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Sun Tzu
All warfare is based primarily on the deception of an enemy. Fighting on a battlefield is the most primitive way of making war. There is no art higher than to destroy your enemy without a fight—by SUBVERTING anything of value in the enemy’s country.
Chinese philosopher
500 B.C.
We rarely use guns to kill people and take their country. The cleanest way is to blackmail, pervert, bribe, lie and intimidate the POLITICIANS and the MEDIA, and they will destabilize and disunify their own country for us. Then all we have left to do is to arm the procommunist or simply criminal factions and we have a coup and another "liberated" country. As neat as that.Yuri Bezmenov
former agent of APN-KGB
What war rages between 1945 and ... now? Ah, only a third of mankind was conquered! No war at all. Just peaceful liberation.Lev Navrozov
Soviet dissident writer
Psychological warfare, a form of 'covert' action which breaks down the opposite side's home defenses without a shot being fired, is waged by Soviet Communism throughout the communication media of other countries.John Rees
Accuracy in Media, Washington
Whether a journalist, politician or a businessman is in fact on a payroll of the KGB or not, whether he helps to spread Communism willingly, by ignorance or for a profit, whether he is caught and punished or at large and happy - is absolutely immaterial for the cause of SUBVERSION. What matters is the final vector of History, the sum of our individual actions, decisions, statements, our compromise with our consciousness. This is where every one of us is accountable to the future and God.Alex Kosachov
Russian emigree poet
LETTER
TO
AMERICA
BY TOMAS D. SCHUMAN
ALMANAC PANORAMA
Los Angeles 1984
Dear Americans,
My name is Tomas David Schuman. I am what you may call a "defector" from the USSR, and I have a message for you: I love you very much. I love all of you-- liberals and conservatives, "decadent capitalists" and "oppressed masses," blacks and whites and browns and yellows, rednecks and intellectuals. For me you are the people who created a unique nation, country and society in the history of mankind,-- by no means a perfect one, but, let's face it-- the most free, affluent and just in today's world.
I am not alone in this love. People all over the Earth, whether they praise America or bitterly criticize her, look upon you as the only hope for mankind's survival and the last stronghold of freedom. Some may not think in these idealistic terms, but they certainly enjoy the fruits of your civilization, often forgetting to be grateful for them. Millions of people in the so-called "socialist camp" or in the "Third World" literally owe their lives to America.
As a war-time child, I survived partly thanks to such "decadent capitalist'" (as the Soviets say) things as "Spam" meat, condensed milk and egg powder that were supplied to my country by the USA through the lend-lease program of World War II. In the Soviet Union we secretly but proudly called ourselves "the Spam generation." Too prosaic? Who cares about "Spam" in today's USA, apart from "underprivileged" welfare recipients? Well, for me these foods are not merely the nostalgic delight of my troubled childhood, but rather, a symbol of love from a friend when I was in need. No amount of communist propaganda against America has ever been able to convince me that the United States out to "colonize and exploit." I will tell you-- many people have been more than willing to be "exploited" the American way. For what other reason have thousands risked their lives, gone to unimaginable troubles, left behind their families, their motherland and traditional ways of life to come to America? Have you ever heard of "illegal aliens" risking their lives crossing the border at midnight into Socialist USSR? Or the "boat people" swimming oceans and drowning by the thousands just to reach the shores of Communist China? Or defectors like me, leaving behind relative affluence and risking bullets in the back in order to join the "progressive workers paradise" in Russia? No, we all come here to America, obviously willing to be "exploited by capitalists" and enjoy "oppression" together with you. Because we believe and KNOW-- America IS A BETTER place.
I am writing this not to please you with words you want to hear.
The rest of my message may be more unpleasant to you than even Communist propaganda, or more offensive than the speeches of "leaders" in Kremlin. But as a true friend of America, I want to help.
My dear friends, I think you are in big trouble. Whether you believe it or not, YOU ARE AT WAR. And you may lose this war very soon, together with all your affluence and freedoms, unless you start defending yourselves. I hope you have noticed on your color televisions that there is in fact war going on right now all over this planet. This war has many faces, but it's all the same-- it's war. Some call it "national liberation," some title it "class struggle" or "political terrorism." Others call it "anticolonialism" or "struggle for majority rule." Some even come up with such fancy names as "war of patriotic forces" or "peace movement." I call it World Communist Aggression.
