Gen. Rogers Warns of Soviet Stockpiles

Classified photographs taken by U.S. satellites clearly show that the Soviet Union has stockpiled supplies for offensive operations against Western Europe, the supreme allied commander for Europe said Thursday.

Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, who has headed the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for nearly seven years, lunched with Times editors and said in an interview that he has argued for release of the photographs for years because they show proof of the Soviet Union’s aggressive intentions. But he has been unsuccessful because of concerns of the intelligence community, he said.

The white-haired, four-star American general said that photographs show “massive stockpiles” of river-crossing equipment at strategic locations within the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe.

“Now, that equipment is there not to cross rivers going back to Moscow, but it’s there to go west,” Rogers said.

The NATO commander said the photographs also show huge stockpiles of materials for a petroleum pipeline situated near underground storage facilities for petroleum products.

“This pipeline is prestocked in these storage sites for the purpose of being used with their pipe-laying equipment that can lay this on top of the ground at about 60 to 70 kilometers a day.

“I maintain that those kinds of photographs are indicative of the offensive nature of the Soviet Union because, here again, this pipeline is not there to go from the tactical storage sites back . . . into the Soviet Union. It’s there to go west.”

Rogers, 64, said he believes that if Western Europeans could see such intelligence material, they would be convinced that the Soviet Union poses a threat to their freedom. If he had his way, he said, he would have a periodic “show and tell” on television in Western Europe and the United States to disclose the latest photographic intelligence of a Soviet buildup.

According to Rogers, the gap between capabilities of NATO’s conventional forces and those of the Warsaw Pact grows wider every year in almost every area. But, he said, his major concern is not an attack from the East.

“I don’t think the Soviets want a war and intend to attack,” he said. “They’ll try to achieve their objective without firing a shot through intimidation and coercion. But if they were to attack conventionally today, I have no option under my guidance from political authorities but to request the release of nuclear weapons.”

NATO Lacks Reserves

NATO nations cannot sustain a conventional war effort in Western Europe, he said, because they lack reserve supplies and trained personnel to replace battlefield losses.

“If there is a major confrontation between superpowers in Western Europe, it would go global, and we would face two options fairly quickly in NATO: One would be to suffer defeat and the other would be to escalate to nuclear weapons,” he said.

Rogers said his hope of avoiding a confrontation with the Soviet Union rests on negotiations. And, according to the general, that means the United States and NATO must remain strong and united. That is why, he said, he is delighted that Spain voted decisively in a referendum Wednesday to remain a NATO member.

“It was really a positive stroke as far as NATO was concerned,” he said.