SOVIET PROPAGANDA ALERT NUMBERS 7 AND 8

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002100120034-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 14, 2008
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: June 23, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

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EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT
Routing Slip
ACTION
INF,
DATE
INITIAL
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2
DCI
DDC
3
EXDIR
4
D/ICS
5
DDI
6
DDA
7
DDO
8
DDS&T
9
Chm/NIC
10
GC
11
IG
12
Compt
13
D/EEO
14
D/Pers
15
D/OEA
16
C/PAD/OEA
17
SA/IA
18
A0/DCI
19
C/IPD/OIS
20
21
22
State Dept. review completed
cutrve Sec6 to
d 2 ry
r 2
Dot.
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International Office of the Director
Communication
Agency
United States of America June 23, 1982
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable
William J. Casey
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Charles Z. Wi,c
SUBJECT: "Soviet Propaganda Alert"
Numbers 7 and 8
Enclosed are the seventh and eighth issues of "Soviet
Propaganda Alert" produced by our office of Research.
As you will note, the seventh issue of the "Alert" is a
special edition devoted to a few of the more outrageous
charges the Soviet media have made, especially concerning
allegations made concerning American involvement in pre-
parations for chemical and biological warfare.
The eighth issue covers major Soviet propaganda themes
during the month of May. During this period, the Soviets:
o Widely attacked President Reagan's arms control
proposals contained in his speech at Eureka
College and praised President Brezhnev's proposals
presented to the Communist Youth Organization
Congress. The U.S. was accused of seeking mili-
tary superiority and stalling the Geneva INF talks.
Further, the antinuclear movement in the U.S. was
portrayed as strong and growing.
o Strongly attacked the British position on the
Falklands, accusing them of aggression and
colonialism, while avoiding support of the
Argentine regime per se. The U.S. was accused
of seeking military bases in the Falklands.
Emphasis was also placed on the alleged damage
done to U.S.-Latin American relations by the
crisis.
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No. 7
Summary
Soviet Propaganda Alert
April 30, 1992
This special edition of the alert contains some of the more
outrageous charges against the U.S. made by Soviet propagan-
dists in the past few months. The term "disinformation" best
describes this output, which is distinct from ordinary Soviet
propaganda. These accusations cover a variety of topics, but
the majority focus on chemical and biological warfare, as has
the overall Soviet propaganda effort in this period.
As a reminder to our readers, the Soviet Propaganda Alert is a
series of reports on current Soviet external propaganda. These
reports are based on cable reporting, primary source material,
and secondary sources such as Foreign Broadcast Information
Service (FBIS) publications. The purpose of the alert is to
highlight and analyze major Soviet propaganda themes.
Office of Research
International Communication Agency
Washington, D. C.
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Soviet media often use propaganda techniques that are rather
refined and sophisticated. The Soviet propagandist generally
relies more on distortion, one-sided and slanted presentation
of information, insinuation and manipulation of facts, than on
outright, blatant falsehood. But the latter is by no means
overlooked.
A whole range of methods is brought to bear in disinformation
campaigns conducted by the Soviets using both their own and
non-Soviet media conduits. Described briefly below are several
of the more outrageous fabrications which the Soviets have
circulated recently. These items obviously fit in with broader
Soviet propaganda objectives--for example, the "CIA kidnappings
in Honduras" story is part of the campaign to fuel anti-U.S.
sentiment in Latin America, to strengthen the myth of the
powerful, evil, and omnipresent CIA, and to create an image of
Americans as inhumane exploiters. The first item below appears
to be part of Moscow's effort to divert public attention from
the evidence of Soviet use of toxins in Afghanistan and Soviet
complicity in their use in Southeast Asia.
Moscow Launches Disinformation offensive against University of
Maryland Medical Research Center in Pakistan
The February 3 issue of the popular Soviet weekly Literaturnaia
gazeta featured a two-page spread on alleged chemical and bio-
log al weapons research and use by the U.S. In addition to a
fearsome science-fiction sketch of giant insects hovering over a
city skyline, an article appeared entitled "Incubator of Death"
which took up three-quarters of one page. This sensationalistic
narrative by veteran Soviet correspondent Iona Andronov deals
with the University of Maryland's Pakistan Medical Research
Center (PMRC) in Lahore. Here, charges Andronov, CIA-sponsored
scientists are conducting research on "poisonous mosquitoes" in
order to exploit them for "bacteriological warfare."
