TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT'S SPEECH ON SOVIET MILITARY INTERVENTION IN AFGHANISTAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000101020087-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 87
• Publication Date: January 5, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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; THE NEWYORK TIMES, SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1980
Transcript of President's Speech on Soviet Military Intervention in Af hanista>7
on Soviet intervention inAfghanistan, as recorded by The New York Times:
I come to you this evening to discuss nations, including, of course, ' the
the extremely important and rapidly United States, our allies and our
changing circumstances in Southwest friends.
T -Asia. ? ; Therefore, the world simply cannot
I continue to share with all of you the ' standby and permit the Soviet Union to
dense of outrage and impatience be- commit this act with impunity.
cause of the kidnapping of innocent Fifty nations have petitioned the
American hostages and the holding of United Nations Security Council to con-
s/them by militant terrorists with the
rsupport and the approval of the Iranian
officials.
Our purposes continue to be the pro-
troops from Afghanistan.
We realize that under the United Na?
tection of the long-range interests of bons Charter the Soviet Union and
scan hostages. actions of the Security Council.
-without any further danger to the lives States _ nor any other nation which is
of our 50 fellow Americans. committed to'world peace and stability
munity.
The unity and the common sense of
the American people under such trying
cess of our efforts.
States Ambassador from Moscow back
to Washington. He is working with me
and my other senior advisers in an im-
mediate and comprehensive evaluation
xecently tnere nas peen anotner very of the wnoie range of our relations with
serious development which threatens the Soviet Union.
the maintenance of the peace in South- The successful negotiation. of the
SALT If treaty has been a major goal
west Asia. Massive Soviet military
forces have. invaded the small non- ` and a major achievement of this Ad-
,.aligned, sovereign nation of Afghani- - ministration and we Americans, the
stan, which had hitherto not been an oC- people of the Soviet Union, and indeed
upied satellite of the, Soviet Union. the entire world will benefit from the
o Fifty thousand heavily armed Soviet successful control of strategic nuclear
troops have crossed the border, and are weapons through the implementation
now dispersed throughout Afghanistan.' of this carefully negotiated treaty.
attempting to conquer the fiercely In- However, because of the Soviet ag-
dependent Moslem people of that coun- gression, I have asked the United
try.
The Soviets claim falsely that they
were invited,into Afghanistan to help
protect that country from some un-
ty;named outside threat. But the Presi-
-; dent, who had been the leader of Af-
e" ghanistan before the Soviet invasion,
'r":was assassinated along with several
!members of his family after the
l Soviets gained control of the capital
city of Kabul.
taa Only several days later was the new
4puppet leader even brought into' Af-
44''ghanistan by the Soviets. - .
t. `of economic exchanges currently under
boring of further Soviet
countries oviet in expansion SouthwestintoAsia, neigh and = consideratidon will be deferred. Trade
.ralso because such an aggressive mild- with the So jet Union will be severely
{Larypolicy is unsettling to other peo restricted.
have decided decided to halt or to reduce ex-
k plesthroughout the world. its to the Soviet Unigp n three areas
This is a callous violation of interna- tare particularly important to
Q,'tional law and the United Nations Char-
r''ter. ' them. These new policies are being and
144 it is a deliberate effort of a powerful will be coordinated with those of our
atheistic government to subjugate an allies
`,-independent Islamic people. oI have directed that no high tech.
We must recognize the strategic im- linology or censed for sale to the Soviet Union
portance of Afghanistan to stability!
and peace. until further notice, while we revjse our
licensing policy.
A Soviet-occupied, Afghanistan
gFishing privileges for. the., Soviet
threatens both fran aiid Pakistan and is Union in United States waters will be
steppingstone to possible control over severely curtailed,
'
'
much of the world
s oil
supplies. Me 17 million tons of grain ordered
. The United States wants all nations by the Soviet Union in excess of that
in the region to be free and to be inde- amount which we are committed to sell
pendent. If the Soviets are encouraged will not be delivered. This grain was
in this invasion by eventual success, not intended for human consumption
over Aignanistan ana then extend their Soviet livestock herds. that, its Continued aggressive actions we will deter aggression, we will pro-
control to adjacent countries, - the I am determined to minimize any ad- will endanger both the participation of tact our natiponn'p security and we will
of the, strategworld will of cbalance verse impact on the American farmer athletes and the travel to Moscow bit prey Un United States will meet its re-
fromthis action. The undelivered grain spectators who would normally wish to ;
1'This would threaten the security of all ' will be'removed' frmm the market` attend the Olympic games sponsibilities.Thankyouvery much.