I know what I am talking about, because I was on the side of the aggressor before I decided to take YOUR side. I do not believe-- I KNOW that in this war no one is being "liberated, decolonised or made equal," as Soviet doctrine proclaims. You may notice, if you give yourselves the trouble to observe, that the only "equality" and "liberation" this war produces is the equality of death and the "liberation" from freedom. Look at Russia, Poland, Hungary, Afghanistan-- would you say the people of those countries celebrated and rejoiced when the Soviets brought them equality and liberation? Of course not. We must take a clear and honest look at what Soviet "liberation" actually means.
This war of Communist World Aggression is not fought against some mythological "capitalists" as Communist propaganda claims. No, my dear friends, this war is fought against YOU-- personally.
Communist wars of world aggression are not fought for liberty and equality. We have thousands of unequivocal examples of the horrendous human suffering, torture and mass death that occur after a Soviet "liberation." The final stage of Communist aggression-- military confrontation-- has very little to do with rivalry for territorial or geopolitical gains in order to free and liberate. Communist world aggression is a total war against humanity and human civilization. In Communist propaganda terms, this is "the final struggle for the victory of Communism."
The driving force of this war has very little to do with natural aspirations of people for better lives and greater freedoms. If at all, these aspirations are being used and taken advantage of by the manipulators and progenitors of the war. The real driving force of this war of aggression is IDEOLOGY-- something you cannot eat, wear or store for a "rainy day." An integral part of this war of ideology is IDEOLOGICAL SUBVERSION-- the process of changing the perception of reality in the minds of millions of peoples all over the world. The late comrade Andropov, the former head of the Soviet KGB, called this war of Communist aggression, "the final struggle for the MINDS and hearts of the people."
The reason that I am so certain of the real goal of Communist aggression is that I was actually a part and an unwilling instrument of Soviet subversion tactics. Having been trained and used by the KGB for their global ideological subversion campaign, I have some first¬hand knowledge about the people behind this war and the methods they use. I know very well the way the Communists, whom the Western media call "freedom fighters" and "rebels," operate. I know their mentality and their methods, I know their ultimate goals, which are very far from the liberty, equality and freedom they verbally espouse. Because I have seen the tragic consequences of this war of ideological subversion, I would like to offer some suggestions as to how we in the United States can DEFEND ourselves against this deadly war and how we can SURVIVE in this "final struggle for minds and hearts."
"What's in it for Tomas Schuman," you may ask. Well, I've asked myself. What do I get for defecting from the winning side (the Soviets)... and joining the losers? (I hope I don't have to tell you, that at least a dozen countries have succumbed to the Communists since my defection.) In reality, dear friends, I have gained nothing materially from my defection. What I have gained is a firm commitment to the United States as the last real frontier of freedom. This is it, dear Americans, your country (and mine now) will be the last to be "liberated" by Marxists, socialists, and domestic "do-gooders." If the "liberationists" succeed in bringing their "New Order" to America, chances are you and I will meet in front of a firing squad-- or worse in a "re-education" forced labor camp in the Alaskan Peoples Democratic Republic.
You have too many concrete examples of what Communist "liberation" has done for other countries to believe that I am wrong when I warn you that we are on the brink of disaster. From one that has lived, worked and seen first-hand the realities of day to day life in a communist/ socialist state-- you must wake up now and start defending the rights and freedoms you now have. No matter how many problems you think the U.S. may have, believe me when I say that they are nothing in comparison to the troubles you will experience if the U.S. continues to agree and sympathize with communist/ socialist doctrines.
I have made my choice to be with YOU, the nation I love. I have risked my life like many others, to tell you of my life and experiences within a Communist state. You have nothing to risk by listening to me and making up your mind as to whether I am a "cold war paranoiac," as your media calls me, or whether my message makes sense. The choice is yours.
I was born in Moscow in 1939 under the name of Yuri Bezmenov.
My father was an officer of the Soviet Army General Staff. As inspector of the Land Forces, he was stationed in "fraternal countries" such as Mongolia, Cuba and East Germany. Were he alive today, he would most likely be checking the status of Soviet troops in Angola, Ethiopia, Yemen, Syria, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua and the ever-growing number of other "liberated" countries of the world.
