THE COSTS AND INEQUALITIES OF SALT II

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400380122-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 122
• Publication Date: May 1, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2005/01/12 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400380122-5
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Tir`r: x HYLLIS SCIrLAFLY REPORT (ALTO-N, ILL
MAY 1.979
1'I I -A rf L A
'lie Shot k of Iran
inequalities
lit Ir,tni::;l rc, ultttion is ch~~ Pearl Ilarbur of our
the L-rw -.test thing that lrapperted to America
,m,-e the Second World War, the thing that shook
America to its foundations." So said Dr. Charles Malik
of L.c 1:111011 in a recent major address in Washington.
1).C.
1)r-. Malik, t former President of the United Na-
tions. understands the middle cast and its relationship
to Western civilization as der few men of our time. I he
j:01oits out that even losing the Vietnam War, or the Ko-
reait War, or the Communist takeover of Cuba did not
t:nrch our vital interests to the extent that the Iranian
revolution does.
1)r. Malik believes that the Ayatollah Iltrhollah
Khomeini will turn out to be "the Kerensky of, the Trar
tiiati revolution. In other words, his historic function
is only to last long enough to get rid of the shah, and
then to be replaced by it Soviet-NI:u?sist-C:c;niIn in list I-0-
ill Iran.
IIthat happens, the loss of Iran would prove to be a
fair greater blow to the ]West than the recent loss of
three countries in Asia and five countries in Africa. The
uninterrupted flow of oil from the middle east is it mat-
ter cif life or death to the West and to Japan, and we are
now oil the brink of- having our lnide?,lst energy sources
1;111 into han(ls that c:111 bluckni:li1 ur. into economic. silk-
mission on anv to 'ms they- clict;at(l.
Aiuericans.:vho tend to think in practical terms,
view the loss of Iran only in terms of hhS he:r gasoline
prices at the.ptiltit). But that is.only the symptom (St?the
rnal:icly. . The rest of the world perceives the collapse of
Iran as proof that Western civilization has neither the
will nor the wit nor the power to hold back the
Marxist Communist wave of the future.
The chief reason that our nation's economists can-
not devise effective solutions for skyrocketing prices is
that tiler do not understand that the causes airc' not
mcrcly economic. Oil did not suddenly become more
cxpelisiyc to produce. What happened was that our
government. in signing SALT I in 1972, poured SALT
into the gasoline to tik- of the free world, and we've bc?eu
paying the price ever since.
Look at airy chart of prices for the lest decade or so:
f0ocl. gasoline, fi;el oil, or commodities. Pi-ices were re-
latively st'ublc? until 1972, but started their steep up-
wacrd climb after May 1972 when SALT I was signed in
f
t
\tosc'oic.
That was thy- d e :vh?:-n the United Starrh?s (,ffici:dlx-
recognized that the Soviet U-pion is the superior- unilit-
ary power by formally agreeing; that, for every three
ICU\Is the Soviets haave, we call have only two; and frr
every' three nuclear missile-t-iring sttbma.rilies the
Soviets possess, the can have only t\,-o. That signed ag-
reement folded up the nuclear umbrella :which had
sheltered the politic it and economic stability of the
free :world so effectively for 27 years, and the power
brokers (if the ,world :: oke tr.) to the fact that they could
thtlrlil) their poser; at its -- dip!otuatically, economically,
and militarily -- and there was nothing we could do
about it.,'
The following year, the Soviet Union openly
goaded the middle eaist oil producers to use their "oil
weapon" against the West. They got the message, and
have been using it ever since. They know they have its
over a barrel (of oil), and we have no choice but to pay
the highway roliber five times what the oil is worth.
I.)r. Malik, who has infinite respect for the 4,000
years of ettntiilative culture that form Western civiliza-
tion, believes that our primary task is to "convince the
world that the West is still alive and kicking and is not
prepared to die. '' 'l'ute chief challenge of the \Vest is to
reestablish its credibility after years of fumbling, hesi-
tation, indecision], and retreat.
If American leaders do not display at faith that our
civilizations is the greatest; and that we are determined
to c efcnc! it at any, cost, how can envious aggressors or
fence-sitters believe, we are comlnitted to survival?
If America accepts SALT H, it will be perceived by
the world as one more craven attempt to appease the
unappeasable barbarian who is determined to rule the
world. With I)r. Malik, we hope that the shock of Iran,.
as the ''Pt-art Harbor" of our time, will make America
resolve to build whatever weapons may be necessary- to
defend our priceless civilization against any and all at-' I
i
Approved For Release 2005/01/12 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400380122-5