REMARKS OF THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE TO THE JOINT MEETING OF THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SOCIAL STUDIES AND THE CONNECTICUT COUNCIL OF LANGUAGE TEACHERS CONVENTION HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 28 OCTOBER 1983

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: October 28, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
TO THE JOINT MEETING OF THE
NORTHEAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE SOCIAL STUDIES
AND THE
CONNECTICUT COUNCIL OF LANGUAGE TEACHERS CONVENTION
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
28 OCTOBER 1983
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
1. Introduction
?In front of the CIA headquarters building stands a
statue of a young Connecticut man, Nathan Hale. Like you, he
was a teacher. Like me, he was a spy. In both capacities, he
served his state and his country.
'He undertook a dangerous mission, one well known to
you. He left from my hometown of Norwalk and landed on Long
Island, not far from the home of my present boss, Bill Casey.
He is honored not because his mission succeeded, but because he
is a role model for us all, but especially for=our young
people. He was a real patriot, and he proved it with his life.
2. Soviet Society
'We know from recent events that the Government of the
USSR can be quite ruthless. We know that the Soviets are the
imperialists of our time. We know that they have powerful
weapons with which to threaten the free world. We know that
they steal our technology. What we forget is that the first
victims of the Soviet system are the people who live there.
What kind of a life do they lead?
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
?The peoples of the USSR lack the fundamental freedoms
which we hold dear. Apart from that, they also suffer the
inefficiencies of the Soviet system. The quality of life is
not high on what is supposed to be the workers' paradise. The
huge military machine has first priority on resources.
?Agriculture is a drag on the economy. A farmer in the
US produces enough food for himself and 64 others. By
contrast, a farmer in the Soviet Union produces enough food for
himself and 7'others.
?Daily life is an ordeal. 9ahopping for-the most basic
items is a rat race, with constant shortages and long lines.
When a Moscow resident sees a queue, he joins it without even
knowing what's at the other end. It doesn't matter, since
everything is in short supply.
*In 1981, a Soviet correspondent took off from Moscow
for Krasnodar on the Black Sea. He deliberately left behind
all the usual personal items (soap, razor, shaving cream,
toothbrush, and so forth) to investigate reports that such
items were unavailable in Krasnodar stores. He systematically
visited every store in Krasnodar in an unsuccessful quest to
buy the articles. He managed to get only the last package of
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
razor blades in one store and a child's toothbrush at another.
The toothbrush broke the following day.
?Shortages and shoddinesslgo hand in hand in the USSR,
whether one is speaking of food,;housing, or consumer goods.
?In Moscow, consumers have to "reserve" toilet tissue in
stores by filling out postcard order forms. However, sometimes
the supply of postcards runs out:
'The burden is not shared equally in "the classless
society." High party officials ard*-entitled to shop at special
stores closed to the general public,.where scarce goods are
sold at low prices. With the right contacts, the waiting time
for an apartment in Moscow can be reduced from 10 years to 2
?There is no free press in the Soviet Union. The two
nationwide dailies are Izvestia and Pravda. One means "the
news," the other means "the truth." There's an old saying in
Russia that there's no truth in the news and no news in the
truth.
?There is a great emphasis; in Soviet schools on
mathematics, science, and engineering.. About 1/3 of total
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
instruction time in secondary schools is devoted to mathematics
and science. This is a plus for the technologically-oriented
Soviet society. There are serious flaws, however, in Soviet
education, including too much rote learning and, at the
university level, narrow specialization early on.
youth alielnation.
Party
have expressed concern over the loss of ideological
fervor on the part of Soviet youth. There is a good deal of
materialism and there is concern about drug abuse and
alcoholism among them.
?Alcoholism is considerediby many to be the most. serious
social problem in the Soviet Union, and it is on the rise.
According to one Soviet authority, 37% of the male work force
is chronically drunk, compared with 11% in 1925. The number of
drinkers under age 18 has also risen sharply. In 1925, 16% of
those under age 18 drank. Today it exceeds 90%. Alcoholism
among women is growing as well; 10% of alcoholics are women.
*The social consequences of drinking are evident in
Soviet publications. More than half of all crimes in the USSR
are committed by intoxicated people. In the case of teenagers,
70 to 80% of crimes committed are linked to drinking.
