REAGAN'S SOVIET POLICY 'DANGEROUS'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100380003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: February 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100380003-6
SPOKANE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (W-IA)
9 February 1984
Reagans Soviet policy `dangerous'
By TIM HANSON
Staff wrier
President Reagan's policy toward the
viet L4 on is not only "extremely
dangerous but has helped bring U.S.
relations with that nation to the lowest
point in more than 30 years.
Arthur Macy Cox, an expert in U.S.-
Soviet affairs and former member of
the CeQLLa1 Intejigence Aggncyy, deliv-
ered that assessment Wednesday in a
speech at Eastern Washington Universi-
ty.
Cox, author of "Russian Ro ette: The
Superpower Game," told an aience of
50 that the tough, threatening rhetoric
of the Reagan administration must stop
and that serious talks on arms control
must begin.
If not, he said, the risk of nuclear war
will continue to grow, he said.
"The risk-taking b7 this administra-
tion is unbelievable, Cox said. "You
only have to look at the actions of the
administration to see that we're on a
steady course to build and deploy weap-
ons for nuclear war fighting.'
. Reagan still is laboring under the be-
lief that the Soviet Union is preoccupied
with domination of the world, Cox said.
"We're at the threshold of change,"
he said. "If we get the right leadership
in the U.S., we can get back op the right
track."
Since it appears Reagan is not going
to change his attitudes toward the Sovi-
et Union, the only solution is a change
of administrations, Cox said.
Almost all the Democratic presiden-
tial candidates have gone on record say-
ARTHUR MACY COX
Risk-taking 'unbelievable'
ing that, as president, they would aban-
don the MX missile program and get
back to serious arms negotiations with
the Soviets, he said.
Although many political- observers
believe Reagan will have no trouble
winning a second term, things will
change in the coming months, Cox pre-
dicted.
"Just watch the polls," he told a re-
porter. "I'll Prw edict he drops 10 points
(in the next fe months) ... things will
be different than in 1980."
For example, the labor force was
strongly behind Reagan in 1980, but this
year he'll be lucky to get 25 percent of
their votes, Cox said.
He said Jimmy Carter's image was
that of a "wimp," and that most Ameri-
cans in 1980 were really voting against
Carter, not for Reagan.
"This time," Cox said, "we'll have a
real ideological battle ... for the first
time since (President William Howard)
Taft we've had a real right-winger in
office."
A big danger facing the world is "un-
intentional nuclear war," Cox said.
"Our computers make frequent er-
rors," he said. "And the Soviets' tech-
nology is behind ours and their comput-
ers make many more errors. .
"When we get to this point, we're tak-
ing a tremendous risk because we're
putting the Soviet Union in a corner.
They could launch on a first warning"
without checking for computer error.
Cox said world political conditions
are getting too serious for "boy scout
games" and that the "time has come to
start talking seriously" with the Sovi-
ets.
"One thing we'll have to give up," he
id
"
'
sa
,
is this idea that we
re going to
bring the Soviet Union to its knees..
Things are better there for the people
than 10 years ago. There is not going to
be a revolution.
"We despise their system, but we've
got to learn to live with it."
Cox, who served with the CIA from
1952 through 1961, has written three
books. He also writes regularly for the
New York Times, and syndicated
column appears in some 200 newspa-
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100380003-6