Monsignor Bela Varga ©

Monsignor Bela Varga

 

 

The first Radio Free Europe program to Hungary took place on August 4, 1950, when Monsignor Bela Varga, advised the listeners: 

 

To attempt no futile uprisings at this time. Pending the day of liberation, which will permit them to use their strength effectively, … the free world knows and feels that their own battle is their battle. It is no longer in different or neutral. It is wholeheartedly allied to us in this great crusade, which is being waged for world freedom.

 

1951 advertisement “A Plea to All Americans of All Faiths.” Short statements from each accompanied their photographs and the Freedom Gram:

Monsignor Bela Varga:

Having lived and fought against the Godless terror of the Communists
behind the Iron Curtain, I know how they use the weapons of hate
and lies and torture to gain control of the hearts and minds of men. Over Radio Free Europe, on which I am privileged to broadcast to my imprisoned countrymen, the spirit of hope and freedom is kept alive. Through the Crusade for Freedom all Americans can support the campaign of Truth against Communism,

The prevailing print media theme in the 1958 Crusade advertising was “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! Your dollars are needed to keep RADIO FREE EUROPE on the air.” One 1958 Crusade campaign newspaper and magazine advertisement contained the phrase, “Don’t Let Freedom be CUT OFF THE AIR”! This one showed a cable to a Radio Free Europe microphone being cut by a pair of pliers. The text read, in part, “Can you imagine it: A policeman’s wary eye following you wherever you go...your neighbor’s ear anxiously pressed to your door, listening for the slightest slip of your tongue...a loud speaker ‘serenading’ you all day with warnings, instructions, propaganda lies?” 

 “He Knows Freedom is Not Free! Do you?” read another advertisement, which showed a photograph of a man, identified as Bela Varga, with a tear drop under his left eye. Monsignor Bela Varga was previously identified as one religious leader, who was quoted in the Advertising Council’s 1952-1953 Crusade campaign.  The advertisement also had three small photographs that showed “broadcasting tubes wear out fast...help us buy more”, one of a technician in Munch with, “Your truth dollars pay the salaries of dozens of technicians like him,” and a third which showed antenna towers with, “Your dollar pays for one minute of broadcasting time.” The same photograph and similar text was used in the February 1958 issue of Readers Digest.

The Advertising Council sent out a master campaign kit in 1958 to “Crusaders all over the country” to help them understand how the Ad Council information could best be put to use. Bob Keim, Account Executive of the Advertising Council announced that the kits would achieve three results:

1. Familiarizes the public with the fact that this year’s campaign is underway, 

2. Explains the campaign’s purpose and nature, and 

3. Appeals for truth dollars in support of Radio Free Europe.13 

The kit detailed the mailing activities of the Advertising Council that resulted in more than “$5,000,000 in donated space and time”.

Newspaper: ads sent to 1,651 dailies and 4,500 weeklies Business papers: business ads were sent to 736 business papers

House magazines: mailed to 3,000 house magazines.
Radio: mailed to all radio stations, including two sets of spot announcements Television: five filmed commercials and written spot announcements to all program directors. 

 

Soft Diplomacy The Harlem Globetrotters Basketball Team and Nikita Khrushchev ©

 Harlem Globetrotters and Nikita Khrushchev

 

The 1959 Crusade for Freedom fund-raising campaign for Radio Free Europe in Ogden, Utah,

represented a true grass-roots rallying effort. The goal in Utah was $15,000. Hal Harmon,

a "Tripper" in 1954, was Crusade regional chairman of Utah, Montana and Idaho. For the third

year, C.D. Micholson of the Kennecot Copper Company, Salt Lake City was state chairman and

Sid Weese, Ogden-Utah Knitting Company, was the Weber County chairman.

 

The Ogden campaign featured a "Freedom bowling joust," newspaperboy door-to-door campaign, a White Elephant sale sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, a "Crusade for Freedom Ball," Truth Broadcast contest and a basketball exhibition game between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals on March 19, 1959, in the Ben Lomond high school gymnasium.

