Victory : The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union By Peter Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994. William Casey had developed his skills in economic warfare during WW II when he was promoted from a junior officer to direct the OSS economic campaign against Nazi Germany. He was appointed Director of the CIA by Reagan and was given support find the weak points in the Soviet economy and to take action to cripple the USSR. Casey decided that the sale of energy was critical to the USSR. Oil provided half of the hard currency they needed to buy technology from the West. And they needed Western technology both to develop their energy reserves and to keep their military current in the face of new technology developed by the USA. The USSR also faced unrest in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, and from Muslim minorities in many of the central Asian republics. Casey immediately started taking action to exploit these weaknesses. In April 1981 he took a 3 week trip in a specially outfitted black C-141 Starlifter. First to Cairo to meet with Anwar Sadat about using Egypt to supply the Afghani mujahedin with more and better quality Soviet made weapons. Next stop was Saudi Arabia to talk with members of the Royal family about the price of oil. He wanted the Saudis to pump more and thus lower the price. They were concerned about the protection of their air force. They knew from the 1967 Six Day War that a surprise air attack can destroy an air force in munutes, and wanted an airborn radar protection system. The US had what the Saudis wanted in AWACS. For Saudi Arabia, AWACS for more oil production was a win-win situation, since they also got more revenue from the greater volume, even at the lower price. While a Saudi AWACS was more for protection against Iran than Israel, Casey knew Israel would voice strong objection to the US giving it to Saudi Arabia. And Casey also wanted a favor from Israel. The previous CIA director, Admiral Stansfield Turner, had stressed satellite and electronic intelligence and had permitted the US "on the ground" spy network to dry up. Casey wanted to tap into Israel's "ratline" network of spies that operated in Poland and Russia, because he didn't have the time to recreate a US spy network. So how to get help from the Mossad ratline and sell Saudi Arabia the AWACS? He had to give Israel something that they valued enough to offset AWACS. So his next stop was Israel, where he provided Mossad with something they wanted very much: detailed satellite photos of the exact location and state of development the nuclear facility under construction in Iraq. Israel was very concerned about the prospect of a Iraqi nuclear bomb, and soon sent an F-16 Falcon to bomb the Iraqi nuclear plant. The US issued a formal protest of the bombing, but we were clearly not very unhappy about it. Meanwhile, Casey was off to Rome to meet with Vatican officials. He wanted the Catholic Church to provide information on events in Poland, and now he had two sources of informtion: Catholic priests and the Jewish ratline. Casey knew that the government in Poland was going to crack down on Soladarity, and that communications would be critical to the survival of the movement. So he provided Solidarity with small portable radio and communication equipment, which proved very useful when the government declared martial law and tried to wipe the labor movement out. This short trip indicated the general plan. Cut off the source of currency the USSR needed to buy technology by lowering oil prices (which also aided the US economic recovery), and also try to restrict the sale of US technology to the USSR. Meanwhile aid rebel groups within the Soviet block, like Solidarity and Muslims, and shift the Cold War to high technology, where the Soviets could not keep pace without the ability to buy US technology. This was the game plan but the book includes information on many of the details. At the famous Summit Meeting in Reykjavik Iceland in October 1986, Gorbachev practically begged Reagan to drop the SDI project. He offered to give in to all of the US demands on arms control in exchange for a promise to end "Star Wars". But Reagan refused. And I think that is when Gorbachev knew the "Cold War" was over and that the USSR had lost. At the time the US press described the summit as a "failure". They thought the purpose of the meeting was to reach an arms control agreement with the USSR. Reagan saw things differently. To him the point of the meeting was to convince Gorbachev that the USSR was a lost cause. COLD WAR QUOTES to provide historical context: The West will not contain communism, it will transcend communism. We will not bother to denounce it, we'll dismiss it as a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written. --Ronald Reagan, at Notre Dame University May 1981 Those in the US who think the Soviet Union is on the verge of economic and social collapse, ready with one small push to go over the brink are .... only kidding themselves. ---Arthur Schlesinger, 1982 The Russian system succeeds