WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR.: ADVENTURES OF THE KGB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606030004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 15, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606030004-4
XiTICL AI'?_CA1iD
ON PAG3A(
THE WASHINGTON STAR (RED LINE)
15 January 1980
illiam F. Buckley Jr.: A
Not many Americans are
aware that at about the time
we are electing a new presi-
dent, the Germans will be
electing a new chancellor.
Nor aware that the contest
in Germany is, in European
terms, as important as our
own. Not because the incum-
bent Helmut Schmidt is a
quisling, but because his
party is dangerously di-
vided, the leftward most
wing of it determined to
come to terms with Russia,
which inevitably-means
coming to terms on Russian
terms.
The leading opponent of
Helmut Schmidt, the leader
of the Christian Democratic
Union. is a big man, in the
tradition of Konrad Ade-
nauer, Alcide de Gasperi
and Paul Henri Spaak. He is
as adamantly anti-Commu-
nist as one would expect of a
German who has seen 25
years of misery imposed on
one-half of his country. He is
a resolute supporter of the
free market sector in'the
tradition of Adenauer and
Ludwig Erhard. He is a loyal
Atlanticist, who believes
that ties to the United States
and joint action with the
United States are indispens.
able to the security of Eu-
rope. Under the circum-
stances, it obviously follows
that he is the principal tar-.
get of Soviet derogation in
Europe.
- And this has gone on for
many, years, because for-a::
period in the early '60s it
looked as though Franz-
Josef Strauss, then.serving
as defense minister for Ade-
nauer, might be tapped to
succeed the old man. This.
the Soviet Union could not
countenance and, accord-
ingly, the boys hatched a
plot. It turned out to be suc-
cessful beyond . their
dreams. Within a matter of
months, Strauss had quit of-
fice in disgrace. '
And now a Czechoslovak
defector, General Jan Senja,
has given the detailsrlo`w
the KGB manipulated the fu-
ture of Europe. It is as if we
were to discover suddenly
that a Soviet automatic
drive mechanism had taken
hold of Teddy's ear that
night and brought out the
whole tragedy. The DerSpie-
gel Affair has been Strauss'
Chappaquiddick.
The Soviet plan, executed
through Czech and German
Communist. agents, was to
ingly, a mole in the Defense
Department headed by
Strauss leaked to the maga-
zine Der Spiegel highly.se-
cret and tendentious details
of unsuccessful maneuvers
l?y the fledgling German
army. The publication of the
report proved a sensation,
both intending to discredit
the work of Strauss profes-
.
sionally, and in suggesting
that he could not even main-
tain the security of his own
office.
By today's post-Ellsberg
standards, though not neces-
sarily by the standards of
1962, Strauss overreacted. (I
pause to note that General
Senja informs us that huge
.attention is paid by the KGB
to the personality of West-
ern. leaders, the better to.
cling- to their weaknesses....
Senja was present when
Khrushchev in Vienna ex-
plained to his entourage
that he needed to stroke de
Gaulle's nationalism "like a
violin.")
Strauss raided the offices
of Der Spiegel and issued a
warrant for the arrest of its
editor. This was denounced
as high-handed by some Ger-,
mans, many of whom were
egged on by the echo cham-
bers of the Communist ap-
paratus in Europe; and the
FDP, a small.party in coali-
tion with Adenauer's, de-
manded - and achieved -
St -auss' resignation.
Since that time, enemies
of Strauss returned and re-
turned to the theme: that he
was autocratic, insensitive
to human rights alid press
liberty. At every juncture
they exaggerated what he
actually did, which is not
only in strict conformity
with the law, but rigorously,
with one cloudy exception,
attentive to specified proce-
dure. Eleven times Stra tss
sued authors of infla? ed
versions of his conduce. it
times he won in court.
With the revelations of
General Senja one wonders
whether the critics of
Strauss will feel abashed by
the dismaying ease with
which they were manipu.
lated. The penetration of
Communist agents into the
German government goes
beyond anything James
Bond or Graham Greene
would dare plausibly to sug-
gest. Willy Brandt had to re-
sign because his closest
adviser proved to be a Com-
munist. There have been
scandals in most govern-
ments in Europe in the past
few years, most recently in
Great Britain.
It is extraordinary how.
the stubborn innocence of
the United States prevents
us from supposing that we
too are targets for Soviet
penetration at high circles.
The dogma in America is:
Because Joe McCarthy
exaggerated, it follows that i
there is.no Soviet penetra-
tion. Those interested in
pursuing ' intelligent
thought on the matter
should read Legend: The Se- '
cret world of Lee Harvey Os-
wald by Edward Jay Epstein.
Meanwhile, the' vindication.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000606030004-4