STATUS OF SOVIET WEAPONS CONCERNS CIA DIRECTOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• 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
• Publication Date: May 31, 1991
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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
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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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