Andronov's article is fundamentally an account of his mission,
undertaken on the spot in Lahore, to investigate the PMRC.
Referring to such dubious publications as the Communist Party's
Daily World and Philip Agee's Covert Action, Andronov notes by
way of introduction that accusations against the Center surfaced
over a year ago. According to various sources, such as one
Abdul Aziz Danishyar, identified as the editor of the Kabul New
Times, the PMRC was actually doing research on "bacteriological
wa ire" under the guise of studying malaria and similar diseases.
One immediate goal of the research was alleged to be the staging
of "mosquito military ventures" against Afghanistan--that is,
starting epidemics in Afghanistan by infecting nomads and their
herds in Pakistan with deadly mosquito-borne viruses which the
nomads would transmit to Afghanistan during their seasonal
migration there.
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In the course of his story, Andronov hits all the requisite
targets--the CIA, imperialistic and racist American attitudes,
bloodthirsty and fanatical American researchers. His main
themes include the following:
o The activities of the Medical Research Center are funded by
the Agency for International Development, which, Andronov
glibly declares, is "in essence, the CIA." Offering no evi-
dence whatsoever, Andronov depicts the Center as being under
CIA control. The CIA is alleged to be applying PMRC's research
in "germ warfare" in Cuba, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. For
example, noting the high reproduction rates of female experi-
mental mosquitoes shown him during his tour of the PMRC labora-
tory, Andronov concludes that only a fraction of the mosquitoes
produced can be processed. Therefore, "it's evident that tine
rest are being sent from there to the CIA's Caribbean sabotage
bases near Cuba."
o The Center is harmful to the local Pakistani population.
Andronov repeats a story that a year ago, "dozens.of Lahore
residents were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes belonging to a
species unusual in that region. People who were bitten by them
came down with yellow fever, hepatitis, and jaundice, and some
went insane." The Lahore doctors, Andronov claims, could do
nothing to help their doomed patients. But they did find the
source of the disaster--"the African Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
[which] were being incubated by the thousands at the PMRC
'laboratory." Citing more groundless rumors as further evidence,
Andronov asserts that the PMRC researchers have exhibitea a
careless disregard for the local population and have exploited
them as human guinea pigs.
o The U.S. personnel running the center are immoral, conniving,
personally loathsome individuals totally lacking in respect
for human life. Andronov resorts to extremely derogatory and
crude descriptions of the two American scientists he dealt with
at the center, trying in his physical characterization of them
to underscore negative moral traits. They appear in his article
as unbelievable caricatures of evil "mad scientists."
This story's unsubstantiated charges have been widely replayed
by both Soviet and non-Soviet (especially South Asian) media.
To cite just a few examples: TASS (Feb. 11) summarized the
Literaturnaia gazeta story; Moscow Radio in an English-language
broadcast (March 24) repeated and expanded upon it; a follow-up
story was published in Literaturnaia gazeta on March 24; the
Austrian Communist Party organ Volksstimme carried on April 3
an APN (Novosti) article containing the allegations against PMRC;
the Pakistani mass-circulation daily Jang (in Urdu) printed an
article based on Andronov's original; and the Times of India and
the Patriot (India) carried on March 9 a Press Trust o India
iteia quot ng a TASS version of the story. Much use has been
made of the radical Lahore weekly Viewpoint which has long been
involved in developing and spreading propaganda against the PMRC.
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The techniques used in "Incubator of Death" are not new or
unusual, but Andronov employs them with considerable skill.
Several of the most noteworthy are:
o Incorporating some facts and elements of truth into a disin-
formation effort. A prime example of this is the impressive-
sounding scientific background on malaria and disease-carrying
mosquitoes. Such material is designed to enhance the writer's
credibility and impart to the whole story, including the most
absurd aspects, an air of "scientific truthfulness."
o Playing on the sensitivities, tears, or prejudices of inemoers
of one's audience. Many in third-world--and other--audiences
are conditioned to believe charges of "CIA involvement" and
respond in a predictable fashion to the cry of "CIA." Another
attempt in Andronov's story to play to third-world readers is a
description of how he pretends to be "a typical American" in
order to get past the guards at the Medical Research Center:
"After all, the management here was American and the guards were
Pakistanis, which meant that they were probably used to subserv-
iently obeying fair-skinned Yankees. And I was right: The guards
stepped back when, thrusting out my chin Texas-style, I walked
with a swagger up to the forbidden door."
