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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1983)
Page 2 Portland Obaarvar, Octobar 5,1983 Flight 007 update : Truth slips out "Obscured by what will surely be claimed as legitimate national security matters, the U .S. govern ment possessed the capability to directly intercede during the en tire sweep o f events culminating in the annihilation o f Korean A ir Lines Right 007. Few facts con cerning that capability have been brought to public attention. "Based on the inform ation dis closed by the Reagan Administra tion during the last two weeks, it is clear that a m ajor effort has been undertaken to bewilder the American people concerning the capabilities o f U .S . A ir Force RC-133, and. more importantly, the National Security Agency.” These words are from a Denver Post article o f September 13th, 1983. written by Tom Bernard and T . Edward Eskelson, former U.S. A ir Force communications special ists who Hew on RC-133 missions based in Okinawa. This article, by men who should know, has not been picked up by the wire services or te levision networks. Ever since the U .S . government has admitted that an RC-133 was in the area o f the Korean airliner, it has attempted to downplay its role, saying the plane is little more than a "passive listening device" and was o ff the coast o f the U .S .S .R . "v er ifying compliance with arms control agreements.” President Reagan told the media that the RC-133 was back in Alaska an hour before Flight 007 was shot down. "A s former crew members on an RC-133, we find official statements concerning the extent o f its involve ment prioi to and following (he K A L shootdown incompatible with our experience," Bernard and Es kelson wrote. The RC-133 is only nominally an A ir Force plane. W hile its flight crew is Strategic Air Command, the electronics and com munications part o f the plane are under control o f A ir Force Security personnel. They, in turn, are under the operational control of the N a tional Security Agency (N S A ). “ It has been our experience," the two writers said, "th a t, on occa sion, NSA adjusts the orbits o f RC- 133» to that they «rill intentionally penetrate the airspace o f a target na tion. This is ordered for the purpose of bringing the target country's air defense systems into a state o f alert. This allows the N S A to analyze the potential flaws and weaknesses." W hile the RC-133 that flew in tandem with the K A L plane might have returned to Alaska before the plane was shot down, another re placed it. The authors say the planes are in the air in that strategic area 24 hours a day. " W e find the inference made by President Reagan that the Sakhalin-Kamchatka target area was abandoned by the RC-133 inter cept platform to be unbelievable and contrary to N S A policy." A key capability o f the RC-133, they pointed out, is its ability to in tercede. " T h e RC-133 has a super- advanced, ultra-secure communica tions system which is linked to the most sophisticated communications network in the world. This system, sometimes referred to as a ‘ back channel,* permits the instantaneous reporting o f tactical intelligence to the highest levels o f the U.S. government, including the Presi dent, from any location in the world. A message intended for the President is designated as a ‘critic’ and is required to be in the Presi dent's hands no more than 10 minutes after the actual time of transmission, for instance, from an RC-133 orbiting over the Sea of Japan." Bernard and Eskelson believe "th at the entire sweep o f events.. . was meticulously monitored and an alyzed instantaneously by U.S. in telligence," and that (lie ' ‘official U.S. version o f events is incomplete and misleading." They add, "There are serious questions in our minds as to not only what specific role did the capabilities o f the RC-133 play in the eventual shooting down of the K A I airliner, but also why these ca pabilities were never utilized in an attempt to head o ff the tragedy ." Aditional cracks in the U.S. gov ernment's story are slowly coming to light: Goucher joins • New evidence shows the K A I flight was closely coordinated with the movements o f a Ferret-D intelli gence satellite; that besides another RC-133 in the area there were two Orion naval planes, an A W A C S air craft, and the U .S . frigate Badger •T h e Soviets report the South Korean plane carried eleven elec tronics experts in addition to its normal 18-member crew. •A viatio n Heek 4 Space Tech- nology o f August 22nd, a week be fore the K A L flight, displayed a map o f the U .S .S .R . captioned: " U .S . Scrutinizing New Soviet Ra d a r." •British and Canadian papers have stated that the U.S. intelligence agencies have used similar airlines o f other nations for spying for years. •T h e former chairman o f Japan's joint chiefs o f staff said a Soviet pi lot would have found it extremely "d iffic u lt, almost impossible, to have identified the type o f aircraft or its emblem in the early morning darkness." He noted that 747s, as well ns U.S. and Japanese Orion P3-C air surveillance craft and laige aerial tankers flown by the U .S. Air Force, are equipped with the same anti-collision light, or strobe, that the Soviet pilot reported seeing Therefore it is reasonable to believe the Soviet pilot thought he was tracking a U .S. military plane •Ernest Volkm an, national a f fairs editor o f Defense Science magazine, said Korean airlines "regularly" make flights into Soviet