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BOOK REVIEW
by Robert Stolzle
VICTORY
The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy That
Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union
by Peter Schweizer
284 pages; published in 1994 by The Atlantic Monthly Press, price in paperback $13.00
This book is a detailed and completely annotated history of the United States' covert policy, as envisioned by
President Ronald Reagan, to bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union by using economic, rather than mili-
tary, warfare. In light of current events, this book might seem to be an after the fact expose' with little rele-
vance today. Actually, Victory offers the reader an excellent understanding of the secret dealings that led, di-
rectly and indirectly, to the "liberation" of Afghanistan and many of our current problems in the Middle East. It
also provides some real insight into how spying and covert operations are actually used by the U.S. govern-
ment.
The primary reason anyone in the petroleum industry should be interested in this book is because it outlines
how our government intentionally manipulated crude oil prices to win the Cold War by depriving the Soviet
Union of much needed capital. Much of the economic turmoil experienced by the domestic oil industry over
the past 20 years was planned and orchestrated by our own government. Victory sets forth in detail how this
plan was envisioned by President Reagan and brought to fruition by CIA Director William Casey. The book
also provides a fascinating overview of how politics is played in the Middle East with the disparate govern-
ments, their competing Muslim factions and the vast reserves of crude oil. The following quotes from the book
outline its general thrust and tenor and, I hope, will entice you into reading it.
"In early 1982, President Reagan and a few key advisers began mapping out a strategy to attack the fundamen-
tal economic and political weaknesses of the Soviet system......The goals and means of this offensive were out-
lined in a series of top secret national security decision directives (NSDDs) signed by President Reagan in 1982
and 1983."
"To Casey, the Saudis' concern about Soviet intentions" (following their invasion of Afghanistan) "presented a
chance to make Saudi Arabia a powerful ally of the United States. Oil was the mother's milk of industry, and
the West needed stable, secure access to reserves if there was going to be any economic recovery. In the
1970s, when Arab oil producers had been aggressively aligned against the West, the price of oil had gone
through the roof.....
Bringing oil prices down was an important goal of the new administration. It would help the U.S. economy
enormously."
"One of the projects closest to Fahd's heart" (the Saudi Arabian Crown Price) " was the effort to support Is-
lamic movements in Soviet Central Asia. This was done through the Wahhabi clan and was top secret."
"The mujahedin" (the Afghan resistance fighters) "lacked an effective response to Soviet air attacks..... Casey
saw the need for the Stinger and had been pushing for it for months....Yet there was resistance from the State
Department and some elements of Defense which feared the missiles might fall into hostile hands.....Mujahedin
Stinger strike units were deployed aggressively around Soviet air bases."
"The other policy change (ultimately of fundamental import to the demise of the Soviet economy) came out of
Riyadh. In the late summer of 1985, Saudi officials alerted the Reagan administration that they should expect
an increase in Saudi oil production, and as a consequence a precipitous decline in international oil prices."
Continued on page 27