postponing the ceremony, but the President turned down that idea. We
later learned that Nancy Reagan's astrologer had picked the time for the signing of
the treaty.
At 11: 10 a.m., Kampelman, Nitze and I joined the President and the "core group"
in the cabinet room. Gorbachev did most of the talking. He was animated and
spoke in rough and blunt terms. There was some question over whether
Gorbachev's use of the word boltat, which he used to describe Reagan, was a slur.
Reagan let it pass. Having seen Gorbachev's smile in public, we were now seeing
his "iron teeth."
The President found it hard to get a word in edgewise. Feeling it was time for a
story to break the ice, Reagan attempted to bring Gorbachev around by telling him
the tale about two cab drivers. A Soviet cab driver immigrated to the United States
and was asked what he would do. "I don't know," said the Soviet cabbie, "I
haven't decided yet. An American cabbie emigrating to the Soviet Union was
asked what he would do. "I don't know, said the American, "the Politburo has
not yet decided." Gorbachev was not amused. It was
the visitors and
reporters were beginning to assemble in the Rose Garden.
At the last minute it was Frank Carlucci, the National Security Advisor, who came
forward with a solution. He had talked to the Germans earlier. They agreed that
if the Soviets made it a sticking point, rather than hold up the signing, the Germans
would permit Soviet inspectors to visit the sites in the U.S. where the Germans'
missiles were stored. Although we did not like to use this solution, feeling we
should stand on principle, it proved a face-saving device for Gorbachev. The
signing ceremony went ahead, only a few minutes late.
That evening, at the state dinner in the White House, one would never have
guessed, watching an affable and smiling Gorbachev, that he had almost derailed
the signing of the INF treaty. As he sang along in Russian to Van Clibum's
playing of "Moscow Nights,* I wondered what would have happened if Carlucci
had not produced a solution at the last minute. Would Gorbachev have signed?
I just didn't know. Teeth of iron? He certainly had intestines of steel.
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