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War Economy 'Czars' Move up the Soviet Ladder

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War Economy 'Czars' Move up the Soviet Ladder Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 15, Number 10, March 4, 1988 War economy 'czars' move up the Soviet ladder by Konstantin George and Rachel Douglas On Feb. 17-18, the Soviet CentralCommittee held a two-day sin as Moscow City party boss. The plenum confirmed him plenum, called to draft and adopt measures to upgrade the in both the Moscow party funotion and his continuing func­ Soviet education system. The plenum was dominated by tion as Central Committee Secretary in charge of the Soviet Yegor Ligachov, the Politburo member who runs the party defense industry. This combination of functions is unprece­ through his direction of the all-powerful Central Committee dented in Soviet history. Secretariat. Ligachov delivered the keynote address. Without losing Zaikov, the CC Secretariat gained yet The plenum's results, most striking in the personnel de­ another representative from the defense sector, as Oleg D. cisions that it ratified, demonstrate that the subject of "edu­ Baldanov became a CC secretary.Since April 1983, Baldan­ cation" was treated strictly as a means to further the devel­ ov has been Minister of General Machine Building, in charge opment of the Soviet war economy. The results also certified of missile and spaceship production. the consolidation of power by an institutional "troika"of the Early Februaryalso saw an infusion of military-industrial party Secretariat through Ligachov, the military through managers into the Soviet government. Yuri Maslyukov, for­ Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, and the KGB led by Politburo mer head of the State Military-Industrial Commission, be­ member Viktor Chebrikov. came chief of the State Planning Commission (Gosplan), first The two new candidate Politburo members named illus­ deputy prime minister, and candidate member of the Polit­ trated the power of the war economy "czars" and of Liga­ buro, while Minister of ShipQuilding Igor S. Belousov be­ chov's Secretariat. They are: 1) Yuri Maslyukov, who short­ came a deputy prime minister. ly before the plenum was named head of the State Planning The emphasis on the military's line, and on launching a Committee (Gosplan), and thus put in charge of running the "cultural" revival of Great Russian chauvinistic traditions, Soviet economy. Since April 1983, Maslyukov has directed formed the most crucial portions of the plenum's concluding the government's defense industry commission; 2) Georgii speech by General Secretary Gorbachov. Razumovsky, Central Committee Secretary in charge of the party's Organizational Work Department. He has been the 'Education' and war buildup purge "hatchet man"for the Secretariat, dispatched to super­ The emphasis, both in Ligachov's speech and throughout vise personnel changes at republic, regional, and local levels. the plenum, was on bringing Soviet education up to the levels Much attention has been focused in the Western media required by perestroika, the modernizationof the U.S.S.R.'s on establishing a "geographic proof' that Razumovsky, first military-industrial base. As Ligachov and other speakers Secretary of the Krasnodar Krai (region), Gorbachov'shome stressed, Soviet youth must receive the kind of scientific, turf, from1983-85, is therefore a "Gorbachov protege."What technical, and vocational education and training necessary is ignored in this "Kremlinology"is that Razumovsky, during for them to perform industrial labor in plants that are to be that time, carried out a major "anti-corruption"purge, and in modernized. that capacity cooperated closely with Yegor Ligachov. There was a heavy concentration of plenum speakers Serving to underline the point, is the case of Lev Zaikov, from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, including its chair­ the Politburo member who in November replaced Boris Yelt- man, Yuri Marchuk; V.A. Koptiug, its vice president and 46 International EIR March 4, 1988 © 1988 EIR News Service Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission strictly prohibited. chairman of the Siberian branch in Novosibirsk; A.A. Lo­ have been noticeably increased. They are in a hurry to 'com­ gunov, also vice president and rector of Moscow's Lomo­ pensate'for the missiles to be removed! under the treaty. They nosov University; as well as party first secretariesof regions are planning a modernization and a buUd-up of other types of in the Urals, where military industry predominates. nuclear weapons, especially at sea and in the air, cynically The plenum also devoted attention to the military's de­ claiming that the latter are not covered by the treaty." He mand for increased teaching of Russian to youth in the non­ attacked Britain and France for planning to increase their Russian republics, above all in the non-Slavic Turkic repub­ nuclear forces, and their bilateral military cooperation,"It is lics of Azerbaijan and Central Asia. An increasing number precisely after the