because, in contrast to the Western industrial economies, it makes full use of its manpower... The Soviet economy has made great national progress in recent years. ---- John Kenneth Galbraith, 1984 It is a vulgar mistake to think that most people in Eastern Europe are miserable. ---Paul Samuelson, 1981 Can economic command significantly compress and accelerate the growth process? The remarkable performance of the Soviet Union suggests that it can....Today it is a country whose economic achievements bear comparison with those of the United States. --- Lester Thurow in his textbook THE ECONOOMIC PROBLEM used into the late 1980's. The Soviet Union is not now nor will it be during the next decade in the throes of a true systemic crisis, for it boasts enormous unused reserves of political and social stability that suffice to endure the deepest difficulties. --Seweryn Bialer, Columbia University 1982 ATTACHED: SOME REVIEWS From Amazon.com Editorial Reviews From Booklist Might as well entitle this "Travels with Mr. Mumbles," since it is composed mostly of Schweizer's accounts of the trips of the guttural William Casey, director of the CIA from 1981 though 1987. As the animating spirit behind a host of anti-Soviet initiatives, Casey surreptitiously globetrotted to meet the top spooks of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Israel. A few of his arrangements, such as the hush-hush cooperation with the Vatican to support Poland's Solidarity, have come out in recent news articles, but Schweizer pushes the revelation envelope the furthest yet. Among the numerous new disclosures are the help the officially neutral Swedes gave at odd times, the cover for agents that U.S. corporations have provided, and how fake technologies were passed to KGB agents. Schweizer was granted interviews with Reagan's top national security lieutenants, Robert McFarlane, John Poindexter, and others. Those interviews freshen the text with an elan that emulates the energy the Reaganauts displayed in rolling back the Soviet offensive of the late 1970s. More allusive than definite about the operations, this is, as far as it goes, an accurate, first draft of the secret history. Intelligence people will examine it closely, and so will library patrons. Gilbert Taylor From Kirkus Reviews , April 1, 1994 This latest in the flourishing genre of post-Cold War triumphalism argues that the various covert practices of the Reagan administration hastened the demise of an already decaying Soviet empire. Schweizer (Friendly Spies, 1993), a media fellow at the Hoover Institution, spans the globe with the US foreign policy and national security establishment, demonstrating that for Reagan and Co. the best defense was a covert offense. They replaced George Kennan's revered foreign policy doctrine of... Synopsis In this explosive book, Peter Schweizer provides the riveting details of how the Regan administration undermined the Soviet economy and its dwindling resource base and subverted the Kremlin's hold on its global empire. Based on exclusive interviews with key participants, including Caspar Weinberger, George Schultz, John Poindexter, and William Clark, Victory chronicles the drama as it unfolded. Synopsis The first detailed account--based on exclusive interviews and never-before-published documents--of the Reagan Administration's war to bring down the Soviet Union. Victory is the story of this campaign hatched from the Reagan White House and William Casey's CIA. Synopsis Describes the Reagan administration's covert campaign against the Soviet Union, a program that would trigger the collapse of the Soviet economy and hinder Soviet territorial gains, outlining key elements of the policy and assessing its ramifications. 25,000 first printing. All Customer Reviews Avg. Customer Review: Number of Reviews: 9 Write an online review and share your thoughts with other readers! Right Leader for His Times, August 13, 2000 Reviewer: steve iaco (see more about me) from northern new jersey At times, it is easy to question the wisdom of the American electorate. Yet at truly critical junctures, the voting public has shown an uncanny knack for electing leaders who were ideally suited for the challenges of the times. Certainly, that was the case in ... 1980, with the rise to prominence of Ronald Reagan. The origin of the demise of the Iron Curtain -- and ultimate break-up of the Soviet Union -- can be traced to Reagan's arrival on the world geopolitical stage in the early 1980s. Author Peter Schweizer provides copious evidence for how the Reagan Administration's policies contributed to the collapse of the USSR. Some of these policies included: covert support for Afghan rebels and the Polish underground; the unprecedented military build-up and technology commitment (including SDI); the efforts to stem technology transfers and subsidized financial credits to Eastern Bloc nations, and significantly, to hobble the development of the Siberian natural gas pipeline; the "special relationship" forged with the Saudis, which ultimately led to the precipitous decline in oil prices (costing