C.I.A. CHIEF SEES SOVIET BUILDUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100080012-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 17, 2007
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: March 21, 1977
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/04/17: CIA-RDP99-0
NEW YORK TIMES
CIA. Chief Sees Soviet Buildup
By DAVID BINDER
Svdat to ;'he :Gen' yo: k :Yme,
NVASHINGTON, March 20IStansfield
Turnern director of Central Inteiligencend
said today he believed that the Soviet
Union was seeking military superiority
over the United States to gain political
leverage and to compensate for shortcom
ings at home.
'I believe the Soviets think in 19th-cen-
tury terms,' he said. 'I think they are
trying to compensate for their weak-
nessesn economic, ideological and politi-
cal, by building a miiitary force that they
hope will weigh in the balance."
He added: 'They hope that this power
of military forces can be translated into
political opportunity, to political leverage
on the rest of the world and therefore
that they can, without necessarily going
to warn gain an overall political advan.
tage."
-Admiral Turner, who left his post as
commander of Atlantic alliance forces in
the Mediterranean to take over at the
Central Intelligence Agency 10 days ago,
made the remarks on the CBS television
program 'Face the Nation.'
Asked for his estin' to of Soviet mili-
tary strength-a subject of intense debate
among United States policymakers-Ad-
miral Turner said: 'I think that the mili-
g
g
,
tary balance is gradually eroding to the he said it was "a typical internal prob-
Soviet side." lem."
However, he added that the United
States 'can and will redress that again
because I think the people of the United
States are perceiving this need."
On another issue, he said that he re-
garded previous covert payments to for-
eign leaders as a "very common and very
legitimate tool of foreign policy' that had
constituted an "infinitesimal part" of the
hundreds of billions in foreign assistance
extended by the United States over the
last 30 years. 'It does not involve things
that are not proper," he said.
He acknowledged, however, that "a
few' projected covert operations had
been called off recentlyn eithr because
they were judged to be too risky or be-
caus it was felt that the operations could
just as well be conducted openly.
In reply to another question, he assert-
ed that no American reporters were on
the payroll of the C.I.A., and said that
he would see to it that there would be
none in the future.
Admiral Turner also said that the C.I.A.
"has a good idea" of what is going on
in Zaire, parts of which have been invad-
ed by Katangan forces operating from
neighboring Angola. He declined to elabo-
rate, however.
Asked about the assassination Friday
of President Marien N
ouabi of Con
o