Short Takes: Samples of Soviet Disinformation
This section presents, in brief form, particularly offensive
and/or outrageous offerings from the Soviet media.
o Repeat play on CIA complicity in Dozier kidnapping. Moscow
Radio on February 24 reiterated a charge which originally sur-
faced immediately after the release of General Dozier by Red
Brigade terrorists. The broadcast alleged: ". . . [M]any people
in America wonder whether the Dozier case was not fro,n start to
finish a provocation by the CIA. . . . Such an operation could
have been prepared to direct public attention away from the Penta-
gon's dangerous plans in Western Europe and to reduce the inten-
sity of the antiwar movement in NATO countries." Incidentally,
the Italian daily Corriere della Sera (March 26) noted that an-
other old Soviet line has reappeare in the journal Druzhba
narodov ("Friendship of the Peoples")--the absurd charge of CIA
complicity in the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro.
o U.S. staging a "publicity show" around Pentecostal.Lidia
Vashchenko. The case of the Soviet Pentecostals who sought and
obtained-refuge in the American Embassy Moscow years ago and are
still there, unable to receive visas to emigrate, is a complex
problem. U.S. authorities have long tried--and continue to
try--to resolve the situation satisfactorily. The recent hunger
strike, hospitalization, and eventual return home of one of the
Pentecostals, Lidia Vashchenko, was widely reported in the West.
The situation--and the publicity accorded it--was a great source
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of embarrassment to Moscow, particularly as it carne at a time
when Soviet authorities are going to extremes to demonstrate
Soviet religious tolerance and win the support of international
religious leaders and groups for Moscow's May propaganda-fest,
the "World Peace Conference" nominally sponsored by the Russian
Orthodox Patriarch. Thus Soviet propagandists, seeking to
counter Western coverage, provided their own sketchy report of
the Vashchenko episode, slanting it to portray the U.S. as
"staging" various actions as "anti-Soviet publicity stunts."
However--they noted reassuringly--this U.S. "anti-Soviet effort
was doomed to failure, since thinking people would immediately
see through American behavior.
o "Children Kidnapped in Honduras" Reprinted from the FBIS
translation (USSR Daily Report, February 23), here is a parti-
cularly absurd piece of Soviet disinformation.
Moscow Radio in Spanish to Latin America:
In Honduras, the CIA is kidnapping children of Salvadoran
refugees. These operations are being carried out behind the
facade of the religious organization, World Vision, whicn
officially performs charitable activities in refugee camps.
The shepherds of souls, who are in fact CIA agents, promised
the mothers that their children will receive good nourishment
and education in the United States. The poor peasants can only
acquiesce since their children are threatened with death by
starvation. They give their children to World Vision i;Ris3ion-
aries and thus hundreds of children of both sexes have been
taken to camps in unknown places.
Some information about the whereabouts of those Salvadoran
children who were sent to the United States has surfaced
through delegates to the international encounter of Christian
organizations in Cuernavaca, Mexico. One of those delegates,
Oscar Arnulfo Romero, reported that those Salvadoran children
have been taken to CIA special camps in the United States where
they are submitted to tests before being separated in groups.
Thus some groups are sent to special brainwashing schools where
they are trained to spy and perform terrorist acts. Others who
do not qualify for the special training are sent to research
establishments of the CIA where the children are used as guinea
pigs to test medicines and chemicals capable of changing human
consciousness, to practice lobotomies and other experiments.
In the Cuernavaca encounter it was learned that 'world Vision
had performed the same kind of activities in Vietnam.
Prepared by: PGM/R Staff
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No. 8
Summary
Soviet Propaganda Alert
June 8, 1982
In May, Soviet external propaganda stressed:
Arms Control and Disarmament. Attacks on proposals made by
President Reagan in his Eureka College speech comprised a
major portion of Soviet external propaganda. President
Brezhnev's proposals in his speech to the Communist Youth
Organization Congress were lauded as reasonable and fair in
contrast to those of the U.S. The U.S. was accused of trying
to force the Soviet Union to disarm unilaterally and of
seeking military superiority. The antinuclear movement in
the U.S. was portrayed as strong and growing. The U.S. was
charged with stalling at the Geneva INF talks.
Falklands Crisis. Soviet propaganda carefully avoided
supporting the Argentine regime per se, but came out strongly
against the British, accusing them of aggression and colo-
nialism. The U.S. came under attack for allegedly stalling
while pretending to be neutral in order to give the British
fleet time to get in position. The U.S. was also accused of
desiring military bases in the Falklands. Soviet commen-
tators emphasized the damage done to U.S.-Latin American
relations, and predicted the collapse of the OAS. Soviet
Spanish-language broadcasts to Latin America were especially
tendentious.
