WHO' S NEXT?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170048-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 48
• Publication Date: June 9, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170048-2
A.> T 1 : M :',?FEARED
Or PAG%
THE WASHINGTON POST
9 June 1982
LETTERS TO ;THE EDIT ?
Who's
Next?
Is the
KGB's Yuri
Andropov
really
Mother
Teresa
disguise?
That's how
Jerry F. Hough would have it
["Who is Yuri- Andropov?" op-ed,
May 27).~
Even it we accept Mr. Andre-
pov's resume as written by Prof:
h.
H ? He surely wasn't demoted for
"reformist inclinations" after serv-
ing as ambassador to Hungary. He
helped, after all, to crush Hungary's
popular revolt in 1956.
? He was an aide to Otto Kuusi-.
nen in the conquered Finnish prov-
ince of Karelia after World War H
-during a Russian military occu-
pation so brutal Finns say even the
animals stampeded west to escape.
? Mr. Andropov favored de-
Stalinization in the late 1950s-
along with everyone else who treas-
ured his scalp.
? And then there's the labored
conclusion that Mr. Andropov must
be in charge "only" of the KGB's
foreign policy apparatus, not its se-
cret police arms. That's a distinc-
tion without a difference: half' of
Soviet diplomats are KGB opera-
tives, for example; and the "how
and when" of putting pressure on
dissidents is no small foreign policy
matter.
Despite such novel projects as
rain spiked with yellow and ship-
ping 1 to 2 million Vietnamese to
forced labor in Siberia, Prof. Hough
is right: Mr. Andropov's climb to
heir apparency is a "favorable
development." In the U.S.S.R.,
heirs apparent tend to remain just
that.
As the Brezhnev era of aimless
drift draws to a dose, Russia is ripe
for new direction. But what direc-
tion? Surely there must be recogni-
tion-perhaps unspoken-of the
bankruptcy of Marxist theory,
which even today appears to have
little more effect on Kremlin policy
than the Sermon on the Mount had
on the policies of Cardinal Riche-
lieu. And there's urgent need for
pragmatic solutions to mounting
problems of agricultural and ad-
ministrative chaos and burdensome
foreign involvements.
In such circumstances, indica-
tions that Yuri Andropov is a lead-
ing contender for power assume
special significance. His backgrauid
and liberal associations have been
noted by Western commentators.
But his most interesting attribute is
his KGB connection. '
As one who has tried to follow
Soviet intelligence activities for the
past 40 years,? I am impressed by
the improved skill and sophistica-
tion of the KGB under Mr. Andro-
pov's direction-they have come a
long way from the clumsy and self-
conscious little men in ill-fitting
blue suits with whom we used to
play hide-and-seek. -
Mr. Andropov has been de-
scribed as a suave and slippery fel-
low, to which his present position in
the ruthlessly competitive Soviet
establishment is testimony. But
with a man such as Mr. Andropov
directing Soviet affairs we may be
able to breathe a bit more freely
and negotiate our differences a bit
more fruitfully.
JOHN M. MAURY
Washington
The writer was a Soviet specialist
in the CIA and a former assistant
secrets o defense.
Like much Kremlinology,
Charles Fenyvesi's article on Yuri
Andropov ["Westernized, Savvy,
and Maybe Russia's New Leader,"
Outlook; May 30) is thin on facts
but thick on speculation.
Since Mikhail Suslov's death in
January, there are 13 full members
on the Politburo, not 14. Their
average age is 69, not 67. Five of
them, rather than four, concur-
rently hold the title of Central j
Committee secretaries. They are:.
Leonid Brezhnev, Jun Andropov,
Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail
Gorbachev and Andrei Kirilenko.
Mr. Fenyvesi states as a fact that
Mr. Andropov has succeeded Mr.
Suslov as "the party's chief theore-
tician." Actually, this is merely an
assumption on his part. The official
Soviet announcement made no
mention of Mr. Andropov's new
duties. And, since the same an-
nouncement disclosed an unusually
early promotion of another secre-
tary, Vladimir Dolgikh, to the alter-
nate membership on the Politburo,
it is at least possible that Mr. Su-
slov's job did not pass to Mr. An-
dropov. This would be more consis-
tent with Mr. Fenyvesi's main-
and quite plausible speculation
that Mr. Andropov is a likely candi-
date to succeed Mr. Brezhnev.
VADIM MEDISH
Profesarand Coordinator of Russian &utha
Amerlan Unfreti t9
Washington
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100170048-2