WHEN 'DIALOGUE' FLOWS ONLY ONE WAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000503890018-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: April 19, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-R
I
RTik'i EA RED
WASHINGTON TIMES
19 April 198=
% ~ flo
When ffialogue WS
Meridian Hill Park, has been
increased because "the people" have
renamed it Malcolm X Park.
only one way She said this April 20 action -
which the Communist newspaper
You will ask the questions that I Daily World promotes in three news
I dictate!" stories and an editorial in its April l l
1VXToN issue - will feature a giant model of
The dapper and obviously out a South African Kruggerrand,
raged black man yelling this at me, U%EASIBED with his right index finger quivering which will unfold into a mural show-
about an inch from my' nose, was B John Lofton ing something about U.S. support for
Maurice Jackson, the Communist Y South Africa; a giant model of an
Party U.S.A:s district organizer for KGB t e soviet secret police) and MX missile showing what other
the District of Columbia. the GRU (the Chief Intelligence things its cost might have pur-
What prompted this outburst by Directorate of the Soviet General chased; and "a human chain of con-
Mr. Jackson - who later said that he Staff). science" at the U.S. Capitol.
is a Southerner who "believes in hos- In his remarks, Mr. ltirkatenko We also were promised that a
pitality" - was my assertion that in criticized President Reagan for not concert will be held by singer Gil
the question-and-answer period that reaching "a single important Scott-Heron who will sing not just
was to follow the forum he was mod- agreement" with the Soviets since about the bomb, but about shutting
erating, I would ask whatever ques- he has been president. As a "journal- down domestic nuclear power plants
tions I wanted to ask. ist" (sic) who watches the arms talks and about apartheid, joblessness,
I r o n i c a l l y, this exchange in Geneva closely, he said he saw no homelessness, intervention (ours, of
occurred this past Saturday evening signal from the U.S. side that shows course, and not the Soviets, presum-
at Davis House on R Street, NW, the the United States is serious about ably). And a rainbow coalition of city
D.C. headquarters of the American conducting negotiations. children from daycare centers will
Friends Service Committee, which the "problem;' said Mr. Thr- sing "We Are the Children:'
advertises itself as a "pleasant, non- katenko, is that America is unwilling i
official site" that allows for to discuss the "star wars" strategic When noted that Ms. . Ti Tie at the April s
"thoughtful and sensitive discus- defense system, which would be a i a opt 20
sions of issues and concerns of a non-nuclear shield designed to action action will be fill out ques-
wide variety and opinion:' 11 defend the United States from a "What se e you with wqqueeduetostions out l such as
But at this night's forum - which nuclear attack. He said, with a at a e worried about are mmost,
comas
-
was sponsored by and was a fund- straight face, that the arms race is eviction or the r
raiser for the Communist Party's "a great burden." And he quoted ing?," the man from TASS said (to
newspaper, the Daily World - there Karl Marx as having said that laughter and applause): "We are
were to be no discussions that were "spending money on weapons is like already here." Ms. Tingling-
either sensitive or thoughtful. throwing money away." Clemmons observed that even if the
Instead, what happened was a two- Mr. 'Ihrkatenko said the Reagan Soviets did come, they don't really.
hour anti-American diatribe during administration has rejected the want anything "so radically differ-
which the United States was repeat- Soviet offer of a missile freeze ent from what we, as a people, want:" edly portrayed as the focus of evil in because of pressure from our (alto- She said that "all the policies" of
the world. gether now) "military-industrial the Reagan administration have
The speakers at this get-together complex" And he said that "every- been "uncivilized from the begin-
were Nikolay 'Ihrkatenko, ning?' And the "only bringer of
Washing- one in the Soviet Union is very much
ton bureau chief of the Soviet props- astonished" that Mr. Reagan plans, peace" is negotiations, to talk with
~ the Soviets.
ganda agency TASS, which is in Germany, to lay a wreath at a Like the other speakers, Mr. Byrd
required by the Justice Department cemetery which includes the graves also was a fount of disinformation.
to register as a foreign agent; of some soldiers who were Nazis. He ng that there is a "growing
Michele Tingling-Clemmons, D.C. did not say if these same people also Asserting there
society and
coordinator of the "Actions for Jobs, were astonished when, prior to has been a "constant
Peace and Justice" which will be World War II, the Soviets signed a that growth" there in the American, military
held here tomorrow, and A.C. Byrd, non-agression pact with the Nazis. gudge(which there hasn't been
a member of the advisory board in her remarks, Ms. Tingling-
commission for the D.C. nuclear Clemmons - who lists among "our when this budget is contrasted with
freeze movement. " in the "struggle for Tiber- the Eisenhower and Kennedy admin-
In his excellent book "KGB: The leaders istrations), he said he was worried
ation" and a "proponent of peace" about "military blocs": NATO,*
Secret Work of Soviet Secret the communist revolutionary Che SEATO and the rapid deployment
j Agents," author John Barron says Guevara - listed the demands and force for the Mideast. He said noth
that "a sizable portion" of the Soviet activities of the April 20"Actions for ing about the communist Warsaw
nationals posted abroad as staff Jobs, Peace and Justice." She said Pact military forces, much less the
members of TASS are officers of the the political significance of one area massive Red Army.
where demonstators will gather,
~tilluii.iw/
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000503890018-1
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0503890018-1
2,
On the international scene, Mr.
