Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 9, 1993 TAG: 9310090086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Russians call it the "dead hand," according to the expert, who characterizes it as a doomsday machine. If the system exists - and some American intelligence analysts say it is unlikely but possible - it would mark the first known time in the nuclear era that a machine has been readied to press the button.
The expert, Bruce G. Blair, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, in recent years has conducted scores of long interviews with officers in charge of the Russian arsenal. He says they eventually told him of the system.
Some American intelligence officials doubt the report's veracity, saying it is unsupported by available evidence. Other experts say Blair's stature and Russian access give it credibility, and federal officials might be downplaying what could be an intelligence failure.
"He's a very cautious individual," said Stephen M. Meyer, an expert on the Russian military at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has advised the Central Intelligence Agency. "He requires of himself a much higher standard of evidence than many people in the intelligence community."
The report, Meyer added, is "quite credible. Lots of the pieces have been known for some time. What was missing was the link that tied them together."
Robert Gates, CIA director in the Bush administration, said the dead hand was conceivable in light of other recent surprises about Russia and its military machinery.
"My instinctive reaction is that they wouldn't do that," he said. "But when you look at the things that people said they wouldn't do, and we later learned they did, we ought to be cautious about ruling it out."
by CNB