OCR Text |
Show Weekly gpecnaill ZZSjZr- U.S. intelligence agencies have no pipeline to the Kremlin Washington U.S. intelligence analysts ana-lysts are scrambling to figure out what effect the change in Soviet leadership will have on world peace, but they have been hampered by a lack of information about the Kremlin's activities. We have studied more than 50 secret documents assessing the Soviet leadership leader-ship and can report that U.S. intelligence agencies have no pipelines into the Politburo, no informants who can tell the analysts what is going on behind the grim, fortress-like walls of the Kremlin. America's best intelligence sources did not know whether Yuri Andropov was dead or alive during his last days. The United States simply gets no human intelligence from inside the Soviet power structure. But U.S. technological intelligence is the best in the world. The experts are able to intercept messages, break codes and photograph Soviet installations. They are even able to pick up some conversations inside the Kremlin. It was an intercepted message, in fact, which gave U.S. experts their first hint that Andropov was seriously ill. Our sources told us of his sickness last June and we reported that the CIA was betting that "Andropov will die within a year. That's how bad his health is." Those same sources now tell us that Andropov's successor, Konstantin Chernenko, is a master of Kremlin paper work but he will not be a dynamic leader. According to one top-secret analysis, Chernenko will be "responsible "respon-sible for seeing to it that Politburo decisions are carried out that is, as the top civil servant of the Politburo, but not as its master." Chernenko's specialty before he moved into the Kremlin was propa ganda and agitation, so he will probably continue the war of words with the United States. But he is a wary, cautious leader who is not likely to go beyond the brink. There is even a chance, says another top-secret document, that he may "get detente with the United States back on track." SUGGESTION BOX-The Reagan White House would like to slash funds for the poor, the handicapped and the elderly. We agree that government spending should be cut, but we have a better suggestion how to do it. The bureaucrats could save billions simply by eliminating waste. We have been keeping a watch on waste for many years and can tell you who throws away the most money. It is the military brass. The Pentagon could start saving money by cutting out the frills. The Army Corps of Engineers, for example, is spending millions of dollars to beautify a powerhouse. You might think that a powerhouse sitting on top of a dam would be a strictly functional piece of architecture. But the Army Engineers Engi-neers appear determined to make a Taj Mahal out of a powerhouse in Calhoun Falls, S.C. First, the Army Engineers hired a world-famous architect, Marcel Breuer, to prepare an "architectural concept" for the powerhouse. He set to work with his usual flair and added refinements that brought the estimated price tag for the structure up to $60 million. Some of the refinements promise to make the building look more like a Hyatt Hotel than an electric generating plant. The plans call for a curved promenade deck covered with glass panels, an overlook terrace, a circular ramp leading down to a fishing deck, and granite flooring blocks with a fish-scale pattern. The fancy flooring alone will cost about $776,000 more than plain old concrete paving blocks. The purpose of the frills, according to a Pentagon document, is "to attract visitors." So if you are ever in the neighborhood of Calhoun Falls, S.C, drop in for a look at the Taj Mahal of powerhouses. You paid for it. POLITICAL POTPOURRI-Some of our congressional sources are concerned concern-ed that the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corp. may become a political arm of the Reagan re-election campaign. Synfuels board member Howard Wilkins is the Midwest finance chairman for the campaign, and several other board members served on the 1980 Reagan transition team. Our sources are worried that companies seeking federal assistance in the search for alternative fuels may catch wind of the board's political leanings and make campaign contributions in hope of receiving favorable consideration. Presidential hopeful Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, has criticized Democratic Demo-cratic front-runner Walter Mondale for the support he has received from "special interests." The truth is that Glenn has some ties of his own to big business, labor unions and other well-heeled political power brokers. Glenn's financial disclosure reports reveal that he has received $305,000 from political action committees organized organ-ized by bankers, defense contractors, energy companies and labor unions., This is twice as much PAC money as has been taken in by any of the other candidates who are accepting such funds. Copyright, 1984, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. |