THE CONTINUING SOVIET DISINFORMATION BLITZ

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05798947
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 25, 2017
• Case Number: F-2016-02688
• Publication Date: July 13, 1987

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DATE 7-Zdr(f
D NO 41: e-2,012,Z
OR 3
P & PD
Washington, D. C.20505
MEMORANDUM FOR: Distribution
1 3 JUL 1987
PL
SUBJECT: The Continuing Soviet Disinformation Blitz
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1. At the request of Fritz Ermarth at the NSC, we have
prepared a brief report describing recent Soviet disinformation
activities. It illustrates that Moscow continues to publicize a
wide range of anti-US allegations despite glasnost and oc(b)(3)
reforms currently under way within the Soviet(6)-(3)on.
2. This memorandum was prepared by Foreign
Subversion and Instability Center, Office-cYr-UTO,tal-T-sues. Your
comments or questions are welcome and may be directed to the
Chief, Foreign Subversion and Instability Center, (b)(3)
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Chief, Foreign Subversion and Instability Center
Office of Global Issues
Directorate of Intelligence
Attachment:
The Continuing Soviet Disinformation Blitz
GI M 87-20122, July 1987,
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SICRE:L
Lentral Intelligence Agency
Washington. D. C. 20505
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
8 July 1987
The Continuing Soviet Disinformation Blitz
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Summary
Although Moscow claims to be reporting on its domestic
problems with a new truthfulness, it continues to push a heavy
agenda of anti-US disinformation at home and abroad. A major
thrust of this effort--often comprised of crude, blatantly
emotional appeals--has been to portray the United States as a
practitioner of terrorism and subversion and a violator of human
rights. Moscow also works hard at fostering opposition to US
military bases and personnel overseas. The pace and scope of the
USSR's disinformation activities�which have produced some
benefits for Moscow�suggest that the Soviets will continue to
--ke advantage of opportunities, particularly in the Third World.
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This memorandum was prepared by Office of Global
Issues. Comments and queries are welcome and may be directed to
the Chief, Foreign Subversion and Instability Center, OG1,
GI M 87-20122
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The Continuing Soviet Disinformation Blitz
A Favorite Soviet Theme: US Destabilization of Foreign
Countries. The Soviets have continued their campaign of many
years that the United States is conspiring to destabilize foreign
countries, particularly in the Third World, by sponsoring coups,
assassinating political leaders, and conducting a variety of
other subversive activities.
o Shortly after the military coup in Fiji in May, Radio
Moscow, TASS and Izvestia all began to play up rumors of
US involvement. On 18 May, for example, Radio Moscow
reported a statement by the Soviet-controlled World Peace
Council--which cited a leftist British newspaper--that
"former CIA Deputy Director" Walters was in Fiji when the
plot was being planned and that US citizens participated
in the event. Moscow stepped up its disinformation
campaign on 1 June with a TASS story implicating the CIA
and US Secret Service. This report was replayed the next
day in Zimbabwe and on 3 June in Uruguay.
o Since the February 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime
Minister Olof Palme, Moscow has made a concerted effort to
implicate the United States in his death. In addition to
numerous Soviet and Bloc press accounts alleging US
complicity in Palme's murder, Moscow produced a television
docu-drama entitled "Why Did They Kill 010 Palme?" The
film, shown this year in Sweden and the USSR, included
accusations of CIA involvement in the shooting.
o The USSR also uses forgeries, rumors, anonymous mailings
and other methods to conduct its disinformation campaign
alleging CIA plans to destabilize Third World
governments.
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In addition, US Embassy
indicates that the KGB:
Planted a rumor in the Congo this spring alleging
that Zairian President Mobutu intended to use the CIA
to assassinate Congo President Sassou-Nguesso.
Circulated last year in India, Pakistan, Peru, Guyana
and several African countries an unattributed
pamphlet entitled "CIA Insider", which named alleged
CIA agents and officers. (b)(3)
GI M 87-20122
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Human Rights Counteroffensive. Long sensitive to Western
criticism of its human rights record, Moscow has recently
intensified its efforts to denigrate the performance of the West
on this issue.
o The Soviets this year issued a series of charges--based on
a book published by Novosti--claiming that the CIA
instigated the 1978 Jonestown massacre in order to prevent
.cult members from emigrating to the Soviet Union. Since
the allegation was first publicized in the 30 January
edition of Izvestia, it has been replayed in the pro-
Soviet Indian press and in the Communist press of Uruguay
and East Germany. Moreover, the Novosti book has been
reviewed in the Finnish and Danish press, thereby adding
credibility to the story.
o The publicity given in Soviet Bloc media and in Soviet
disinformation outlets overseas, leads us to believe that
Moscow is behind a recent campaign alleging US trafficking
in Central American children for the purpose of using them
in organ transplant operations. This campaign appears to
have considerable momentum: Since the beginning of the
year, these charges have appeared not only in Soviet,
Cuban, Nicaraguan and Yugoslav media, but also in the
press of the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala,
Honduras and India.
o In an effort to exploit the apartheid issue, the USSR is
continuing to push allegations--begun in the early 1980s--
that the United States and South Africa are conducting
research on a so-called ethnic weapon--a biological weapon
designed to kill people selectively on the basis of
race. Radio Moscow again charged in February, for
example, that the ethnic bor.' (3)
(b) �luld kill blacks but "leave
out the white race."