Chemical and Biological Warfare. Although attention to CBW
remained at a high level, witch the main emphasis being on
alleged U.S. preparations for CBW, few new themes were
developed.
Moscow Conference of Religious Workers. Commentary thus far
has been low-key, stressing peace and disarmament themes.
NATO Spring Session. Soviets came out swinging as they
attacked Secretary Haig for demanding further build-ups in
all fields and for allegedly pressuring the NATO allies to
get in line with the U.S.'s "aggressive course."
Office of Research
International Communication Agency
Washington, D.C.
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Soviet propaganda in May concentrated on arms control and
related issues. While Soviet propaganda always pays great
attention to this topic, President Reagan's Eureka College
and President Brezhnev's Young Communist League Congress
speeches raised the salience of arms control and disarmament
themes. With new arms control talks a real possibility, a
major part of the increased attention can also be attributed
to Soviet Party and government use of their media to justify
their positions before their own and the world public.
U.S. Build-Up Real, Soviet "Threat" A Myth
Two standard and long-time themes form the background against
which Soviet arguments on arms control are made. The first
is that the U.S. is engaging in a relentless--although ulti-
mately futile--attempt to achieve military superiority which
can be used to blackmail politically or perhaps even annihi-
late physically the Soviet Union. A typical example is a May
10 Radio Moscow English broadcast taking the U.S. to task for
refusing to agree to a total nuclear test ban suggesting that
the U.S. plans for "unprecedented" nuclear rearmament in the
next few years and is making "energetic preparations for
nuclear war."
On the other hand, Soviet propaganda dismisses the idea that
the USSR constitutes a nuclear or conventional threat to the
West. A Yurii Soltan commentary on Radio Moscow English (May
12) innocently asserted:
The Soviet union has never initiated an arms race,
including a race in nuclear armaments. The Soviet
Union has never spent on defense a single ruble
beyond what is absolutely necessary to guarantee
its own security and that of its allies. The same
can be said about the future.
Implicitly contrasting Soviet and U.S. policy, an April 29
S. Vishnevskii Pravda article entitled ". . . Pot Calling
The Kettle Black somewhat more aggressively spoke of:
. the strictly defensive nature of Soviet military
doctrine which rules out preventive wars and the first-
strike concept. And, of course . . . the Soviet Union
has never blackmailed anyone with the threat of the use
of military force, and still less that of nuclear weapons.
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President's Eureka Speech Dismissed As Propaganda
Apart from the occasional grudging acknowledgment that Presi-
dent Reagan's Eureka College speech signaled a new willing-
ness on the part of the U.S. to negotiate, Soviet commentaries
were totally negative--some vociferously so. A Vladislav Koz-
iakov Radio Moscow English commentary on May 13 was typical:
There are two major points in President Reagan's
speech . . One is the repetition of numerous
slanderous accusations against the Soviet Union
and the other is the assessment of proposals
aimed at achieving unilateral military superiority.
Koziakov went on to call the U.S. proposals "insincere and
intended to conceal the large-scale nuclear rearmament pro-
gram planned by Washington." He concluded by saying that
this "propaganda trick invented by American policy-makers"
will not work.
The Soviets make it clear that while they do not view the
START proposal as a new or particularly positive development,
they regard the Reagan offer to begin START talks as a "step-
in the right direction."
Leonid Brezhnev's May 18-speech to the Young Communist League
Congress provided the first official high-level reaction.
Brezhnev reiterated many of the themes in gentler, more subtle
terms than those used by media commentators. He also relied
heavily on bland, general statements on the Soviet desire for
peace, the importance of negotiations, and similar subjects.
In general, Soviet media emphasized the following points:
o Arms limitation agreements between the U.S. and the USSR
must be based on "equality and undiminished security,"
principles to which the START proposal does not adhere.
o The U.S. is seeking unilateral advantage: the Reagan
proposal tries to exploit force asymmetries, requiring
the USSR to reduce its ICBMs considerably while the U.S.
makes only symbolic reductions in its missiles.
o The START proposal is encountering strong criticism from
prominent figures in the U.S. and from "the public."
