THE OMNISCIENT PRESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000300580006-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2006
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: September 24, 1968
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

National Review
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STAT i
The Omniscient Press Further: The invasion was a model military operatio
carried out with speed, precision, efficiency and disci
On August 20, troops of five Warsaw Pact nations in- pline. This is all the more remarkable not only for th
0 vaded and occupied Czechoslovakia.. The news came huge size of the invading force but in the ,fact that i
as a stunning surprise to Americans who had read in comprised units from five different national armies, eve
the preceding three weeks: The Guardian (Aug. 17): if the satellite contingents were minor. The comman
"That the Soviets had no intention of marching into difficulties in integrating actions of units from sevcra
Czechoslovakia was apparent from the beginning. Re- nations are notorious. The invading force, moreover, in
ports of an impending invasion were the- fabrication of eluded almost every sort of modern combat and suppo
hostile elements and press." unit-infantry, armored, airborne, all types of aircraft,:';
The Nation (Aug. 5) : "There will certainly be no missile (including missile units with nuclear capability);
outside intervention. The Russians cannot afford to losb (artillery of all kinds, electronic, propaganda, every kind STAT
more of their dwindling retinue and perhaps risk another of supply, etc.-the works.'
Hungary, which both sides use as ,a bogy against each Again: Although the contingent preparation for the
other." action must have begun months ago and the first de- ;
The Christian Science Monitor (Aug. 1) : "The cision to go ahead made at least days and probably
;Czechoslovak Army is again counted one of the most weeks beforehand, no Western intelligence service called
efficient. Bighting forces in Europe and as seen' by the the shot. The buildup and ;maneuvering on the Czech
Soviet Union potentially the most reliable, most effective border were of course known.?Everyone understood that
army of the Warsaw Pact allies." Moscow had the capability for the invasion-though not
UPI, Prague (Aug. 19): "It is a rne4sure of the free- quite so impressive a capability as was demonstrated.
dom that has come to Czechoslovakia that 2,000 former 'But all Western services misjudged Moscow's intentions;;
'secret policemen today wear the uniform of ordinary : none learned of or deduced the actual decision to strike.
Prague pairomen." And: The Western nations and their military arms
Columni,t Joseph C. Harsch (Aug. 20) : Washington were passive in the face of both the buildup and the
appears to be clinging even more tenaciously than Mos- ' actual invasion.
cow to the dwindling power of the sword. The Musco- So: What is to prevent Moscow & Co. from invading
vites deciided that there are better ways than tanks for another nation when it thinks the moment opportune?
0 handling painful problems with the Czechs; which Neither our strategic nuclear force nor our tactical
amounted in effect to downgrading the sword as an nuclear weapons nor the existing armies, navies and air
instrument of policy." forces of the NATO alliance stopped or attempted to
Or, Andrei Gromyko, any place, any year: "Our. stop the march into Czechoslovakia. So if it's Rumania
country has always given resolute support to the na- next month? The Kremlin promised the White House?
tional liberation movements of the peoples, the move- Quite possibly; like Hitler's Reich, the Kremlin has often
ments. for freedom and independence. Our country has'. enough made such promises, and its signature is on the'
alwayts been an active force in the struggle ' for the : UN Charter. But promises didn't help the Czechs when
liquidation of colonial oppression." the tanks started moving. Yugoslavia? Berlin? West
Germany? But now you're getting beyond "the Soviet
sphere of interest." And did they promise to stay inside
The High Cost of Nothing that mysterious sphere?
The Economist-the very soul of sobriety-is con-
Discussion of the Czech invasion has concerned for the strained to conclude: "The Russians' move forward
most. part its political and moral elements. It is advisable means that there would be even less time for NATO to
to begin paying somewhat more attention to its military prepare itself against an impending attack than there
dimension. was when these Russian divisions had to be sent forward
For example: Soviet and allied military power has in from Russia itself. And after what has happened in,
the past two months advanced several hundred miles Czechoslovakia-and the tough line the Russians arc
westward in central Europe, and substantially westward now taking with the West Germans-it can no longer
all along the line. Two months ago there were no Soviet be assumed that the men who are running the show in
troops stationed in Czechoslovakia. Today there are ! ? Moscow have written off the whole idea of an adventure
,.more than half a million. Two months ago Czechoslo- into western Europe." In the same issue, a reader writes
vakia's borders with the Free World were lightly screened in: "So we pay for a ,NATO army that it should do
by Czech guards and soldiers; today six or more Soviet nothing, silently, once a decade? I should have such a
O divisions are deployed along the West German border job.-Yours Faithfully." (P. W. Haston of Cloghane,
and other Soviet units are moving into place along the j; County Kerry.). .
Austrian border. Reserve units have been called up in
Poland and East Germany. At least a quarter of a million
Soviet troops have been shifted westward to fill the places MOR,I/CDF Page 1
of the occupation armies-which means an over-all west-
ward shift of Soviet military power.
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They Will Not Be Silenced
The Institut Litleraire (91, Avenue do Poissy, Maisons-
Laflittc, Seine-et-Oise, France) is the most influential
literary and intellectual center-in-exile of eastern Europe.
Founded just after the war by a distinguished group of i
Poles who refused to accept the communization of their
country, it has published ever since that time the brilliant
monthly magazine, Kultura, and found ways to circulate
it primarily inside Poland and other East European na-
tions. The Institut has translated scores of the foremost
Russian as well as Polish, and has also made these avail
i able to readers within the Communist bloc. Through its
close contacts with writers and intellectuals inside the
curtain it has been the principal liaison point for the
proscribed manuscripts of Russian, Polish, Ukrainian and
Hungarian writers, and made possible their publication
in the Western nations and their circulation at home..The
Institut, with a bare minimum of funds, has done more
than any other institution to reawaken and nourish the
intellectual and spiritual ferment that, in spite of all the
Kremlin's tanks, presses ever more strongly against the-
imprisoning walls of the Communist empire.
The focus of this ferment in Czechoslovakia was the
weekly review, Literarni Listy, a prime and immediate
target of the occupation. Jerzy Giedroye, editor of
Kultura, has just issued the following announcement con-
cerning; Literarni Listy:
The Czech weekly review, Literarni Listy, along with
the Polish Po Prostu and the Hungarian Irodalmi U/say of
1956, ranks high among those East European publicatigns
which, aiming at reforming socialism after years of de-
basement and abject servility, restored dignity to the
printed word.
The occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armed forces
of the countries of the Warsaw Pact threatened the exist-
ence of Literarni Listy, and the board of editors was
compelled to decide to discontinue, publication. Many of
the editors, contributors and staff were forced to flee the
country.
Kultura has decided to award a literary prize of 5,000
Freijch francs ($1,250) to Literarni Listy. In doing so
Kultura is acting not only in its own name but also in
the name of many writers in Poland who, prevented from
expressing their feeling of solidarity with the Czech
weekly and their admiration for its attitude, have asked
Kultura to be their spokesman.
The main intention of this gesture is of course to erase,
at least in a symbolic way, the shame of the Polish par-
ticipation in the aggression against Czechoslovakia.
But we have the additional aim of initiating a fund
that will enable Literarni Listy to resume its, activities, for
the time being in exile, until the day when it will be pos-
sible to publish it ;. the country where it was born.
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