The Ted Kennedy / Jimmy Carter KGB connections

The late Reed Irvine, founder of Accuracy in Media, a few years ago labeled as "The Scandal of the Century" the revelation that Harry Hopkins, alter ego of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was a Soviet agent. In the interest of space and focus, this column will resist the temptation to speculate on what Senator Joseph McCarthy would have done with that information had it been known at the time of his post-World War 2 investigations of Communist infiltration in the U.S. government.

Actually, there is even more to the story of "a conspiracy so immense [to use one of McCarthy's terms]." When he uttered those words, he didn't know the half of it.

There is now evidence that in a later era, a former president and a sitting United States senator may have collaborated or attempted to collaborate with our Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union.

This writer was deeply disturbed when reading in Human Events of December 8, 2003, an article spotlighting treachery. The piece was authored by Herbert Romerstein — intelligence professional in both the executive and congressional branches of government. It was he who earlier — in his book The Venona Secrets — had found the "smoking gun" on Hopkins.

In the late 2003 article, Romerstein updated his intrepid investigation of betrayal and loose security in high places by citing a document from the Soviet archives. A KGB report to the Soviet hierarchy revealed that "In 1978, American Senator Edward Kennedy requested the assistance of the KGB to establish a relationship" between America's sworn enemy and a firm owned by former Senator John Tunney (D-Calif.).

A later KGB report to the Soviet bosses revealed that on March 5, 1980, Tunney met with the KGB in Moscow on behalf of Senator Kennedy. Tunney expressed Kennedy's opinion that "nonsense about the military threat and Soviet ambitions for military expansion in the Persian Gulf....was being fueled by [President Jimmy] Carter, [National Security Advisor Zbignew] Brzezinski, the Pentagon, and the military industrial complex."

At that time, Carter was running for re-election, and Kennedy was challenging him in the Democrat primaries. That the Massachusetts senator would in effect carry his campaign to the secret police of a hostile foreign power is a back-stabbing scandal of considerable magnitude.

It is relevant (though by no means exculpatory on Kennedy's part) to note that this was at a time when Carter himself, after spending three years dismissing "the inordinate fear of communism," had (temporarily, at least) come to his senses because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It seems Kennedy was sneaking behind the back of a sitting president and encouraging an enemy foreign power to undermine that president who — by the way — was of the senator's own political party.

Thus, there was no line drawn between domestic political opposition on the one hand, and sworn enemies of this country on the other. Kennedy undercutting Carter's foreign policy? That is somewhat ironic (more on that below).

The Kennedy/KGB caper is explored in considerable detail in the recently-released book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the fall of Communism.

Fast forward to 1983-84. At that time, President Ronald Reagan was pulling every back channel string to bring down the Soviet Union and avert a nuclear showdown. What the president apparently did not know was that Senator Kennedy was contacting the enemy to throw sand in the gears of America's foreign policy.

Authored by Paul Kengor, The Crusader informs us of more Soviet documents indicating the senator from Massachusetts again sent his friend John Tunney to Moscow to offer assistance in the Soviet propaganda war against America. Reagan had intended to deploy Pershing missiles in Western Europe (in an effort to encourage the Soviets to remove their intermediate range nuclear missiles from Eastern Europe). The Gipper's proposal to then Soviet dictator Yuri Andropov was direct: Remove your missiles from Eastern Europe and we will not deploy our missiles in Western Europe.

The international left would hear none of it, even though the Reagan "warmongering" proposal was rooted in offers made years earlier by President Carter and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Prompted by Soviet string-pullers, and aided by what some have called Moscow's "useful idiots," radicals from a-to-z staged massive demonstrations — as Kengor puts it — "extending from London to Bonn to New York." He might have added "and to Washington" where this reporter (then a correspondent for CBS Radio) covered a huge "nuclear freeze" rally at the west front of the Capitol building. Speakers included many of the useful mistaken (to use the kinder term) on Capitol Hill.

