The Guardian of Liberty - Nemzetőr, 1982 (5. évfolyam, 4-6. szám)

1982-07-01 / 4. szám

The Trick of Sham Disarmament T"1 he Kremlin’s „trick of sham disarma­­“ ment“ was condemned in a recent article in the Peking People’s Daily, organ of the Chinese Communist Party. It accused the Soviet authorities of „talking glibly“ about disarmament in an attempt to distract world attention from their continuing build­up of military strength. The article said: „One of the characteristics of sham disarmament is saying one thing and doing another or saying ,yes’ and meaning ,no’“. Since the Soviet Union proposed „overall and complete disarmament“ in the 1960s, it had presented more than 100 disarmament proposals and plans, including „empty talk“ of „refraining from resorting to force.“ The USSR did not intend to implement any to these proposals and plans, some of which were „tricks“ which avoided the important and dwelt on the trivial, such as „banning environmental warfare.“ The article continued: „It is precisely under the cover of talking glibly about ,disarmament’ that the Soviet Union is quickly and vigorously increasing its military strength. „As far as nuclear weapons are concerned, in 1963 the Soviet Union had less than 200 long­distance ballistic missiles. It now has 2,400 of these missiles, an 11-fold increase over 1963. While maintaining the superiority of the number of its strategic nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union is making great efforts to improve their quality . .. „While extensively developing its nuclear force, the Soviet Union has never slackened its efforts to develop conventional weapons, although it has superiority in this respect. A quarter of its 45,000 tanks and one-third of its 62,000 armoured carriers were produced four years after the convening of the first UN Special Session on Disarmament. „The Soviet Union has also greatly developed its navy and air force, ft has more military air­craft and produces more chemical weapons than any other country in the world. The production output of its conventional weapons is equal to the total production output of the United States and various West European countries. „The Sovie military expenditure in 1981 was eight times higher than in 1961. The Soviets’ purpose in talking glibly about disarmament is to use it as smokescreen to distract people’s attention from its real arms expansion.“ The article a'dded that in replying to criticism, Soviet leaders were ..concocting“ sOTcal'ed „ration­al'‘ arguments for their military build-up, saying that it was for „defence“ and „self-defence“. However, „when people see the Soviet super­sonic jet fighter planes making unbridled strafing runs over Afghanistan against guerillas who have armed themselves for self-defence, and when they hear that Soviet tanks are ruthlessly suppressing the Afghan people who dare to resist aggression on Afghan soil, how can they believe that the Soviet Union produces aircraft and tanks for ,defence’ and ,self-defence’? „In 1978, at the first Special Disarmament Session in the UN General Assembly, the Soviet Foreign Minister declared: ,We have never started any wars, nor will we start one now.’ However, soon afterwards, the Soviet Union sent its army to occupy Afghanistan and support Vietnam in invading Kampuchea. „One of the purposes of the Soviet Union’s glib talk about detente and disarmament is to cover up its true hegemonist face so as to deceive and benumb the people of the world. In particular, when its hegemonist policies suffer setbacks, in order to extricate itself from isolation and to stabilise its vested interests, the Soviet authori­ties usually use a ,peace offensive' to change their unfavourable passive positions. „In 1969, after being roundly condemned by the whole world for its invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia (in 1968), the Soviet Union put forward a so-called proposal for ,international security’ at the 24th session of the UN General Assembly. „Later, it again put forward a so-called proposal for ,not resorting to force and permamently pro­hibiting nuclear weapons in international relations’. After supporting the Vietnamese invasion of Laos and Kampuchea and sending troops to invade and occupy Afghanistan, it again put forward a so­­called proposal for ,certain measures for reducing the danger of war which demand immediate at­tention’ at the 36th session of the UN General Assembly.