17,394
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 61:
Line 61: − − ==Infiltration== − − Infiltrating the United Nations organization became a priority in the wake of the disbanding of the Comintern, the death of Golos which led to the ultimate breakdown in security, and the end of the War. Hiss was influential in the employment of 494 persons by the United Nations on its initial staff. <ref>Activities of U.S. Citizens Employed by the UN, second report of the [[SISS]] (March 22, 1954), p. 12.</ref> − − Gradually it became apparent that the objectives of World War II for which the United States and others made tremendous sacrifices were not fully realized, and there remained in the world a force presenting even greater dangers to world peace than the Nazi militarists and Japanese warlords. Consequently, the United States made the decision in the Spring of 1947 to assist Greece and Turkey with a view to protecting their sovereignties, which were threatened by direct or instigated activities of the Soviet Union. Line 72:
Line 66: − + − − − − ==Harry White== − :''Main article: [[Harry Dexter White]]'' − Harry Dexter White was positively identified as Agent Jurist <ref>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/FBI_Memorandum_identifying_Harry_Dexter_White_as_agent_Jurist FBI Memorandum identifying Harry Dexter White as agent Jurist], Ladd to the Director, 16 October 1950.</ref> in an [[FBI]] memorandum dated 16 October 1950. White became involved with Soviet intelligence espionage in May of 1941. One of the most valuable assets to Soviet intelligence was his ability to infiltrate the United States [[Department of the Treasury]] with persons the [[Greg Silvermaster|Silvermaster spy ring]] wanted to have assinged there. Among the other American citizens and government employees acting as Soviet agents were [[Lud Ullman]], [[William Henry Taylor]], and [[Sonia Steinman Gold|Sonia Gold]]. − − On December 4, 1945, the FBI transmitted to the White House a report entitled "Soviet Espionage in the United States." The report summarized White's espionage activities. Copies of the report were sent to Attorney General [[Tom C. Clark|Tom Clark]] also. The evidence indicated a substantial spy ring operating within the Government and involving White. Given the secrecy of the [[Venona project]] materials, the president went ahead six weeks later and nominated White for appointment to head the newly created [[International Monetary Fund]], one of the chief institutional pillars of the postwar international economic order. − − White was summoned before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] in August of 1948. − [[Elizabeth Bentley]] told the FBI White that had been involved in espionage activities on behalf of the [[Soviet Union]] during [[World War II]]. [[Whittaker Chambers]] earlier had testified of his association with White in the [[Communist]] underground secret apparatus up to 1938. White, recovering from a series of heart attacks, proclaimed his lifelong commitment to the principles of democracy and the ideals of President Roosevelt's New Deal. He died of a heart attack three days later and HUAC. The positive identification of Harry Dexter White as agent Jurist came two years after his death. − − ==[[Manhattan Project]]== − :''Main article: [[Manhattan Project]]'' − [[Image:Image-Lenssketch2a.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Hand sketch by [[Morton Sobell]] of the detonator for the [[atomic bomb]]]] − Oppenheimer had been an ardent [[Popular Front]] liberal and ally and gave generous contributions often deliverd to [[Isaac Folkoff]]. Oppenheimer did not know just the secrets of some parts of the project; as director, he knew all the secrets, and just as soon as they came into being. Up to the time he reported the Chevalier recruitment approach, he may have overlooked the conduct of others, a passivity motivated by personal and political ties to those persons. Sins of ommission or neglect. (Although another theory states the Chevalier approach may not have been an attempt at recruitment, but part of the big shake up after Stalin publicly disbanded the Comintern in 1943, and agents had to be reassigned new case officers).<ref> Haynes & Klehr, ''Venona'' pp. 327-330.</ref> − − An internal Soviet memorandum reads, − − :"In 1942 one of the leaders of scientific work on uranium in the USA, Professor R. Oppenheimer while being an unlisted [nglastny] member of the apparatus of Comrade Browder informed us about the beginning of work. On the request of Kheifetz, confirmed by Comrade Browder, he provided cooperation in access to research for several of our tested sources including a relative of Comrade Browder…Due to complications…it is expedient to immediately sever contacts of leaders and activist of the American Communist Party with scientists and specialists engaged in work on uranium. − − Excerpts from the testimony of CPUSA functionary, Paul Crouch, p. 1834 -1841 <ref>[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Volume3.pdf McCarthy Hearings, Testimony of Paul Crouch], Executive Session, Vol. 3: 1834 - 1841, 15 September 1953. (PDF file, pgs. 33-41).