NEW MISSILES GOING TO REBELS AS WARNING TO SOVIETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706900001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 4, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706900001-2
A r 'LE APPEAM
LW pAfF- 4M&
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
4 April 1986
New missiles going to rebels as warning
to Soviets
By Owen Ullmann
Inquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - In a symbolic
show of muscle-flexing, the Reagan
administration is upgrading its mili-
tary support for anti-communist Af-
ghan and Angolan rebels in what
White House officials describe as a
warning to the Soviet Union that it
cannot hope to win Third World con-
flicts through force.
The adminstr ' the in-
telligence committees Congress
last week at it was sending me
latest Stinger portable antiaircraft
missiles for the firm We tu TUSIM
gents fighting Soviet-Dacled e -
men in e two countries.
Several hundred Stingers in the
hands of the two rebel forces is not
expected to swing the battle in their
favor, but several White House offi-
cials said the sophisticated weapons
packed a potent political punch, if
not a fearsome military one.
One official described the decision
to send the missiles as a signal to the
Soviet Union that regional conflicts
like those in Afghanistan and Angola
could be resolved only at the bar.
gaining table, as President Reagan
proposed in a speech at the United
Nations last fall.
"We're putting our muscle where
our mouth is," said the official. "This
is part of the President's more asser-
tive policy of aiding Third World
freedom fighters. It's part of the so-
called Reagan Doctrine," under
which the administration has
pledged to assist anti-communist in-
surgencies anywhere in the world.
In an Oct. 24 address commemorat.
ing the 40th anniversary of the U.N..
Reagan proposed that U.S. and Soviet
officials work together in trying to
bring about peace negotiations to
end fighting between Soviet-sup-
ported regimes and US: backed in-
surgents in Afghanistan, Angola,
Cambodia, Ethiopia and Nicaragua.
The Soviets, however, ignored Rea-
gan's proposal, and the shipment of
Stingers was a U.S. response to that
silence, the White House said.
"We're telling the Soviets that
there is not an easy way out of these
conflicts," said an administration of-
ficial. "Military options are not via-
ble. So they had better come to the
bargaining table."
The Soviets, who have an esti-
mated 130,000 troops in Afghanistan,
have accused the administration of
trying to wage war in the Third
World through proxy.
The shoulder-held, heat-seeking
Stingers, which replace older and
cruder Soviet-made SA-7 missiles,
have a range of three miles, can
reach an altitude of 4,500 feet and are
effective against Soviet helicopter
gunships and other aircraft.
Officially, the administration will
not admit shipping t a new
weapons. w is are bean supplied
as a form of covert aid. However,
White House o c ave not been
reluctant to admit privately to the
shipments. Indeed, some even raised
the subject on their own and dis?
cussed it with pride, underscoring
their desire that the intended mes-
sage get through to the Soviets.
Although administration officials
agreed on the purpose of the deci-
sion to begin shipping more ad-
vanced weapons, there appeared to
be some disagreement as to why it
was being done now.
One senior US. official claimed
that the Soviets had been building up
their military forces in Afghanistan
and Angola and the United States
was now making its counterre-
sponse. However, there has been no
clear evidence of recent military
buildups in either country.
This official also said he does not
believe reports that the Soviets were
on the verge of a negotiated with-
drawal of troops from Afghanistan,
and thus increased U.S. aid was es-
sential.
"This is remarkable. It's amazing
that we're doing this," said the offi-
cial, who has been lobbying for up?
graded aid to rebel forces for some
time and was elated by the decision.
Another White House official said
the only recent change precipitating
the decision was that "the adminis-
tration has come to a more focused;
view on the need to really support
these groups. The Afgahn rebels are
fighting heavy odds and need to bey
bolstered."
A third official said the adminis.
tration acted "to satisfy the right.
wingers on the Hill, who have been
clamoring for increased aid to the
rebels."
He said Secretary of State George P.
Shultz had met in early March with
Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole
(R., Kan.) and a group of conserva-
tive senators who had urged him to
provide Stingers as soon as possible
to the Afghan resistance movement
and to Angolan rebel leader Jonas
Savimbi, who personally lobbied for
U.S. aid.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0706900001-2