456. Memorandum for the Record1
SUBJECT
- Conversation of 28 August 1980
[Omitted here is material unrelated to Pakistan]
3. I then went on to discussion of the Somalia situation and finally my concern that between that and Pakistan, where I pointed out that the Soviets had warned Zia about being a conduit for weapons to the Afghans and threatened punishment, and with Khomeini that there [Page 1041] might be some move against us between now and the elections. [portion marking not declassified]
4. Later in the meeting, this subject came up again. [2 lines not declassified] I said that Zia had pointed out that the Soviets had come to him with details of what aircraft and what dates there had been shipments of arms through Pakistan to the Afghans, but that Zia was holding firm. Zia had said he didn’t understand why the Soviets hadn’t made a retaliatory move. He thought that they would either send armor or air across and make a strike and then return to Afghanistan. Still, he intended to hold firm. The biggest thing bothering him was the leaks. He didn’t want it made so blatant that he was helping the Afghans. He wanted to know if the reports of Soviet helicopters being shot down by SA–7s were true. I said we had those reports but we could not verify that they were really true at this point. We knew the Soviets were losing helicopters. [3 lines not declassified]2
[Omitted here is material unrelated to Pakistan]
Director
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00112R: Subject Files, Box 15, Folder 49: DCI Memrecs/Memos, agendas of Pres Brief, Jan–Dec 1980. Top Secret. Drafted by Turner on August 29. According to the President’s Daily Diary, Turner gave the briefing, which ran from 11:39 a.m. to 12:12 p.m., to Carter in the Oval Office. (Carter Library, Presidential Materials)↩
- For two CIA reports on the increased Soviet pressures on Pakistan, see Foreign Relations, 1977–1980, vol. XII, Afghanistan, Documents 312 and 313.↩