Solomatin.

This is coolbert:

"Do you understand what this means, the significance of this compromise? For more than seventeen years, Walker enabled your enemies to read your most sensitive military secrets. We knew everything! There has never been a security breach of this magnitude and length in the history of espionage. Seventeen years we were able to read your cables!"

This is well worth reading.

"Boris Solomatin Interview"

I had been searching for this particular item for some time and knew it existed, but could not find on the web until just now.

Solomatin, just recently deceased I believe, was the Soviet KGB resident [head spymaster] in Washington D.C. during the time that John Walker was recruited as an agent for the Soviet Union.

[it can be suggested that Walker recruited himself!!]

The infamous team of Walker/Whitworth compromised cryptographic gear, key lists, drawings, plans, etc., for ENTIRE families of American cipher equipment. NOT ONLY the gear itself, but the ENTIRE paradigm of American cryptographic "thought" was compromised as well, so in the opinion of Professor Cipher A. Devours. [NO, that name is not made up!]

"par·a·digm - - n. 1. One that serves as a pattern or model. 3. A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline."

I find this particular exchange between Solomatin and the author Earley to be most interesting:

Q: "Did you share the information that Walker provided to you with any other countries? Specifically, did the North Vietnamese know in advance about our bombing targets during the war?"

A: . . . "I know for myself what was done. I will tell you then that the information which was given to our allies, the socialist countries, was not much. It was always told in very general terms."

Q: "You weren't going to tip off anybody about him?"

A: "Precisely. The handing over to the Vietnamese in any form of information or data which we got from Walker, was contrary to our own interests . . . Judging from what I told you just now, you should make a writer's opinion and if you decide that the information from Walker was not handed over to the North Vietnamese . . . you will be making the correct one."

"I will presume that there will be those in your country who will not believe me when I say that Walker is not responsible for your failures in bombing in North Vietnam. To hell with them"

What is being spoken about here? From the book: "Breaking The Ring":

"They [North Vietnamese] usually had forewarning of the B-52 strikes. Even when the B-52's diverted to secondary targets because of weather, they [North Vietnamese] knew in advance which targets would be hit . . . It was uncanny. We never figured it out."

Again, the interview with Solomatin is well worth reading!

coolbert.