SOVIET PROPAGANDA ALERT NO. 9

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002100120032-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 17, 2008
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: July 30, 1982
• Content Type: REPORT

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Soviet Propaganda Alert
No. 9
July 30,1982
Summary
? 4
In June and July, Soviet external propaganda stressed:
Arms control and Peace Movements. Soviet propaganda focused on
alleged U.S. duplicity at the Geneva START talks. President
Reagan's speech at the U.N. Special Session on Disarmament
(SSOD) was seen as an attempt to hide Washington's bid for
military superiority by portraying the U.S. as a "peace-maker."
Peace demonstrations in the U.S. and Western Europe supposedly
showed increasing worldwide realization that Washington, not
I Moscow,.is the true threat to peace. A related major theme.,
following the space shuttle's latest flight, concerned U.S.
military plans for space.
Israeli Invasion of Lebanon. Soviets accused the U.S. of col--
lusion with Israel in its move against the PLO in Lebanon.
According to Soviet charges, the U.S. wants to impose a Camp
David-type arrangement on Lebanon and neighboring territories,
leading to "U.S. imperialist domination over all the area."
Gas Pipeline Sanctions. Soviet propagandists decried the
sanctions as economic warfare. They claimed that this new
version of the Cold War would not damage the Soviet economy,
which could resist such 'pressures. The sanctions allegedly
undermine the Versailles economic summit agreements and are
designed to increase U.S. economic control over its allies.
Haig Resignation. Alexander Haig's resignation became an oppor-
tunity for Soviets to highlight U.S. "problems" in international
relations. The former Secretary of State was described as a
scapegoat for the administration's foreign policy failures, not
as resigning over-policy or personal disagreements.
Escalation of the Ideological War. President Reagan's European
visit was seen as launching a stepped-up anti-Soviet campaign.
Soviet propagandists kept up their attacks on VOA and ICA,
accusing the U.S. of increasing its psychological warfare
against the USSR.
Chemical and Biological Warfare. Soviet propaganda continued
to emphasize alleged U.S. hypocrisy in condemning the USSR for
the use of chemical and. biological. warfare (.CBW). Soviets main-
tained their claim of innocence on all charges. of CBW.-
State Dept. review completed.
Office of Research Voss
International Communication Agency
Washington, D.C.
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Arms control remained the primary theme of Soviet external
propaganda in June and July. The Geneva START talks and the U.N.
Special Session on Disarmament (SSOD) reinforced the Soviet
emphasis on this subject.
Articles contrasting Soviet and U.S. positions were prominent,
stressing that the Soviet Union stands for peaceful international
cooperation in the face of supposed relentless U.S. aggression.
As evidence supporti'hg this claim, Soviet propagandists inter-
preted international peace movements as directed increasingly
against so-called U.S. escalation of the arms race.
U.S. "Duplicity" at U.N. SSOD
The Soviet response to President Reagan's speech at the U.N.
Special Session on Disarmament _(SSOD) was completely negative.
Soviet attacks on the President's position focused on three major
points.
First, the U.S. was accused of general hypocrisy at the U.N.
SSOD. TASS news analyst.Iurii Kornilov began his June 18 com-
mentary: "Under the impact of the peace-loving policy of the
socialist countries and the pressure of the anti-war movement,
Washington is ever more often trying to put on the robe of a
'peacemaker'." This was also the theme of a June 17 Moscow Radio
broadcast, in which the President's speech was described as "an
attempt to direct the attention of the international community
away from the fact that it. is the United States that is pushing
the arms race ahead."
Second, Soviet accounts introduced examples of supposed U.S.
historical "aggressiveness" to undermine the President's descrip-
tion of the U.S. as "an initiator of disarmament."
Such claims are so far from the truth that they could, perhaps,..
be disregarded, had it not been for. the fact that they come
.frora the President of the United. States . . . . But what do
facts say? We will not go too far into history and recall that
it was precisely the USA and not the USSR which was the first to
create the most destructive weapon ever--the atomic bomb--and to
use it as long [ago] as 1945 without any military need against
the peaceful inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. (Kornilov) .
Third, descriptions of so-called U.S. aggressiveness were con-
trasted explicitly and implicitly with the declared Soviet goal
of "peaceful co-existence." Kornilov claimed that "always, as
soon as the threat emerges of the appearance of new,' ever more
dangerous weapons, the USSR and not the USA proposes that their
creation be renounced on a mutual basis." Reagan's "pompous
statements" about-Washington.':s restraint, he concluded, are "no
more than biased rhetoric."
