The Soviet Timetable

I am not, alas, privy to the deliberations of the Soviet Politburo; but this deficiency permits me to speculate freely upon its collective intentions, unshackled by a precise account of what Suslov said to Ustinov and what Andropov’s comments were until Brezhnev closed the discussion.

At all events, the pieces on the chessboard are visible to the naked eye, and it is usually far easier for observers to guess or forecast what the Soviets will do than what the Americans and Europeans will do, or more likely fail to do, in response. As General Gallois rightly says, the Russians have the initiative, and everything flows from that fact.