Moscow's Defensive Offensive

Nonstop attack against American "militarism "

At no time since the height of the cold war has the cult of brute force been professed so openly." An editorial in the New York Times?'The Washington Post? In fact, the statement appeared last week in Pravda, which went on to denounce America's "unprecedented militarism" and "claims to worldwide supremacy." Adopting the time-proven tactic that the best defense is a strong offense, the Soviet press, radio and television conducted a nonstop rhetorical counterattack against mounting criticism in the U.S., Western Europe and the Muslim world of the U.S.S.R.'s invasion and conquest of Afghanistan.

The main target of the Soviet propaganda campaign was "J. Carter" who, Pravda said, has stirred up "a militaristic chauvinistic psychosis in the U.S.," with the assistance of his principal henchman, Zbigniew Brzezinski. According to Moscow's Literary Gazette, the President's National Security Adviser is a "most dejected conservative" whose "blind hatred for Russia is so great that its very existence offends him." These two villains were depicted as having long planned a return to the cold war and a policy of "brinksmanship." The Soviet press ticked off steps in the alleged Carter-Brzezinski plot: rejection of SALT II, stalling at the troop reduction talks in Vienna, modernization of NATO'S nuclear missile force, rapprochement with Peking, and, finally, rejection of the Soviets' "legitimate" interests in Afghanistan.

As a result of White House policy, "anti-Soviet hysteria is virtually raging in the U.S.," said Leonid Zamyatin, chief of the International Information Department of the Central Committee. Speaking on Soviet television last week, Zamyatin declared that America's "economic and political blackmail" of the U.S.S.R. stemmed from Carter's desperate bid for reelection. "In order to score points as a presidential candidate, Carter decided to distract American attention from domestic problems by creating international tensions," charged Zamyatin, who is one of President Leonid Brezhnev's chief foreign policy advisers.

The Soviet press has insistently argued that Moscow was obliged to send troops to rescue Afghanistan from "internal subversion" by American intelligence agents and "threats of major aggressive operations" by the U.S., Britain and China. Washington's offer of military aid to Pakistan provided fresh justification for the conquest of Kabul. The aid package, TASS claimed, was merely a U.S. ploy to provide the Afghan insurgents with arms, thus turning Afghanistan into a base against the U.S.S.R.

The Soviets have also launched a "peace offensive," aimed specifically at driving a wedge between the U.S. and its Western European allies. Last week Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Petar Mladenov called for a joint NATO-Warsaw Pact "conference on military detente and disarmament in Europe." If NATO's approval last December of a U.S. proposal to deploy new medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe could only be canceled, said the two Communist Foreign Ministers, then talks could begin on reducing a comparable Soviet missile force.

The Soviets were plainly shocked by resolutions of the 35-member Islamic conference in Islamabad. TASS denounced the declaration calling for removal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan as "gross interference in the internal affairs" of that country. Casting about for an explanation of this massive Muslim repudiation of Soviet policies, TASS declared that the vote was the result of "arm twisting" by the U.S., which was seeking to" distract attention from the "threat posed by the forces of imperialism and Zionism."

Ordinary Soviet, citizens appeared to be bewildered by the censure and the sanctions being heaped upon their country, reported TIME Moscow Bureau Chief Bruce Nelan last week. Many expressed a deep fear of war. A characteristic comment was: "Carter is going too far." Scientists, artists and other intellectuals who treasure their links to the West, as well as the limited freedom detente has brought them, feared that the iron fist would fall on them as a result of a renewed cold war. The most openly expressed emotion was anger at the U.S. threat to withdraw from the Olympics. The Soviets appeared to take personal offense at what they perceived as a blow to their country's pride. One topic was not discussed: the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan. The fact that Soviet soldiers are fighting and dying in Southwest Asia has become known only through foreign radio broadcasts. There may be widespread worry about casualties, but if so it is expressed in silence.

As for the Western protests over the internal exile of Nobel Peace Prizewinner Andrei Sakharov, the Literary Gazette responded by blaming the famed dissident's downfall on the West. Addressing Sakharov's supporters, the paper said: "By gratifying his inordinate vanity, you yourselves pushed him into the abyss of lies and slander into which he has fallen."

The Literary Gazette charged that Sakharov had "actively opposed detente and the peace efforts of the Soviet government." Despite hints that he might be tried for treason by continuing to speak out against official policy, Sakharov would not be silenced. In a written statement sent from his new home of exile in Gorky, he charged that the Kremlin had "launched a broad demagogic campaign aiming to strengthen its military superiority" in the world. The culmination of this dangerous Soviet policy, said Sakharov, was the "invasion of Afghanistan, where Soviet soldiers are waging merciless war" against the people of Afghanistan.

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