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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 15, 1982
PAGE 6
mittee Secretary in charge of Eastern Europe until 1967.
An account in
London's SUNDAY TIMES of November 14th gives an insight into the Andropov
character:
It was there in Budapest that the first indications came of his
complexity, his ability to dissimulate, and his cool, harsh
effectiveness in face of crisis. As resistance to Soviet domi
nation gradually developed during 1954 and 1955, the Ambassador
was everywhere, giving little jazz parties, entertaining groups
of Hungarian intellectuals, expressing quite a lot of sympathy
with their discontents...and giving the impression of liberal
flexibility which Hungarians now in exile..•still remember•..•
When the crunch came, however, he acted without hesitation. He
blandly reassured the Prime Minister, Imre Nagy, that there would
be no possible invasion, and by the time the government woke up,
the Soviet tanks were already in the city.
In 1967, Mr. Brezhnev asked Mr. Andropov to take charge of the KGB, the
Soviet Security Police. At the time of his takeover the KGB was in the
midst of a morale problem. His performance in putting the KGB back into
shape, according to the TIMES,
has been an almost miraculous balancing act. He has polished up
the KGB's gulag-dominated image both inside and outside the
Soviet Union. He has powerfully advanced the KGB's representa
tion and status within the Kremlin hierarchy.
Filling Brezhnev's Shoes
Despite his talents and proven characteristics of tough but shrewd leader
ship, Mr. Andropov has some pretty large shoes to fill. Leonid Brezhnev,
while failing to cure the U.S.S.R.'s endemic economic problems,
nevertheless presided over the emergence of the Soviet state as a genuine
superpower, rivaling the United States.
During the Brezhnev era, Soviet nuclear forces on land grew many times over
in power and sophistication. The Soviet Navy "learned to swim," becoming
an oceangoing fleet, not just a coastal defense force. Everywhere around
the world, Soviet power, backing so-called liberation forces, expanded at
the expense of declining Western interests.
Former President Richard Nixon had this to say concerning the late Soviet
leader. He was, said Mr. Nixon,
not a madman. He was a realist. If an opponent showed weakness,
Brezhnev would take every possible advantage, without scruple.
But, when met with firmness, he would compromise. He wanted the
world, but he did not want war. If his successor is convinced
that we have the strength and the will to resist Soviet aggres
sion, we can avoid both war and defea, without war.
Impact Upon Europe and America
What will Mr. Brezhnev's successor do with the greatly enhanced national
power at his disposal? How will he deal with his nation's weaknesses at
home and abroad?