 

One of America's iconic sport-entertainers is the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was founded in 1926. Abe Sapperstein, whose parents were Polish immigrants, founded the team. Since 1926, the Harlem Globetrotters have played over 25,000 games in 120 countries and

perhaps 200 million spectators.

 

On February 18, 1959, the Ogden Standard-Examiner newspaper quoted Sid Weese as saying

“The Trotters have been turning them away everywhere and my advice is to get your tickets

early.” The newspaper proudly reported on that forty newspaperboys would be guests of the Crusade for Freedom at the basketball game because “of their fine work in making their quota in the Crusade drive.”

 

In the "Women's Section" of the newspaper on February 23, 1959, there was a full-page overview of how the "Crusade for Freedom campaign helps get the Truth behind the Iron Curtain" and "Pierce the Iron Curtain with the Truth" with Radio Free Europe broadcasts.

For the evening with the Harlem Globetrotters, six international vaudeville acts as "an added floor show," were part of the evening’s entertainment program

 

The Harlem Globetrotter also played nine sold-out games in Moscow in the summer

1959, as part of the US-Soviet cultural exchange program. Seven vaudeville acts were part of the

program, including bicyclist Kim Yohoi, who reportedly received louder applause than the

Globetrotters. The other acts included, “A Scottish mono cyclist who balanced cups and saucers, a German brother and sister act in which she twirls head down on her brother’s head, an Argentine youth doing flamenco dancing on roller skates, and a table tennis match.”173

 

Their opponents were the San Francisco Chinese Basketeers. Reportedly, the Globetrotters were

out walking on a sight-seeing tour of Moscow, when “a big Russian car whizzed by, quickly

stopped and out stepped Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev,” who shouted in English, “Ah,

basketball.” He shook hands with the Globetrotters and then chatted with the team for five

minutes, while posing for photographers. He was quoted as saying through a translator,

“Basketball is very interesting, very interesting.”

 

Prior to the opening game at Moscow's Lenin Central Stadium on July 6, 1959, they were again

greeted by Nikita Khrushchev. An estimated 135,000 spectators attended the games in Moscow.

The Globetrotters were paid the equivalent of $4,000 dollars in Rubles for each game. But they

had to spend the money in Moscow as it was illegal to export the money.

 

On the final night of the tour, the Globetrotters were guests of a sports dinner in the Sport Palace.

Vaselli Napastnikov, director of the Sports Palace, said, “Your team has done more to help

Russian-American relations than any other sports organization that has come to Moscow. We

invite you to return as soon as possible.” The Globetrotters were awarded the “Athletic Order of

Lenin Medal” for their tour.

 

Project "Troy: A Cold War Government-Academic Partnership ©

 Project Troy

 

            Project “Troy” began in October 1950 as a government-academic partnership in the early days of the Cold War.  As in most partnerships, there was disagreement as to how the partners perceived their roles:

 

The Government View was that:

 

Under this project, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology assembled 30 of the nation’s top scientists and other experts to explore all means—conventional and unconventional—for penetrating the Iron Curtain. The report endorses the large-scale expansion of radio facilities, already initiated, and calls for even further expansion along lines, which should facilitate further piercing the curtain by means, which will not interfere with other telecommunications channels (military).   

            

The Academic View was in contrast:

 

In 1950, as war raged in Korea and the U.S.S.R. tested its atomic bomb, the Soviets were jamming Voice of America (VOA) radio propaganda broadcasts. Undersecretary of State James Webb asked MIT President James Killian to assemble a team to solve the jamming problem.

 

Killian and Humanities and Social Studies Dean John Burchard assembled a diverse group (including professors from Harvard and other universities) to address not only the technical issues but also matters of political warfare: what the VOA should broadcast, to whom, and to what effect, once the jamming was circumvented … [P]roject Troy resulted in the establishment of a research center at MIT funded by the CIA … [P]roject Troy had not only led to a solution of the jamming problem, but also to the creation of an inter-disciplinary center where scholarly expertise would be applied to foreign policy issues.  