41
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
1976, deaths from acute alcohol poisoning were
recorded as 15.9 per 100,000 population. In the same year,
deaths in the US from acute alcohol poisoning were recorded at
0.18 per 100,000 population. These grim statistics reflect the
inadequacy of medical attention to the-problem.. They also
reflect the lousy booze available to the public.
?Although the Soviet health care system is extensive and
free of charge,. there is a relatively low standard of care.
Drugs are difficult to find, hospitals are overcrowded and
dirty, and a patient's family must often bring food from home
to supplement the hospital diet. In-contrast,=--there is a -
closed system of hospitals and:clinics with superior facilities
for top party and government officials.
?According to Soviet data, the USSR appears to be the
only nation in the world with a lower life expectancy now than
20 years ago. The average Soviet male life expectancy was 66
years in 1965. Today it is 62.
?The USSR is a multinational empire. Roughly half the
population is non-Russian. Nationality discontent is a latent
vulnerability. Language policy is a sensitive issue in the
USSR. Linguistic Russification is resented and resisted. Only
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
13% of the non-Russian population (and that's half the people
in the USSR) use Russian as a first language.
?A demographic explosion is occurring in the Central
Asian part of the USSR. Birth rates in the Muslim areas are
2 1/2 times those in the Slavic areas. By the end of the
century, 40% of all Soviet children under age 10 will come from
?Moscow views religion as a competitor for the loyalty
of the Soviet people. It deals directly with this threat in
Muslim areas by such things as limi-t-ing the number of mosques
and admissions to the two theological seminaries. Nonetheless,
Islam maintains a strong grip on the Central Asian peoples.
?The revolution in Iran and the Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan have made Islamic fundamentalism a current issue
for the leadership, and these events play on the psychological
fears of the Moscow-based leadership.
?The wide array of Soviet social and economic ills is
well-documented, but observers differ on the implications for
the.Soviet regime. Some consider that the regime's coercive
powers are so massive that changes in the system are unlikely.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
?Another school of thought sees the Government's
legitimacy seriously eroding. According to this view, the
younger generation will increasingly compare the quality of
life in the USSR with that of.the West -- a comparison in which
the USSR comes up short. Such perceptions may ultimately lead
to a fundamental change in the political system.
?Whatever the future holds, the stark reality is that
daily life in the Soviet Union is an ordeal. The peoples of
the Soviet Union are the prisoners of an inefficient and
ossified system imposed upon them by the Bolshevik minority in
1917.
3. Intelligence and the Social Sciences
'The above report on Soviet society is a good example of
how we use the social sciences in intelligence. In our office
of Global Issues, we use an integrated approach that utilizes
the talents of psychologists, sociologists, cultural
anthropologists, cultural geographers, economists, political
scientists, and historians. Let's look at some of the other
global problems they address.
?Political instability and revolution. Terrorism.
Urbanization. Population pressures. Ethnic and linguistic
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
divisions. Societal change. International migration, legal
and illegal. Food. Desertification. Long-range climatic
changes. Pollution. Narcotics -- this one I want to develop
since this is a big, national problem which has not left our
schools untouched.
4. Narcotics
?As many as 41 million people in the United States each
year spend some $80 billion on illegal drugs: heroin, cocaine,
marijuana, and hashish.
'As school teachers, you are undoubtedly concerned about
drug abuse by students. The Central Intelligence Agency plays
an important role in the national effort to interdict the flow
of narcotics into this country.
'We provide the crop estimates of the production of
illicit drugs around the world as well as the analysis of how
such drugs are smuggled from country to country.
?The results of such research are sobering. Drugs
entering US markets are produced primarily in Latin America,
Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
?Latin America supplies all of the cocaine, over 90% of
the marijuana, and about one-third of the heroin sold on US
streets.
?The so-called Golden Crescent of Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and Iran is the world's leading opium-producing region and
supplies over 50% of the heroin used here.
?The Golden Triangle of Burma, Thailand, and Laos
supplies about 10% of US heroin.
?Although marijuana use has4declined somewhat among high
school youths, there has been a slow, steady increase in the
use of cocaine. Colombia is.the major source for cocaine
imported into the US. New marketing sources have also been
established in Brazil's Amazon valley. More and more cocaine
is being smuggled into the US in commercial aircraft.