Soviet media highlight critical statements from Western
sources.
o "Some critics" of the Reagan proposal see it as "part
of a secret plan by advocates of a tough course to sab-
otage disarmament so that the United States can continue
the rearmament programs without hindrance." (Soviet
commentators generally promote this theme by carefully
citing Western media sources.)
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Antinuclear Movement Highlighted
Almost every commentary on the subject of arms control and
disarmament took note of the antinuclear movement in the U.S.
and West Europe. The impression given was that the Pentagon
and the White House were virtually besieged with demonstra-
tions and protests against present U.S. policy and plans for
building up nuclear and conventional forces.
Speaking on Moscow domestic radio's "International Observers'
Roundtable" program on May 3, Vitalii Kobysh gave his account
of the antiwar movement:
I was in America recently and can say as an eyewitness
that America is literally on the boil and gripped by
the antiwar movement. It is moving horizontally, grip-
ping one state after another and one town and county
after another; and is also moving vertically, gripping
various strata and classes of society.
Washington-based Izvestiia correspondent M. Sturua, in a May
29 dispatch, also testifies to the strength of the movement,
describing it as "spreading here faster than a forest fire."
The driving force behind it is not any mythical Soviet threat,
according to Sturua; it represents "a defensive reaction
against the intensified playing with nuclear fire which
American imperialism is indulging in."
Writing in the May 16 edition of Pravda, Pavel Demchenko
reviewed the worldwide antiwar protests which took place on
May Day, and noted the "mass demonstrations [which] were held
the other day in Washington at the Pentagon's walls. . . ."
The demonstrations supposedly culminated peace marches from
Los Angeles and New Orleans which passed through many U.S.
cities and which were "everywhere greeted warmly by represen-
tatives of public and religious organizations."
Soviet observers see the effects of the antinuclear movement
perhaps not as forcing the U.S. Administration to change its
policies, but certainly as causing it to shift its propaganda
strategy. President Reagan's Eureka proposal for arms talks
falls into this category, as do alleged Administration attempts
to defuse protests against its policies by claiming that it
sympathizes with the basic principles of the movement. On
the May 9 edition of Radio Moscow's "International Observers'
Roundtable," Gennadii Shishkin commented:
Until quite recently, the Washington Administration was
not particularly concerned about propaganda ploys to
camouflage its militaristic course. . . . Clearly in
response to criticism, Washington is now making quite
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an effort to make certain adjustments to its propaganda
activity and to try to instill in the public the idea of
the peace-lovingness of the Reagan Administration. . . .
The President even tried to pass himself off as a peace
campaigner, and very nearly as a participant in the anti-
war movement! He attempted to seduce the people who have
joined this movement with a promise to remember peace. . . .
Resumption of Geneva INF Talks
The resumption on May 20 of the INF talks in Geneva was met
by Soviet propaganda with strong assertions of the reason-
ableness of the Soviet position and the absurdity of that of
the U.S. Commentaries drew heavily on President Brezhnev's
May 18 Young Communist League speech which set out the Soviet
attitude toward disarmament in terms "free from any selective
approach to the problem" and--in contrast to the attitude of
the U.S.--free from seeking "unilateral advantage for itself."
A flurry of print and broadcast commentaries attempted to
portray'the Soviet Union as the long-suffering promoter of
peace and compromise while painting the U.S. as unreasonable,
intransigent, and dishonest. Yurii Soltan, in a May 20
Radio Moscow English program, described U.S. behavior thus:
Unfortunately, during the first phase of the talks,
the American delegation mostly used the tactics of
procrastination. It kept putting forward proposals
they knew were unacceptable to. the other side, pro-
posals frankly aimed at ensuring for NATO as much
as double superiority in medium-range nuclear weapons.
Soltan concluded by warning that the "reasonable approach"
which'U.S. delegation leader Paul Nitze said the?U.S: had
drafted during the break in the talks was welcome, but
Nitze's statements to the press "set analysts on their guard."
A very strong element of Soviet propaganda, both with regard
to INF and strategic weapons, is that tabling totally new
proposals is not acceptable. Speaking of INF in a May 20
Radio Moscow domestic service broadcast, Nikolai Shishkin
noted:
Of course, it would be important for both the United
States and the countries of NATO . . . to pay attention
to the Soviet approach--that we do not want to start
these talks with a clean sheet. We want these talks
to include everything of value which was gained by
efforts over a period of many years within the frame-
work of Moscow-Washington talks on the problems of arms
limitations.