 

            A committee report entitled “Project Troy, Perforating the Iron Curtain,” dated February 1, 1951, was submitted to the US Secretary of State.  Chapter 1, Part II of that report, Communication into Shielded Areas, dealt with:

 

Means of communication for piercing the Iron Curtain, mentioning, besides radio and balloons, and other existing ways, the use of direct mail to send professional journals and industrial and commercial publications and questions “Impulsive emotional blockades of this kind of communication, such as the recent ban on shipments of The Iron Age”. It also mentions sending of objects, typical of American life, drugs, flashlights, fountain pens, small radio receivers, etc.  

 

Chapter III of the Troy Report dealt with the “urgent” use of balloons to send information over the iron curtain:

 

                        An area of a million square miles could be saturated with a billion 

propaganda sheets in a single balloon operation costing a few million dollars.... If the area of dispersal in such an operation were restricted to 30,000 square miles, which may be practicable, there would be a leaflet laid down, on the average, for each area of 30 by 30 feet. The dispersion of balloons in flight and the dispersion of leaflets in falling from altitude both lend themselves to saturation operations. 

 

The operational testing and production program should be undertaken now. It may cost about one million dollars.... In order to coordinate balloon use with other political warfare operations, organizational planning for the final operations should start now.... A stockpile sufficient for an actual operation should be created now, and the questions of size and type of stock should be reviewed periodically as the program develops. 

 

Code Name "Cobra" -- Book Extract ©

 Code Name Cobra (Book Extract)

In September 1984, Constantin Constantinescu, a code clerk of the Romanian embassy in Bonn, defected to the West. To establish his credentials, he presented a copy of a thirteen-page physical surveillance report that was written by Romanian intelligence service (CIE) officer Ion Constantin sometime between October and December 1983. Constantinescu indicated that he was able to “save” a copy of this report from destruction as he saw its significance, and there was a breakdown in the normal destruction process thus allowing him to retain it. A summary of the subsequent debriefing of Constantinescu about his knowledge of this surveillance report was made available to the RFE/RL Security Department.

Of extreme interest was the physical description of the wall of RFE/RL along the main street Oettingengtrasse and analysis of the working of the entrance and exit gates of RFE/RL. This report was not necessarily accurate in this regard. Nor was it regarding the location and use of the CCTV cameras on the building, thus leading one to the conclusion that the surveillance conducted at the front of the building was limited due to fear of detection.

The summary of the debriefing also mentioned that the surveillance report contained references to “certain offices on the first floor.” Presumably these “certain offices on the first floor” referred to the Romanian Service of RFE/RL.

Constantinescu said he believed that the headquarters in Bucharest “was collecting information on the radio station to carry out intimidating acts against the personnel in the station’s Romanian section.” And he did not believe that there was interest “in having the facility seriously damaged.”

Also of interest in the debriefing summary, was the mention of the headquarters group in Bucharest responsible for organizing “physical attacks on anti–Romanian personnel abroad” and the words “usually hires foreigners to carry out the operations themselves.” Constantinescu lacked other knowledge of contemplated action against RFE/RL other than the surveillance report and conversations with Ion Constantin. In other words, he had not seen any other telex information or other written reports on RFE/RL or on individual Romanian Service members of RFE/RL.

In December 1983, one or two days before leaving for temporary duty to Bucharest, Ion Constantin handed Constantinescu a package of material for destruction. Normally, the destruction of the material should have been carried out by both him and Constantin, but Constantin was in a hurry and left the material for Constantinescu to destroy. When Constantinescu saw the report on RFE/RL, he immediately realized the report’s importance and retained it. He did not see any other materials on the topic, whether cables or operational letters. He did not hear anyone besides Constantin discuss this topic at the Romanian missions in Cologne and Bonn.

