STATUS OF SOVIET WEAPONS CONCERNS CIA DIRECTOR

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP99-01448R000401660042-6
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
May 22, 2012
Sequence Number: 
42
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 31, 1991
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP99-01448R000401660042-6.pdf117.11 KB
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S1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401660042-6 Status of Soviet weapons concerns CIA director By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES A Soviet review of measures used to guard Red Army atomic weapons has raised concerns at the CIA that the Kremlin leadership may not have total control over its nuclear arsenal, CIA Director William Web- ster said yesterday. "We've seen signs that they are not as sure as they were before, and that lowers the level of our confi- dence;' he said. "They are looking at what they need to do to be sure that missiles do not fall into unfriendly hands, that they are moved if necessary, that the systems they have in place to prevent someone engaging in an unauthor- ized fire are protected," Mr. Webster said. The CIA director met with report- ers for a farewell breakfast at the agency's Langley headquarters. He announced his retirement earlier this month. Mr. Webster's remarks were made against the backdrop of alarming statements by a hard-line Soviet military official. Col. Viktor Alksnis - dubbed the "Black Colonel" - re- cently warned that civil war in the Soviet Union would involve the use of nuclear weapons. "If civil war here is unavoidable, it will involve nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction;' Col. Alksnis told Britain's New States- man on April 5. "Yes, we shall perish, but we shall take the whole world to the grave. You will perish with us. There will be no borders. The con- flict will splash over them, first into neighboring countries, then into a world catastrophe" Bush administration officials said the Soviets in recent months have moved nuclear arms out of Eastern Europe, the Baltic states and some Central Asian republics for security reasons. The arms are being consolidated at other sites in the Russian repub- lic, where additional security per- sonnel and protective fences have been spotted, said officials who de- clined to be named. Also, the Soviets plan to move SS-18 nuclear missiles from a base in Kazakhstan, which has been torn by ethnic violence, to an area inside the Russian republic, one official said. In February 1990, Soviet troops were called in to protect a nuclear weapons storage facility near Baku, Azerbaijan, that was overrun by armed rebels, according to U.S. offi- cials. As a result of the incident, the So- viets moved some nuclear arms from unstable areas in the Central Asian republics and the Baltic states to more secure regions, the officials said. The CIA chief's remarks reflect an increased concern about the se- curity of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. In an interview last year he said the Soviet command structure had exer- cised "a pretty tight Moscow-to-site control system" over the arms. Mr. Webster said yesterday, "We see them paying more attention to this in ways that would suggest that they are not as competent as they have been in the past." But the security of Soviet nuclear weapons does not pose an immediate threat, he said. It is a "longer-term" concern that will require close mon- itoring by U.S. intelligence agencies. On Mr. Gorbachev's future, Mr. Webster said the Soviet leader has made profound changes in the Soviet system but "he's unleashed a set of forces that went beyond his own vi- sion" "The question remains: Is it too late for Gorbachev?" he asked "Moses didn't get to the ProMised Land, and that may be the case with Gorbachev," said Mr. Webster, echo- ing Defense Secretary Dick Che- ney's hard-line view of the Soviet leader's future. Mr. Gorbachev is being eclipsed by reformers such as Russian parlia- ment chief Boris Yeltsin and other The Washington Post The New York Times _ The Washington Times The Wall Street Journal As The Christian Science Monitor New York Daily News USA Today The Chicago Tribune leaders of Soviet republics, he said. Several republics, including Georgia and the Baltic states, be- lieve they are outside the Soviet Union and Moscow may try to "pull the last remaining economic strings" in seeking to regain control. "But I don't think that will do any- thing to slow down those that are heading for the exits," Mr. Webster said. Asked if the Soviet Union would break apart in the coming years, Mr. Webster said, "It could even be in a different shape by the end of the year." On other issues, Mr. Webster said: ? The CIAs Counter-Narcotics Center has detected an increase in illicit drug production around the world, and some countries, notably Colombia, have shown "an erosion of will" in battling international drug traffickers. ? The investigation into the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, has produced "more than a circumstan- tial case" against the perpetrators, including several state sponsors of terrorism. ? Saddam Hussein is "currently very much in charge" of Iraq, but the allied coalition will continue to exercise "significant leverage" over him as long as two major oil export pipelines remain closed. ? The CIA views nuclear, chem- ical, biological and missile prolifera- tion as "an increasing concern." "I'm glad to see it put in the public diplomacy area;' Mr. Webster said, referring to President Bush's initia- tive to curb weapons proliferation in the Middle East. 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