INTELLIGENCE BRIEF

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01003A002100120001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 11, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 1, 1964
• Content Type: BRIEF

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INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
CIA/RR CB 64-66
October 1964
Copy No. f Eft..,
THE USSR SEES A CRISIS IN US CIVIL DEFENSE
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
Office of Research and Reports
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WARNING
This material contains information affecting
the National Defense of the United States
within the meaning of the espionage laws,
Title 18, USC, Secs. 793 and 794, the trans-
mission or revelation of which in any manner
to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
In the Soviet book Yadernyy vek i voyna (The Nuclear Age and War),
edited by Marshal A. A. Grechko and published this year, there appears
an article on civil defense written by Colonel General O. V. Tolstikov, a
well-known Soviet civil defense spokesman. Tolstikov discusses US civil
defense as well as civil defense in general. He also makes a few general-
ized statements on civil defense in the USSR. The discussion of civil
defense in the US again demonstrates that the USSR collects civil defense
information and follows developments here with some interest. Tolstikov
concludes that civil defense in the US is in serious difficulty -- that it
serves military rather than humane purposes and that it lacks public sup-
port and effective organization -- and he implies that if it were tested, it
would fail to protect more than a very small fraction of the population.
The thrust of the article by Tolstikov is concerned with the necessity
for widespread organizing and equipping of civil defense units that now
"require millions of trained persons in large states. " In spite of what
he alleges to be widespread "militaristic" and civil defense publicity in
the US, he believes that the US cannot organize an effective civil defense
for several reasons. One reason that Tolstikov gives is that the US public
has been intimidated by nuclear war -- "civil defense formations cannot
be manned by persons who have hidden in their family shelters. " Second,
he claims that the public realizes that US civil defense serves to protect
and restore monopoly industry and that there is no unity of interest be-
tween the "working masses" and the nation.
Tolstikov begins his article by noting the "colossal destruction which
would occur in rear areas in case of nuclear war -- with the death of
millions. " To substantiate this, he quotes from the Saturday Evening
Post and Dr. Linus Pauling to the effect that 173 million or 185 million
As evidence of disjointedness and failure in the US program,
Tolstikov cites the inability of the government to enroll large numbers
of the population in civil defense. He attributes to the American press
the revelation -- after the Cuban crisis -- that "civil defense in many
cities and populated points in the US had neither plans, shelters, nor
administrative organs. " The failure of citizens to build private shelters
also was mentioned. Cities and even states are "leaving the game. "
One state so identified is Oregon, and the failure of Senator Morse to
intercede for civil defense is mentioned specifically.
C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
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C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L
In regard to shelters, Tolstikov states, "Not one modern state,
including the US, has as its disposal the material and financial capa-
bilities to construct antiatomic [that is, blast-resistant, filter -ventilated]
shelters for the entire population. " He takes note of the US fallout shelter
program, stating that "covers" for 70 million persons were to be prepared
by 1967 in the US according to a program of 1961-62. With some satis-
faction, Tolstikov reports the "episode of the bunkers, " when efforts to
manufacture and sell private shelters resulted in piles of unused shelters
in US cities. The Americans who actually built shelters he identified as
those with "weak nerves" or the "fearful well-to-do. "
One purpose of US civil defense is deduced as strategic support for
"aggressive, piratical" US policies. Evidence of a militarizing trend is
seen in the transfer of civil defense responsibility to the "Pentagon. "
A second goal is identified as the defense and restoration of US industrial
targets that belong to the "monopolists. " These deduced rather than
announced goals, of course, have propagandistic overtones that are con-
trasted with the stated aims of Soviet civil defense -- "protecting the
peaceful population. "
Tolstikov finds fear, a lack of purpose and of public support, a
shelter program that is a "bluff, " and a "paper" organization creating
a "deep crisis" in US civil defense, which is unable to insure national
survival in a modern war.
In his concluding paragraphs, Tolstikov claims that only the USSR
and the countries of the socialist alliance have a reliable, humanely
oriented civil defense, the national formations of which are "constantly
on the alert. " Inconsistent in places, the article has a propaganda
content that may have been included for foreign as well as for domestic
consumption.
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