78-08-A2
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National Security[edit]
Transcript[edit]For some time now we have made it increasingly difficult for the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. to gather information about the Soviet Union. Now a security windfall drops in our lap and it seems as if we are trying to pretend it hasn't happened. The top ranking Soviet official at the United Nations, Arkady Shevchenko, a 47-year-old protégé of Foreign Minister Gromyko has defected and refused to return to Russia. Shevchenko is privy to the Kremlin's foreign policy secrets and its espionage efforts aimed at us and our allies. Our experts in this field say this could be the biggest and most important breakthrough for us since World War II. In their opinion Shevchenko is probably fully informed of Russia's strategy and its worldwide goals. He is, in addition, fully informed as to what the Soviets hope to achieve in the strategic arms limitation talks - SALT II. From what he has revealed so far we can demolish Russia's claim that the Backfire bomber is only a medium range, not a strategic bomber. He has knowledge of Russia's use of Cuban troops and its plans for Africa. How much is it worth to us to have laid out for us the Soviet plans for using Cuba as a base? The concern of our intelligence forces is that policymakers in the State department may try to hush up Shevchenko's revelations possibly because they'll expose the weakness of our own policies - expose them not to the Russians who already know about them, but to us - the American people. There is also the possibility that we can't continue trying to buddy up to the Russians if we learn too much about what they have planned for us. There have already been off-the-record statements that this neatly tied gift of great value couldn't have come at a worse time. It's almost as if someone was complaining that he'd almost made friends with a fellow and was sorry to learn the fellow was stealing his wallet. I suppose we must always be on guard against a Soviet plant who will feed us misinformation, but surely we can check this against our own knowledge of KGB agents and operations. As a matter of fact since his defection we have arrested two Soviet United Nations employees as spies. Who knows, Shevchenko might have information of possible ties between the Weathermen Underground and the Soviet Union which could prove that the F.B.I. agents the Justice department is prosecuting were right in doing what they did a few years ago. Those agents have based their defense on proving the Weathermen were working closely with Soviet agents. With defense budgets being debated, arguments going on about the B-1 Bomber and the neutron weapon why shouldn't the American people hear Shevchenko's story? This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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