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Furthermore, in rejecting Soviet peace initiatives, "the U.S.
has exposed itself as the main culprit of sabotaging an arms
limitation and reduction process and of the aggravation of
international tension" (Moscow TASS, in English, July 10).
According to this Soviet commentator, the majority of SSOD
participants deplored the "negative and destabilizing approach
of the United States" and regarded the Soviet initiative as an
"important step towards preventing a nuclear catastrophe."
Similar Charges at Geneva START and INF Talks
Soviets accused the U.S. of trying to "complicate or even under-
mine.the.Geneva negotiations" by leveling slanderous charges
against the USSR. Viktor Shlenov (Moscow Radio in Italian, July 8)
labeled as slander U.S. charges of Soviet violations of Brezhnev's
announced moratorium on SS-20 deployments in the western USSR.
The Soviet Union "always keeps its word," he proclaimed, and
"American and Atlantic politicians and propagandists have
compromised themselves several times by accusing the Soviet
Union of violating agreements."
This "premeditated disinformation" is aimed, Shlenov said, at
"undermining confidence in the word and concrete deed of the
Soviet Union." Adversaries of detente and those who want to
increase international tension are responsible, in the Soviet
view, for these charges.
The insincerity and duplicity of the Reagan administration,
according to TASS English (June 15), are clearly seen from the
fact that it "requests from Moscow much more and offers less in
exchange." Thus, the underlying themes of all Soviet accounts
of the Geneva talks are: the U.S. refuses to bargain in good
faith and seeks unilateral advantages over the Soviet Union.
The Soviet treatment of worldwide peace movements remained simple
and direct: world opinion finds the U.S. at fault for the arms
race and favors Soviet initiatives for peace. For example,
Moscow television, July 3, carried commentary by Leonid Zamiatin,
head of the Central Committee's International Information Depart-
ment, to the effect that such movements are aimed almost exclu-
sively against the "saber rattling" of the Reagan administration.
"The entire policy of our party and our state is . in harmony
with the moods of the world's people," he added.
In Soviet eyes, there is the further satisfaction that
the powerful antimilitarist movement on both sides of the
Atlantic Ocean . . . represents a serious obstacle to the im-
plementation of the colossal war program of the United States
and its West'European allies.who want to-change-the military
balance in'th'e world and--achieve supremacy over the Soviet
Union. (Moscow Italian, July 8)
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The Space Shuttle
Returning to a theme voiced often in.the past, Soviet prop-
agandists used the most recent flight of the U.S. space
shuttle as a pretext for attacks on an alleged American aim
of militarizing space. Pravda (July 2) proclaimed that
"Washington's sinister schemes to use space for its own aggres-
sive airas becomes clearer with each passing day."
Izvestiia (June 26)confessed its shock at the "impudence with
which world public opinion is being challenged and a further step
is being taken toward developing the arms race" with the U.S.
shuttle program. The Pravda piece cited above called "Washing-
ton's plans to achieve military superiority in space . . . a
great danger to mankind."
.Of course, both newspapers went on to say, "the USSR will not
permit the United States to become military master of space."
Denying any such goal for the USSR, they declared that the Soviet
Union, unlike the U.S., seeks the complete demilitarization of
space.
Soviet invective over the Lebanon events fell as much on the U.S.
as on Israel. The U.S. was first accused of building its Middle
East policy. on "anti-Arab principles" and giving "unconditional
support to Israel." According to a Moscow broadcast to the
Arab world on June 10:.
Israel's plans to occupy, Lebanon, including the capture of
Beirut, were coordinated with Washington. This was stated
by Israeli ministers and was confirmed by President Reagan
and U.S. Secretary Haig, who both stated that they fully
support Tel Aviv's policy in the Middle East and particular-
ly its aggression against Lebanon..
Soon Soviets were attacking the U.S. for complicity in the Israeli
operation, charging that the United States not only had advance
knowledge of the invasion but even gave Israel its blessing in the
venture (Moscow .domestic radio, Jul' 11, and television, June 11).
Soviet attacks also stressed-a second theme. As Pavel Demchenko
stated in a June 10 commentary in Pravda, "American imperialism
is putting into effect its hegemoni.sschemes in the Near East."
If the U.S. is "actively" supporting Israel, it is because "Tel
Aviv's actions accord with the schemes of American imperialism."