Constantin’s thirteen-page report and sketch, which the defector brought out, was a physical surveillance report on the RFE/RL target. It described the

• traffic in the area,

• traffic signs and parking,

• the facility and wall surrounding it,

• the different entrances/gates,

• certain offices on the first floor,

• ‑the presence of certain security personnel, and other installations in the immediate vicinity.

Constantin concluded his report by noting that he had collected a number of different city plans, tour books, and postcards which covered the target and its immediate surroundings, which items he was to attach to the report in an appendix which would also contain twenty-four photos of the target and its immediate surroundings (the Hilton Hotel, Bavarian Bank, Isar River, etc.). Constantin stated in his report that he personally had walked through the entire area.

From discussions with Constantin, the defector learned about a group at CIE Headquarters, designated C-428, which deals with such “diversionary” acts as physical attacks on anti–Romanian personnel abroad. C-428 depended on CIE residencies abroad to collect information in support of its plans, but usually hired foreigners to carry out the operations themselves. Constantin had received instructions, presumably originally from C-428, to collect detailed information on the RFE/RL facility in Munich, referred to by the code name “Cobra.” Constantinescu recalled that Constantin remarked: “They want to place bombs at the Radio Station.”

Constantinescu learned that similar surveillance reports on the RFE/RL facility had also been submitted to C-428 by Constantin Ciobanu, the CIE resident, and Dan Mihoc, a CIE officer, both at the Romanian embassy in Bonn. In December 1983, while in Bucharest, Constantin was given two days of briefing by C-428 and was shown the reports from Ciobanu and Mihoc. Even though his own report had been evaluated “good,” Constantin was asked to obtain additional information of interest (Constantin did not elaborate on this) In 1984, Constantin made two more trips to Munich, where he asked one of his collaborators to help him in this project.

Constantinescu’s personal opinion was that the CIE was collecting information on the radio stations in order to carry out intimidating acts against the personnel in the stations’ Romanian Section. He did not believe, however, that the CIE was interested in having the facility seriously damaged.²⁶

In November 1984, the German government ordered the expulsion of the above-named “diplomats.” Media coverage was intense. For example, the German newspaper Die Welt’s detailed article on the expulsion contained this ominous reference to Dan Mihoc: “His superiors in Bucharest ordered Mihoc in January this year to buy a set of specialist medical works about poisons that could not be traced by autopsies and he sent the volumes to the Romanian capital.”²⁷

The Bavarian State Counterintelligence Agency’s 1984 Annual Report contained this remark:

When an intelligence officer of the Romanian Embassy in Bonn defected to the West in 1984 important information was obtained on the activities of the Romanian Intelligence Service on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. The defector presented evidence of the preparation and the actual carrying out of criminal activities with a political background by the Intelligence Service, represented by officers of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service CIE who had diplomatic status with the Romanian Embassy in Bonn.²⁸

CIA lClandestine Radio Broadcasts to Eastern Europe and Soviet Union: Success or Failure? ©

 

 

The CIA's Clandestine radio broadcasts were not only a tool, but also a strategic weapon in the United State's psychological and political warfare operations. They played a crucial role in the 'battle for men's minds' of those who found themselves in the borderlands in the immediate post–World War II years. In July 1956, NSC 5608 officially scaled backed the objectives of America’s covert operations: “U.S. policy should be directed toward the weakening and the eventual elimination of dominant Soviet power over these peoples, although the accomplishment of this goal in the near future cannot be expected. The more im- mediate criteria for judging the desirability of any particular measures would be their effectiveness in promoting and encouraging evolutionary change toward the weakening of Soviet controls and the attainment of national independence by the countries concerned”. 

 

Who listened to the clandestine broadcasts? There were no organized audience research mechanisms in the early Cold War to answer the question. One method the CIA used to measure the effectiveness of the clandestine radio broadcasts was to look at how the East Bloc regimes reacted to them. 