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The Falklands crisis occupied a major place in Soviet
reporting and commentary during May. The Soviets were care-
ful not to be seen as supporting the Argentine regime, but
rather to be seen as defenders of the principle of decolo-
nialism. While there may have been little overt pro-Argentine
slant in Soviet commentary, there was a vociferous anti-British
line which absolutely denied any legitimacy to British claims
and condemned the British as unreconstructed colonialists.
Earl U.S. Neutralit Called Ruse
The British were not the main target of Soviet propaganda,
however; that honor was reserved for the U.S. Charging that
the U.S. had never really been neutral in the dispute, an
Anatolii Gan Radio Moscow English broadcast on May 3 typified
this line:
In reality the much-publicized shuttle diplomacy of
Secretary of State Alexander Haig was nothing but a
screen to cover up the Anglo-American compact against
Argentina. Haig moreover was winning time to enable
the British naval armada to reach the area of the
Falklands.
U.S. Said To Want Falklands As Military Base
The main U.S. motive in "giving Britain the green light" was
its desire for control of the South Atlantic, mainly by
establishing bases on the Falklands. Writing in Pravda on
May 9, Nikolai Prozhogin noted:
Indeed, there can hardly be any question of neutrality
when from the very start of the crisis Washington has
been trying to get its own hands on the subject of the
conflict--the Falkland Islands--and establish itself
there under the cover of the transfer of the islands
to rule by a "tripartite administration--that is, with
the participation of the United States itself."
U.S. Involvement Not Limited To Falklands
But Soviet commentators stress that the U.S. involvement goes
beyond the Falklands or even the South Atlantic. Yurii Korni-
lov, in a May 6 Radio Moscow domestic service broadcast, noted:
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U.S. actions in support of the British militarists fall
into the same category as Washington's attacks on Nicar-
agua, its threats against Cuba and its interference in
the affairs of El Salvador. These are all links in the
same chain and an integral part of the global imperial-
ist course of the United States, which is based on a
reliance on force and attempts to use the big stick to
reshape the map of the world, and to dictate its wishes
to sovereign countries and peoples.
Yurii Zubkov generalized this theme to the entire Third
World in a May 5 Moscow television commentary:
The aggressive actions in the South Atlantic show
that [the U.S. and Britain] have need of military
might primarily for blackmail and pressure against
those developing countries of the Third World which
conduct an independent course, and to strengthen
and expand the NATO sphere of activity.
Hypocrisy, treachery, brute force--anything will do
for the U.S. Administration's diplomacy and actions
in order to create yet another military base, in
order to consolidate in yet another part of the
world, in order to take another step toward military
superiority.
Soviets See Possibility Of OAS Collapse
Soviet glee at the damage caused to U.S.-Latin American
relations by U.S. support of Britain was barely restrained.
Moreover, many commentaries speculated that the U.S. action
would lead to the complete collapse of the inter-American
alliance. Radio Peace and Progress, broadcasting in Spanish
to Latin America on May 11, quoted former Uruguayan Foreign
Minister Rovira to that effect, and pushed his idea for
replacing the OAS with a regional UN organization for Latin
America without the participation of the U.S. Novoe Vremia
on May 7 also published a long article entitled "Will Presi-
dent Monroe Spin In His Grave?" which purportedly proved the
need for a fundamental reorganization of the OAS.
Other broadcasts and articles pounded away at the theme of
the U.S.'s "betrayal" of its hemispheric allies and its
failure to live up to its obligations under the Rio Treaty.
Yurii Kornilov, in a May 3 TASS commentary, pointed out:
It was not long ago that Washington bristled on
every occasion . . . with highfalutin talk to the
effect that the United States was all but the most
"loyal friend" and "dependable ally" of the Latin
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American countries and that it was prepared, if
need be, to honor the commitments assumed and
take part in the "collective defense" of these
countries.
But now there has emerged a situation in which one
of the Latin American states, Argentina, is indeed
threatened with the British mailed fist. The Wash-
ington "friend" has not only "forgotten" the inter-
American assistance treaty, not only pointedly
refused to subscribe to the decision of the consul-
tative conference of the foreign ministers of the
OAS countries, . . . but openly stated its support
for London.
Moscow Spanish Takes The Low Road
Moscow's Spanish-language broadcasts to Latin America were
definitely more strident and inflammatory than the Russian or
English. For example, a Radio Peace and Progress Spanish
broadcast on May 12 speculated on the presence of nuclear
weapons aboard British ships. Recalling that the Pentagon
had often advocated using nuclear weapons in limited wars,
the broadcast pointed out:
The United States in every way approves the aggres-
sive operations carried out by its NATO ally and it
may even suggest to England to prove that a nuclear
war is feasible.