The Soviets. repeatedly claimed that the U.S. has one goal in the
Middle East. TASS political news analyst Boris Shabayev stated
on June.8 that the U.S. is planning "to clear th.e road for- the
implementation of the second..part of the Camp"Da.vid.collusion:
perpetuation of the occupation of Arab lands under.the guise of
so-called '.administrative autonomy of Palestine.'"
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Perhaps the strongest charge leveled against Israel and, by
extension, the U.S. was that of "genocide" against the Pales-
tinians (Pravda, July 5). The Israelis were often likened to
Nazis and fascists, and the U.S. was castigated primarily for
supplying the weapons and other support for this "barbarous
aggression."
President Reagan's agreement in . principle. to make available U.S.
Marines for securing the implementation of any agreement was
described as the `first step in this "hegemonistic scheme." TASS
on June 14 scored the proposed "multinational peace-keeping
force in Lebanon" as merely an excuse for "American military
.presence in Lebanon (meaning] a considerable expansion of the
area of U.S. gendarme operations in the oil-rich region of the
Middle East."
Moscow domestic radio on July 6 called the U.S. offer to send the
Sixth Fleet to help evacuate Palestinians from Beirut merely a
"pretext for the Americans to take part in the occupation of the
Lebanese capital." And TASS English (July 6) decried the U.S.'s
"perfidious designs" in the Middle East: making the whole region
into its "military-political bridgehead" and laying hands on, the
oil and other natural resources of the Arabs.
As a final line of attack, U.S. statements about commitment to
peace and President Reagan's decision to give $25 million to aid
the victims of the conflict were waved aside as mere pretense,
"a cover-up of [the U.S.'s) connivance with the aggressor."
Interestingly, many Soviet commentators had to take time out from
attacking Israel and the U.S. to defend the Soviet arms supplied
to the Palestinians and,.Syrians. In the face of the poor Arab
performance against Israelis equipped with American arms, Moscow
had difficulty trying to save face without at the same time in-
sulting the military prowess of its Arab customers (Moscow TASS
English and Moscow television, both July 15).
GAS PIPELINE SANCTIONS
President Reagan's denial of U.S. technology and credit to the
USSR in building its pipeline to Western Europe drew prolonged
and sharp criticism from Soviets. Most played up the negative
reaction from some West Europeans to the U.S. move, claiming
that European leaders were indignant at this "unilateral deci-
sion" after a U.S. pledge not to do so at the Versailles summit
(Moscow domestic radio, June 29).
Political observer Eduard Mnatsakanov (Moscow television, July 14)
told his viewers:
The economic war declared by Reagan against the.Soviet Union
has turned into a real threat of economic disaster for U.S.-
allies. The-,:allies, first of all the FRG, Britain and France,
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have not simply condemned the Reagan decision, but have declared
it to be against the law.
Commentator Iurii Maksimov wrote that "White House strategists
think that if they succeed in blocking this project it will become
possible for them to shake loose the entire system of well-adjusted
mutually beneficial cooperation between socialist and capitalist
countries" (Moscow TASS English, June 25).
But even though the U. S. was preparing a "new edition of the Cold
War" (Moscow Worldwide English, June 22) and trying to turn "routine
trade between states into an instrument of political blackmail and
pressure" ;Moscow TASS English, June 19), the Soviet Union would
not buckle. In fact, the USSR will emerge from this trial even
stronger than before, Moscow domestic radio (July 11) assured its
listeners. It will be the United States itself whose interests
are most hurt by all this, according to Moscow TASS English (June 21).
Soviet commentators preferred to view the Secretary of State's
resignation as the result of deep internal divisions within the
Reagan administration and as a convenient excuse for wholesale
attacks on U.S. foreign policy.
The disagreements somehow are related to the harsh policy the
Reagan administration is pursuing in a number of major inter-
national issues. Reagan's imperialistic ambitions are completely
and shamelessly confirmed. At times even Western journalists
call it Reagan's pathological diplomacy, which nobody can either
predict or analyze. (Moscow television, July 3)
Thus, while American journalists stressed the personal differences
between Haig and the White House inner circle (the "California
group" in Soviet terminology), and questioned the secretary's
style of conduct and ambitions, Pravda (June 27) held that "the
scandal which has broken out in Washington's corridors of power
reflects primarily the crisis of the administration's foreign
policy."