I was brought up under the shadow of comrade Stalin, to the echo of the World War II. As a loyal and patriotically-minded young Communist, I loved my country, good or bad. However, unlike certain Western intellectuals and liberals, I did not require half a century to realize that the "leaders" of my country are self-imposed dictators-- mass murderers, and that the ideology of Marxism-Leninism is an absolutely false system that produces none of the advantages or benefits of the "worker's paradise" that it promises. It was a simple matter for me to compare the Soviet propaganda claims given to all Russian citizens of glorious "socialist achievements" with the surrounding realities-- early morning bread lines, because we had so little to eat; the frequents arrests of "enemies of the people" and the omnipresent fear of the KGB.
Because of my war-time childhood spent in the Asian section of the USSR, I developed an early affection for the oriental way of life and at the age of 17 after graduating from elementary school, I entered the Institute of Oriental Languages, an affiliate of Moscow State University. The Institute was actually under the direct control of KGB and Communist Central Committee-- an elitist nest for future Soviet diplomats, foreign correspondents and spies. At the Institute, while studying several foreign language and mass media, I was required to also take compulsory military training. During training, we students were taught how to play "strategic war games" using the maps of foreign countries. Civil Defense and anti-nuclear training were also essential parts of our education. In addition, we took "interrogation classes" which were designed to teach us how to interrogate prisoners of war. In particular, we were instructed to interrogate prisoners as to their reaction to a Soviet nuclear strike aimed at their country-- it was for me a bizarre experience. Upon graduating, I was sent to India as a translator for the Soviet Economic Aid Group which was building oil refineries in two Indian states. Here, during my first foreign assignment, I realized the great discrepancy between my country's proclaimed goals of "selfless fraternal cooperation" and the actual ruthless exploitation of India by Soviet neo-colonialists. As an example of this exploitation, the Soviets, in purchasing Indian manufactured goods, would pay the Indians only in rubles.
Unfortunately, rubles are non-convertible currency on the international market, meaning that the Indian manufacturer would be unable to purchase anything on the international market with his Soviet rubles. On the other hand, the Soviets would take the Indian manufactured goods and sell them at a substantial profit on the international market for "hard currency" such as dollars or pounds which are easily negotiable. So basically, the Indian manufacturer received only a fraction of the actual worth of his product, while the Soviets reaped the rewards of their duplicity.Is it that the Indians are stupid, ignorant people, that they allow the Soviets to deceive them in this manner? On the contrary for the most part, they are innocent victims of one of the world's most sophisticated eon games Ideological Subversion. They have been psychologically manipulated through media, politics, etc. into believing that the Soviets are their friends who are protecting them from the "Western imperialists." This same subversion game is being played all over the world-- even in America, KGB influence in our media, politics and nearly every phase of our life has produced a growing conviction on the part of many Americans that we are the "bad guys"-- again I have to remind you that to date, there has never been a single defection from the United States. The Soviets have produced an absolutely ludicrous global lie that people are believing-- why? Because the tactics of ideological subversion work.
Even after witnessing the ruthless tactics used by my country I still naively hoped that things would turn out for the better eventually. After all, I was a product of the post-Stalin era of "thaw" and liberalization started by Khrushchev. I believed in "Socialism with a human face." That faith was shattered irreparably only five years later, when I witnessed the brutal Soviet military intervention into "fraternal" Czechoslovakia in 1968.
After completing my first assignment in India, in 1965 I was recalled to Moscow and immediately joined the "Novosti Press Agency (Novosti means "news" in Russian)-- the biggest and most powerful propaganda, espionage and ideological front of the KGB. I was employed by Novosti as an apprentice for their classified department of 'Political Publications' (GRPP) under comrade Norman Borodin. After working a short time I discovered that about 75% of the Novosti's staffers were actually KGB officers; the other 25%, were "co-optees," or KGB freelance writers / P.R. officers / informers like myself. The other interesting fact I discovered was that there was no "news" at Novosti. My main job, apart from writing, editing and translating propaganda materials to be planted in foreign media, was accompanying delegations of Novosti's guests-- journalists, editors, publishers, writers, politicians and businessmen from foreign countries on tours of the USSR or to international conferences held in the Soviet Union. In actuality, as a freelance journalist, I did absolutely no writing or news coverage at all. After several months I was formally recruited by the KGB as an informer, while still maintaining my position as a Novosti journalist. My work with the KGB entailed combining my journalistic duties with the collection of intelligence data, and the spreading of "disinformation" to foreign countries for the purposes of Soviet propaganda and subversion. It was only a matter of time before the KGB realized that my personal friendships with guests of Novosti Press Agency could also be utilized for their operations.
