HPSCI BRIEFING, 20 SEPTEMBER 1983

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B00263R000200170005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2007
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 20, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2007/05/08: CIA-RDP85B00263R000200170005-9 ? ,
HPSCI Briefing, 20 September 1983
Moscow and its friends and allies are increasingly active
throughout the world using both overt and covert means to enhance
Soviet policies and to undermine those of the US.
On the overt side, Moscow capitalizes on a vast diplomatic,
economic, and military presence:
? During the last decade, Moscow has rapidly become the world's
second largest arms exporter. In 1980 and 81, it outsold all
others mainly as a result of sales to radical Middle East
clients. There are also now some 20,000 military advisors in
the LDCs, twice the number 10 years ago.
? Over 100,000 civilian technicians from Warsaw Pact countries
work in the LDCs, and the Soviets and East Europeans have
established a network of more than 400 companies in Western and
Third World countries.
? At least 120,000 LDC civilian and military students were being
trained in Soviet Bloc and Cuban facilities last year.
? Radio Moscow now beams programs worldwide in more than 60
languages and is on the air nearly 1,200 hours each week.
On the covert side, Moscow has a vigorous program of "active
measures" and other clandestine activities. This program is for the
most part carried out by the KGB under the direction of the Central
Committee of the CPSU. We estimate that some 25 percent of the 18,000
official Soviets abroad are KGB or other intelligence personnel.
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To conduct their covert operations, the Soviets:
? support and guide the activities of more than 70 nonruling
Communist parties;
? exploit ties to international and local front groups;
? penetrate and try to manipulate mass movements, leftist
parties, and labor and student organizations;
? influence foreign media through controlled journalists,
misleading articles, and forgeries;
? operate four clandestine radio stations that broadcast from the
Soviet Union and East Germany; _
? use agents of influence to manipulate private channels of
communication and exploit unwitting contacts; and
? train and support insurgent and terrorist groups with
significant help from Cuba and Libya.
Using such mechanisms, the Soviets and their allies have
developed programs to undermine US interests in every region of the
World.
Europe remains a major focus of US-Soviet competition. Moscow's
primary current goal is to block or postpone US INF deployments. To
this end:
? The Soviets have promoted and supported the European peace
.movement and encouraged West European and international
opposition to US and NATO deployments.
? The Soviet-controlled World Peace Council and other
international and local fronts have sponsored innumerable
meetings and assemblies to discredit US plans.
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? The Soviets have helped the Communist parties of Spain, Greece,
and West Germany to organize demonstrations and step up
propaganda efforts.
? Soviet diplomats and Novosti press personnel have conspired
with local opponents of INF deployment.
West Germany, Norway, Austria, and Belgium have been targets of
Soviet forgeries and disinformation about US plans and
intentions.
Moscow has also sought to weaken NATO by disseminating forged
documents aimed to raise public anxiety about NATO activities and to
demonstrate US interference in local politics. Indeed, in 1981 an
attempt was made in Madrid to surface a forged letter from President
Reagan to King Juan Carlos urging the King to join NATO and to crack
down on internal opposition to Spain's entry into NATO.
Several other forgeries of suspected Soviet origin have appeared
that seek to exploit sensitive US-European issues or defend Soviet
positions.
? In May 1982 a forged US Commerce Department document, proposing
measures to sever the gas pipeline contract between the USSR
and a number of West European countries surfaced in Belgium.
? In July, an Italian newsweekly published two fabricated US
Embassy Rome telegrams acknowledging that the effort to
publicize a Bulgarian and KGB role in the papal assassination
was a US disinformation campaign.
? A tape of an alleged conversation between President Reagan and
Prime Minister Thatcher during the Falklands war was circulated
in the Netherlands this spring. The tape, which portrays
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Thatcher as blood-thirsty, appeared two weeks before the UK
general elections.
Soviet fabrications have also played a major role in Moscow's
effort. to justify martial law in Poland and to imply a US role in
Poland's unrest. For example:
? A forged State cable suggested that CIA funded Solidarity;
? A Madrid newsweekly published a fake memorandum that proposed ,a
US destabilization policy in Poland; and,
? A forged letter from a US labor official suggested that the
AFL-CIO was sending funds clandestinely to Solidarity.
In Latin America, Moscow supports leftist revolutions as part of
its effort to undermine US interests. Cuba aids and abets Moscow's
goals while pursuing its own aims. As elsewhere, the Soviets have
used front groups, covert support to Communist and leftist parties,
press placements, forgeries, and disinformation:
? The World Peace Council and its affiliates held several
meetings last year in Central America to denounce US policy.
Misleading press articles and a forged DoD press release were
used to capitalize on anti-US feelings generated by the
Falklands war.
? Media assets in Nicaragua charged that US policy in Latin
America included assassination and the use of biological and
chemical warfare.