States Senate to defer further consider.
ation of the S,ALT II treaty so that the
Congress and I can assess Soviet ac?
tions and intentions and devote our pri?
mary attention to the legislative and
other measures required to respond to
this crisis.
Under Active Review
As circumstances change in the fu-
ture we will, of course, keep the rati-
fication of SALT II under active review
in consultation with the leaders of the
Senate:
The soviets must understand our
deep concern. We will delay opening of
any new American or Soviet consular
Critics of the Soviet 'intervention iti Afghanistan burn a ,Soviet flag at 67th
Street and Lexington Avenue, a block from Soviet Mission to Utiited Nations.
through storage and price support pro' ' Along with other countries, we will
grams and through purchases at mars provide military equipment, food and
ketprices. We will also increase other assistance to help Pakistan de-
amounts of grain devoted to theallevia? fend its independence and its national
tion of hunger in poor countries and security against. the seriously in-
we'll have a massive increase of the creased threat it now faces from the
use of grain for gasohol production here north. The United States also stands
at home. ready to help other nations in the re-
After consultation with other princi- Sion in similar ways.
pal grain exporting nations, I am confi- Neither our allies nor our potential
dent that they will not } epjace tiiet; adversaries should have the slightest
quantities of grain by additional ship. doubt about our willingness, our deter.
ments on their part to the Soviet Union. mination and our capacity to take the
Sacrifices Required measures I have outlined tonight.
I have consulted with leaders of the.
These actions will require some sac Congress and am confident they will
rifice on the part of all Americans, but support legislation that may be re-
there is absolutely no doubt that these quired to carry out these measures.
actions are in' the interest of world History teaches perhaps very few
peace and in the interest of the security cleat lessons. But surely one such les-
of our own nation, and are also compat. , son learned by the world at great cost is
ible with actions being taken by'ouf that aggression unopposed becomes a
o" major trading partners and others contagious disease.
who share our deep concern about this The response of the international
new Soviet threat to world stability. community to the Soviet attempt to
Although the United States. would crush Afghanistan must match the
prefer not to withdraw from the 01y1'- gravity of the Soviet action,
plc-games- scheduled in Moscow, this ' . With the support of the American
Carter Takes Limited Steps,
Leaves Way Open to Thaw
own to set back relations further.
. In recent days, Mr. Carter and his top
foreign policy, economic and political ad-
visers have been weighing the various
consequences to the international scene
- and Mr. Carter's political standing
here and abroad - of the Kremlin's deci-
sion to commit its prestigd to the crush-
ing of anti-Communist forces in the
neighboring, backward' country that
stands on the road to the Persian Gulf.
The conclusions, as indicated by Mr.
Carter tonight in his speech that was firm
but meant not to be provocative, are that
the Soviet actions in Afghanistan prob-
ably cannot be reversed but that the Rus-
sians must understand that business can-
not return to normal if Afghanistan be-
comes "a Soviet-occupied" satellite,
thereby threatening the future and the se-
curity of neighboring countries, such as
Iran and Pakistan.
In a way, Mr. Carter's message was
symbolized by his discussion of the Olym-
pic Games to be held in Moscow'this sum-
mer. He stopped short of seeking a boy-
cott, but warned the Soviet Union that the
United States might withdraw from the
summer Olympics if there were contin-
ued aggressive actions.
In addition, Mr. Carter demonstrated
that his reactions to the Russians were
tempered by political concerns at home.
He has cancelled or cut back political and
economic relations, such as the opening
of new consulates in New York and Kiev
and future cultural exchanges. These
kinds of cooperation become embarrass-
ing when the President is trying to tell the
world how strongly he is opposed to
Soviet actions.
He has also demonstrated his firmness
by blocking the sale of grain already
promised the Russians, an action that is
sure to arouse some concernin the farm
belt, including Iowa where his strength in
the Jan. 21 precinct caucuses is, greatest
in the rural areas.
But if the grain sale causes him any
political problems, it can be, offset by
promises to the farmers that the Govern-
ment will take steps to insure that their
prices will not fall, by his overall show of
strength in dealing with the crisis, and by
sharply cutting back the Soviet fishing,
fleets in American 200-mile zones.