Why did I allow myself to be recruited? There really is no simple answer. For one thing, a Soviet journalist cannot simply say "no" to the KGB. If he wants to remain alive, free, pursue his career and travel abroad, he simply must cooperate with the KGB, or suffer the consequences.
Secondly, apart from monetary and material gains, a Soviet journalist co-opted (hired) by the KGB has a rare chance to become IMPORTANT in his own country, and in 1965, the USSR was still my country. Many of my colleagues, both cynicists and true patriots, joined the KGB, naively believing that they could promote themselves to the higher positions of power, while maintaining their secretly kept moral principles and disguising their actual disgust of the system. By the time most of them realized that 'power corrupts' and that allegiance with the Soviet Communist power corrupts absolutely-- it was too late. The majority of my former colleagues are now firmly entrenched in the 'privileged class' and their humanistic ideals have all been traded one by one for small comforts such as a private car (a rare thing in the USSR), a free apartment, a country house ("dacha "), free trips abroad and freedom to socialize with foreigners, none of which would he possible or available to the average Russian worker.
So despite my early dislike of the Soviet Communist system, I joined the KGB, hoping in some way to 'outsmart them,' to play the game until I could see more clearly how to proceed. My rapid promotion followed. I was once again assigned to India, this time as a USSR press-officer and a 'P.R.' agent for the KGB. Because of my knowledge of India and her languages-- Hindi and Urdu, I became deeply involved in the KGB operations in India. I was directed by my superiors to slowly but surely establish the Soviet 'sphere of influence' in India.
In addition to the bribery and corruption of Indian officials, blackmail and intrusion into the internal affairs of India, the Soviets went one step further in their 'brotherly assistance' to India. In 1969 by a secret directive of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union), all embassies of the USSR all over the world, including India, opened a new secret department innocently titled "Research and Counter-Propaganda Group." I became a deputy chief of that department, working under a KGB officer, comrade Valeri Neyev.
It did not take me long to discover that our group was engaged in neither “research” nor “counter-propaganda”: behind locked doors we accumulated intelligence from various sources, including Indian informers and agents, regarding virtually EVERY important and politically significant citizen of India-- members of Parliament, civil servicemen, military and public figures, media people, businessmen, university professors, radical or otherwise students and writers-- in other words EVERYONE instrumental in shaping the PUBLIC OPINION and policies of the nation. Those who were “friendly” and ready to invite the Soviet expansionist policy into their own country were promoted to higher positions of power, affluence and prestige through various operations by KGB-Novosti. Large groups of the so-called “progressive and sober-thinking” Indians were on a regular basis, generously supplied with duty-free booze from the embassy stocks. Soviet sympathizers were invited to the USSR for free trips and numerous “international conferences” where they not only received substantial sums of money in the form of “literary awards” or “Nehru Peace and Friendship” prizes, but were also medically treated for VD or hernias acquired in the perpetual “class struggle” against “American imperialism.” Those who refused to be “flexible” and take a voluntary role in this cruel farce were thoroughly character-assassinated in the sensation-hungry media and press.
Let me give you an example of how the KGB uses the information it collects. One day in 1968, I was routinely scanning through the backlog of USA Information Service releases and classified documentation, generously supplied to us by our Indian and American “friends.” In one of the dispatches I read that the South Vietnamese city of Hue had been captured by the Hanoi Communists. When it was re-captured by the US Army and allied forces, only two days later, the CIA discovered to their horror that several thousand Vietnamese-- teachers, priests, Buddhists, businessmen, and educated citizens-- everyone who was “pro-American,” had been rounded up by the invaders and IN ONE NIGHT, taken out of the city limits and executed collectively. Some were shot. Others, with their hands tied by electric wire, were found with their skulls crushed-in by shovels and iron bars. “How could they possibly have located all of these people within only a few hours in a large city?”-- the Americans wondered. I thought I knew the answer.
