STRATEGISTS SEE NEW SOVIET OFFENSIVE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170121-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2011
• Sequence Number: 121
• Publication Date: March 20, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: Cl
ti il_'" ,j-rrAArrI, THE WASHINGTON POST
02A PA .3 & 20 March 1980
~trat ~s Sep New Soviet
JA CX
There is a new gue;tion mark hs~,;-
ing over the 19W&- What will the Soviets
do next? Strategists who have access to
the best intelligence available believe
the Soviets have embarked on a world-
wide strategic offensive.
Their aim, according to the inteil3-
gence reports, is double-barreled. First,
they hope to gain a stranglehold on oil
routes to the West. Second, they want to
new on nelds.. Sen. Jesse Helms (&N C) has written a
Efualiyintelligence reports warn that private letter to Secretary of State
the Soviets are quietly encouraging Cyrus R. Vance, urging diplomatic rec-
North Korea to attack South Korea. The ognition for an exile government. Mw
toehold on the Arabian peninsula. They
are behind an effort to destabilize and
subvert North Yemen, 'and they are
using South Yemen as a base for slip-
Ping agitators into Saudi Arabia, the .
country that supplies most of the over-
seas oil to the United States.
Soviet advisers and Cuban merce.
varies are also helping Ethiopia prepare
a major offensive against rebels in Er-
itrea. This would give the Soviets access
to Ethiopia's entire Red Sea coastline
and make it possible for them to harass
tankers In that area.
And there is evidence that the Soviets
are trying to install a Marxist govern.
ment In Guatemala. This would give
them,.a base next to Mexico's fabulous
Chinese are allio-; of the North and the
United States is allied with the South, so
this probably would disrupt the
Chinese-American relationship.
Meanwhile, the Soviet invaders are
finding Afghanistan hard to digest. The
land is harsh, and the people are hardy.
They are fierce fighters, many of them
descendants of Genghis Khan's warriors.
They are probably the world's most
ferocious horse
Th
men.
eir national
tween the United States and mainland _
China. sport, for example, is called--goat drag.,,
The players disembowel a goat, fill it
Here Is how the Soviets are going with sand and soak it in water, making
about It The invasion of Afghanistan al- the carcass almost too heavy to lift.
ready has given them air bases within The object of the game is to hoist the
500 miles of the Hormuz Strait. This is carcass on horseback, gallop around a
the exit to the Persian Gulf and the only pole and deposit it Inside a circle. The
way out ,for tankers carrying oil to the . fun begins when a dozen hard-riding
western world. horsemen, armed with whips, slash one
Intelligence reports also warn that the another In a frenzied scramble for the
Soviet are preparing to, expand their carcass.
It takes all of a player's strength, lean.
ing from his saddle and hanging from
the stirrups by his boots, to pick up the
goat carcass. Then he has to ward off
the whips of the other players who try
to steal it from him
It's a brutal, bloody game and a fair
Indication that the Afghans are not I
going to be subdued easily by the
Soviets. '
But they are disorganized, divided
among dozens of independent guerrilla
bands. The United States is looking for a
leader, a hero figure who can unite the
Afghan resistance. If one can be found,
say our sources, the United States might
attempt to form a free Afghan move
Pensive
idea is being debated in the policy coun-
cils.
Footnote: According to reports we've
received from Moslem insurgents in Af-
ghanistan, the Soviet invaders also are
losing badly in the Afghan bazaars. One
Red Army officer spent 150 rubles .-,
$225 - for a well-worn Playboy maga-
zine. Another soldier was outsmarted by..
one wily merchant when he traded a I
gold wristwatch for a brightly colored `
piece of glass. The soldier was told that
the glass fragment was a priceless gem..
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170121-2