“ The article recalled Soviet generals’ remarks in the 1960s on the aim of achieving military superi­ority. It added: „When Soviet strategic weapons were still at an inferior stage, Soviet generals were still able to admit quite frankly the true Soviet intention of seeking supremacy in arma­ments. , „Today, when the Soviet Union is in a superior position in many aspects of nuclear weapons, it does not utter a single word about its intention of continually seeking supremacy. The policy of hegmonism has determined that it will certainly seek overall supremacy.“ However, the Soviet Union was .afraid that once it publicly admitted its real intention, i's ..true features of sham disarmament“ would be revealed. In March, the People’s Daily published an arti­cle on the longstanding „mystery“ of Soviet military spending. The article said: Military expenditures in fkr official Soviet budget amount to about 17,000 million roubles each year, without much variation. What people find mysterious is that since t'~e Soviet Union annually spends only this amount of money, several times less than the United States, how can it produce 300 per cent more strategic and tactical weapons than the United States and maintain an army of four million?“ The People’s Daily referred to a „specious, tricky and evasive“ commentary on Soviet military spending in the New Times, an official Moscow magazine. The Chinese article said: „It (New Times) demanded that people believe: Although Soviet strategic military strength is well-matched and has achieved ,parity’ with America’s military spending is actually ,much lower’ than in the United States, and has remained the same — 17,000 million roubles — for many years.“ Commenting on the Moscow magazine’s reference to the cost of paying Soviet troops, the Peking newspaper said that „even if the pay of Soviet servicemen is low, not much could be saved be­cause, as everybody knows, pocketing a portion of some soldiers’ pay would not suffice to pay for one ICBM“ (inter-continental ballistic missile). The People’s Daily noted the New Times’ refer­ence to Soviet soldiers’ pensions coming from social support funds rather than the military budget, and commented: „That is making a confes­sion without duress and testifies to one Soviet trick in concealing military spending.“ The Peking newspaper described as a „bare­faced lie“ the ,New Times’ claim that the USSR’s military spending was relatively low because its armed forces were „defensive“. It added: „Far back in the Khrushchev era, the Soviet Union threatened that it was going to build ,an ocean fleet capable of fulfilling offen­sive strategic tasks’. After Brezhnev came to power, the Soviet Union called still more for maintain­ing’ military preparations ,at the highest level of readiness’ to facilitate ,the launching of a broad and veritable general offensive’, ,backed up by military strength’. „These words, printed in black and white in the Soviet official Press, are in complete accord with the Soviet Union’s current offensive mili­tary posture. „Is it for ,defence’, and not for ,offence’, that the Soviet Union has deployed several hundred SS-20 missiles aimed at Western Europe? Is it for ,defence’ that the huge Soviet fleet cruises the world’s oceans and even infiltrates the territorial waters of other nations? „Does it cost nothing to keep an armv of several hundred thousand permanently stationed in Eastern Europe glaring at Western Euroo*. to have more than 100,000 trootis occupying Afghani­stan, and to have mercenary troops engaged in intervention and expansion everywhere in Asia and Africa?“ The People’s Daily ridiculed the Neva Times’ assertion that Soviet military spending was kept 'ow bv the USSR not having „bases“ outside its own territory. That, commented the Chinese paper, was „even more deceptive talk." It added: „There are Soviet bases’ from the Caribbean in the western hemi­sphere to the western Pacific in the eastern hemi­sphere.“ The People’s Daily concluded: „Soviet military spending is certainly not just 17,000 million rou­bles a year. Ample proof of this has been provided by the Soviet Union’s vast military strength and its economic difficulties." 3 (continued from page 2) order to achieve unjustified advantages in the future. „Concerning nuclear weapons, if the Soviet leaders really want to contribute to reducing arms levels, they should demonstrate this in negotiations today, not by promises for the future. A controlled elimination of the new, mobile SS-20 rockets would comprise a worthwile step in the direction of reducing armaments and contributing to détente in Europe.“ JULY-AUGUST, 1982 CUBAN AWARD President dos Santos of Angola has been given the Cuban Young Commu­nists’ highest award, the Flag of Honour

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