 

For example, at the 21^st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in January 1959 Politburo member and Minister of Culture Yekaterina Furtseva spoke about strengthening Marxist-Lenin ideology and Communist consciousness of the peoples of the USSR: “At the service of the organizers of the Cold War are all sorts of private committees, funds, and unions, and numerous radio stations with provocative names like Bajkal, Kavkaz (Caucasus), Nova Ukraina, Nasha Rossiya, Osvobodoshdenie (Radio Liberation), Svobodnaya Evropa (Radio Free Europe) and so forth.” The author of this information added, “The fact that Furtseva found it necessary to mention the ‘diversionary’ work of our black radios, thus publicizing them before the great masses of listeners and readers of her speech is proof of the significance the ruling clique of the USSR-CPSU attaches to the role of these radios in the overall Psychological War effort of the Free World against Communism.” 

 

In Washington on 15 September 1959, there was a meeting between Yuri Zhukov, Soviet Chairman of the State Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and George Allen, Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA). Zhukov began the meeting by telling Allen that the Voice of America's broadcasts were no longer jammed. He added, "This was an experiment—whether the Voice of America would cease pursuing the Cold War and be the real voice of America." They then spoke briefly about Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Zhukov said, "All these were established for the purpose of overthrowing Soviet power." Zhukov then again spoke about Radio Baikal and Radio Caucasus: Radio Baikal emanated from Okinawa and Radio Caucasus from a ship near Rhodes. Mr. Zhukov read some excerpts from Radio Caucasus broadcasts in the ensuing discussion. 

 

Mr. Allen noted that these stations were not under his control and said he was not certain that the United States had anything to do with these stations. He questioned whether any of them emanated from a ship near Rhodes, as the only ship of that kind was a USIA ship, which transmitted only VOA broadcasts.

During a KGB and East German Stasi intelligence officers meeting on 13 November 1969, KGB First Deputy S. K. Zvigun mentioned CIA-sponsored clandestine radio stations: “A particularly important role in the struggle against the Soviet Union is played by radio propaganda. In addition to legal radio stations like the BBC, RFE, and “Voice of America,” there are also illegal stations directly run by intelligence services like “Radio Baikal,” “Radio Caucasus,” “Free Russia,” and “Free Ukraine.” They broadcast daily for many hours the vilest slander in Russian and the different languages of the Soviet people. They exploit certain negative phenomena from Soviet life based on the central and local press. Also, they receive information from the émigré circles. It is difficult to rebuke this slanderous propaganda. Usually, the broadcasts are shrewdly embedded in music. Wavering people, youths in particular, are getting softened up by this, and individual people are led in the wrong direction.”   

   

There was no way of polling the listening audience in the respective counties. In some cases, the CIA's foreign intelligence operations, i.e., penetration of agents into the target countries, were also used to gather information about the audibility of these clandestine radio broadcasts. 

Did the radio broadcasts have the intended effect on the listeners? Did they make a difference? The questions go beyond the scope of this overview. The short answer is no. The detailed answers lie in further research on the effect on the indigenous listeners who remained behind the Iron Curtain, especially Communist Party apparatchiks. Researchers could use this overview as a stepping stone for further research and analysis in media studies and Cold War historiography. For example, the CIA has released millions of classified documents, but millions remain classified and closed to researchers. In many cases in Eastern Europe, inculpatory files were destroyed. In the case of the former East German Stasi files, for example, it will be years before the shredded documents are readable. 

 

Questions and Answers concerning Carlos and the bombing of Radio Free Europe in 1981©

1 / On 21 February 1981, a bomb exploded at Radio Free Europe. How do you learn the news? What are you doing at the time?

