ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
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Q: So you were there from 1979?<br />
PERINA: From the summer of 1979 to the summer of 1981.<br />
Q: What was the situation in the Soviet Union in 1979 when you got out there?<br />
PERINA: Well, this was pre-Afghanistan so our relations were still pretty good. Jimmy<br />
Carter was the president <strong>and</strong> he put a great emphasis on human rights issues, but in our<br />
overall relations with Moscow there was a lot of interaction, a lot of exchanges <strong>and</strong><br />
growing commercial relations. The invasion of Czechoslovakia had been <strong>for</strong>gotten, <strong>and</strong><br />
the ef<strong>for</strong>t to build détente was underway. So it was an exp<strong>and</strong>ing bilateral relationship.<br />
Q: Our Ambassador was Thomas Watson?<br />
PERINA: I had three chiefs of mission. When I just got there it was still Mack Toon <strong>for</strong><br />
about six months. Then he was replaced by Thomas Watson, the IBM president. But then<br />
he left after about a year <strong>and</strong> was replaced by Jack Matlock, who came not as <strong>ambassador</strong><br />
but as Chargé d’Affaires between <strong>ambassador</strong>s. The most significant event during my<br />
tour is obvious. I got there around September 1979, <strong>and</strong> three months later the Soviets<br />
invaded Afghanistan. I do have a story about that. The invasion came at Christmas time,<br />
<strong>and</strong> it so happened that everybody was on leave <strong>for</strong> the holidays, even the DCM (Deputy<br />
Chief of Mission) was gone <strong>and</strong> the Political Counselor, Bob German, was in charge of<br />
the Embassy. It was the same thing in the Russian Foreign Ministry, or so they claimed.<br />
They told us after the invasion that the Foreign Minister was out of town but I doubt it.<br />
He just did not want to meet. So the Deputy Foreign Minister was in charge.<br />
In any case, we received word a few days be<strong>for</strong>e Christmas that Washington had noticed<br />
these strange military movements along the Soviet border with Afghanistan, <strong>and</strong> we were<br />
instructed to go in with a demarche to try to find out what was happening. Bob German<br />
delivered the demarche because everybody else was on vacation, <strong>and</strong> he took me along as<br />
the note taker because I had the best Russian in the Political Section. I'll always<br />
remember that session. We met with Georgiy Korniyenko, who was First Deputy Foreign<br />
Minister. Bob German was a very polite fellow <strong>and</strong> in a very friendly way he said that we<br />
had noticed these apparent military movements on the border, <strong>and</strong> what is going on? And<br />
I remember Korniyenko saying, “There's absolutely nothing going on, <strong>and</strong> if there were<br />
something going on, it should be no subject of concern to the United States.” In other<br />
words, he was saying that if something were happening, it was none of our business. So<br />
we got this complete brick wall. I wrote up the telegram, <strong>and</strong> then I think it may have<br />
been the next morning or no later than two days after that suddenly we saw in the<br />
morning that Afghanistan had been invaded. The Soviets were also justifying it all as<br />
helping Afghanistan stave off a coup attempt engineered by the CIA (Central Intelligence<br />
Agency). So it clearly did concern the United States, contrary to what Korniyenko had<br />
told us, because there was this ef<strong>for</strong>t to implicate us <strong>and</strong> in fact blame us <strong>for</strong> the whole<br />
thing. It amazed me at how blatantly <strong>and</strong> unabashedly Korniyenko had lied to Bob<br />
German. There was not the slightest ef<strong>for</strong>t by the Kremlin to reconcile what they told us<br />
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