Chemical and Biological Warfare
There were few noteworthy developments in Soviet themes on
chemical and biological warfare (CBW) in May. The usual
charges, countercharges, and denials resurfaced (see April
"Propaganda Alert"), and no new themes were developed.
Several articles and broadcasts discussed alleged U.S. (or
U.S.-sponsored) CBW use in Kampuchea, Vietnam, and Afghani-
stan.
TASS analyst Askold Biriukov charged that President Reagan's
Eureka College comments on U.S. policy regarding CBW had no
connection with U.S. deeds:
Neither nice words nor frauds will help Washington
cover up preparations for a large-scale chemical
warfare which are under way in the United States.
The peoples who have still fresh in their memory
(over)
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acts of genocide committed by the United States
toward the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
against the peoples of Vietnam, Laos, and Kampu-
chea, are not confident that the United States
will not commit new crimes against mankind.
Moscow Conference of Religious Workers
The Moscow conference of "Religious Workers for Saving the
Sacred Gift of Life from Nuclear Catastrophe" came off
without a hitch and can be considered a subtle propaganda
success for the Soviet Union. While no ringing endorsements
of Soviet policy were issued and the U.S. was never directly
taken to task, the Soviets accrued some credits by sponsoring
the conference. The conference was not given a great deal of
play in the media. The propaganda points will probably be
scored in the future as the final document is used to support
attacks on U.S. weapons policy (among others, it called for a
ban on the use of enhanced radiation warheads).
NATO Council Sprin Session
The NATO Council session was characterized as being devoted to
attempts by the U.S. to bring its allies into line. TASS
on May 18 saw the session as:
opening against a background of U.S. and NATO
leaders' intensifying pressure on West European
countries aimed at forcing them to agree unreserv-
edly to a course of confrontation in the inter-
national sphere and the activation of military
preparations proclaimed by Washington.
Secretary Haig is said to have demanded a further build-up
of NATO military potential in all fields. According to the
Soviets, he "unleashed frantic activity" in an effort to whip
recalcitrant allies into line with the U.S.'s aggressive
course. The final communique--especially the passages on
economic sanctions--came in for special condemnation.
Western Europe
The U.S. and NATO were accused of attempting to convert Cyprus
into a Middle East outpost. Norway was taken to task for
acceding to U.S. and NATO plans for making it a jumping-off
place for conventional and nuclear attacks on. the Soviet
Union. Secretary Haig's trip to Greece was portrayed as an
attempt to bring the country to heel and return it to the
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NATO fold. The U.S. was accused of intolerable interference
in the internal affairs of France when the U.S. Ambassador
allegedly criticized the government for permitting communists
to become ministers. The machinations of the U.S. and its
NATO allies in Poland came in for the usual heavy treatment.
The Netherlands gave the excuse for perhaps the nastiest
anti-U.S. comment of the month. Speaking of the monument to
slain Dutch journalists in El Salvador placed in front of the
U.S. consulate in Amsterdam, Radio Moscow English commentator
Viktor Olin spoke of its appropriateness:
The Dutch journalists were killed with United States
bullets, fired from United States rifles. They were
killed by soldiers trained by United States instruc-
tors and led by officers trained at United States
schools. They were killed on orders from people fully
obedient to Washington.
Latin America
Several commentaries on Cuba stressed the armed blackmail
represented by the Ocean Venture-82 exercises.
Vice President Bush's visit to China commanded heavy attention.
Commentaries stressed that, despite allegedly duplicitous U.S.
behavior with respect to the Taiwan issue, there was little
possibility of a U.S.-PRC split over Taiwan. Japan _ was
described as being turned into a dangerous springboard for
U.S. expansion into the Far East" contrary to the wishes of
its people.
U.S. complicity in South Africa's raids on Angola was allegedly
proven by the fact that they took place shortly after a visit
by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Crocker. The U.S. is
supposedly turning Keay into one of its strongholds in the
Indian Ocean.
Middle East
Israel's raids into Lebanon were tied to the arrival of U.S.
envoy Richard Fairbanks. The U.S. is purportedly exploiting
the Iran-Iraq war to widen the split among the Arab countries.
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Listed below are representative Soviet press and TASS items on
themes discussed in this report. Translations or summaries of
virtually all appeared in the FBIS Daily Report (Soviet Union)
in late April and May.