It was Saturday night, and I was at home, a few kilometers from RFE, when I heard a very loud explosion. At first, I thought it was a sonic boom, but that seemed unlikely for Munich at around 10 PM on a Saturday. Shortly after, one of my security staff at RFE called to inform me about the explosion. My security supervisor also phoned and then came to pick me up, driving me to RFE. On arrival, I had to identify myself to the Munich police, who had set up a cordon around the building, before they allowed me inside. When I saw all the broken windows and damage, my first thought was that it had been a gas explosion. The building had never been attacked before in over 30 years, and there had been no warning, so I did not suspect a bomb.

2 / What exactly happened? What were the material and human consequences of the attack?

Police later found the bomb was 15 kilograms of nitropenta, set off electronically. The building suffered about 4 million DM in damage, and part of the roof was blown away. Many RFE windows shattered, as did those in the nearby apartment complex. Four RFE employees were seriously injured, and four other people had minor injuries.

3 / What was the reaction of the employees? At the time, did you know who ordered the attack?

Employees and management reacted with disbelief, outrage, and fear. Some feared it could happen again. I did not know who was responsible, but I thought it could be the KGB or an Eastern European service.

4 / When did you learn the truth? What did you know about Carlos at the time? Were you surprised when you heard it was Carlos and his band?

I first learned that Carlos was behind the attack in the summer of 1990, when the chief prosecutor in Budapest issued a press release to the Hungarian news agency identifying Carlos as the attacker. A few days later, Hungarian state television broadcast a film showing Carlos and Weinrich in Budapest, meeting with Hungarian intelligence officers. In September 1990, a Czech magazine published an article claiming Carlos received one million dollars to bomb RFE and carry out attacks on RFE emigres in Paris and Cologne, Germany. These attacks involved book bombs concealed in the Khrushchev memoirs and mailed from Spain. 

In 1991, a former Stasi officer offered to provide a 50-page report about Carlos, which proved he was behind the attack.  The Stasi officer wanted 4,000DM for the copy. I negotiated the figure down to 1,500 DM and received the report, which included photographs and drawings of the RFE and the RFE transmitter sites in Germany. Included in the package was a copy of the plan used to bomb RFE, along with a drawing of the building showing the exact location from which the photographs were taken.

5 / Who prepared the attack, provided the weapons? The vehicles ?

Carlos and Weinrich planned and prepared the attack in Budapest. The Romanian intelligence service supplied explosives and weapons. ETA members stole the vehicles in France and drove them to Munich.

In Munich, Johannes Weinrich (code name Steve) from Revolutionary Cells; Bruno Breguet (code name Luca) from Swiss group Primea Linea; Jose Maria Larretxea (code name Schep) from ETA; and an unidentified woman (code name Secretary) from ETA, were present..

6 / What was the interest of Carlos in carrying out this attack? Was it a militant or purely financial act? Was Carlos paid for this attack?

Reportedly, Carlos was paid $1 million. Otherwise, he had no interest in Radio Free Europe out of ideological or political reasons. In November 1998, Prosecutor Dan Voinea stated that a Romanian bank account existed for Carlos and Kopp under the names Michael Mallios and Anna Louise Toto-Kramer. Later that month, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, he said Carlos received one million dollars for the attack. 

Voinea also announced that Carlos's Romanian contacts were former Securitate chief General Iulian Vlad, ex-foreign intelligence chief General Nicolae Plesita, and former Interior Minister Tudor Postelnicu. 

7 / Who was targeted? What represented Radio Free Europe for Ceaușescu?

RFE and its staff were targeted. Before the bombing, three prominent Romanian freelancers for RFE received book bombs—one in Cologne, two in Paris. In 1991, TV reported Carlos was invited to Ceaușescu's bedroom to listen to Radio Free Europe. Ceaușescu then allegedly asked Carlos to deal with RFE and the emigres.

8 / Did the attack proceed as planned?

