ABC'S BOMB WATCH IN THE MIDDLE EAST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200830005-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 27, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00806R000200830005-3
By George C. Wilson contradict claims by government lead-
ers and industry executives that they
b
ie ruse on The Bom
uti auv=uY are not helping to 'develop nuclear
the Middle East. weapons for Middle Eastern countries.
is is the message ABC will trans-. The producers obviously went to con
to , :television viewers tonight siderable pains and expense to. trace
nnel 7 at 10) in a grim documen- how Israel might. have obtained ura-
entitled "Near Armageddon: The
ad of Nuclear Weapons in sthe nium for . malting nuclear . weapons,
e East." ~ with a Pennsylvania firm and a mys?
dl e East:' taped interviews with -ref tery ship their leading suspects. .The
~rough same kind
it officials, past and present, and of : detective work . is
dents, presented to show how Iraq is inea--
rnviewerentary is bytold.ABIC Cs coo has the nu- orably advancing toward The Bomb.
r bomb for sure; that,Iraq, Libya Missing from the enlightening nar-
ratives are man-in-the-street reactions,
TV Preview--,-'--
Pakistan are working on it with
help of countries that , should
w better - Belgium, , France and
tzerland. Egypt is portrayed. as a
e distant candidate for. joining the
lear club.
amera crews succeed in- portraying
irony of underdeveloped countries
iding billions on expensive and
gerous weapons - billions that
ld go for food, waterways, roads
housing. Each mini-chapter on
four- countries opens with scenes
jecting primitive conditions of bar-
landscape or crowded streets.
fie reporting rings true as the-
imentators present : evidence to'
or even pictures of anti-nuclear pro-
tests, to underscore that some people
are trying to throw themselves in
front of the blind march toward a nu-
clear Armageddon. Perhaps because of
that missing emotion, the program has-
a certain antiseptic quality as it warns
that the Middle East may soon incin-
erate itself ! r' .
Also, the viewer is left with a feel-
ing of helplessness. Some kind of
summing up on what could be done
to avoid Armageddon would have
been welcome. However, the first step
toward getting a problem solved is to
force everyone to, look at it. ABC
must get high marks for doing that, ti
The problem cannot be overexposed.
"Near Armageddon" is a 'significant
contribution.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00806R000200830005-3