Word: states
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...many details are known about the Soviet brigade, which according to the State Department is composed of motorized rifle battalions, tank and artillery battalions, and combat and service support elements. Significantly, it has no independent airlift or sealift capability...
...pressing in mid-July for an investigation of the reports of more Soviet troops in Cuba, but his demands received little attention. Washington skeptics noted that he was up for re-election and that he had many anti-Castro exiles among his constituents. As late as July 27, the State Department appeared to deny to Stone the very existence of the brigade. In a letter drafted and approved by a number of high intelligence officials, Vance stated flatly that "there is no evidence of any substantial increase of the Soviet military presence in Cuba over the past several years...
...many Senators, it has been pointedly observed that among those taking the toughest line are two who have hardly been known as hawks: Richard Stone and Frank Church. To some degree, their outrage might well be the product of local political calculations. Not only is Stone elected from a state that contains an estimated 500,000 Cuban emigres but Church represents a state that is traditionally highly conservative. In his bid next year for a fifth term, he faces a very determined, well-financed right-wing opposition, which is already barraging him on such special issues as abortion restrictions...
...White House probably would have preferred Church to handle the matter in the same way that Carter discussed it at a Wednesday breakfast with Democratic congressional leaders. Although he seemed somewhat out of step with his Secretary of State, who was treating the issue with gravity, the President appeared to view it almost lightly. He emphasized to his guests that the Soviet brigade "posed no threat" to the U.S. He added that at the time of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, Moscow had some 20,000 troops in Cuba and remnants of that force have remained there ever since. According...
Despite all the electronic wizardry, human snooping is still needed to fill in gaps. But the task of infiltration is formidable in a tightly controlled garrison state like Cuba, where local security forces are reinforced by Soviet ones. Not even Cubans are allowed to go near the Soviet command post, east of Havana...