Targeting the US Military. The Soviets also have an
aggressive disinformation program targeting the US military
presence overseas.
o In our view, a central element of this effort is Moscow's
worldwide campaign, begun in October 1985, charging that
AIDS is the result of US biological warfare experiments.
During the past several months the USSR has repeatedly
used the AIDS story as a means of heightening opposition
to US military bases, troops, and port access rights
around the globe:
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In February, a Ukrainian paper claimed that the
Japanese were panicking over the spread of AIDS by US
servicemen in Japan and that restaurants, barber
shops, and other businesses near US bases had barred
Americans from entering.
We suspect the Soviets were responsible for a forged
press release surfaced in May in West Berlin in which
a city health official purportedly announced that the
US Army hospital there was overflowing with AIDS
victims.
o Moscow has also surfaced allegations that some existing US
military facilities will be used in the Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI) program and that the United States is
attempting to acquire new bases in order to destabilize
particular regions:
- In March the Indian press ran an article on Soviet.
charges--attempting to play upon regional sensitivity
about military use of Diego Garcia--that the United
States produced SDI components there.
- Soviet radio charged in April that joint US-Zaire
military maneuvers reflected a US interest in using
the Kamina air force base
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destabilize the region.
In our view, several trends charcterize recent Soviet
disinformation activity.
o The Soviets are persistent. In pushing a given theme,
Soviet disinformation specialists apparently believe that
repetition of even the most unbelievable stories pays off
in the long run. Indeed, Soviet charges that AIDS was
developed at Fort Detrick have been replayed in the press
of over 60 countries. In April these allegations appeared
in the official Indian armed forces journal "Sainik
Samachar."
o The Soviets seize on opportunities quickly. Within three
days after the coup in Fiji, for example, Radio Moscow,
Izvestia, and TASS all carried stories implying US
involvement.
o Moscow targets much of its disinformation toward Third
World audiences. During the past year, we have seen a
concerted Soviet effort--in part through forgeries and
disinformation--to intensify anti-US sentiment within the
Nonaligned Movement, whose criticism of the United States
and backing of many Soviet positions Moscow believes is a
major political asset. There is also evidence that the
Soviets are working hard to exploit growing political and
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economic tensions in southern Africa, using forgeries as
their primary vehicle. Through this mechanism, Moscow has
alleged US coup plotting against several black African
states; US-South African cooperation; and US circumvention
of the arms embargo against South Africa.
o Soviet disinformation is often crude. Despite glasnost at
home and an increasingly sophisticated use of propaganda
and public diplomacy, much Soviet disinformation continues
to be comprised of crude, blatantly emotional appeals. As
evidenced by the AIDS and baby trafficking campaigns,
Moscow is apparently convinced that this approach can be
effective, particularly in the Third World.
o The level of activity appears to be increasing. While
difficult to gauge, the level of Soviet disinformation
activity appears to be on the rise, as evidenced by the
number of known or suspected Soviet forgeries that have
publicly surfaced in the past 18 months. Typically in the
past we have seen about 10-15 of such forgeries each year,
but for the 1986-87 eriod we are seein a rate of Ahout
20 per year. (W(1)
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Although the impact of Soviet disinformation cannot be
measured precisely, we believe Moscow has reaped some benefits.
o US officials have been forced to protest a barrage of
.anti-US AIDS disinformation stories throughout the Third
World.
o In India, where Moscow's most common theme alleges that
the United States is conspiring to destabilize the country
by supporting the Sikh and other separatist movements,
Indians overwhelmingly believe that Washington is the
single largest promoter of international terrorism,
according to public opinion data from 1985.
o According to press reporting, the ousted prime minister of
Fiji said in a June interview in Washington that he had
"strong suspicions" of US involvement in the coup and
called for a Congressional inquiry.
o Moscow's anti-CIA program--particularly the lists of
alleged CIA officers and agents--has intimidated and cast
suspicion on many people. For example, the US Embassy in
Kinshasa reports that an editor of a Zairean newspaper who
was a contact of USIS feared that the government's
security service would interrogate him afterhis name
appeared on a list of CIA agents. (b)(3)
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CCN JAL (b)(3)
SUBJECT: The Continuing Disinformation Blitz
OGI/FSIC/AM
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(8 Jul 87)
Distribution:
1 - Dr. Kathleen Bailey, St--
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