Another Soviet analyst, Gennadii Arievich, on Moscow Domestic
.Radio .(July.4).told his audience that "Haig's departure denotes
misfortune in the Washington foreign policy kitchen." Oleg
Anichkin, also on domestic radio (July 9), spoke of the "muddle
and confusion in American foreign policy" and noted that "there
is beginning to be talk about the incompetence of the President's
entourage in foreign policy affairs."
Citing a long list of purported recent American troubles in inter-
national affairs--"the growing gulf between the United States and
Western: Europe," the growing "contradictions" between the U.S.
and Latin, America (especially-over the Falklands), U.S. "responsi-
bility for the genocide" by Israel in Lebanon, and "Washington's
escalation 'of-the arms race"--Pravda correspondent Thomas Kolesni-
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chenko alleged that the administration, in these circumstances,
needed a "scapegoat." And Haig was it. (June 27)
For Izvestiia correspondent Melor Sturua (June 28), who agreed
with Kolesnichenko's assessment, the final straw was Lebanon.
The White House needed to save face and influence among moderate
and conservative Arab states, he wrote, and therefore Haig became
"a very essential figure" as a scapegoat in this "dishonorable
political gambit."
Soviet commentators were more reluctant to speculate about the
possibilities of policy shifts and what sort of Secretary of
State'Gedrge Shultz would be. Anichkin summed up cautiously:
of . . one can say that perhaps there will be some changes, but
most likely the changes will affect the style and not the content."
President Reagan's proclamation of a new "crusade for freedom" on
his European trip roused strong Soviet protest. Pravda commenta-
tor V. Bolshakov called it a crusade against communism and said
that the U.S. is now preparing not only for "psychological war-
fare" against the USSR but also for "much more dangerous operations."
The purpose of this new crusade "is no secret--the 'destabilization'
of the existing system in the socialist countries and countries of
a socialist orientation," he wrote (July 6).
Leonid Zamiatin, head of the Central Committee's International
Information Department, pronounced the President "intoxicated by
militarism." He continued: Washington's anti-Soviet and anti-
socialist orgy has a specific, practical purpose. It is a psycho-
logical offensive intended to validate and justify an unprecedented
arms race, preparations for confrontation with the Soviet Union
and the socialist community and, ultimately, for a "limited" or-
according to the Pentagon's latest plans--"protracted" nuclear
war. (Literaturnaia Gazeta, June 30)
TASS analyst Leonid Ponomarev on July 15 attacked the "tools of
subversion" which the U.S. is relying on in its "stepped-up
propaganda and psychological war"--Radio Liberty and Radio Free
Europe. The same day TASS English hit the Voice of America and
its new director, John Hughes, for being part of this-same
crusade.
The ICA and Director Charles Wick drew the fire of still other
Soviet propagandists. For example, Izvestiia reporter Iu. Kashlev,
stated that "with the Reagan administration's advent to power,
the scale'of U.S. propaganda expanded and its anticommunist trend
was intensified," and noting particularly USICA'.s role in this
(June 26). Zamiatin, in the Litera.turnaia Gazeta piece noted,
mentioned Director Wick-as a friend of the President', added that
he is & ,millionaire, and characterized the ICA as'"deliberately
avoiding an honest and constructive discussion of disputes."
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CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE.(CBW)
Soviet propagandists maintained their established stance on the
question of CBW. The main attack on the U.S. was based on the
supposed build-up of the American chemical weapons arsenal in
the face of the Soviet "peace offensive." Both Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger and Amoretta Hoeber, U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Army, were quoted on this point. The latter
was reported to have said that "the U.S. must constantly
threaten the SgvietUnion with the use of CBW . . . ."
As to-Western statements that rearming America with chemical
weapons "serves exclusively defense purposes," Soviets cried
that "chemical weapons are not defensive but offensive weapons;
they are weapons of aggression and mass annihilation of people,"
again claiming that the U.S.'s primary purpose is to "threaten
the Soviet Union."
In a June 15 interview in the Prague Rude Pravo, Soviet Colonel-
General Nikolai Chervov accused the U.S. of currently working on
"developing ethnic chemical weapons that would annihilate
specifically designated races and ethnic groups."
The Reagan administration was further condemned for supposedly
resisting Soviet CBW ban efforts, and customary charges of hypo-
crisy were also leveled against it. To quote from the above-
mentioned interview:
[Question] . . . Why did Washington need the slanderous fabrica-
tions alleging that the USSR had used, or was about to use,
toxic substances, for instance, in Afghanistan and Cambodia?