airspace to carry out military recon naissance for the U .S. •T h e London Dotty Express said the fact that the KC-133 was in the area during the K A LS penetration of Soviet airspace, "means the A m erican plane was using the airliner as cover.” The Doily Express said RC- 133» fly from British territory as well as from the U.S. •The Son Erancisco Examiner re ported. "O n e U.S. official with close ties to (he military intelligence said that carriers owned by govern ments deemed friendly to the U.S lack Studies staff by Nathaniel Scoll Seasons change, the old pass away, what was is, and the new pro fessor is a lady. A t the end o f W inter Term , academic year 1982-83, the chair man o f Portland State University’s Black Studies Department, W illiam " B ill" Little, resigned after a lengthy dispute over departmental policy. Dr. Little retained his facul ty position and began a year o f sab batical leave effective Fall Term of this year. Dr. Darrell M illner, acting director of Black Studies in 1976-77, was named director effective Spring Term. 1983. With the shuffling o f departmental heads complete, professor Candice Coucher was hired to a tenured po sition. Goucher's areas of teaching will be Afro-A m erican History, African History, and Southern A f rican Workshop. Southern African Workshop, which begins in November, she said, will focus mostly on South Africa and give historical background on its "racism and political situation." P/ofessor Goucher did her under graduate work at U S C in San Diego, acquired her masters from Colum bia University in New York City, and is doind her P h .D . work at U C L A . Her Black Studies areas in clude African art and extensive ar chaeology field work in Nigeria, Ghana and other areas in West A f rica. Most recently, she taught Black Studies courses at U C L A . " M y special research interest is African technology— metal w ork in g ," she said. " I hope to have the opportunity to do some research in the transfer o f African skills— speci fically Black mending skills— to American technology." The European version of Black History— the distorted version—can best be corrected through archaeol ogy, Goucher said. "Archaeology serves as a corrective to history. It allows one to get at the experience of people," In addition, we need to see what the "o ra l tradition and ar- haeology tell us about the past." 'he has extensive training in the ield of archaeology. Married to a historian who ex cels to join her in November, pio- < are fitted in this country with cam eras and other devices for intelli gence collection." The newspaper quoted a "defense source" as a f firming that foreign-owned carriers "are filled with cameras and sensing devices at a handful o f U.S. bases" including Andrews A ir Force Base near Washington. •T h e pilot o f the K A L plane »a> a retired Arm y colonel, and highly experienced, perhaps the senior man in this line. Il was he who earlier this year flew South Korea's dictator on his visit to President Reagan. •T h e New York Times wrote on September 2, 1983, referring to U.S. intelligence experts. "These experts said that this week's incident came against the backdrop o f an aggies sive American effort to develop technical intelligence penetration of the Sea o f Okhotsk over more than 30 years and after more than a score o f such incidents, many of them re corded in considerable detail or re constructed by American or allied intelligence o fficials." •Congressmen George Crockett and John Conyers, Black Represen (atives from Michigan, abstained from the House vote condemning the shootdown. Crockett said, " I f Congressional investigations of our Central Intelligcne Agency have taught us anything it is that the C IA 's covert operations do not rule out the use o f civilian aircraft for re connaissance purposes, including the aircraft o f a surrogate nation like Soulh K orea." MRS. 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Put in natural gas hearing now and we'll gise you $150 cash if you replace ys«ir old electric w-atet heater with a new cneigy-efficient gas water heater A natural gas water heater can saw ys»i up to 25% on ys«it yearly w-atet heating costs So its like getting two cold remedies foe the price of one. h | Call Northwest Natural Gas today Cure the common cold in your home Call us today liw details ,«i how to switch to natural gas heating and get $l50cash for a new natural gas watet heater Candtoe Goucher wHI teach Afro-American Htotory, African History, and Southam Africa Workshop In Portland State University's Black Studtoa Department. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) fessor Goucher is " p ro u d " to be a part o f PSU's Black Studies Depart ment. She thinks " it is appropriate” to combine Afro-A m erican and A f rican studies under the direction of one departmental head, but the sees the need for an additional course— African art— a course the said she is well-qualified to teach. " I would like to see some African art courses taught at P S U ," the said. "T h e re are a lot o f resources in Portland for teaching African art. For example, there is the Paul Oe- bauer c ollectio n — a world renowned collection from Cameroon in West A fric a ." In addition to that, she mentioned the abundance o f sculp tu re -w o o d and metal— and the possibility o f masks, all easily acces sible for teaching and researching at the Art Museum. naan noonn R oof all types o Reasom All w ork Call 7-8 287-8474 4011 NE Union Ave. Ask for W illie Banks
