European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 b the stars and stripes thursday August 22, 1991 coup in the Kremlin coup was in trouble Yeltsin allowed to remain free Start by Bryan Brumley the associated press Moscow a the apparent collapse of the soviet coup wednesday stems in part from the emergence of robust democratic institutions nationwide and from the failure of hard liners to follow the rough practices of past generations of communists in overthrowing other governments. Although the Fate of the 3-Day-old coup and its leaders was not ultimately analysis midday wednesday the of a determined by Resolute opposition of russian Republic president Boris n. Yeltsin and hundreds of thousands of reformers throughout the country appeared to doom it from the Early hours. The coup leaders including the Heads of the Kab secret police and soviet military made the fundamental mistake of not arresting Yeltsin their Foremost enemy who established a resistance Headquarters behind a heavily barricaded russian federation government building along the Banks of the Moscow River. The coup leaders tried to preserve the Guise of constitutional authority by announcing that Gorbachev had relinquished Power for health reasons. But hiding behind that legalistic rationale they failed to take the bold actions necessary to make the Putsch successful a actions that characterized soviet organized coups in Eastern Europe for half a Century. They did not Cut off Telephone communications in the soviet capital and with foreign countries made no Effort to prevent foreign correspondents from covering and filing reports on the Story and failed to Block tens of thousands of reformers from4 taking to the streets throughout the country. The open communications lines allowed Yeltsin and his ally former foreign minister Eduard a. Shevardnadze to communicate with foreign leaders and rally International support for the resistance. The coup leaders tried to silence hostile Media Banning broadcasts by russian television and radio and publication of reformist newspapers. However they were unable to silence the Independent Moscow Echo radio station which Siet up a Clandestine transmitter to foil the censorship. They also failed to close the Airport. In an elaborate plot the coup leaders did succeed in detaining and isolating Gorbachev who began his perestroika Reform program when he became Leader of the communist party in March 1985. But those reforms have spawned a press relatively free of state and party control and have Given Rise to popularly elected governments in Many of the 15 soviet republics. The immediate motive of the plot appeared to be preventing Gorbachev from flying to Moscow on tuesday to sign the new Union treaty which formally would Transfer Many Powers of the Central government to the republics. The coup leaders failed to realize however that real authority in the country had already passed to the elected leaders of those republics. On april 23, the nine most powerful Republic leaders including Yeltsin and Kazakhstan president Nur Sultan Naza Bayev had agreed with Gorbachev to the key Points of the treaty. Gorbachev a grudging acceptance of the Union agreement reflected a de Facto shift in Power from the Central government. The reformers found Strong support also among soviet workers As Coal miners nationwide went on strike for the third time in two years. The economic damage from a Coal strike earlier this year and the threat that it could spread throughout the work Force had helped persuade Gorbachev to cede Power to the republics. That labor unrest signalled that the proletariat whose discontent propelled the communist party to Power in 1917, had turned decisively against it. And the coup leaders inability to curb the spreading strikes May have persuaded them that the deck was stacked against them. Editor s note a Bryan Brumley associated press Bureau chief in Moscow has been covering soviet affairs since 1981. Official details moves to Block Gorbachev s exit Moscow apr heavy tractors blocked Mikhail s. Gorbachev a Jet and his Villa in the Crimea was surrounded by Kab officers the Day he was ousted from office an official says. Moscow Deputy mayor Sergei Stankevich said tuesday that Gorbachev and several of his top aides were arrested during an elaborate operation coordinated by the military and the Kab. He said All air land and sea approaches to the coastal area also were sealed off. _ a president Gorbachev the legitimate president of the country was removed from his position by forcible methods against his will and is being Neld by Force a Stankevich told a rally outside the russian parliament building. Patriarch Alexei ii Leader of tens of millions of russian orthodox christians in the soviet Union demanded that Gorbachev be allowed to appear in Public. Varying accounts have been Given of Gorbachev a arrest and whereabouts but most Are different than the official version. The hard liners who staged the coup on monday said Gorbachev stepped Down because he was ill. Stankevich citing