Blowback in Russia?
P. Schultz
December 31, 2013
Below is an
article from today’s NY Times entitled “Bomb Attacks Echo Threats by Chechen
Insurgent.” And it made me think of something I had recently read in a book
entitled Ghost Wars: The Secret History
of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September
10, 2001, by Steve Coll. Here are some of the relevant passages.
“Drawing on
his experiences running dissident Polish exiles as agents behind Nazi lines,
[William] Casey [head of the CIA under Reagan] decided to revive the CIA’s
propaganda proposals targeting Central Asia. . . .As [Mohammed] Yousaf recalled
it, Casey said that there was a large Muslim population across the Amu Darya [River]
that could be stirred to action and could ‘do a lot of damage to the Soviet
Union.’ The CIA director talked about the propaganda efforts but went further. Casey
said, according to Yousaf, ‘We should take the books and try to raise the local
population against them, and you can also think of sending arms and ammunition
if possible.’ . . .Robert Gates, Casey’s executive assistant and later CIA
director, has confirmed that Afghan rebels ‘began cross-border operations in
the Soviet Union itself’ during the spring of 1985. These operations included
‘raising cain on the Soviet side of the border.’ The attacks too place,
according to Gates, ‘with Casey’s encouragement.’” [p. 104]
The CIA, of
course, has denied these assertions but as Coll says, “Gates’ account appears
unambiguous, and Yousaf’s recollections are precise. It would hardly be unusual
for Casey to pursue covert action outside the boundaries of presidential
findings. . . .And as Gates reflected later, referring more generally to his
sense of mission, Casey had not come to the CIA ‘with the purpose of making it
better, managing it more effectively, reforming it, or improving the quality of
intelligence. . . . Bill Casey came to the CIA primarily to wage war against
the Soviet Union.’” [p. 105]
So,
perhaps, the current terrorism has it roots at least partially in Bill Casey’s
war against the Soviet Union. Of course, the Soviet Union is gone but Russia
remains, as do some Muslims who are still willing and able to make war against
Russia. And perhaps the “rewards” of Casey’s belligerence will be felt at the
Olympics in Sochi. But then when you are willing “to play hardball,” these are
the kinds of repercussions you should expect. They are the price of making war
covertly or, as some might say, of encouraging terrorists to do your bidding.
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