Probably not. The actual bombing itself was successful as planned by Carlos and Weinrich, but the Romanians had expected more, perhaps destroying the capability to broadcast programs to Romania. According to Carlos's girlfriend/wife, Magdalena Kopp, after the bombing on 6 March 1981, Carlos flew to Bucharest, where Colonel Sergiu Nica and others of the Romanian intelligence service reluctantly toasted him with champagne for his performance, even though, according to their wishes, he was not successful. Nica was visibly upset, but Carlos did not seem to notice it.  Nica raised a glass of champagne and ironically toasted Carlos, “Usually I kill for money, but this time I kill for nothing. Narok!” (Cheers!)”  

9 / Why did Ceaușescu decide to use Carlos? What was the opinion of the Romanian authorities about Carlos and his group?

A top-secret summary report dated October 3, 1980, by Department III/II-8 of the Hungarian Interior Ministry, based on monitored phone calls between "Carlos the Jackal" in Budapest and his Romanian contact Sergiu Nica in Bucharest, identified RFE/RL Romanian Service employee Emil Georgescu, King-in-Exile Michael, Paul Goma, and other émigrés as Carlos's targets. The planned attack on Georgescu was to happen during an assault on the Romanian Section of RFE, after which the terrorists planned to seize secret documents. Georgescu was stabbed 28 times as he left his apartment for RFE. Although two minor French criminals committed the attack, there was no direct link to Carlos or his group.

In addition to the bombing of RFE headquarters, Carlos received the task of breaking into or destroying the monitoring station outside Munich in Schleissheim and obtaining “secret” documents that were stored there.

10 / Was Carlos in contact with government officials, relatives of Ceaușescu, or only with some people from the security services?

In 1992, the then-Czech Republic Minister of Interior, Jan Ruml, confirmed that a meeting had taken place between two Romanian Intelligence Officers and Carlos in  Prague in August 1979.  They had traveled with Romanian diplomatic passports in the names Andrej Nitescu and Ive Dobascu. Their real names were Sergiu Nica and Ion Deaconescu, respectively. Their goal was to request that Carlos kill former Romanian Intelligence General Ion Pacepa, who had defected to the West the previous year.

Sergiu Nica, for yet unexplained reasons, wrote a handwritten report in February 1990 detailing his contact with Carlos. He wrote: 

In 1978, when PACEPA betrayed us, I was working in Bucharest in military unit U.M 0620. I was in charge of the intelligence service and, among other duties, was personally focused on the action against the international terrorist “CARLOS.” Thanks to a foreign source (Arafat’s brother), I learned in 1979 that “Carlos” was living in socialist countries. "Carlos" was interested in contacting the Romanian authorities. In August 1979, I went to Prague with Lieutenant Colonel DEACONESCU, Ion, and had my first meeting with “Carlos” and his organization. In 1980, after General PLESITA, Nicolae took over leadership of the external service, he asked me to re-establish contact with "Carlos" to set up a meeting between them. Between 1981 and June 1982, General PLESITA, N. met “Carlos” and his group several times. With these meetings, he intended to:

·      have “Carlos” refrain from taking terrorist actions against Romania

·      support him in a certain way (meetings in Bucharest with his mother, as well as with terrorist elements active in South America), get “Carlos” to support us with the neutralization of the traitor PACEPA.

Nica died in August 1995.

Plesita died in September 2009

11 / When did you start investigating Carlos and keeping records and documents?

Only after the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe was I able to investigate the circumstances around the bombing of RFE and obtain documents and othe rinformation. I wrote letters to the General Prosecutors in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Romania – all of whom denied my request. I even traveled to Romania in 1992 to meet with intelligence officers there concerning not only the bombing of RFE but also other hostile acts against emigres associated with RFE.

12 / In your opinion, why has this case never been tried?

In March 2003, the trial of Johannes Weinrich for his role in the bombing of RFE/RL began in Berlin. Magdalena Kopp, called as a state witness refused to testify. However, in her various sworn statements to German prosecutors before the trial, she clearly identified Romanian intelligence involvement in the bombing of RFE/RL and confirmed that Carlos was praised in Bucharest after the bombing. She said she was tasked with going to Bucharest in January 1980 to establish relations between the Romanian “secret police” and Carlos. She added that the Group received weapons and explosives, part of which went to the ETA. Because of her apparent cooperation with the German Prosecutor's Office, her legal status changed from "suspect" to "witness" in the bombing of RFE/RL. The presiding judge decided not to continue the trial for the bombing, as Weinrich was already serving a life sentence. 