the USSR billions in lost hard currency). Reagan's policy of active confrontation with the Soviet Union was a stark departure from bi-partisan orthodoxy, which had attempted to "accommodate," or, at best, "contain" Soviet expansion. Why the Soviet Union Collapsed - What TV hasn't told you, April 2, 2000 Reviewer: Warren Norquist from Weston, Massachusetts VICTORY opens with a quote by former KGB general Oleg Kalugin: "American policy in the 1980s was a catalyst for the collapse of the Soviet Union." VICTORY REVEALS HOW. This is living history from over twenty major players, with those interviewed listed at the end of each chapter. Several including Caspar Weinberger, John Poindexter, Bill Clark and Roger Robinson also reviewed the manuscript. The introduction lists seven key elements of the plan initiated by Reagan in early 1981. It points out that Reagan unlike some other Presidents did not view arms control agreements and treaties as the measure of his success. VICTORY is an account of the secret offensive including economic and psychological fronts designed to win the Cold War. Reagan used our strengths to take advantage of Soviet weaknesses. After success, the task is often seen as easy. The details in the book showed that winning the Cold War was made much harder by some Americans and many Western Europeans, some of whom now say it was inevitable. You will see how critical, for instance, the AWACS aircraft were to the outcome. The greatest 'spy' story of them all!, December 30, 1999 Reviewer: KENNETH DEMSTER (see more about me) from GERMANY James Bond, step aside. You are strictly small potatoes compared to this story. President Reagan has been panned by the media for several things. However, this fresh, startling story of a courageous president, acting on faith and convition, going where no President had gone before, giving a big push to the tottering Soviet Socialist empire, shows him as (in my opinion) the greatest President of the century. The book is written in an easily readable style which kept me riveted right through to the end. If you want to know why our biggest nightmare went away in a matter of months, this book is an absolute must. The book shows President Reagan as a master conductor, leading his 'orchestra' of hand-picked cabinet men to missions all over the world including Poland, the Vatacan, China, Saudi Arabia, and other locations to put the ultimate financial 'sleeper hold' on the Evil Empire. It is a story of courage, initiative, brilliance, innovative thinking, the highest stakes poker game, and the victory of freedom over opression. It is without a doubt, one of the finest, most interesting books on history that I have ever read. Casey & Reagan vindicated., February 11, 1999 Reviewer: A reader from Ireland This was the first book I bought through the internet - and I ordered it because it was cross-referenced with another interesting book I had read! It offers a fascinating insight into the rivalry between Casey/Reagan iconoclasts and the east coast Anglophile State Dept. President Clinton continued this successful tradition by masterminding the Irish peace process over the objections of the Establishment wedded to a anachronistic 'special relationship' between New & Old England. Like many European intellectuals I originally saw Reagan as a dangerous country boy without feeling for the subtleties of geopolitics. But here is troubling evidence that Reagan was right! We saw him as a great communicator able to delegate, yet it seems he had an obsession for detail on things Soviet. Schweizer makes a good case that the Casey/Reagan initiative was a far-sighted & successful strategy. Maybe this is too simplistic a hypothesis. There are simpler explanations for, e.g. the high tech defense build-up (what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex). He confirms rumors we had heard before: US & Chinese involvement in subversion in Soviet Stans, Zia's role in Afghanistan & Soviet involvement in Zia's assassination, the arming of bin-Laden & other Afghan mujehaddin with sophisticated weaponry - including Stingers, Bush's clash with Reagan on the oil price collapse and Solidarity. There are also some bizarre new accounts: Casey tipping King Fahd off about Treasury plans to weaken the dollar: this made the Saudis billions - surely in breach of SEC rules? The US simultaneously targeting Osirak nuclear power station while arming Saddam, and how Al Haig was toppled. I felt however that the best bits were still missing: for example, the contras & Irangate, and the full story of Administration (& moderate Arab) support for Saddam pre-1990. Ultimately, however, Casey & Reagan were vindicated. See also "Did Star Wars sink the USSR" at: http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/4834/sdi.txt ,,,,,,, _______________ooo___(_O O_)___ooo_______________ (_) jim blair (jeblair@facstaff.wisc.edu) Madison Wisconsin USA. This message was brought to you using biodegradable binary bits, and 100% recycled bandwidth. For a good time call: http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/4834