Don Allen All Full-court press vs USSR 03 Feb 92 22:49:00 AREA:HUMAN
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Article 2388 of misc.activism.progressive:
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
From: Blythe Systems
Subject: NEWS:Full-court press vs USSR continues
Message-ID: <1992Jan31.013434.12043@pencil.cs.missouri.edu>
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Sender: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Organization: PACH
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1992 01:34:34 GMT
Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
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Via The NY Transfer News Service 718-448-2358, 718-448-2683
`FULL COURT PRESS' CONTINUES AGAINST USSR
By Pat Chin
(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if
source is cited.)
Did the advocates of capitalism triumph in the Soviet Union due to
the inherent bankruptcy of socialism? Or was the seizure of
political power by counterrevolutionary Boris Yeltsin and his
supporters aided by external forces?
World imperialism has considered undermining the worker's state in
the USSR a priority ever since the 1917 revolution. No stone has
been left unturned in imperialism's efforts to destabilize
socialist construction.
And now, well documented information reveals that the U.S.
government, through the National Endowment for Democracy, the CIA
and other entities, intensified this campaign against the Soviet
Union over the past 10 years. So important was the task of
stopping communism that the operation rose to the level of what is
known in secret service parlance as a "full court press." Sean
Gervasi writes about the campaign in his article "Western
Intervention in the USSR," in the Covert Action Information
Bulletin, Winter 1991-92 issue.)
According to Gervasi: "In the early 1980s the Reagan
Administration had adopted a plan to destabilize its major
adversary. The strategy combined intense open and covert attacks.
It utilized political pressure, economic operations, military
force around the world, propaganda, and assistance to anti
communist opposition groups in Eastern Europe and the Soviet
Union."
Under the guise of creating a "democratic breakthrough," the U.S.
openly carried out operations once conducted in secret by the CIA.
The acceleration of the arms race was also part of the U.S.
strategy to disrupt the Soviet economy. Its aim was to "spend the
USSR into bankruptcy." Thus popular discontent could be stirred up
at the diversion of public funds from development and social
programs into defense. (See: John van Oudenaren, "Exploiting the
'Fault Lines' in the Soviet Empire," RAND Corporation, Aug. 1984)
Moreover, Gervasi states, "Evidence is growing that the purpose
was not to encourage reform, but to provoke the outright overthrow
of communist rule."
Funds for undermining communism in the Soviet Union came through
the National Endowment for Democracy, which was established by the
U.S. Congress. The NED describes its work as being pro-democracy
rather than anti-communist. But "pro-democracy" is just the code
word for pro-capitalist. And what could be more anti-communist
than capitalism? According to NED strategy, victory over
communism involved three essential tasks: strengthening
"democratic culture," "democratic civil society" and "democratic
political institutions." Anti-communist views were disseminated
through publications and other media, including the CIA-run Radio
Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Private sector institutions were
developed, especially pro-western "trade unions." Women and youth
organizations and cooperatives were also set up.
Gaining support from opposition figures and establishing
pro-Western political parties was considered crucial. This,
according to Gervasi, "effectively meant building a movement
composed of anti communist parties, organizations and individuals.
The end result was a 'democracy' defined almost exclusively by the
existence of elections." This tactic is seen as being at least
partially responsible for Yeltsin's emergence and the August
countercoup that consolidated his hold on power.
Enormous resources were devoted to the task. The "full court
press" against the Soviet Union involved millions of dollars
channeled through U.S. government departments and agencies,
including the Republican and Democratic parties. Between 1984 and
1990, $40.5 million was spent on Europe. Ninety percent of this
sum went to destabilizing Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
With the emergence of the Gorbachev grouping in the USSR, this
amount steadily grew.
The distribution of funds involved over 50 organizations,
clandestine and open. They included government agencies such as
the CIA, and British, German, French and Israeli intelligence
agencies. The U.S. Department of Labor was also a recipient of NED
funds, as were sub-groupings of the NED like the Free Trade Union
Institute. Then there are corporate groupings; labor organizations
like the AFL-CIO's Agency for International Free Labor
Development; the Unification Church; and Union of Councils for
Soviet Jews. Foundations, private groups and businesses were used
as conduits. Grants also went to foreign recipients or U.S.
recipients involved in foreign projects.
"The CIA," concludes Gervasi, "was probably spending $160 million
per year on intervention operations in the Socialist Bloc. The
minimal conclusion that can be deduced from all this, even taking
into account the complex channeling and rechanneling of funds and
projects through intermediaries, is that during the 1980s, Western
governments, businesses and private organizations were devoting
something on the order of $100 million per year to intervene in
the internal affairs of the Soviet Union."
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Don
dona@bilver.uucp
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