NEW SOVIET AFGHAN BASES SEEN AS PERIL TO GULF

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP83T00966R000100090007-5
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
3
Document Creation Date: 
December 20, 2016
Document Release Date: 
April 5, 2007
Sequence Number: 
7
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
November 15, 1982
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP83T00966R000100090007-5.pdf121.93 KB
Body: 
Approved For Release 20071,04105: CIA-RDP83T00966R000100090007-5 TRANSMITTAL SLIP DATE 15 Nov 82 TO : A/NIO/GPF ROOM NO. BUILDING 2E49 h s. REMARKS: FYI FROM: Harry Rowen, C/NIC ROOM 762 BUILDING Hqs. 1 OEM 3.241 REPLACES FORM 3" WHICH MAYBE USED. ? Approved For Release 2007/04/05: CIA-RDP83T00966R000100090007-5 ? THE NEW YORK IMES, S New Soviet Afghan Bases. Sgent as Peril to .Gulf By RICHARD HALLORAN Speed tO ThS New York ThnS. WA.SHINGTON, Nov. 13 -' United States military analysts and Middle Eastern diplomats say the Soviet Union has nearly completed six airfields In southern Afghanistan that will put the Persian Gulf within range of Soviet jet -fighters. The officials said the airfield con- struction underscored a vitally imnnr. tant addition to the mission of Soviet -forces in Afghanistan. When the Soviet Union intervened militarily in 1979, Soviet diplomats here said the move was intended only to insure the survival of an Moscow Government amenable to Today, United States officials said, the Soviet Union appears intent on turn. ing Afghanistan into a forward base for Soviet military forces, particularly air force units, on the eastern flank of the oilfields around the Persian Gulf. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., told re- porters on Friday that the United States would watch Soviet moves in Afghani. stan "for the first-Indication of a change in Soviet policy" under the new Soviet leader, Yuri V. Andropov. He saidra withdrawal of the 100,000 Soviet troops from Afghanistan "would certainly be a good sign for them to make to the rest of the world." But General Vessey said the'Soviet Union had given every indication that the nature. of the intervention in Af- ghanistan had changed and that Soviet' forces were settling in for a long occu.. pation. The general did not mention the new Soviet airfields. But other officials and diplomats said the bases would present at least two new dangers. One would be a threat from Soviet fighter-bombers to the oilfields and shipping installations around the Per- sian Gulf and to oil tankers passing Approved For Release 2007/04/05: CIA-RDP83T00966R000100090007-5 ? 0 7NDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1982 from the gulp through the Strait of Hor- muz into the Arabian Sea:.. The second would be to create more problems for the Rapid Deployment Force that is scheduled to become a full-fledged, unified military command on Jam 1. .Until recently the force has concen-. trated on plans for blocking a possible Soviet invasion from the north. Now it must take into. account a new danger from the east. In time of conflict,. fighters and fight- er-bombers from the dispersed Soviet airfields in Aghanistan would constitute a new threat to United States air, sea, and ground operations. Countering that threat would probably take more air wings than the 10 currently planned. The United States has no air bases in that region, and prospects for gaining access to any are limited, officials said. The Navy now has an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean with up to 100 planes aboard. In a crisis,.two more carriers would probably be deployed. The , Reagan . Administration has given high priority to gaining access to air bases in Turkey, an American ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organiz- tion, and recently reached an agree- ment under which the United States would improve about 10 bases and have access to them for training: Military planners have said they hope American warplanes will be able to use those bases to fly interdiction missions against Soviet forces in the event of an invasion of Iran. But they have ac- knowledged that the Turkish Govern- ment has shown little enthusiasm for the proposal. The planners have also indicated they hope Saudi Arabia or Oman will permit American aircraft to use bases in those countries in time of conflict, but they acknowledge much resistance to the idea by the two Government. ' An early indication of the Soviet mili- tary expansion in Afghanistan came last July from an insurgent Afghan leader, Hassan Gailani, of the National Islamic Front, who said the Soviet Union has begun building an airbase in Shindand, in western Afghanistan. Mr. Gallant also reported that Soviet forces had enlarged the storage depot at their base in Kandahar in southern Af- ghanistan. The new bases, which offi- cials here would not pinpoint, were said to be strung out mostly between Kanda- har and Shindand.