signing of the treaty that the NATO states of draft-age youth, about one-third of the total pool, come demonstrate enhanced activity in the field of bilateral and from these republics. Their low level of proficiency in Rus­ multilateral integration." sian has been repeatedly identified by the military as an ob­ Special anger was revealed over anti-INF forces' suc­ stacle to Soviet war preparations. cesses in puncturing the myths of Gorbachov the "reformer" A total of 27 speakers addressed the two-day plenum, 19 and "liberal,"so widely propagated in the Western media. on the first day. 8 on the second. All 8 speakerson the second Gorbachov complained that not everyone in the West is fall­ day spoke at length. One of them was General of the Army ing for his "charm."He mentioned �t to some, Moscow's A.D. Lizichev, the chief of the military's Main Political "diplomacy of smiles" arouses suspicion. "Western radio Directorate. It can be assumed that his theme was measures stations," he said, are spreading "ptovocative inventions" to properly "educate" Soviet youth to upgrade the quality about a leadership struggle in Moscow. "They wish to sow recruits in general and entrants into the officers' academies. uncertainty, disbelief in the possibility of achieving the aims of the party." Gorbachov echoes the military Gorbachov the "liberal" utterly vanished in the Great As concerns Gorbachov's plenum speech, the foreign Russian chauvinism of the "cultural"section of his speech. policysection could have been delivered by Defense Minister "Bolshevism based itself on the leading humanistic traditions Dimitri Yazov, and the "cultural" section could have been of the great culture of Russia. We know how Lenin valued stated by super-Russian chauvinist Pobedonovtsev, the Rus­ the richness and humanism of so-called old culture, which sian Orthodox Church Procurator of the Holy Synod in the played an important role in world civilization. And now we late 19th century, who embodied the person of the Grand should, without any hesitation, energetically expand the cul­ Inquisitor. tural realm of perestroika, using and developing all the spir­ The tough foreign policy line was linked to the Feb. 21 itual richness given us by our forefathers. " arrival in Moscow of Secretary of State George Shultz. After Any illusions concerning better living standards were the INF treaty's signing, Moscow has only escalated its de­ shattered. His message was austerity, "One can't live by mands on the Reagan administration. How many more sel­ bread alone."In his conclusions on the subject of perestroika: louts can be procured from Washington, on arms control, on ''There are no such things as miracles.· perestroika is hard and regional issues such as Mghanistan, the Near East, and the complicated. Perestroika is work, wotk, and more work." Gulf? And, last but not least, as the Gorbachov speech made One other important item to be noted in the speech was clear,the Reagan administrationis being told by the Kremlin the announcement that the next Central Committee plenum to "liquidate"the opponents of the "Munich II"treaty and the would deal with the nationalities question, which Gorbachov "New Yalta"agreement it embodies. identified as "the most vital question�' facing Soviet society In this spirit, Gorbachov focused his rage on the "consol­ today. The next plenum will be held in the spring, certainly idation of reactionary, extreme anti-Soviet forces. All kinds before theJune 28 extraordinary 19th Party Conference. Li­ of so-called analysts, and Kremlinologists, are presenting gachov, in his keynote speech, had strongly denounced "ex­ recommendations to their governments that there will be tremist"and "chauvinist manifestations,"that is, anti-Soviet catastrophic consequences for the West if the process of riots and demonstrations in Kazakhstan, the Baltic republics, disarmament continues." and Yakutia in the far northeast of Siberia. Since the Reykjavik summit, a repeated Soviet demand Nationalist unrest was surging on the eve of the plenum, has been that Western establishment forces eliminate those withmass demonstrations and church vigils in Catholic Lith­ political forces, beginning with Democraticpresidential can­ uania on Feb. 14 and Feb. 16, the 7001 anniversary of Lith­ didate Lyndon LaRouche, who are opposed to a "New Yalta" uania's short-livedindependence. Since the plenum, Armen­ and to reversing the economic, military, and moral collapse ia was rocked Feb. 19-22 by mass demonstrations involving of the West. Or, as Gorbachov put it, ''the importance of tens of thousands, (article, page 48) Nor has the unrest in the liquidating the militarists. " Balticdied down. There were large demonstrations and clashes Gorbachov's venom was also directed at European op­ with the police Feb. 2 in the Estonian university town of positionto the INF treaty,in particular, in Britain and France: Tartu, and more actions on Feb. 24, the 70th anniversary of ''The militaristic activities in the European part of NATO Estonian independence. EIR March 4, 1988 International 47 .
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