Basic HTML Version
able to cut a llied shipping lanes in
time ofwar; to isolatc America- sti ll
the "arsenal of democracy"- from
its all ies tn Europe and Asia. The
Soviets are building naval vessels
faster than they are training crews
to
man them. Meanwhilc, the U.S.
Navy is aging and understrength
Moreover, its ship-building budget
for fiscal 1979 was whacked m half!
This is not to say the Soviet
Union is invincible- ye t. The ease
with which a straying unarmed Ko–
rean airliner earlier this year was
able to unintentionally penetrate
the U.S S R.'s mos t heavily de–
fended strategic region- the Ko la
Península with the port of Mur–
ma nsk- shows the Soviets have
much to improve. But again, thc is–
sue is one of
momentum!
Attacklng Weakest Link First
The Soviets realize that the United
States and the free nations of Eu–
rope are presently too formidable to
be challenged dircctly. lnstcad, the
The PLAIN TRUTH August 1978
Kremlin is concentrating on critica!
areas of the world supportive of the
Western industrial socteties- the
Mtddle East. Afnca and Asta.
Thanks toa btl lton-dollar military
atrltft to Eth topia- the biggest such
exe rctse smce the Berlin airlift in
1948- the Soviets are now planted
firmly in the Hom of Africa. They
and their Cuban "Afrika Korps" are
presently helping the Ethiopians in
their renewed drive against Moslem
Eritrean rebels which hold Ethio–
pia·s Red Sea coastal strip.
Control of the contested area
would enable the Soviets to have
naval bases directly across the Red
Sea from Saudi Arabia and an omi–
nous monitoring capacity over the
tankers which carry that nation's
prec10us lifeblood of petroleum to
the industries of Western Europe
and the United States.
Since the Saudis have been help–
mg finance Somalia's fight against
Ethtopia as well as Entrea's strugglc
for independence, the Arab king-
M•chel Artault-Gamma
dom fears possible future punitive
actton by Ethiopia, with Cuban o r
Sovtet help. Fears of such actton
helped the Saudts obtain an o rder
for sixty advanced U.S. F-15 jets.
The respected Swtss datly
Neue
Zuercher Zelfung
reports that "there
are indications that the Angolan
and Ethiopian operations are learn–
mg expenences for future conflicts
in the Third World in which the
Soviet Umon could further its aims
by using seasoned Cuban troops. In
one ofhis speeches wherem he sought
to explain to his people why Cuban
soldiers should be sent to fight
abroad, [Fidel] Castro said that atthe
moment 'Africa was the weakest link
in the imperialist chain.' Experts pre–
dict that. after they have secured the
Horn of Africa. the next Soviet-Cu–
ban moves will be in sou thern Africa,
and possibly eastward into the con–
servative Arab-Iranian complex of
the OPEC cartel."
As if to gear up for this future
front, as many as 1,000 Russian, Cu-
5