Thursday, April 18, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 9
Keating Tells About Troops
WASHINGTON — (UPI) — Sen. Kenneth B. Keating, R-N.Y., said today "there has been no substantial reduction of Soviet military personnel in Cuba" since Russian missiles and bombers were removed last November.
"Several thousand personnel have left Cuba, several thousand have arrived," Keating said. He concluded that "there were and are in the neighborhood of 17,000 men there."
The Senator made the statements in a speech prepared for delivery before the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). More than 500 editors from throughout the nation were on hand for the annual meeting.
KEATING'S FIGURES conflicted with the last statement by President Kennedy on Soviet strength in Cuba. Kennedy gave figures at his news conference April 3 showing that there were roughly 12,000 to 13,000 Russain troops left on the island.
U. S. officials said later that the President's estimate took into account new Russian arrivals in Cuba as well as withdrawals of Soviet personnel.
Keating told the editors he understood "from naval personnel" that despite close surveillance of Cuban waters to prevent clandestine shipments of men and weapons, "some navy ships have specific orders not to searchlight smaller vessels that are constantly moving in the Cuban and Caribbean waters at night."
"NONE OF THESE ships are ever searched by U.S. patrols," he said. "How can we hope to get evidence of support of subversion if we don't investigate these small scale but very numerous operations? The only name I can think of for this policy is, out of sight, out of mind."
Keating called for a "firm and realistic program" designed to get the Russians out of Cuba. He said a national "consensus" could be developed in support of such a policy through a return to the sort of bipartisanship which existed in the era of the late Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-Mich.).
That will require, he said, "better communication, a sharing of responsibility for the conditions which exist in Cuba, a more candid disclosure of facts to the American public, confidence that leaders in either party will not attempt to make political capital out of success or failure in Cuba, and the articulation not of an easy, but of a clear and consistent program of action.
"I AM NOT ASKING that any olive branches be extended. On the contrary, I believe we need more, not less leadership." Keating said.
Keating's comments on Soviet military strength in Cuba followed his assertion that there must be full confidence in the information disclosed by government leaders. He said he saw little point in a "numbers game" on the question and little difference in the basic problem whether the Soviet total was 17,000, 14,000 or 20,000.
"But, according to my information, since the withdrawal of the technicians who accompanied the MRBMS and IRBMS and bombers in mid-November, there has been no substantial reduction of Soviet military personnel in Cuba," he said. "There were and are in the neighborhood of 17,000 men there. No functional units have been withdrawn."
KEATING SAID several thousand withdrawals had been replaced by several thousand Soviet arrivals. He added: "Furthermore, they shouldn't be called troops when they are on
their way out and technicians when they are on their way in.
"There is no reliable evidence whatsoever of a decline in Soviet military strength or capability since those first withdrawals in November," he declared. "The great publicity given to recent departures has completely clouded over the fact that a comparable number of new troops have been brought to the island."
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