reliable sources in the military said Gorbachev had been arrested in the Crimea a Black sea vacation spot with aides Gen. Vladimir t. Medvedev his Security chief diplomatic adviser Anatoly Chernyaeva and another Long time adviser Georgy Shak Nazarov. At 4 . On monday the commander of the soviet air defense forces col. Gen. Igor Maltsev ordered two heavy tractors parked on the runway in the Crimea to keep the Gorbachev party s Airliner and helicopter from leaving Stankevich said. A local unit of the Kab secret police sealed off the area around Gorbachev a vacation Home or Dacha Stankevich said. The Kab allowed Gorbachev a Airliner to take off a apparently without him a on monday night and it flew to Vnuk ovo Airport in Moscow Stankevich said. In another report estonian Premier Edgar Savisaar said Gorbachev had been arrested at Vnuk ovo one of Moscow a three main airports after he refused to sign a decree turning Power Over to vice president Gennady a Nancv one of the coup leaders. He cited a a Well informed source for his report. Soviet coup spurs Over . Military budget Washington up a the soviet coup has reinvigorated views prominent in the 1980s that the . Military budget should remain robust because of soviet unpredictability. But others called for Calm until a clearer picture emerges from Moscow. A it seems to me that certainly this event like the iraqi crisis is a very Strong argument against cutting Tow solve Taunton is Panthe ski is More retired array u. Gen. Daniel Gra Samf former head of Tow defense Agency and former Deputy Cia effector the defense budget any further than the Bush administration intended in the first place a Patrick Glynn director of the arms control and disarmament Agency in the Reagan administration said tuesday. A in my opinion we should be rethinking our Overall military posture. We completely exclude the possibility of a slightly More robust posture said Glynn a resident scholar with the american Enterprise Institute a Washington think tank. But a soviet american Security relations expert called that thinking a shallow Quot a Many people Are going to try to use this As an excuse to increase military spending but i think its a cheap and lame excuse a said William Kincaid an american University professor of International relations. A the United states and the soviet Union have a very Long record of not confronting each other militarily however rep. Patricia Schroeder a Colo who sits on the House armed services committee said the coup could cause the United states to reconsider its planned 25 percent Cut in . Forces and military base closings. And sen. John Warner the virginian who is the ranking Republican on the Senate armed services committee said in a Telephone interview that the soviet coup should strengthen the Senate s hand in its fight with the House for More Money for the strategic defense initiative a none of us know How these events May turn at any moment Quot said Warner. A but should the tragedy of a civil War occur there is increased risk of accidental use of nuclear weapons. A the current sd1 provisions in the Senate Bill which i drafted arc designed to put America on the course of providing defences Here in the United states to protect against accidental echoing those views was retired army it. Gen. Daniel Graham former head of the defense intelligence Agency and former Deputy Cia director. A the United states should now push ahead with the ski and agree to no constraints on its deployment Quot Graham said. Quot the soviet Union is on the verge of civil Var. The need for ski is More urgent than former Cia director William Colby reached by Telephone at his Washington Home said All of the talk about shifting . Defense policy should be held in we should wait until it the situation clarifies. Its not Over a Colby said. He said that either president Boris Yeltsin of the russian Republic will be Able to amass crowds too Large for the new soviet regime to suppress or the new Kab military regime will Send in troops similar to the chinese crackdown. Asked if the Pentagon should reconsider the withdrawal of two army divisions in Europe Colby said there is a no threat in the immediate future to Western Europe and no plans should change yet. President Bush at the Rose Garden swearing in ceremony of Robert Strauss As . Ambassador to the soviet Union said he does not want to see a re emergence of the distrustful East West relations of the cold War. A i Hope that s True of the coup plotters a Bush said. Kincaid agreed adding that newly democratic Eastern european nations should not feel threatened by the new soviet leaders. Any soviet move against Poland or other Fonner soviet satellite Kincaid said a would set off an insurrection within the soviet Union. This new government if it lasts is not looking for new defense Secretary Dick Cheney told Congress recently that whatever the relationship Between the two superpowers the soviets Are not Likely to have a major military buildup because of the country a dire economic troubles among other factors