</ref> concerning [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]]. − − :"Chairman – Were you a top functionary of the party? − :Crouch – Yes...I was a full time organizer for 15 years [1925 -1942] − − :Chairman – What were some of the positions you held...? − :Crouch – I was a representative of the Young Communist League and the Communist Party of the United States to the meetings of the executive committee of the Communist International, Young Communist International, Moscow...I was an honorary officer of the Red Army...a member of the editorial staff of the Daily Worker...a district organizer...in Virginia, New York and South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah; member of the district bureau in the Alabama district and the California district, Alameda County [CA] organizer, 1941... − − :Chairman – ...and you were informed by two Justice Dept. lawyers that you would not be used because if you were...you would have to identify Robert J. Oppenheimer? [as a member of the CPUSA] − :Crouch – To that effect, yes sir. − − :Chairman – Is there any doubt in your mind that Oppenheimer was a member of the Communist Party? − :Crouch – No, sir, none whatever. I met him in a closed meeting of the Communist Party in a house which was subsequently found to have been his residence at the time...and following that I met him at quite a number of Communist Party affairs in Alameda County. − − :Chairman – Is there any doubt in your mind that but that Oppenheimer was under Communist party discipline at the time...? − :Crouch – No, sir, none whatever − − :Chairman – And naturally they would be interested in any atomic information he had? − :Crouch – Yes, sir. Just as a matter of fact, the Communist Party might have chosen to direct him to turn over the information; they might have chosen to direct him to appoint other Communists to key positions who would in turn, turn over the information. It is a matter of record that Dr. Oppenheimer has appointed many Communists to key positions to the atomic energy program..." − − ==CIA== − − After working as a journalist, [[Kim Philby]] was recruited by Valentine "Vee Vee" Vivian of the British [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (the so-called M.I.6) in 1940, later becoming part of the [[Special Operations Executive]], and coming into contact with [[Office of Strategic Services]] agents. − − After [[World War II]] Philby was assigned to Istanbul, and then to the United States, where he later became first secretary at the British Embassy in Washington. While there he visited [[Arlington Hall]] for discussions about [[VENONA]] and regularly received copies of transcripts as part of his official duties. He returned to Britain in 1950 and in 1951 managed to warn Burgess and Maclean of an internal British intelligence probe, which allowed them sufficient time to escape to the Soviet Union. Suspicion of his involvement forced his retirement from intelligence and he went to work in Beirut. − − However, in 1956 Philby was again in the employ of SIS as an "informant on retainer". He was given the task as second-in-command to the point man for [[Operation Musketeer]], the British, French, and Israeli plan to attack Egypt and depose [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]. − − Only in 1963, with the defection of [[Anatoliy Golitsyn]], did Western intelligence unmask Philby's true allegiance; however, Philby was able to escape to the Soviet Union before he could be detained.
Communist Party of the United States of America (view source)
Revision as of 20:36, June 5, 2009
, 20:36, June 5, 2009no edit summary
President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 22 March 1947 tightened protections against subversive infiltration of the US Government, defining disloyalty as membership on a list of subversive organizations maintained by the Attorney General.
President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 22 March 1947 tightened protections against subversive infiltration of the US Government, defining disloyalty as membership on a list of subversive organizations maintained by the Attorney General.
Truman’s denunciations of the charges against [[Alger Hiss]], Harry Dexter White, and others, all of whom appear under code names in decrypted messages translated before Truman left office, suggest that Truman was never briefed on the Venona program, or if he was briefed, did not grasp its significance. Truman insisted Republicans trumped up the loyalty issue, and that wartime espionage had been insignificant and well contained by counteritelligence agencies.
Truman’s denunciations of the charges against [[Alger Hiss]], Harry Dexter White, and others, all of whom appear under code names in decrypted messages translated before Truman left office, suggest that Truman was never briefed on the Venona program, or if he was briefed, did not grasp its significance. Truman insisted Republicans trumped up the loyalty issue, and that wartime espionage had been insignificant and well contained by counteritelligence agencies.
It was the belief of opponents of the CPUSA such as [[J. Edgar Hoover]], long-time director of the FBI, and [[Joseph McCarthy]], for whom [[McCarthyism]] is named, and other [[anticommunism|anticommunists]] that the CPUSA constituted an active [[conspiracy]], was secretive, loyal to a foreign power, and dedicated to the clandestine [[infiltration]] of American cultural and political institutions. This is the "traditionalist" view of some in the field of Communist studies such as Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes.
It was the belief of opponents of the CPUSA such as [[J. Edgar Hoover]], long-time director of the FBI, and [[Joseph McCarthy]] and other [[anticommunism|anticommunists]] that the CPUSA constituted an active conspiracy, was secretive, loyal to a foreign power, and dedicated to the clandestine infiltration of American cultural and political institutions.<ref> This is the "traditionalist" view of conservative scholars such as Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes. Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]], Chairman of the Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy wrote in 1997, "President Truman was almost willfully obtuse as regards American Communism."</ref>
Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]], Chairman of the Moynihan Commission on Government Secrecy wrote in 1997, "President Truman was almost willfully obtuse as regards American Communism."
==Subversive Activities Control Act ==
==Subversive Activities Control Act ==