The Terror Network

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The Terror Network (1981, ISBN 0030506611) by Claire Sterling is a book that claims that the USSR were the source of all international terrorism in the world.

Much of the information in the book is claimed by ex-members of the CIA to be black propaganda by the CIA itself:

“ When we looked through the book [The Terror Network], we found very clear episodes where CIA black propaganda—clandestine information that was designed under a covert action plan to be planted in European newspapers—were picked up and put in this book. A lot of it was made up. It was made up out of whole cloth. Melvin Goodman Head of Soviet affairs CIA [1] ”

However Michael Ledeen a friend of Claire Sterling and a major proponent of the theories in the book, denies this and says that almost all of the event were born out by the Stasi files.[2]

A 1981 special national intelligence estimate from the CIA had this to say about book:

“ The publication of The Terror Network by Claire Sterling and the selections in the press have created a great deal of interest inside and outside the Intelligence Community. Although well-written and extensively documented, amassing information in public sources, the book is uneven and the reliability of its sources varies widely. Significant portions are correct; others are incorrect or written without attending to important detail. Sterling's conclusion is that the Soviets are not coordinating worldwide terrorism from some central point, but that they are contributing to it in several ways.[3] ”

The book also dealt with the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John II, in which she blamed the Bulgarian secret service for ordering the attack, the so-called "Bulgarian Connection." During the confirmation hearings of Robert Gates, in 1991, it was charged, including by Melvin Goodman, that the CIA politicized a 1985 report on the attack. The report indicated that the Soviet GRU might have cooperated with the military intelligence from Bulgaria in carrying out the attack, but also stated that the Soviet Union had both incentives pro and con for attacking the Pope. The main authors of the report denied that the report was biased, and that the 1985 report was commissioned after new information had surfaced from a human source.[4] An internal review by the CIA found that Gates did not try to influence the report's conclusions, but did conclude that subordinates mangled the report in such a way to confirm to their superiors' preconceptions.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Power of Nightmares by Adam Curtis
  2. ^ National Review- The Power of Bad Television
  3. ^ Central Intelligence Agency. Special National Intelligence Estimate. Soviet Support for International Terrorism and Revolutionary Violence. SNIE 11/2-81. May 27, 1981.
  4. ^ "CIA analysts defend report", Washington Times, 1991-10-05. 
  5. ^ "In Rebuttal to Senate Panel, C.I.A. Nominee Seems Truthful but Incomplete", The New York Times. 
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