[Answer] It needed this terrible lie in order to cover up the
American Army's bloody crimes during the years of U.S. aggres-
sion in Indochina and for justifying in some way the White
House decision to expand the mass production of other kinds
of chemical weapons.
In an equally vituperative approach, O. Mikhailov, in a June 11
article in Novoe Vremia, called U.S. accusations a "smokescreen
of lies." "The U.S. chemical superarming is taking place against
the background of a slander campaign about the USSR's 'involvement'
in the use of chemical weapons in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan."
He concluded with a warning as to the catastrophic implications
of the alleged U..S. policy: "the mass use of these weapons will
not only lead to mankind's destruction, it will make the continued
existence of living organisms on earth impossible."
Prepared by PGM/R Staff
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Listed below are representative Soviet press and TASS items on
themes discussed in this report. Translations or summaries of
virtually all appeared in the FBIS.Daily Report (Soviet Union)
in June and early July.
ARMS CONTROL AND PEACE MOVEMENTS
"Whipping' Up Militarist Hysteria," TASS in Pravda, June 3.
"Stop the Nuclear Madmen" (including article "Zero 'Love of
Peace': Our Question to the journal American" by G. Paskhov),
Komsomolskaia pravda, June 12.
"We Favor Peace and a State of No Danger" by Fakir Khudaev,
Tashkent International Service in Uzbek, June 13.
"Protest of Millions" by S. Timofeeva, Pravda, June 18.
"For a Europe Without Nuclear Weapons" by V. Kuznetsov, Pravda,
June 24.
"Washington's Militaristic Orbit" by Viktor.Linnik, TASS in
Pravda, June 29.
"For a Weapon-Free Cosmos" by Anatolii Poicrovskii, Pravda, June 22.
"View of Events": "The Invincible Movement for Peace" by Gennadii
Shishkin, Selskaia zhizn, July 10.
ISRAELI INVASION OF LEBANON
"Israeli Intrusion into Lebanon", TASS in English, June 8.
"The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon Continues", TASS in Pravda,
June 8.
"Near East: Conspiracy of Imperialism" by L. Koriavin, Izvestiia,
June 14.
"U.S. Encourages Aggression" by Viacheslav Muraviov, TASS English,
June 24.
"Peace for the Near East", Pravda, July 6.
"Washington's Hypocrisy.and Cynicism" by Evgenii Kiseiev, TASS
English, July . 10*'
"Their Weapon is' Terrorism," TASS English, July 11.
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"Undermining Detente," TASS in Pravda, June 19.
"A Policy With Unworthy Aims" by Iurii Maksimov, TASS English,
June 25.
"Indignation at Washington's Measures" by Evgenii Kiselev,
TASS English, June 28.
"Washington's Cowboy Attacks" by Ivan Ablamov, TASS English,
July 13.
"Mr. Reagan, the Embargo and the Boomerang Effect," TASS
English, July 14.
Commentary by Spartak Alekseev, Moscow Domestic Radio, June 26.
"Haig's Resignation" by T. Kolesnichenko, Pravda, June 27.
"Haig's Resignation: Why?" by Iurii Kornilov, TASS English,
June 28.
"On Haig's Resignation" by M. Sturua, Izvestiia, June 28.
"Don't Get Carried Away, Gentlemen!" by V. Matveev,
Izvestiia, June 29.
"The Washington Crusaders" by Leonid Zamiatin, Literaturnaia
gazeta, June 30.
"From the Ideological Front" : "Wearing Anti-Communist Blinders"
by V. Bolshakov, Pravda, July 6.
"U.S. Crusades Aimed at Socialist Countries," FBIS, USSR,
July 14.
"Washington's Voices of-Subversion"-Leonid Ponomarev, TASS
English, July 15.
"Expansion of Radio 'Propaganda Warfare' Scored,". FBIS, USSR,
July 16,
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CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE
"The Chemical Threat Behind a Smokescreen of Lies" by O. Mikhailov,
Novoe vremia, June 11.
"An Aggressive Weapon for the Mass Annihilation of People; on
Reagan's Program of 'Rearming America With Chemical Weapons' ,"
interview with Col. .Gen. Nikolai Chervov by V. Morozov, Rude Pravo
(Czechoslovakia), June 15.
"Washington's Chemical Lies" by Iurii Kornilov, TASS Enylish,
June 30.
"For a Peaceful Cosmos" by' G. Stakh, Pravda, July 2.
"Chemical Weapons Must be Outlawed," TASS English, July 8.
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