TOP U.S. INTELLIGENCE OFFICER CITES SPREAD OF SOVIET SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100210002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2011
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 6, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT -
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100210002-8
LYNN ITEM( MA)
6 August 1985
op U.S. inteIligenceoftker
Cites spread of Soviet spies
By TOM DALTON
Item Staff
John A. Walker Jr., a retired
Navy radioman, drove the country
roads of Maryland one day this
May like a man suffering from
amnesia. He turned down this road
and then that one with no apparent
goal and for no apparent reason.
Behind him, far behind him,
FBI agents trailed in an unmarked
car careful never to lose sight of
their prey.
Just outside Poolesville., Walker
got out of his car and .placed. a bag
containing classified Navvy docu-
ments under a tree. Although a
Soviet diplomat was seen driving
in the area that night, nobody
came to claim the bag. Later that
night, Walker was arrested and
charged with espionage.
In the days that followed, other
arrests were made - Walker's sop
Michael, a yeoman aboard the
carrier USS Nimitz; his brother
Arthur, who' once taught anti-
submarine warfare at the Atlantic
-Fleet Tactical School; and as-
sociate Jerry Whitworth, another
radioman who did two tours at a
secret U.S. base in the Indian
Ocean.
It was the biggest spy scandal to
hit this country in decades and
senior military officials were jus-
tifiably concerned. What docu-
ments did the Walkers turn over to
the Soviet Union? Did the informa-
tion compromise the United States
submarine forces, the key link in
America's nuclear triad?
Defense Secretary, Caspar Wein-
berger said there were "very seri-
ous losses." The chief of naval
operations later called the secur-
ity breach "very serious" but "not
catastrophic." Walker, after all,
hadn't been in the sub service
since the late 1960s, he ration-
alized.
One man who followed the Walk-
er spy case closely is Vice Admiral
Edward A. Burkhalter Jr., a
former Navy commander and
head of the undersea warfare
division who is now this country's
highest ranking military in-
telligence - officer. He discussed
the Walker case and the state of
American intelligence during a
recent interview with The Item.
"I think the long-term damage
from the Walker case will proba-
bly be fairly. slight," Burkhalter
said.
Burkhalter conceded, though,
that through the Walkers and
Whitworths, the Soviets gained in-
formation about American mili-
tary communications systems and
"some Navy operations.
"We were very concerned at
first, but I think overall the dam-
age will be pretty slight. But it
still makes my blood curdle to
think of guys who served 20.25
years betraying their country."
Walker is a perfect example of
the modern spy, according to
Burkhalter. He is not a Communist
sympathizer motivated by ideol-
ogical leanings, but a man who got
used to life in the fast lane and
couldn't let go.
"The Walker case is a classic
one of a guy financially strapped.
Once caught in that web it's very
hard to get out," he said.
The real villain in this spy dra-
ma is the KGB, according to
Burkhalter. Through any means
necessary threats, extortion,
blackmail - the KGB finds and
holds its spies. "Your life is never
your own again," Burkhalter said.
Burkhalter's blood boils, if not
curdles, at the thought of the KGB
presence in this country. He said
there are 1500 to 2000 "registered
diplomats" from the Soviet Union
living and working in this country,
many of whom are agents of the
KGB and GRU, the Soviet
militiary intelligence agency.
Soviet officials attached to the '
United Nations in New York are
free to go where they choose, he
said. "They have no restrictions
and, let we tell you, a lot of them
are not only KGB officials but
under the influence of the KGB."
Burkhalter said the KGB is
"dedicated to acquiring our tech-
nology any way they can and they
do it with cash.
"The Walker case is one indica-
tion of the large KGB presence
here which. we have to deal with,"
he said. "The question that arises
is should we allow it? We have
more espionage eases on our books
today than at any time in our
country's history."
The admiral said he supports a
proposal 4y Vermont Sen. Patrick
Leahy to limit the Russian diplo-
matic presence in this country to
the number of U.S. diplomats al-
lowed in the Soviet Union. He
called the policy one of "reciproci-
ty."
The admiral rejected the sug-
gPctinn that the K(B and CIA_
perform similar intelligence func-
tions throughout the world. In re-
sponse to a question about
Nicaragua he said the
"only there trying to rdkomospeww
their (Soviet) influence in a very
small way.
"The influence of the Soviet
totalitarian state is hard for the
average American to com-
prehend," he said.
Burkhalter said he spoke recent-
ly a defector from the guerilla
movement in El Salvador who said
he was "trained in Havana.. .and
trained in Moscow all expenses
paid." It is no secret, he said, that
arms to the guerrilla movements
in Central America are supplied
directly from the Sandinista gov-
ernment in Nicaragua by the Sovi-
et Union.
If not for the presence of the
---E an irect support to the
Contra rebels fighting the Sand-
inistas Burkhalter claims the .
"same kind of totalitarian__ v re
Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100210002-8
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100210002-8
tionary concept could have
spread" throughout the region. He
called h e Soviet Union's in-
creased eresence in a region
"very disturbin9_"
Another of many subjects dis-
cussed during a wide-ranging in-
terview was the quality of Ameri-
can intelligence in the Middle East
in light of the recent hijacking of a
TWA jetliner by Shiite Moslem
terrorists. In some quartets, the
Reagan administration has been
criticized for not knowing im-
mediately who the hijackers were
and, later, for not retaliating.
"It's a very complex problem
because there are so many dif-
ferent factions," Burkhalter said.
Still, though, he said "we know
who they (the hijackers) are."
The thirst for revenge was tem-
pered by the knowledge that any
retaliation could jeopardize the
lives of the seven Americans still
held captive in Lebanon, he said.
Despite occasional embarrass-
ments - like the revelation that
the CIA supplied the contras with
an assassination manual - the
image of the CIA is "probably as
good as it has been in the last
couple of decades," he said.
Burkhalter said the CIA re-
ceived 150,000 job inquiries last
year. "Morale has never been
higher," he said.
2,
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100210002-8