AFTER DANILOFF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110002-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 1, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110002-4
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE -&~
WALL STREET JOURNAL
1 October 1986
After Daniloff
Nick Daniloff is out, Gennadi Zak- and the Russians shoved an American
harov is on his way back to KGB journalist into prison. As a public-re-
headquarters, Soviet dissident and lations cover for this preposterous act,
torture victim Yuri Orlov is going to the Soviets release Yuri Orlov, who
the West, and in 10 days Ronald Rea-
gan and Mikhail Gorbachev will be was imprisoned and tortured for pub
chatting in Reykjavik. licly demanding that the Politburo
While Messrs. Reagan, Shultz and comply with its signed commitment to
Shevardnadze seemed in high. spirits the Helsinki accords on human rights.
Yesterday over their surprise an- The other, utterly innocent Soviet an-
nouncement of the minisummit in Ice- mates mentioned during the negotia-
land, many Americans may have tions-such as ailing biochemist Da-
trouble spanning the logic that lets us vid Goldfarb-revert to status as ne-
pass so quickly from the grim lessons gotiating chips for another time. In re-
of the Daniloff affair to the high hopes turn for dealing, the Soviets have got-
of an arms agreement. At the least, ten the Americans to freeze last
Mr. Reagan is asking the American week's announced expulsion of 25 So-
public to make a large leap of faith viet U.N. spies at 11 departures, leav-
with him now toward doing business ing the remaining 14 in place, subject
with a country that regards U.S. citi- to negotiation. Our intelligence
zens as merely flesh to barter. For- sources report that these 14 are
eign Minister Shevardnadze was di- among the Soviets' most valued
rect on this point yesterday. The agents in the U .S.
"events of recent weeks" weren't an With Mr. Daniloff's detention
obstacle to peace, Mr. Shevardnadze widely viewed as thwarting a summit
said, "but the real deadlock was the meeting, Mr. Gorbachev played his
issue of nuclear and space arms." trump card. He proposed a minisum-
Many American commentators mit on a neutral site, saving him from
have similarly suggested that the the prospect of being overmatched in
dreadful Daniloff affair shouldn't be a U.S.-based summit. With a stroke,
allowed to impede a deal with the So- Mr. Gorbachev has driven the Dani-
viets' arms negotiators. To the con- Toff story off the front pages, replac-
trary, we believe that the Daniloff af- ing it with his own summit agenda.
fair is quite pertinent to the larger Very well, let us press further into
arms issue. It raises again fundamen- this never-never land. When Mr. Rea-
tal questions about the political and gan sits down in Reykjavik, there is
moral integrity of the Soviet system. one issue he should raise immediately
We had thought that the public's with General-Secretary Gorbachev.
skepticism -about the utility of past Mr. Reagan should say that while the
arms agreements had been expressed residents of Montana and South Da-
in two overwhelming presidential kota no doubt worry about the ICBM
votes for a candidate whose own deep silos they've lived with for 30 years,
skepticism was public, continuous and what they really want their president
unapologetic. It appears that Mr. Rea- to find out is why the Soviets are
gan's skepticism has lessened. walking away from an agreement to
By what logic is the Daniloff affair buy 8.5 million metric tons of Ameri-
a pretext for hope? The U.S. protected can grain. If there is to be a summit,
its interests by arresting a Soviet spy, let us at least discuss realities.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/21 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000201110002-4