Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 26. October 3 1977

Keeping an eye on the KGB

Keeping an eye on the KGB

Recently the US has been under severe threat from the Soviet Union. While the US has lost much power since its defeat in Vietnam the Soviet Union has grown in power around the world. As part of our committment to the US Alliance our SIS does its part of surveillance of Soviet security agents and the local followers of Soviet policies.

The extent to which this has taken place is shown by the emphasis laid on combatting the external threat at the time of the Powles report. Much publicity was given to the number of Soviet agents in New Zealand and the threat they posed.

There no doubt that the number of Soviet agents is large and their concern is hardly benevolent but currently our SIS sees our external threat in terms of the power bloc our politicians have committed us to—the US bloc. Thus in its vision the external threat to security the SIS is influenced by the view of the Government of the day. Its view of the external threat does not stem from a considered analysis of New Zealand's real needs and the actual motivations of certain foreign powers.