"For A Just 'Zero Option"' by Yurii Kornilov, TASS English,
May 3.
. Pot Calling The Kettle Black" by S. Vishnevskii,
Pravda, April 29.
"Brezhnev-Reagan: When and What To Talk About?" by Spartak
Beglov, APN Daily Review, April 20.
"That The Light Will Not Dim Over The Earth" by Vladimir
Bogachev, TASS Russian, May 3.
"War Psychosis Thrives In U.S.," Izvestiia, May 6.
"NATO Forgery" by V. Drobkov, Pravda, May 7.
"U.S. Attempting To Prove USSR Arms Superiority," Pravda,
May 9.
"Moscow Responds To Reagan Disarmament Proposal" by Sergei
Losev, Moscow World Service English, May 10.
"Moscow Calls For Halt To Nuclear Tests" by Vladislav
Koziakov, Radio Moscow English, May 10.
"Moscow Criticizes Reagan Arms Initiative" by Yurii Soltan,
Radio Moscow World Service English, May 11.
"The Highest Duty" by Pavel Demchenko, Pravda, May 16.
"For A Constructive Approach to The Problem of Limitation
and Reduction of Nuclear Arms" by Nikolai Shislin, Moscow
Domestic Service, May 20.
"Zorin Sees Growing U.S. Antiwar Movement" by Valentin Zorin,
Moscow Television, April 29.
"America's Awakening Conscience" by Tomas Kolesnichenko,
Pravda, May 3.
"All America Protests" by A. Tolkunov, Pravda, April 28.
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"Anglo-American 'Compact"' by Anatolii Gan, Radio Moscow
World Service English, May 3.
"U.S.-British 'Collusion' Against Argentina" by Eduard
Mnatsakanov, Moscow Television, May 4.
"When The Masks Slip" by G. Vasiliev, Pravda, April 30.
"Imperialist Solidarity," Izvestiia, May 4.
"The USA Is An Accomplice in Britain's Crimes," Krasnaia
zvezda, May 9.
"Behind The Scenes of The South Atlantic Crisis," Pravda,
May 9.
"Justice Washington-Style" by Nikolai Chigir, TASS Russian,
May 11.
"U.S. 'Real' Attitude" by Vladimir Lapskii, Radio Moscow
Spanish, May 9.
"On The [OAS] System's Collapse," Radio Peace and Progress
Spanish, May 11.
"Nuclear Arms In The South Atlantic," Radio Peace and Progress
Spanish, May 12.
"Along The Lines of Colonial Piracy" by M. Ponomarev, Krasnaia
zvezda, May 9.
"U.S. Colonialist Ambitions," Radio Peace and Progress Spanish,
May 14.
"Falklands Conflict Reveals U.S., UK Imperialism" by Nikolai
Chigir, Radio Moscow Spanish, May 17.
"U.S. Loses Influence In Latin America" by Maksim Teplov,
Radio Moscow English, May 18.
"U.K. Alone Cannot Recover Falkland Islands" by Viachislav
Vladimirov, Radio Peace and Progress Spanish, May 20.
"United States-Latin America: A Broken Partnership" by
R. Tuchnin, Izvestiia, May 17.
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CBW
"Failed Provocation" by V. Kalinin, Pravda, May 7.
"The Anatomy of Lies" by Nikolai Antonov, Mezhdunarodnaia
zhizn, May issue.
"U.S. Chemical Weapons Appropriations," TASS English,
May 7.
OTHER REGIONS, OTHER THEMES
"Who Warms Hands on The Iraqi-Iranian Conflict," Pravda,
May 13.
"U.S., Netherlands At Odds Over Monument" by Viktor Olin,
Radio Moscow World Service English, May 12.
"An 'Anti-Diplomat' In Paris," Izvestiia, May 14.
"Norway Yielding to U.S. Nuclear Strategy" by Vladimir Serov,
TASS English, May 7.
"They Will Not Be Intimidated!" by Pavel Bogomolov, Pravda,
May 10, [On Cuba] .
"One More Compromise?" by S. Agafonov, Izvestiia, May 6,
[On Bush trip to China].
"Missiles Near Fujiyama" by V. Kuchko, Sovetskaia Rossiia,
May 4.
"U.S, UK Military Use Kenyan Territory," Radio Moscow English
to Africa, May 4.
"U.S. Role in S. African Raids on Angola" by Maksim Kniazkov,
TASS English, May 17.
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