?Drug traffickers need overseas havens to launder and
stash their huge profits from smuggling. Countries with strict
bank secrecy laws are favored as are areas which have easy,
loose requirements for incorporation. Loose incorporation laws
enable the drug smuggler to form a front corporation to handle
money arrangements.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
?Although Switzerland is known for its bank secrecy
laws, the Swiss have signed a mutual assistance treaty with the
US which allows US investigative agencies access to certain
bank records if there is probable cause. Presently drug
traffickers use banks in Panama, the Cayman Islands, the
Bahamas and Hong Kong. The proximity of Panama, the Caymans,
and the Bahamas to the US enables the traffickers to smuggle
large amounts of cash via short flights on commercial or
chartered aircraft.
?Despite attempts by some countries to reactivate crops
and despite more widespread attentiyo.n given to-stopping -
international trafficking, the lure of large profits ensures a
steady flow. In many drug-producing countries money earned by
growers and traffickers far exceeds returns from alternative
crops. For example: the average income for a Colombia farmer
is some $60 to $70 per month; the same farmer growing marijuana
could probably earn more than $1,300 monthly.
5. Civil Technology
?For years, the US dominated foreign markets. No
longer. Japan is equally competitive with us,'if not more so
.in electronics. Japan is also trying to make its mark in the
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
aircraft industry, making all kinds of offers to Boeing for
Boeing to build plants in Japan.
?In Europe we have the same problem. In our country, we
don't subsidize the development of civil, non-military
products. France has put $1.3 billion dollars into developing
the airbus, another $1.2 billion to market it, and is
subsidizing the production of that plane to the tune of $400
million. It's difficult for a private US company to compete
with a foreign company subsidized by its government. Unless we
find a way to deal with this, we're going to be in deep
trouble. We don't need another Detroit in Seattle or East -
Hartford. (Pratt and Whitney, Division of United Technologies,
located in East Hartford, manufactures aircraft engines.)
6. Intelligence and the Sociology of Religion
*To understand a people, one must study the spiritual
roots of its behavior -- its religion and how its history has
been shaped by it. This is especially so for Muslim nations.
?In the West, we tend to separate religion from
politics, the private from the public realm. Not so in Islam.
There is not even a suitable word in Arabic, Persian, or other
Islamic languages for "temporal" or "secular." Muslims
11
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
themselves do not make the distinction. Making contracts,
paring nails, and prayer are all religious acts.
?Five years ago we witnessed enormous upheavals in
Iran. While we couldn't predict the outcome of that year-long
revolution, we knew the players and the issues. The religion
of Islam and the institution of the Persian monarchy have been
the two predominant forces in Iran for 13 centuries.
'The two have sometimes worked closely together but, in
the last two centuries, have been at swords' points. The
contest between the Shah and Khomeini was only=the apex of a-
conflict that has waxed and waned for 200 years. Until
recently, neither has been able to completely suppress the
other.
?Since the Iranian drama unfolded, we have paid
increasing attention to the analysis of broad societal forces
which can have a major impact on a nation's politics. The
resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism, in Iran and elsewhere, is
the most conspicuous example of such a societal force.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
7. How Can You Help?
6You can help your country by encouraging the teaching
of foreign languages. Our nation's foreign language capability
has been rapidly deteriorating. One of the most obvious
results of this deterioration is the adverse impact it is
having on your intelligence agencies. Affording our youth the
opportunity to learn foreign languages is essential, and they
should begin as, early in their schooling as possible.
?Our linguistic needs are not limited to Russian and
Chinese. Third World nations are oaf.-increasing=concern to us.
We must keep abreast of developments in all areas. We must be
able to translate and assimilate a vast amount of information
as fast as possible -- translations not only of military and
political material but also of economic and technical substance.
?Language capability (especially speaking ability) is
critical in recruiting foreign nationals to provide us with
information and in developing strong ties with our counterparts
in other intelligence services abroad. The collection of human
intelligence is something of an art. The success of our
officers. overseas depends to a very large extent on intangible
psychological and human factors, on feelings of trust and
13
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
confidence, and on personal rapport. Speaking the other
person's language plays a critical role in this chemistry.
?Many of our people with a foreign language capability
have retired after 30 years or so of service. Replacement of
these people has been made difficult by the fact that many
colleges no longer have foreign language requirements as part
of their mandatory curriculum.
?We are especially vulnerable when it comes to the more
exotic languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, and so forth. We
have seen a steady decline since 19"75 in almost all languages,
including the more common Romance languages. We need strong
skills in most world languages.