Long before the invasion there was an extensive network of Communist informers working under the guidance of the Soviet embassy in Hanoi-- that is under the KGB. The Communists filed every bit of information: addresses, personal habits, political affiliations, expressed ideas, unexpressed thoughts revealed in informal and private conversations, even the names and addresses of relatives, friends, even lovers and mistresses of the future victims of “liberation.” After reading the news release I was sick, physically, with the realization that the department I was working for in New Delhi was engaged in exactly the same activity that had been used in the city of Hue. I realized fully that I was a part of a heinous crime against our host country. Adding to my nausea, I discovered that some of our files contained data of a personal nature; intimate information such as “sexual preferences” e.g. homosexualism, of certain Indian VIPs-- even radicals and Communists openly sympathetic to Soviet policies. Were they also listed for execution if a Soviet-backed revolution in India should occur?
My frustration was compounded by my KGB supervisor who coached me in a fatherly tone: “Don't bother with these prostitutes, the Indian Communists Don't waste your time with them. There is nothing more dangerous than disillusioned “true believers” in Communism. They turn into the most bitter enemies and counter-revolutionaries-- aim higher-- at respectable “conservative” well-established “capitalists” and pro-American elements!” So, as you can see, the KGB/ Soviets have absolutely no respect for the majority of their new “converts.”
One event in particular that solidified my increasing horror of KGB tactics concerned one of my closest Indian friends, a journalist who represented one of the most influential newspapers in India. When I discovered that my friend had been targeted for a KGB character assassination campaign I felt a tremendous desire to escape from the USSR embassy immediately and to confide to my Indian friend the situation confronting him, and also my desire to break my ties with the KGB-- which meant defection. However, such an impulse scheme could have hardly succeeded. The Indian government, under strong pressure from the Soviet embassy, had adopted a law which stated that no defector from any country has a right of political asylum in ANY embassy in the territory of the Republic of India. This masterpiece of political hypocrisy had been created by Mrs. Indira Gandhi after Stalin's daughter Svetlana, defected to the West while residing in India. Because of this situation I knew full well that my defection would not he a simple matter, and as a result, it required a carefully thought-out plan. To be caught by the KGB while attempting defection would mean that I would he forcefully returned to Russia and imprisoned-- perhaps worse. I therefore resolved to wait until I had formed a definite plan for my escape.
However my patience was running thin. One of the last straws for me was a story I heard from one of my KGB colleagues: I learned that the Soviet Union was importing Soviet trained subversives to Fast Pakistan in preparation for a revolution there. My colleague further informed me that Soviet cases marked “printed matter-- to Dacca University” stored in the basement of the USSR consulate in Calcutta were accidentally discovered to contain, not university texts, hut rather Kalashnikov guns (AK-47s) and ammunition for the anticipated communist revolution in Pakistan.
This incident occurred in December of 1969. Two months later I “disappeared” from the USSR embassy in New Delhi. In order to avoid detection by the Indian Police and the KGB, I had disguised myself as an American “hippie.” This method of defection was actually a guaranteed success-- no KGB detective in his “right mind” would have thought to look for a missing Soviet diplomat among the crowds of long-haired, bearded, barefoot, hashish-smoking Americans who had invaded India in search of 'enlightenment.' And so I escaped to the West. I landed successfully in Canada in July 1970. There, I studied history and political science, taught Russian language and literature, and worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as an announcer/ producer for Radio Canada International (an equivalent of the 'Voice of America.') I was later forced to resign from my position with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation due to a complaint made by the USSR ambassador to Canada to the Canadian government stating that I was anti-Soviet. Realizing that I did not have the support of the Canadian government for having made my choice not to perform acts for the KGB and Soviet Russia that violated my sense of justice and right action; I came to America.Presently I am a freelance writer and political analyst, trying-- though not always successfully, to awaken the Western populace to the realities of life under the Soviet system and to the IDEOLOGICAL SUBVERSION that is being practiced upon them daily. It is my hope that this booklet, and the follow-up booklets that I am now writing will make clear to all who read them, the real facts behind the barrage of false media, ideas and information from the Soviet Union that represent the Communist state as a “workers paradise.”
Believe me when I say, having lived through it-- it was no paradise.
Continued in Part Two.
