War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Howard Stoertz, 1986
Description:
Howard Stoertz was the National Intelligence Officer for the Soviet Union at the CIA. In the interview he discusses the estimates of Soviet nuclear capabilities made by U.S. agencies in the late 1950s that generated fears of a missile gap in favor of the Soviet Union. He describes how the intelligence community arrived at those exaggerated estimates, largely due to a lack of accurate information but also to certain assumptions about Soviet goals. A much more accurate picture began to emerge by the start of the Kennedy administration with the advent of satellite photography and intelligence provided by Soviet spy Oleg Penkovsky. In the course of the interview, he comments on the roles of several key figures - including the Alsop brothers, Sen. Stuart Symington, Thomas Lanphier, and Allen Dulles. One of the lessons he draws from the experience is that the politicization of intelligence can create significant problems for the country.