*In CIA, we have had a language school since 1951. It
was set up by Leon Dostert, who developed the Army's program in
World War II and subsequently established Georgetown
University's Institute of Languages and Linguistics. But we
cannot afford the burden in terms of time, expense, security,
and manpower to continually devote the bulk of a person'`s
training period to the development of a language skill.
*In the last few years, we have implemented a Language
Incentive Program whereby people are rewarded for achieving a
14
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
particular level of proficiency in a language and rewarded for
the maintenance of that skill.
'The Director and I strongly support the recommendations
in the Report of the President's Commission on Foreign Language
and International Studies issued in November 1979. We also
encourage adequate funding for such programs as the Department
of Education's International Education and Foreign Language
Studies Program and,the Translations Program of the National
Endowment for the Humanities. We have conveyed this support to
Congress in the form of testimony before the House Education
and Labor Committee.
?We are losing the large talent bank of
second-generation Americans where another language was spoken
at home. Of the major nations of the world, we are the most
monolingual. Decisive action should be taken at all levels --
local, state, and federal -- to foster foreign language
training in our country.
?I am mindful that this group includes those attending
the Annual Convention of the Connecticut Council of Language
Teachers. I turn to you to ask for your assistance and to
remind you that every time you train a student in a foreign
15
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
language, you are making a contribution to the national
security.
?There are other ways in which you can help us. As I
looked over the conference schedule; I noted so many sessions
and clinics discussing topics pertinent to our work: area
studies, geography, map skills, and history. And then I was
struck by four different sections entitled respectively:
Hamburger and Sushi;, Roman Cookery and Foods; Foods, Culture,
and the Curriculum; and, finally, Hamburgers, French Fries, and
a Coke: Teaching Social Studies and Foreign Languages thru
Common Foods. What a marvelous idee---- eating-your way through
to cross-cultural understanding!
?Quite seriously, the products of any society, whether
they-are machines, produce, or ideas, are in harmony with each
other. Manifestations of the human spirit which spring from
the same source cannot be inconsistent with one another., All
this by way of saying more power to you who are fostering
understanding of peoples and cultures different from our own,
however one breaks through to that understanding. This is also
the task of intelligence.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
8. Intelligence in an Open Society
?There are dilemmas that intelligence agencies face in
carrying out their duties in an open society. Secrecy is
essential to any intelligence organization. At the same time,
accountability is essential in a democratic society. Appointed
officials are accountable to elected ones and elected officials
are accountable periodically to the electorate.
?It is often said that intelligence is not accountable.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It always has had to
answer fully to the President -- and,-in varying degrees to -
Congress, the National Security Council, the Office of
Management and Budget, the Intelligence Oversight Board, and
the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. In the
past few years, we have witnessed an expanded intelligence
oversight role for the Attorney General and the Courts.
?Under our political system, the Director and I carry
out our responsibilities under the close scrutiny of the
press -- certainly a unique position among the intelligence
chiefs of the world. But while intelligence should not be
divorced from public opinion, neither should it be overly
concerned with the daily shifts, the ups and downs, of public
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
criticism or praise. This is more properly the concern of the
elected representatives.
?Elected officials, whether in the White House or in
Congress, must stay closely attuned to the public's wishes. We
in intelligence must be responsive to the President and
Congress. We receive the public's direction through them.
That is why we welcome Congressional and Presidential
oversight. That our actions are reviewed and approved by the
public's representatives gives them a legitimacy they would not
otherwise have in our open society.
?Secrecy is essential to any intelligence organization.
Ironically, secrecy is accepted without protest in many areas
of our society. Physicians, lawyers, clergymen, grand .juries,
journalists, income tax returns, crop futures -- all have
confidential aspects protected by law. Why should national
security information be entitled to any less protection?
9. Conclusion
?0ur country faces some difficult challenges ahead. I
am confident that the American people will rise to the
occasion. We always have.
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
 Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1
?In 1780 in Hartford, there was an eclipse in
mid-afternoon. In that religious age, people fell on their
knees and begged a final blessing before; the end came. The
Connecticut House of Representatives was in session and many of
the members clamored for immediate adjournment. The Speaker of
the House, one Colonel Davenport, came to his feet and he
silenced the din with these words: "The day of judgment is
either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no
cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my
duty. I move, therefore, that candles be brought to enlighten
this hall of democracy."
?Let each of us in this: challenging time in our history
bring and light candles to help illuminate our country's way.
19
Approved For Release 2007/12/20: CIA-RDP85M00364R002204250018-1