Lesson Thirteen
Section One: News in Brief
Tapescript
1. A special committee of twelve senators today began the
impeachment trial of Federal J udge Harry Claiborne. It's the first
such proceeding in fifteen years. Claiborne is serving a jail sentence
for tax evasion.
2. President Reagan today continued his campaign for a drUg7free
America. He ordered mandatory testing for federal workers in sensi-
tive positions. And he also sent Congress a legislative package that
would increase federal anti-drug spending by nine hundred million
dollars, much of that on increased border patrols. The President said
the legislation is the federal government's way of just saying no to
drugs. "We're getting tough on drugs; we mean business. To those
who are thinking of using drugs, we say 'Stop.' And to those who
are pushing drugs, we say 'Beware.' " Mandatory drug testing for
some federal workers is the most controversial part of the President's
plan. It's been condemned by some employee groups.
3. One person was killed and more than fifty injured today in Paris
when a bomb exploded at the drivers' permit office at police head-
quarters. It was the fourth blast in seven days in the French capital.
Section Two: News in Detail
Tapescript
in Paris today, one person was killed and more than fifty were
injured when a bomb exploded at police headquarters. This is the
fourth attack on a crowded public target in a week. A police officer
was killed yesterday while removing a bomb from a restaurant on
the Avenue Champs Elysee. Minutes after that incident, Prime Min-
ister Jacques Chirac announced new security measures aimed at
curbing terrorist activities in, France. Melodie Walker reports from
Paris.
A group calling itself 'the Committee for Solidarity with Arab
and Middle-Eastern Prisoners' has claimed responsibility for the
current series of bombings in Paris, in addition to ten other attacks
in the French capital over the past year. The Committee has deliv-
ered messages to news agencies in Beirut threatening to continue its
bombing campaign in Paris until the French government agrees to
release three men jailed in France on charges of terrorism. One of the
convicted prisoners, George lbraham Abdullah, is believed to be the
leader of the Lebanese Army Faction suspected of killing a US mili-
tary attache in Paris in 1982. The French government has officially
declared it will not release tht prisoners. In response to the repeated
attacks in Paris, Prime Minister Chirac last night announced new
anti-terrorist measures: military patrols along the French boiders
will be increased and, beginning today, all foreigners will require a
visa to enter France. Citizens of European Common Market coun-
tries and Switzerland will be exempt from the visa requirement. But
Americans planning to visit France will need to apply for visas at the
nearest French consulate. For an initial period of fifteen days, how-
ever, emergency visas will be granted at French airports and other
border checkpoints. France has been plagued with terrorism at home
and abroad in recent years. In the past two weeks, three French
members of the United Nations peace keeping force in Lebanon
have been killed by remote-controlled bombs. Today, France,called
for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the
role and safety of the force. Seven French hostages in Beirut are also
a major concern for the Chirac government. Dominique Moazi, As-
sociate Director of the French Institute for International Relations,
says the bombings in Paris, the attacks on the UN troops, and the
hostage situation are all indirectly related.
'I think there is a global goal, which is looked after, and that is
to punish France for its involvement in Middle-Eastern affairs, ei-
ther Lebanon or the war between Iran and Iraq. And France is, at
the same time, more visible than any other European actors, in
Lebanon and in the Gulf.'
According to Moazi, the long French tradition of granting polit-
ical asylum has made France more open and accessible to terrorist
activities.
"In the past we have given, unfortunately, the impression, which
was maybe a reality, of being less resolute in our treatment of terror-
ist action than, for example, the Israelis. So that combination of visi-
bility, vulnerability, and lack of resolution has made us the ideal tar-
get of terrorists now.'
In a statement released today, President Francois Mitterand
said, ' The fight against terrorism is the business of the entire
nation.' But despite the govemment's determination to combat ter-
rorism, the question of how to do it remains unanswered. For Na-
tional Public Radio, this is Melodie Walker in Paris.
Section Three: Special Report
Tapescript
The United States Senate Intelligence Committee today released
a report calling for sweeping changes in US security policies and
counter-intelligence, its first unclassified assessment of recent spy
cases. The Committee says the damage done has cost billions of dol-
lars, threatening America's security,as never before. NPR's David
Malthus has the story.
The report states that the damage done from espionage and lax
security is worse than anyone in the government has yet acknow-
ledged publicly. It concludes that US military plans and capabilities
have been seriously compromised, intelligence operations gravely
impaired. US technological advantages have been overcome in some
areas because of spying. And diplomatic secrets were exposed to ad-
versaries. Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy is Vice-Chairman of
the Senate Intelligence Committee.
'The national security is many times threatened more by this
than by the buildup of Soviet arms, or the buildup of Soviet person-
nel, or breakthrough in weapon development."
The Committee report says foreign intelligence services have
penetrated some of the most vital parts of US defense, intelligence,
and foreign policy structures. The report cites a string of recent
cases, including the Walker-Whitworth spy ring, which gave the So-
viets the ability to decode at least a million military communications.
Despite some improvements by the Reagan Administration in securi-
ty and tough talk over the last two years, the report also concludes
that the administration has failed to follow through with enough
specific steps to tighten security, and that its counter-intelligence
programs have lacked the needed resources to be effective. Republi-
can Dave Durenberger of Minnesota, Chairman of the Intelligence
Committee, sums up the current situation this way:
'Too many secrets, too much access to secrets, too many spies,
too little accountability for securing our national secrets, and too lit-
tle effort given to combatting the very real threat which spies repre-
sent to our national security.'
Senator Durenberger said the Committee found some progress
has been made in toughening up security clearances for personnel,
and some additional resources have been devoted to countering
technical espionage, but he said much more needs to be done and he
described the current security system as one 'paralyzed by bureau-
cratic inertia.' The Committee makes ninety-five specific recom-
me,ndations, including greater emphasis on re-investigations of
cleared personnel, a streamlined classification system, more money
for counter-intelligence elements of the FBI, CIA and the military
services, and tighter controls on foreign diplomats from hostile coun-
tries. The report cites FBI assessments on how extensively the Sovi-
ets use, diplomatic cover to hide spying activity. There are
twenty-one hundred diplomats, UN officials, and trade representa-
tives from the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries living in the
United States. And according to the FBI, 30% of them are profes-
sional intelligence officers. The Committee report also says the Sovi-
et Union is effectively using United Nations organizations
worldwide to conduct spying operations. It says approximately eight
hundred Soviets work for UN agencies, three hundred of them in
New York, and one fourth of those are working for the KGB or the
Soviet military intelligence, the GRU. Next week, the Reagan Ad-
ministration is to deliver to. the Congress its, classified report on
counter-intelligence. I'm David Malthus in Washington. |