The mood in Washington has been ex-
pectant for several days, awaiting the de-'
tails of what Mr. Carter would do. He let
it be known in unusually frank comments
that he is personally angered not only by
the Soviet actions in crossing into Af-.
And there was little said about the peo-
ple of Afghanistan.
In past crises, there were efforts to
sympathize with the Hungarians and
Czechs, with the East Germans. But
today the Afghanis were described in
aloof, abstract terms, because the reality
is that Afghanistan is a distant place for
most Americans, and; despite the allu-
sions to a previously independent Af-
ghanistan, the country had swung to the
Soviet orbit by itself after an April 1978
coup.
The concern here throughout the cur-
rent crisis has been that if unchecked in
Afghanistan, the Russians, with their his-
torical attraction for the Persian Gulf,
might be tempted to cause problems in-
side Pakistan and Iran.
Thus, even though the United States
has hardly had good relations in the past
year with either Iran or Pakistan,, the
President felt obliged to talk about the
threat to both countries and to promise
new military aid to Pakistan, an effort
that will require new legislation because
Pakistan has been accused of seeking nu-
clear weapons. ?
Desire for World Condemnation
Unstated in the speech was the Presi-
dent's desire to hold the Soviet Union up
to world condemnation. That is why the
United States had been so anxious to-pub.
licize the details of the military incursion,
and to stress, as Mr. Carter did tonight,
the fact that other Moslem countries
should join in the anti-Soviet chorus.
The difficult political questions remain
for Mr. Carter, however. He must decide
in the next few months whether the Soviet
"aggression" in Afghanistan has ended
or at least been muted, and whether he
wants Americans to go to the Olympics or
for his Administration to finish the year
in bitter dispute with the Russians. His
speech tonight,.while tough for him, prob.
ably does not go far enough to suit some
of Mr. Carter's critics. '
And much depends on Moscow. How
will it react to the steps? The impression
here is that the polemics will continue to
escalate in coming weeks. The Russians
are used to this kind of political warfare
and seem to enjoy it. Their security has
pot been threatened by Mr. Carter's ac-
tions. Their economy has not been seri-
ously hurt yet. But their honor has been
damaged by the speech and the anti-
Soviet moves of recept days.
ghanistan, but by the message he re-
ceived from Leonid 1. Brezhnev, the
Soviet leader, that Mr. Carter said was
based on falsehoods.
Similar Soviet Actions In Past
There have been Soviet actions in the
past similar to the Afghan intervention:
most notably Hungary in 1956; the Berlin
Wall in 1961; the Cuban missile crisis in
1962; and the Czechoslovak invasion of
1968.
After each of those episodes, the United
States and the rest of the world expressed
considerable outrage and anger, but in
the end could do nothing. There are those
in Washington who still remember the an-
guished cries for help by the Imre Nagy
Government in Budapest in the fall of
" ,4 - . I ,neq'the rmchino of tho lilwral Pram,o.
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 Approved For Release 2010/06/28: CIA-RDP90-00552R000101020087-4
Soviet'Agency's Charge Is Latest
it), a, Series Seeking to Defend
Intervention by Moscow
. BY ANTHONY AUSTIN
MOSCOW, Jan. 4 - Tass, the. official
Soviet press agency, charged today that
President Carter's main purpose in seek-
Ing resumption of large-scale arms ship
merits to Pakistan was to get the weapons
into the hands of the Afghan rebels.
The accusation, by the commentator
I eonid' Ponomaryov, was the Latest in a
series on a theme that has become a Cen? M Tass/United Press International
trait element of Moscow's public defense Andrei A. Gromyko, right, Soviet Foreign Minister, meeting in Moscow yesterday with Afghanistan's Foreign Minister,
of its intervention in Afghanistan -that Shah Mohammad Dost. The men behind their are unidentified.
the United States was engaged in a major
program of undercover aid to the Moslem
insurgents.
Some Western and other foreign diplo.
mats trying to assess Soviet motives and
present intentions, however, have tended
to shrug off each of the charges as propa-
ganda, Tliere has apparently not been
time for them to challenge their Soviet
diplomatic contacts on the substance of
the charges, as the contacts have :not
been readily available, since the move-
ment of Soviet forces toward Afghanistan
began last month.
Tm, Started by Pravda and Izvestia
Pravda, the Communist Party daily,
said on Sunday that Washington, through
its special-service agents, had been sup
plying the Afghan rebels with arms,
.training and money. The United States
did'so hoping to turn Afghanistan into a
base against the Soviet Union,'Izvestia,
the Government paper, said or Tuesday...
