The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 30, 1980, Page Page 4, Image 4
Russia)
By Teresa K. Weaver
Gamecock Staff Writer
The Soviet Union's invasion of
Afghanistan was more of a
defensive move than an offensive
one in the view of a USC professor
of government and international
studies.
Gordon Jmith, a specialist in
. Soviet polities and foreign policy,
said, "The American political
leaders seem to assume the intention
of the Soviet action in
Afghanistan was one of trying to
get to the sea and the Persian Gulf
oil supplies. I'm just not willing to
assume that the Soviets had
designs."
Smith has spent a total of about
iwo years in me ^oviei Union,
beginning with a one-year stay as
an exchange scholar at Leningrad
State University. He has also led
a delegation of U.S. political leaders
on tours of the Soviet Union. In
may 1980, if Soviet-American
relations don't further deteriorate.
Smith will lead a group from the
American Bar Association on a
Soviet tour.
CITING SUCH FACTORS as
worsening relations with China,
political reversals in Somalia.
stagnated economy and the
inability of the U.S. Senate to ratify
SALT II, Smith said the Soviet
Union felt that the balance of I
power was shifting away from i
them and that they had nothing to I
lose by staging an invasion.
"The Soviets share a 4,000 mile j
long border with their single most j
hostile enemy, China. And since
the Iranian revolution, there's
been a tremendous area of instability
on the Iranian border of
the Soviet Union. That instability
on the border is something they've
got to be very concerned about,"
Smith said.
The Soviet Union fears the
revolutionary movement in Iran
will foster similar movements in
the border area of the Soviet Union
which Smith said is a critical industrial
and agricultural region.
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The Soviets entered Afghanistan
with the intention of stabilizing the
situation there, Smith said. He said
he believes when the military
gains control of Afghanistan, the
Soviet Union will establish a stable
form of government. When that
occurs. Smith said the Soviets will
withdraw with the exception of
some advisers.
SECRETARY OK STATE Cyrus
Vance has told the Soviet Union
that if their military forces are not
withdrawn from Afghanistan by
mid-February, the United States
will not participate in the 1980
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Smith said he doesn't believe the
Soviets will leave the country by
that time.
He said, "Carter, by setting a
deadline, sort of discourages the
Soviets from getting out by that
time because it will appear they
are backing down to an American
demand. American participation is
simply not that important to
them."
An American boycott would be
harmful if the support of a
majority of western nations were
gained. Smith said if a boycott
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Gordon Smith
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uuuiu invuive nan 01 me participant
nations of the games it
would be damaging not only to the
prestige of the Olympics, but also
to the sort of political gains the
Soviet Union would like to achieve
through the Olympics.
"One of the things the Soviet
Union wants to gain most from the
Olympics is the international
recognition and acceptance that is
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"Your Partner i
I defcnsiv
? sort of implied in hosting the
? games," Smith said. He said
| Germany and Japan were both
w anxious to host the Olympics after
' World War II in order to reI
establish their international aci
eeptability.
F R O M A N K C O N () M I C
STANDPOINT, the Soviets could
lose about $250 to $3(H) million in
western currency, not including
revenue from concessions and
broadcast rights. Smith said.
"They badly need western
currency to buy western
technology."
Smith saiH hp Hnncn'f fool
strongly about the possibility of an
American boycott of the Olympics.
"My normal feeling is that politics
and sports should not mix," he
said. "But that's a bit unrealistic,
because there has always been a
high degree of nationalism and
national sentiment involved in the
Olympics. I don't care for that, but
I guess it's a fact of life."
Smith said American participation
would not necessarily
confer legitimacy on the Soviet
presence in Afghanistan, but would
depend on how the administration
presented it to the American
public.
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t4If the administration decided
that they didn't want to use the
Olympics as a political tool, they
could go before the people and say,
'We don't intend to mix politics and
sports.' But this administration
has chosen not to take that route,"
Smith said.
"DETENTE WAS ALREADY on
the rocks before they invaded
Aignanistan, and the Soviets felt
there was nothing they were
jeopardizing by taking this action."
he said.
Future Soviet-American
relations need to be based more on
incentives for cooperation than
they have been in the past, Smith
said. Where conflicts do arise, the
United States has a vested interest
in minimizing the confrontation, he
said.
"The bottom line," he said, "is
that we have to try to understand
why the other is acting the way it
does. That's absolutely crucial. If
we assume that the Soviet Union is
out for world domination, that is
just going to reinforce their perception
of the hostility and
aggressiveness of the American
military, and they will counterrespond
with increasingly
defensive actions."
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