Kengor writes that "the most intriguing opposition to Reagan's nuclear policies has sat for decades in the Soviet archives." According to "a highly sensitive KGB document," KGB boss Victor Chebrikov wrote to Andropov, "On May 9-10 of this year [1983], Senator Edward Kennedy's close friend and confidant J. Tunney was in Moscow. The senator urged Tunney to convey [a] message through confidential contacts...to Andropov."

In order to advance the Kennedy/Soviet mutual interests (getting Reagan to back off from missile deployment and/or defeating Reagan's re-election bid), Kennedy suggested the Soviets — "should consider inviting the senator to Moscow for a personal meeting in July of this year," thereby arming "Soviet officials with explanations regarding problems of nuclear disarmament so they may be better prepared and more convincing during appearances in the USA."

Just to give the proposed meeting in Moscow a thin public-relations sheen of "bipartisanship," Kennedy had helpfully offered to bring along liberal Republican Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon. Kennedy and Hatfield had collaborated on a 1982 book urging a "nuclear freeze."

The KGB memo continued that "in order to influence Americans, it would be important to organize in August-September of this year, televised interviews with Y.V. Andropov in the USA. A direct appeal by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the American People will, without a doubt, attract a great deal of attention and interest in the country. The senator is convinced that this would receive maximum resonance in so far as television is the most effective method of mass media and information."

This part of the memo is also very instructive: "If the proposal is recognized as worthy, then Kennedy and his friends will bring about suitable steps to have representatives of the largest television companies in the USA contact Y.V. Andropov for an invitation to Moscow for the interview. Specifically, the president of the board of directors of ABC, Elton Raul [sic] and television columnists Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters would visit Moscow. The senator underlined the importance that this initiative should be seen as coming from the American side."

Reading this stuff and recalling all the siren songs on TV throughout the Cold War about how we would have "world peace" if we were just "reasonable" with the peace-loving Soviets, you have to wonder how many other secret — and possibly successful — offers like this were made over decades to aid and abet Moscow's butchers in their efforts to schmooze Americans.

Again from the KGB document: "Kennedy is very impressed with Y.V. Andropov and other Soviet leaders, who expressed their commitment to heal international affairs, and improve understandings between peoples."

Kengor opines, "If the memo is in fact an accurate account of what transpired, it constitutes a remarkable example of the lengths to which some on the political left, including a sitting U.S. senator, were willing to go to stop Ronald Reagan." Given that the only possibly more credible evidence would have to involve either a signed confession or an actual videotape of Kennedy giving instructions to Tunney and of Tunney talking to the KGB, it is reasonable to say the burden of proof is on Kennedy's back, not Kengor's or mine. The author of The Crusader adds "if the Kremlin never developed a formal axis with Kennedy, it at least sensed it had a blistering ally to assist its PR campaign against Ronald Reagan and his policies."

At different times, Jimmy Carter appears to have been on opposite ends of the Soviet propaganda effort. While it is true that, during his time in the White House, he had been undermined by Senator Kennedy, Carter — as an ex-president — later offered his own encouragement to the Soviets in their drive to rid the country of President Reagan.

In his 2002 book, Reagan's War, Peter Schweizer cites the diaries of longtime Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin (which have also been reviewed by this writer) to report the following: "Former president Jimmy Carter dropped by Soviet ambassador Dobrynin's residence on a day late in January 1984 to discuss the state of the world. Carter was concerned about Reagan's defense buildup, Dobrynin recalled. The former president went on to explain that Moscow and the world would be better off with someone else in the White House. Otherwise, 'there would not be a single agreement on arms control, especially on nuclear arms, as long as Reagan was in power.'"

Moscow derived encouragement from this and similar anti-Reagan whisperings in Soviet ears from then House Speaker Tip O'Neil and liberal Republican Senator Chuck Percy.

If they were called on the carpet for this (and no one has done that yet), these politicians would use the "working for world peace" defense. That excuse might work for a brainwashed college student. But for elected officials? Grownups? We are all familiar with the good intentions that pave the road to Hell.

