CONGRESS WANTS TO 'EVEN ODDS' IN EAST-WEST SPY GAME

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480027-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2012
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: October 24, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480027-3
ARi iC-} h~'r c.rsr ED
ON PAGE .-~------
CHRISTAIN SCIENCE MONITOR
24 October 1985
congress wants to `even odds' in East-West spy game
By Warren Richey
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Washington
From the grounds of the Soviet Embassy, to the halls
of the United Nations, to the board room of the smallest
East-bloc trading firm doing business in the US, Ameri-
can officials are determined to make life as difficult as
possible for Soviet spies.
The effort comes at a time when Americans are wit-
nessing more arrests and public disclosures about spying
in the United States than at any time since World War IL
20 Soviet and East-bloc intelligence officers were expelled
from the country, according to Senate testimony given
this week by William H. Webster, director of the Federal
Bureau of vestigation.
e free world today is confronted with the most au-
dacious, well-run campaign in modern history of illegal
trade diversions, espionage, and acquisitions of publicly
available information," says Richard N. Perle, assistant
secretary of defense. Mr. Perle and Mr. Webster testified
before the same Senate panel.
American officials are concerned that the US response
to this Soviet intelligence offensive as been piecemeal,
leaving large loopholes in US counterintelligence
strategy
The basic problem is that there are too
many SDI and few American coun-
terintell' nce agents to watt them.
A solution ' mg considered y law-
makers is to reduce the total number of
potential spies in the US and to increase
the restrictions on the rest.
Specific countermeasures under dis-
cussion in the Senate would:
? Limit the number of Soviet diplo-
mats stationed in the US to the number of
American diplomats stationed in the So-
viet Union. The administration has
agreed to this proposal, but it is uncertain
to what extent its pending enactment will
lead to an actual reduction in the number
of Soviets stationed in the US.
? Reduce the size of the Soviet mission
to the United Nations. Long considered a
nest of spies, the Soviet mission is now
two times as large as the next largest UN
missions - those of the US and China.
? Den or reduce US credit and sve-
cial trade status to Soviet- nations
discovered spying against the US. This
determination would be based on an an-
nual US- intelligence report to Congress.
The measure would be aimed at discour-
the Soviets' East-bloc allies from
working as surrogates for Soviet
ntelligence.
In the past three years, 25 individuals have been ar-
? Restrict travel of East-bloc diplo-
mats to 25 miles from the city in which
they are stationed. Currently only Soviet
diplomats face such travel restrictions.
? Restrict travel of businessmen work-
ing for state-owned Soviet-bloc companies
and trading organizations. Many of the 55
such firms in the US are said by the FBI
to be. front organizations for spies who use
their business connections to gain entry to
sensitive industries and to recruit vulner-
able Americans.
? Establish a top-level US scientific
advisory team to assess the technological
needs of the Soviet military. The idea is
that by anticipating which US technology
Soviet sp es may see 7in-g.-7r-erican
counterintelligence officials would be bet-
ter able to sta a ste ahead of their coun-
terparts in the B. Private firms in-
volved in targeted technologies could also
be alerted to watch for foreign agents.
? Deny Soviet and East-bloc students
entry into engineering and advanced sci-
ence programs involving potentially sen-
sitive technology. American intelligence
officials have long complained that East-
bloc students in the US almost exclu-
sively-study advanced science and engi-
neerin ,' while Americans in Moscow
concentrate on the humanities.
Intelligence experts agree that it is
easier to keep an eve on a relatively small
pool of potential fore' n spies than to con-
dpct detailed surveillance of the 4 million
Americans holding security clearances to
handle government secrets.
The FBI estimates that rou hl one-
third of the 2,500 Soviet and East oc of-
ficials stationed in the US are undercover
intelligence agents.
In addition, more than 15,000 students
and 90,000 visitors from the Soviet bloc
enter the country each year. It is assumed
that many of them are here on espionage
missions.
"The threat comes not only from So-
viet and bloc officials posted in the United
States, but from trade representatives,
correspondents, students, scholars, scien-
tists, and tourists," says the FBI's
Webster.
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480027-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480027-3
Despite budget increases, the FBI does
not have the manpower to -assign agents
to closely monitor the movements of ev-
ery possible communist spy.
Travel restrictions and reductions in
the numbers o o ici s permitte m t e
US would help even the score from the
point of view of US counterintelligence
experts.
But the State Department is concerned
that new restrictions might cause a back-
lash against our own diplomats in the Sa
viet Union and Eastern European coun-
tries, hinderin our own ability to collect
inte nce behind the Iron Curtain.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480027-3