U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS: TRAGIC IRONY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600250056-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2000
• Sequence Number: 56
• Publication Date: November 11, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YOR K
~~'11:1CAi"
Approved For Release 2001/bt24N'6A-Rt 75-00149R000600250056-1
NOV 11 1965
U.S.-S t'i; t Relations: Thug a Irony
Hy WARREDJ S
W Foreign policy is rife with the
v~ element of Greek tragedy-the character flaw
and the inexorable tug of events toward an unhappy
conclusion despite .the best efforts Of the.p,rjls
-Consider the curr.e, t postures of ,both "the
swear, loudly and. often, that they
want nothing in this world" but
justice and peace.' Concretely, for
years, they have been edging cau-
tiously, toward a rapprochement
a burying of the hatchet in the hope
at last of getting along in genuine
peaceful coexistence
Time after time, each acts or
refrains from acting in a manner
which gives substance to its asserted
ti
di
l
p
oma
altruism. The d cate
c, _wROGERS
dance which averted World War I;
in the 1962 Cub,a:nalssile crisis isthe worthy
example. There have been other uses in W direct
confrontations_have been avoided-by'the. United
States in the matter of UniteiJNations duu1es, and
by the Russia on anuribei cis ions; in South-
Along the one in tb. Cold War, both el le have
learned the. ally of tryhjtto bluff,`The United states
took its licking iri `the ; ngarfan revolt. It Implied
or let the Hungarians- Infer, that it would come to
the aid ofit lQ e unh appy people if they-triied to throw
off the. Cofnttdtinist -yoke. When they did, we had to
stand by in?agonizing helplessness because to inter-
vene proba'b :would have touched off World War III.
In the Kremlin, they had to et_crow when the late
President Kennedy called their bluff on the Cuban
missiles. Again, restraint prevented World War III.
Now, however, we are confronted by paradoxical
behavior by both the United Sta;te~ and Russia. At
a time when both are loudly professing to seek a
rapprochement, each is simultaneou$ly guilty of pro-
vocative mischief in the background..
In Moscow the other day, celebrating the 48th
anniversary of their revolution, the Russians trotted
out nuclear devices they said could ,be put into orbit
.to be fined on an earth target at will. It is mystifying
that they not only did that much but also bragged
about it at length in a commentary by Tass, the
government news agency.
It has been only a few short months. sincie the
world hailed the U. S.-Soviet agreement, to ban such
gadgets in slice. A convenient explanation would be
that the S Ivi'et's heavy-handed threat was directed
at Red China, but the United States ; certainly is
justified ,n putting uneasy questions._ to Moscow
about itspirecise intentions.
Qx-.die. other -hand, America's Central Intelli
zpn, a ency, ia, dust caused ta.be ubl s ed;'"I'fie
Penkows apers." These are the memoixs, certified
Yler t . e, 'of Oleg Penkowslcy, a Soviet colonel
of intelligence who was tried. convietei~ .executed
:st year as a spy for the United States and Britain.
Granted, foreign policy is a never-never land.
But this is a lot to take. It is rather like shaking
hands with. your neighbor on his front lawn while
your kids run around back and throw rocks through
1,ia 1rif.nce t wIr &1nw_
'. ~... Hesrst HetMt*.* farfeI.
Approved For Release 2001/07/26 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600250056-1