Now Tass is saying that the Americans,
though thwarted in what the agency
called their aggressive designs by Mos-
cow's help to Kabul, are persisting in
their long-range plans.
"The United States continues to fan its
anti-Afghan campaign and military psy-
chosis, while preparing ground for step
ping up direct supportt for the Afghan in-
surgents both on Pakistani territory and
inside Afghanistan,'*'" Tans said.
Noting that Mr. Carter had studied
`ways of resuming military shipments fb
Pakistan, either by lifting the Congres-
sional embargo on military, aid to coun-
tries developing the ability to produce nu-
clear weapons or by arms sales through
It's Tall, It Has Wavy Red Hair
And Chinese Keep Hunting for It
PEKING, Jan. 4-At 1 A.M. on a dark
night in 1976, a jeep carrying county offi-
cials from a meeting screeched to a halt
on a road in southern Hubei Province. A
large animal with reddish hair was lying
in the road.
Gingerly, they approached to within six
feet, and one of them tossed a stone at the
animal's buttocks. It rose on its hind legs
and lumbered off into the darkness.
The local officials raced back to the
county seat and fired off an urgent tele-
gram to the Chinese Academy of Seientes
in Peking. An investigation team *as
sent, but the animal was long gone.
The abominable snowman?, Bigfoot?
Probably not, but perhaps a distant rela-
tive, according to Zhou Guoxing, a 40-
year.old anthropologist with, the Peking
Museum of Natural History. Mr. Zhou
presented the findings of his study on the
creature at a conference commemorat-
Carter, in Shift, tacks New Plane. for Sales Abroad
Continued From Page 1
can companies to promote sales abroad.
Since the aircraft could earn its build-
ers billions during the 1980's, several
large concerns are competing to build It.
A leading contender, the officials said, is
Northrop, which proposes to' create a
modified F-5E to be known as the F-5G.
In the mad-1960's Northrop developed
the first version of the F-5 for export with-
out financial assistance from the Govern.
ment, After several countries showed in.
terest in the lightweight fighter, the De-
fense Department chose it as the primary
type for-sale, to less developed countries.
Other concerns ready to build the FX
include General Dynamics, which pro.
poses a less advanced model of the F-16,
and McDonnell Douglas, which, wants to
sell a version of the F-18 being purchased
by the Navy.
According to Pentagon aides, the FX
would be designed mainly as a defensive
interceptor and would possess greater
speed and range and more'advanced
weapons than the F-SE, which flies at
about the speed of sound (750 miles an
hour at sea level). The plane would not be
able, to carry out, long-range bombing
S'oviet'sEnvoy to ..5!
Is wen al gh-dtvard
MOSCOW, Jan. 4 (Reuters) The
Soviet Ambassador to the United
States, Anatoly F. Dobrynin, was pre-
sented today with the Order of Lenin
for services to the state, the Moscow
1television reported.
Diplomatic sources said MrDobry-
nin, who has, been Ambassador to
Y ashingtoii si nce' 1962, returned for
2oscoW a week ago, about the time
Soviet troops went into Afghanistan'
This week,' President Carter sum-
"on, the American Ambassa-
dor in Moscow, Thomas J. Watson Jr.,
for consultations and to show his dis-
pleasure with the Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan. Isis not known here when Mr. Dobryt
min will return to the United States.
missions, as. first-line craft now being
built for the Air Force can.
Mr. Carter's policy of restraining arms
sales, which was announced in May 1977,
said that exports of military equipment to
third world countries would be permitted
only in exceptional circumstances. It also
said that the Administration would seek
the agreement of other large arms ex-
porters in holding down worldwide sales.
Moves Toward Accord Rebuffed
Britain and France rejected Adminis-
tration attempts to enter talks on limiting
sales; and negotiations with the Soviet
Union on guidelines on arms exports to
third world countries ended in failure in
December 1976
The Administration has continued to
NOTICE TO B160ERS
County of Westchester Induatrld V" York
5aebd Proposals for At pec, and use
conbod
Conslaft of
Design, construction, fesM operation of n and
Westchester County Resource
Recovery Plant
to be located In, Peekskill, N.Y.
will be received in Room 522, County
Ofaee Building, White Plains, N.Y. until
11:00 a.m.; Friddy. February 8, 19a0,
And immediately thereafter, the bids Wig
be publicly opened and read aloud in
Room 522. N additional information con-
Coming the bidding is required; call
( 14) 682.2003.