Cuba provides arms, training, and financing for the Sandinistas
and the insurgencies in Guatemala and El Salvador. Cuba also supports
the M-19, and reportedly has offered similiar backing to the FARC and
ELN terrorists in Colombia. Havana has also infiltrated Cuban-trained.
terrorists into Chile and insurgents into Honduras.
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Libya supports Soviet interests in the region as a way of
striking at the United States close to home. In the past year, Libya
has provided some financial support to liberation movements in the
Caribbean, and leftist parties in Chile, Guatemala, and Venezuela.
Qadhafi himself met with Salvadoran insurgents last September and
offered more equipment and explosives from Libyan stockpiles.
In the Middle East, Soviet activities have been aimed primarily
at depicting the US and its ties to Israel as indicative of US
hostility to the Arab world. The Soviets have also sought to further
distance Iran from the US and have tried to,manipulate the
fundamentalist Muslim and Zionist movements. Libya's activities--
including direct involvement with terrorist groups--are not
necessarily directed by the USSR but serve Moscow's interests by
promoting regional instability.
Last year's Israeli invasion of Lebanon provides a prime example
of a Soviet active measures campaign in force:
? Moscow's Arabic-language radio argued that the invasion had
been planned long in advance by "US imperialism and its Zionist
clique." To bolster these allegations, a forged DoD document
was used to suggest that the US approved of the Israeli
invasion in advance.
? The World Peace Council held a special meeting in Geneva
calling for an international commission of inquiry.
? Palestinian Solidarity committees, with Communist elements
taking the lead, sprang up in many countries, followed by a
-s-pate of demonstrations ' led by Communist fronts.
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In South Asia, the Soviets have concentrated on justifying their
intervention in Afghanistan, countering US and Pakistani support for
Afghan insurgents, and stemming what Moscow sees as India's drift
away from the USSR:
Disinformation and international fronts have been employed to
influence world opinion in favor of Soviet Afghan policies.
? Although hard evidence is lacking, Pakistani officials believe
that the Soviets have helped aggravate differences among Afghan
resistance leaders, supplied weapons to Pakistani border
tribes, and promoted domestic opposition to President Zia.
? Prompted by Moscow, India's leftist media have attempted to
cast suspicion on US policies toward India and the Third
World. Early this year several papers ran a story based on a
Soviet forgery that purported to be a speech by Ambassador
Kirkpatrick. The speech presented a distorted view of US
policies in the Third World designed to offend regional
sensitivities.
Soviet active measures in sub-Saharan Africa have for the most
part been aimed at discrediting US policy concerning both Black Africa
and South Africa. Recently, forgeries have become particularly
prevalent. In Ghana and Nigeria forged documents were used to
implicate US Ambassadors Smith and Pickering in assassination plots.
In southern Africa, a disinformation campaign supported by forgeries
was used to allege US military collusion with South Africa. In
addition, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Libya provide
support to radical regimes and insurgent and dissident groups in
Africa, all of which contribute to undermining Western influence in
the region.
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In East Asia, Soviet activities are directed primarily at
undermining US-Japanese relations. Testimony before this Committee
last year by former KGB
showed theS3iets
have made extensive use of fronts and influential assets in Japan's
political and media circles. During the last year we have seen a
sustained Soviet effort against US-Japanese military cooperation:
? The Soviets have used radio broadcasts and interviews with
Japanese newspapers to threaten the redeployment of European
SS-20s to Asian targets as part of a US-Soviet INF settlement.
? The Tokyo press reported early this year that Moscow sent a
letter to Japan's socialist parties urging them to oppose the
deployment of US nuclear weapons in Japan.
In Southeast Asia, the major thrust of Soviet active measures has been
defensive, aimed at diverting attention from Communist use of chemical
and biological warfare in the region.
In sum, Moscow's covert activities worldwide undermine US
interests and frustrate and complicate US foreign policy. The Soviet
active measures program has grown in intensity and has become more
bold. Their campaign to implicate US Ambassadors and other high
officials in assassination plots is one reflection of this trend.
The technical quality of some forgeries has also improved, and
the phony Thatcher-Reagan tape may mark the beginning of a new
technique in future disinformation campaigns. Moscow's continuing
commitment to active measures indicates that Soviet policymakers
believe them to be effective. Western Europe, the Middle East, and
Latin America have been and will probably continue to be prime areas,
of Soviet attention:
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? In Western Europe, Moscow continues to monitor and tries to
stimulate and redirect elements of the region's various peace
movements. bloc efforts will undoubtedly intensify as US INF
deployments draw close.
?- In the Middle East, the Soviets and their allies will likely
continue to play the "spoiler" role by trying-to discredit US
peace initiatives and fueling anti-American sentiment.
? In Latin America, Moscow is optimistic about the prospects for
increased success from active measures. A Soviet official
reportedly said last year that the situation in Latin America
was especially promising and that the time had come to take the
offensive. Cuba too will continue in its efforts to undermine
US interests by trying to spread revolution.
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