Byrd said U.S. troops "are poised
everywhere" Again, he said nothing
about the place where more than
100,000 Soviet troops are already
deployed, in Afghanistan, where
they are slaughtering thousands of
innocent men, women and children.
When the floor was opened to
questions, the first person to speak
was Michael Parenti, an associate
fellow at the far-far-Left Institute for
Policy Studies whose articles have
appeared in "Political Affairs;" the
theoretical journal of the Commu-
nist Party U.S.A.
He attacked "star wars," saying it
is being pushed, for profit, by big
defense contractors, by those want-
ing nuclear superiority over the
Soviets, and by those wanting a
nuclear first-strike capability
against the Soviets.
Mr. Parenti also was critical of
those in the so-called peace move-
ment who have tried to link human
rights in the Soviet Union with arms
control and other matters. Noting
that Andrei Sahkarov is an admirer
of Ronald Reagan, he said that only
"right-wing dissidents" are being
repressed in the Soviet Union.
At this point, Mr. Thrkatenko from
TASS agreed enthusiastically. He
said that if you try to solve all prob-
lems together, "you won't solve one."
Ridiculing the idea of linking human
rights in his country- with other
issues, he said: "What if we were
worried about the homeless
situation in Washington and we
wouldn't talk disarmament until
these people were housed? And we
wanted to verify this and didn't want
you to cheat on this? And we wanted
to send a commission to see how you
do this?" He said he did not think we
would allow this.
Mr. Turkatenko returned to the
Russians-are-coming-bit, noting
that former Secretary of Defense
James Forrestal became "a victim
of his own paranoia;" and leaped to
his death in 1947 from a window with
the cry: "The Russians have landed:'
He said Mr. Forrestal thought that
"Russian tanks were already in the
streets of Washington D.C:" This
greatly amused many in the audi-
ence and a man behind me said that
current Secretary of Defense Cas-
par Weinberger "should do this."
There was more laughter and
applause.
However, neither account I have
read of Mr. Forrestal's tragic death
- as described in the "Concise Dic-
tionary of American Biography" or
"The New Encyclopedia Britannica"
- mentions these alleged quota-
tions.
Then, pointing at me, Mr. TLr-
katenko said that when some people
- "including the newspaper which
this gentleman represents" - say
that the hand of Moscow is every-
where, "they make this kind of link-
age another pretext not to seriously
negotiate"
Following this meeting, when I
asked Mr. Byrd if he had any qualms
about making common cause with
communists, he said his concern
was for peace "and it doesn't matter
what elements support peace:'
Me: Communists are for peace?
The Soviets want peace?
Mr. Byrd: "Yes, I think so. There's
a need for dialogue:'
Me: But if they want peace, why
do the Soviets have more than
100,000 troops in Afghanistan mur-
dering thousands of innocent men,
women and children? Do you care
about this?
Mr. Byrd: "Yes, I do."
Me: Then why didn't you mention
this in your talk?
Mr. Byrd: "I also didn't mention
what the U.S. is doing in El Salvador."
Fifty-five U.S. advisers are like
100,000 plus Soviet troops in
Afghanistan? A preposterous anal-
ogy!
When Mr. Byrd said he thought
the Soviets should seek, at the
United Nations, a "peaceful settle-
ment" of the Afghanistan "issue;" I
said: "What the hell are you talking
about?! The Soviets are causing this
war! They invaded! A peaceful set-
tlement will occur when they leave!
Mr. Byrd: "That's a matter of
question."
He said he "doesn't have the infor-
mation" to get into this particular
issue. But he was opposed to inter-
vention "anywhere."
Me: Have the Soviets intervened
in Afghanistan?!
Mr. Byrd: "Well, I don't know ...
They say they went in on a peaceful
mission."
When I asked Ms. Tingling-
Clemmons if she had any qualms
about joining hands with commu-
nists to talk peace - when the Sovi-
ets have troops in Afghanistan
slaughtering thousands of innocents
- she said she guessed the "best
way" to respond to this was "to ask
me how I feel about our government
sending cattle prods to South
Africa?"
Me: Please, answer my question!
You and the others have trashed
America all night long" She said her
understanding was that the Soviets
"were invited into Afghanistan by
the government of Afghanistan:'
Frequently, in this city, politics
does make strange bedfellows. But,
that night, all the folks together in
this bed, under the covers, were as
alike as the proverbial peas in a pod.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/20: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0503890018-1