US SAYS SPY ISSUE WON'T STOP TALKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605760002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 8, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605760002-9
~ ------ --
8 April 1987
US Sys spy issue won t
'
.7
BY CINN%ft SalkowskI,
- and Georg. D. Molhtt III
SW writer of The Christian science Monilor
washhown
Spies and embassy security prob-
lems notwithstanding, superpower
diplomacy remains on track.
The scandal involving United
States Marine guards at the US Em-
bassy in Moscow has caused a wave
of concern in Washington about So-
viet penetration of American com-
munications. But amid investigations
into the security threat, US Secretary
of State George Shultz is preparing
for his trip to Moscow next week for
crucial talks with Soviet leaders.
President Reagan said at the
White House yesterday that he is
"deeply concerned" about the secu-
rity breaches in Moscow, but that the
US intends to proceed with arms con-
trol talks and other areas of
negotiation.
The President also announced
that US diplomats would not occupy
the embassy under construction in
Moscow until he is sure it is secure
from Soviet eavesdropping. And he
said that the Soviets would not be
allowed to move into their new office
tower on a Washington hilltop until
the Americans move into the Moscow
facility.
The President said a decision on
the new facility would be made fol-
lowing a wide-ranging review. He ac-
knowledged that tearing down the
building might be among the courses
of action considered.
"It's a mess," a State Department
official says of the security issue. "It
will have repercussions on recon-
struction of our embassy in Moscow,
and it has a negative impact on the
Marine Corps, with which we have a
good relationship....
"But the dialogue with the Soviets
will go forward," the official says.
"We're gearing up [for the Shultz
visit] and do not see this as a bilateral
issue."
It has often happened in the past
that, just when Washington and Mos-
cow are about to embark on a serious
effort to reach agreement or to im-
prove ties, something unexpected oc-
curs to derail the effort. In Septem-
ber 1983, for instance, the Soviets
shot down a Korean airliner, plung-
ing relations into a deep freeze. Last
year the Soviet arrest of American
journalist Nicholas Daniloff threat-
ened to disrupt planning for a
Reagan-Gorbachev summit meeting.
The embassy-security issue falls
into a somewhat different category
in that secure communications at the
US Embassy in Moscow are a peren-
nial concern of the US government. It
is assumed that the Soviets do every-
thing possible to enhance their intel-
ligence gathering, including riddling
US facilities with eavesdropping de-
vices and luring vulnerable Ameri-
cans into espionage activities. It can
be assumed that the US similarly
uses its sophisticated technology to
penetrate Soviet installations, in-
cluding the Soviet diplomatic mission
in Washington.
But the breach of security in Mos-
stop talks
Lawmakers in Washington also 'say the
new building may need to be entirely
dismantled. At a minimum, say sources
familiar with embassy security matters,
finding and removing what could be hun-
dreds of listening devices implanted in
the new embassy will cost millions of
dollars and require months to correct.
The State Department says the US will
take "whatever action is necessary" to
ensure that the new embassy is com-
pletely secure. But at the moment it is
awaiting a report by James R. Schle-
singer, a former secretary of defense and
director of central intelligence, who is
investigating the construction and secu-
rity of the new facility.
A second State Department review
team, headed by Ambassador William A.
Brown, is looking into ways to revamp US
management and security procedures at
cow is a serious one tend has sparked
investigations by the Navy, the State De-
partment, and the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation.
Two members of Congress who in-
spected US facilities in Moscow this week
said "tens of millions of dollars" may be
required to make the current US Embassy
secure again in the wake of the Marine
spy scandal. One of the lawmakers, Rep.
Dan Mica (D) of Florida, said yesterday
that the embassy is moving quickly to
restore its security, but Secretary Shultz
may still have to operate out of a special
trailer in Moscow next week to ensure
communications with Washington are
secure.
The White House said
yesterday that steps have
been taken to ensure that
Shultz's conversations will
be private. Messages for the
secretary from Washing-
ton, for instance, will be
flown in by courier from
West Germany.
After touring the US fa-
cility under construction,
Representative Mica and Rep. Olympia
Snowe (R) of Maine said yesterday that
the security problem there is potentially
even worse than at the existing embassy.
We might recommend that it be de-
molished," Representative Snowe said of
the new building, which has cost about
$ 190 million and is years behind
schedule.
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605760002-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605760002-9
the embassy.
There have been charges and counter-
charges about who is responsible for the
security disaster. But dozens of American
diplomats and other officials may have
been involved through the years, and it
may be difficult to pinpoint blame.
"It's been general knowledge among
people in the threat-assessment area that
there's been a serious security problem
there for years," says one former- US in-
telligence official. "One problem may be
that the people who have to initiate cor-
rective measures are often the people re-
sponsible for security in the first place."
In general, American diplomats say,
probably too much reliance was placed on
US technology in detecting Soviet listen-
ing devices in the new US
Embassy and not enough
emphasis on supervision of
the construction by US offi-
cials.
Mica and Snowe claimed
yesterday that the security
breakdown was the result
of a number of factors: "a
failure of leadership and
authority" at the highest
levels of the embassy; a
breakdown in the overall attitude toward
security, including strained relations be-
tween the marines guarding the embassy
and other personnel; and inadequate
alarm devices.
Under a 1977 agreement the Soviets
are barred from occupying their own new
embassy now nearing completion in
Washington until the US is ready to oc-
cupy its new embassy in Moscow. Soviet
inspectors carefully oversaw every phase
of construction as the Soviet embassy in
Washington was being built.
In Moscow, however, the US allowed
Soviet workers to fabricate basic building
components offsite without supervision.
,.A related issue is the drawdown of
Soviet employees at the US Embassy. The
Soviet withdrawal of some 200 drivers,
cooks, and other employees last year in
retaliation for the expulsion of Soviet dip-
lomats from the US 'inconvenienced
American diplomats in Moscow. But the
new US ambassador to Moscow, Jack
Matlock Jr., has said that the removal of
Soviet workers will improve security.
President Reagan said yesterday that
even if the. Soviets relented and allowed
the US to employ Soviet workers at the
Moscow Embassy, he would be opposed.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605760002-9