On February 8 of this year, there appeared in the Washington Times, an op-ed by a retired CIA analyst. His byline was "John Smith" — a pseudonym (there are some pretty vengeful people in upper levels at the CIA). His article raises the question: "Why would a U.S. Senator, the brother of a beloved U.S. president, conspire with the Soviets against his own country?"

"Smith" goes on to note the Soviets and the KGB were "nothing if not thorough. Visitors to Moscow, especially important visitors, could count on total and constant surveillance, both audio and visual." That would include "meetings, private conversations, bedrooms, and even bathrooms. The Soviets were masters in using any information that was acquired to manipulate or even blackmail the victim."

The onetime CIA analyst goes on to add that "Mr. Tunney [later] said that he had indeed contacted the Soviets on behalf of several U.S. Senators — not just Mr. Kennedy. So, the question is, did some of the Democratic Party leadership offer to work with the Soviet KGB and against the United States on other fronts? How many [politicians] were compromised and later blackmailed? Lastly, if they were controlled by the Soviets, are they now 'influenced' by Russia? Inquiring minds want to know."

The bottom line, then, according to Smith, is that "if there is any shred of truth in these documented stories, the senator from Massachusetts, as well as other compromised politicians, should resign or be kicked out of the Senate and Congress."

Couldn't have said it better myself, except to add: If the Justice Department and the FBI were doing their jobs, they would investigate for possible prosecution on charges of treason. Kennedy got away with drowning a woman. This time, letting him "get away with it" would send an encouraging message to others who would cross the line from home-base political maneuvering to betrayal of one's country.

>>>>Jimmy Carter appears to have been on opposite ends of the Soviet propaganda effort. <<<<<

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1681380/posts
Jimmy Carter: The Untold Story

>>> On repeated occasions during his Presidency, according to numerous Soviet accounts, Carter encouraged Moscow to influence American politics for his benefit or for the detriment of his enemies. Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin recounts in his memoirs how, in the waning days of the 1980 campaign, the Carter White House dispatched Armand Hammer to the Soviet embassy. Explaining to the Soviet Ambassador that Carter was "clearly alarmed" at the prospect of losing to Reagan, Hammer asked for help: Could the Kremlin expand Jewish emigration to bolster Carter's standing in the polls? "Carter won't forget that service if he is elected," Hammer told Dobrynin.

According to Georgii Kornienko, first deputy foreign minister at the time, something similar took place in 1976, when Carter sent Averell Harriman to Moscow. Harriman sought to assure the Soviets that Carter would be "easier to deal with" than Ford, clearly inviting Moscow to do what it could through public diplomacy to help his campaign.

Even when he was out of office, Carter still tried bitterly to encourage Moscow to do damage to his enemies during an election. As Dobrynin recounts, in January 1984, the former president dropped by his residence for a private meeting. Carter was concerned about Reagan's defense build-up and went on to explain that Moscow would be better off with someone else in the White House. If Reagan won, he warned, "There would not be a single agreement on arms control, especially on nuclear arms, as long as Reagan remained in power."<<<<

More at link.

>>>It is relevant (though by no means exculpatory on Kennedy's part) to note that this was at a time when Carter himself, after spending three years dismissing "the inordinate fear of communism," had (temporarily, at least) come to his senses because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It seems Kennedy was sneaking behind the back of a sitting president and encouraging an enemy foreign power to undermine that president who — by the way — was of the senator's own political party.<<<

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1489385/posts
My Enemy's Enemy by George Crile

>>>It was only the beginning of the extraordinary maneuvers Wilson had to make to push this bill through a highly reluctant Congress. By then even his most reliable ally, John Murtha, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee, wanted to end the CIA program. Murtha was appalled at reports of the mujahideen's drug trafficking, but in the end he stood with Charlie, and his support guaranteed the bill's passage in the House. It was passed in the Senate that fall. The secret appropriation was hidden in the $298 billion Defense bill for fiscal year 1992. When it was presented for a vote, no one but the interested few noticed the $200 million earmarked for the Afghans.<<<

More at the thread.

These monies also found their way to Sheik Rahman, the coordinator of WTC'93

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