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The Perestroika Deception : Memoranda to the Central Intelligence Agency by Anatoliy Golitsyn, Christopher Story (Editor) Paperback - 247 pages |
From the backcover: "Anatoliy Golitsyn's first book, 'New Lies for Old', caused a long running sensation when it was discovered that, unlike most Western analysts, the Author had accurately predicted, some years ahead of the events, the 'Break with the Past' which took place in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1989-91. In his book 'Wedge: The Secret War between the FBI and CIA' [Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1994], Mark Riebling, who carried out a methodical analysis of Golitsyn's predictions in 'New Lies for Old', credited the Author with 'an accuracy record of nearly 94%'. This singular achievement puts all other analysts, including some official services, to shame; and it is precisely because of his record of pin-point accuracy that Western Governments, policymakers and even some intelligence services, whose record bears little comparison with Golitysn's, have competed with one another over the years to find reasons why Golitsyn's perceptive explanations of Soviet strategy should be ignored. But events as they unfold are relentlessly proving this remarkable analyst of Soviet strategy to be right. 'The Perestroika Deception' explains the devious secret intent behind the Leninist strategy which the 'former' Communists are pursuing under cover of fake 'reform' and 'progress towards democracy'. The immediate strategic objective is 'convergence' with the West -- on their terms, not ours. The ultimate objective is Lenin's: replacement of nations states with collective regional governments as building blocks of the 'New World Social Order' -- World [Communist] Government."
About the Author: Anatoliy Golitsyn was born in the Ukraine in 1926, served as a member of the KGB in various intelligence, counterintelligence, and counterespionage roles, until he defected to the United States in 1961 of which he is now a citizen. Since that time he has diligently studied Communist and international affairs, reading both the Western and Communist press which has lead him to submit Memoranda to the CIA outlining his analysis of Communist affairs.
Introduction: The book includes a series of memoranda that the author sent to the CIA in recent years. Golitsyn felt that since his "warnings" have basically gone unheeded by the government that he would publish them in a book. He asked the CIA to declassify them, and they agreed. The author cites several reasons for this consideration of presenting his memoranda to the public. I'll quote just two:
(1) "...The democracies of the United States and Western Europe are facing a dangerous situation and are vulnerable because their governments, the Vatican, the elite, the media, the industrialists, the financiers, the trade unions and, most important, the general public are blind to the dangers of the strategy of 'perestroika' ... The democracies could perish unless they are informed about the aggressive design of 'perestroika' against them." (pg. XIX)
(2) "...I could not imagine that American policymakers, and particularly the conservatives in both the Republican and Democratic parties, despite their long experience with Communist treachery, would not be able to grasp the new manoeuvres of the Communist strategists and would rush to commit the West to helping 'perestroika' which is so contrary to their interests.
"It has been sad to observe the jubilation of American and West European conservatives who have been cheering 'perestroika' without realising that it is intended to bring about their own political and physical demise. Liberal support for 'perestroika' is understandable, but conservative support came as a surprise to me." (pg. XIX)
In trying to understand the reason that Golitsyn's warnings have been overlooked by Western leaders, the editor writes:
"The first main reason for the general (but not in fact complete) rejection of the Author's analysis is that, as the case of Aldrich Hazen Ames has shown, the Russians won the intelligence war through their penetration of Western intelligence services--a message which, naturally, these services do not wish to hear... In the course of his work with the American, British and French services, the Author found that penetration had destroyed their ability to interpret events in the Communist world correctly." (pg. XXV)
The following items are just a sampling of what is covered in this 247 page book:
- Perestroika is the result of 30 years of preparation and strategy in the "restructuring of the whole world." (pg. 45)
- The actions of Russia in securing victories by the Leftist parties in the recent elections of the U.S., West Germany, France and Britain. The Russians feel that Conservatives might "recover" from the idea of perestroika so it would be best to have Liberals in office.
- In 1989, Golitsyn suggested to the CIA that Gorbachev could possibly be replaced by either a conservative of Ligachev's type or by a liberal of Yeltsin's type. The author further speculated that Gorbachev's replacement would be a calculated move and, depending on circumstances, may even be brought back into power at a later date.
- The Chinese-Russian relation and the West's failure to understand this relationship. In 1989, the author wrote to the CIA: "...China is destined to become a Soviet partner in the future World Government towards which Moscow and Peking are jointly preceding." (pg. 36) In another memorandum to the CIA in February 1993, Golitsyn wrote in reference to a "mask of diplomatic and political cooperation" by Russia: "When the right moment comes the mask will be dropped and the Russians with Chinese help will seek to impose their system on the West on their own terms as the culmination of a 'Second October Socialist Revolution.' (p. 158).
- The three centers of nuclear military power that Russia and China must deal with: the United States, Western Europe and Israel. The Russians calculate that the U.S. and Western Europe neutralization will be handled diplomatically via arms agreements and such. The issue of Israel is another matter, which the author suggests that neutralization might occur via sabotage of nuclear facilities.
- The author discusses the possible 'perestroika' event in China at Tienanmen Square that was later changed at the last minute, reminding us that this Chinese crackdown occurred on the "eve of the changes in Eastern Europe" and immediately after a visit by Gorbachev suggesting that this event was far from coincidental. He questions the "massacre" at Tienanmem surmising that reporters only heard gunfire and tanks from their hotel rooms but were not true eyewitnesses to the events inside the square. He cites conflicting news reports on the matter. He also suggests that any deaths may have been "selective killing of the unorganized elements" involved in Tienanmen Square. This is in line with his belief that the demonstration started out as a Party-organized event that later turned into genuine spontaneous involvement by many "unorganized elements" which would of course threaten Chinese control of the demonstration. (pg. 108)
- Golitsyn discusses the Western press and their inability to accurately report events in Russia and other Communist countries due to their ignorance, in part, of what perestroika actually is. Their version of perestroika is so in tune with what the Communists would have them believe, that now Russia allows its public to listen to such radio programs as "The Voice of America" and the BBC.
- On the topic of religion, Golitsyn wrote to the CIA in 1990: "...greater apparent official tolerance of religion in the Soviet Union is accompanied by a secret drive to increase Party and KGB penetration of the Catholic and other churches and to use agents therein for political and strategic purposes inside and outside the Soviet Union. As part of the programme to destroy religion from within, the KGB, in the late 1950s, started sending dedicated young Communists to ecclesiastical academies and seminaries to train them as future church leaders. These young Communists joined the Church, not at the call of their consciences to serve God, but at the call of the Communist Party in order to serve that Party and to implement its general line in the struggle against religion." The author continues in saying that when these new "church leaders" have achieved their goals, that a mass withdrawal of these agents will occur to disrupt and destroy the churches. Golitsyn warns that "never in its history since Nero has Christianity faced such a threat of possible destruction." (pp. 116-117)
- In a memorandum dated April 1995 the heading reads: "An Assessment of the Invitation to Billy Graham to Preach in Soviet Churches During His Second Visit to the USSR." Golitsyn writes: "This was an extraordinary, moving and impressive event with serious political and strategic implications." (p. 186)
- The "contrived and military bungling" of events in Chechnya in 1994 to give the false impression of the ineptness of the Russian military.
Conclusion: "The Perestroika Deception" is packed full of information. And remember, this information was first given to, and generally ignored by, the CIA as an expert analysis. The author does not mix words. He tells it as he sees it. Definitely not a book you would want to curl up with at night, but perhaps a book to consider reading in helping to balance out the mis- and disinformation that is fed to us now.