Documents for the proposed work may
be obtained at the above address upon
depots of personal or company check
made payable to the County of West-
cheater Industrial Development A noy,
in the amount of $200 per eel. The
deposit for only one net of documents
will be refunded in full to any bidder, if
the documents and specificaliond are
retuned, in good condition within thirty
days After award or rejection of bids. A
fifty percent refund of deboslis'wa be
made for other sets returned in good
condition...
A bid bond is not required.
The County of Wedchester lndudnd
Dgv.eiopmerd Agency (Agency) reserves
the right to waive any m maldlea in ihy
bids, or to re
jectanyordlDeis =.,I
The Bid Documents will be available for
pick-up by the Bidders on or after 1:00
p.m., Friday, January 4, 1980 in Room
522, County office Building I. White
Plains, N.Y.
COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
By, J. Robert Dolan
Secretary to the Board
County of Westchester Industrial
DATE: December 31D,e1979 .
WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK
Expensive ct~thing the famous designers and manufacturers
that have made us famous -, Usually Below Original. Wholesale!
j You know and respect .. enormous selections ... and, prices
EXPENSIVE .:',FAMOUS NAME
F VESTED SUITS. PURE WOOL SLACKS
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grant most requests for sales to foreign
governments, although Mr. Carter did
succeed in 1978 and 1979 in slightly reduc-
ing the value of exports. In recent weeks
the Administration has approved the sale
of air-defense missiles to Taiwan and
Saudi Arabia and is said to be preparing a
$3 billion package of planes and tanks for
Egypt. Yesterday Mr. Carter won Con-
greSsional support for providing Paki
stan with arms.
Despite these developments, Adminis.
tration officials said there were no plans
to reassess Mr. Carter's policy on sales
restraint. A Senate aide said that hear-
ings on the policy would probably be held
by the Foreign Relations Committee in-
the next few months.
enough evidence of its existence was as
cumulated so that Mr. Zhou and some
other scientists do not dismiss it as a
hoax. He concedes that other scientists at
the academy dismiss the search as "run-
ning after shadows." Nevertheless, an-
other smaller expedition has been
planned for late next year.
In an interview, Mr. Zhou said the first
expedition had been arduous because
motor vehicles could not penetrate the
thick forests of Shennongjia. The climate
of the region, which has unusual birds
and fish, is tropical in deep valleys, while
the mountains, soaring to nearly 10,006
feet, are covered with now.
Mr.' Zhou said that at one point me
search party moved close to one of the
animals, but that before the beast could
be captured an anxious soldier acciden.
tally shot.himself in the leg. The shot
brought expedition members scurrying
in from all directions and presumably
;,frightened the creature away.
Many Large Footprints Found
Many footprints, 12 to 16 inches long,
were found. Feces, sometimes found be-
side the footprints and presumed' to be
from the creature, was analyzed and
found to be from neither a human. nor a
bear, according to Mr. Zhou. Hair sam-
ples, believed to have come from the ani-
mal and found stuck to tree bark, suggest
that it is some sort of higher primate, he
said.
From accumulated evidence, Including
purported witnesses, Mr. Zhou described
the creature as about 6 feet 6 inches tall,
covered with wavy red hair, with the hair
on its head falling nearly to its waist. It
walks upright, he said, and its fpotprints
show it to have no arch, hence a clumsy
gait.
MANHATTAN ? (6th Floor) 149 Fifth. AveIwe at 21st Street ? Phone [phone]
ing the 50th anniversary of the discovery
of Peking man. The conference is under
way in Peking. '
Search Was Organized
After several reported sightings of the
hairy creature in 1976 in a mountainous
region called Shennongjia, near the
Hubei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provincial
border intersections, the Academy of Sci-
ences became interested enough to or-
ganize a search. In March 1977, it sent a
110-member expedition of biologists,
zoologists, photographers and special in-
filtration teams of soldiers equipped with
rifles, tranquilizer guns, tape recorders,
cameras and dogs,
Mr. Zhou, a researcher who has pub?
lished a dozen popular books on arche-
ology and anthropology, was put in
charge of scientific research for the expe-
dition. The search lasted eight months
and no creature was captured. But
Alterations, if desired, available at moderate
cost. (Manhattan and Yonkers Only).