President Truman’s Campaign of Truth and the Crusade for Freedom ©

 Truman’s Campaign of Truth and the Crusade for Freedom

 

On April 20, 1950, President Truman spoke at a luncheon of the American Society of Newspaper Editors on American foreign policy. He called for a “campaign of truth” in the United States information programs:

 

The cause of freedom is being challenged throughout the world today by the forces of imperialistic communism. This is a struggle, above all else, for the minds of men. Propaganda is one of the most powerful weapons the Communists have in this struggle. Deceit, distortion and lies are systematically used by them as a matter of deliberate policy.

 

This propaganda can be overcome by the truth--plain, simple, unvarnished truth-presented by the newspapers, radio, newsreels, and other sources that the people trust. If the people are not told the truth, or if they do not have confidence in the accuracy and fairness of the press, they have no defense against falsehoods. But if they are given the true facts, these falsehoods become laughable instead of dangerous.

 

We must make ourselves known as we really are--not as Communist propaganda pictures us. We must pool our efforts with those of other free peoples in a sustained, intensified program to promote the cause of freedom against the propaganda of slavery. We must make ourselves heard round the world in a great campaign of truth. 

 

Crusade for Freedom Announcement

 

Also on April 26, 1950, DeWitt C. Poole announced that Retired General Clay accepted the position of Chairman of the Crusade for Freedom. In Clay’s name, an emotional statement of purpose of the Crusade was issued to the press, which, in part, read:

 

The soul of the world is sick, and the peoples of the world are looking to the United States for leadership and hope…They are looking to us for leadership in a great moral crusade—a crusade for freedom, friendship and faith throughout the earth…If we to prove equal to this desperate need, each U.S. citizen must feel a personal responsibility.  We cannot leave the job to government alone. 

 

We have suffered serious setbacks in the contest of ideas between our way of life and totalitarianism.  

 

It is with a great deal of humility that I have accepted responsibility as national chairman of this Crusade, for I am convinced that upon its success could very well depend the prevention of World War III. 

 

On the same day, the National Committee for a Free Europe sent a telegram, under the names of General Clay and Joseph Grew, NCFE Board Chairman, to President Truman advising him of the new Crusade for Freedom and it’s future plans:

 

In your speech of April 20, you urged private initiative in expressing the voice of freedom. The National Committee for a Free Europe was organized for this purpose, and particularly to help those who love freedom and, as a result, have been exiled to continue to fight for the restoration of freedom in their countries. We believe that the American people are ready for a crusade for freedom which will not only support the voices of those from behind the Iron Curtain who have lost freedom and home but will augment their voices with an overwhelming expression from free people in this country and everywhere of their faith and confidence that there will yet be a free world. 

 

We recognize the additional responsibility which has been thrust upon us by your challenging words, and we want to assure you that we are proceeding immediately with every resource at our disposal to organize in this country a crusade for freedom which will be a genuine expression of the will of the American people and which, through Radio Free Europe and other facilities, will be carried throughout the world. We have every confidence that the American people will join enthusiastically in this crusade to preserve their heritage, and thus respond fully and promptly to your expression of faith. 

 

President Truman responded with letters to General Clay and Joseph Grew:

 

Your telegram of April twenty-sixth, advising me that the National Committee for a Free Europe is launching a nationwide crusade for freedom, meets with my heartiest approval. I hope that all Americans will join with you in dedicating themselves to this critical struggle for men's minds. I am deeply gratified by your prompt response to my appeal of April twentieth, in which I emphasized the important role of private groups and organizations in this great endeavor.