WEBVTT 00:00:01.470 --> 00:00:07.010 In 1989 the Soviet empire started to collapse. 00:00:07.115 --> 00:00:11.230 A historic victory. It could be that the Secret Committee of US 00:00:11.230 --> 00:00:15.290 President Ronald Reagan contributed to it. 00:00:15.438 --> 00:00:17.568 Herb Mayer, CIA vice-chief of Intelligence 00:00:17.678 --> 00:00:20.488 - They stopped playing defense and began to play offense. 00:00:20.488 --> 00:00:24.308 That was the great shift that changed the course of world history. 00:00:24.478 --> 00:00:25.478 Thomas Reed, Special Questions Advisor 00:00:25.478 --> 00:00:27.799 We could have brought them to their knees if we wanted. 00:00:27.799 --> 00:00:30.199 Did the Committee in fact exist? 00:00:30.251 --> 00:00:32.711 What methods did Reagan’s soldiers use? 00:00:33.539 --> 00:00:35.359 John Lemann, the Minister of the US Navy 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.537 - The use of deception 00:00:37.537 --> 00:00:40.257 could make it appear to the Soviets to be 20 feet tall. 00:00:43.607 --> 00:00:44.877 Admiral James ‘Ace’ Lyons 00:00:44.927 --> 00:00:48.947 - You have to go out and physically demonstrate... 00:00:49.237 --> 00:00:53.497 For the first time, witnesses tell of those events. 00:00:53.735 --> 00:00:54.822 Mathias Mossberg, the Secretary General 00:00:54.822 --> 00:00:56.242 for 3d Submarine Investigation Board. 00:00:56.326 --> 00:00:59.270 - They made fools of the Swedish parliament and government 00:00:59.270 --> 00:01:04.280 as well as Swedish media. What world do we actually live in? 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:08.610 Deception: Reagan’s Method 00:01:08.749 --> 00:01:13.049 A film by Dirk Polmann 00:01:13.257 --> 00:01:15.227 Submarines against Olof Palme 00:01:15.369 --> 00:01:19.556 The next target is a supposed neutral state in the North of Europe - 00:01:21.976 --> 00:01:28.436 Sweden. Only the Baltic Sea separates it from the Soviet Union 00:01:28.718 --> 00:01:29.608 Ula Tunander: 00:01:29.708 --> 00:01:31.498 Sweden was actually extremely important 00:01:31.498 --> 00:01:34.498 in case of a future World War. 00:01:34.728 --> 00:01:38.208 Sweden was located northward of Germany 00:01:38.208 --> 00:01:44.268 and was kind of an unsinkable aircraft-carrier 00:01:44.268 --> 00:01:47.398 that the US could operate from. 00:01:48.729 --> 00:01:53.639 Since 1960 Sweden had been integrated in plans of NATO militarization. 00:01:53.723 --> 00:01:58.383 In the 1960's, Swedish Air Forces ranked 4th strongest in the world. 00:01:58.466 --> 00:02:03.306 The US Army counted on Sweden’s secret loyalty to NATO. 00:02:03.494 --> 00:02:04.514 Ula Tunander: 00:02:04.584 --> 00:02:07.649 - Since 1960, Sweden was preparing to 00:02:07.649 --> 00:02:10.224 receive US aircraft on its territory. 00:02:10.304 --> 00:02:12.774 There was a direct phone line with 00:02:12.774 --> 00:02:17.284 the headquarters of US Navy in Wiesbaden. 00:02:17.754 --> 00:02:18.774 Ingemar Engman: 00:02:18.875 --> 00:02:23.066 - We prepared airfields, on which the American jet airplanes 00:02:23.066 --> 00:02:27.526 could have landed on their way eastwards. 00:02:28.206 --> 00:02:33.376 The USA needed Sweden as an 'aircraft-carrier'. 00:02:33.457 --> 00:02:38.747 And besides: the Soviet Union would be forced to fight on two fronts. 00:02:42.738 --> 00:02:46.478 There’s an extremely conservative elite in the Swedish Army, 00:02:46.478 --> 00:02:50.242 an economy and aristocracy completely aligned with the USA 00:02:50.242 --> 00:02:55.492 that treats social-democrats with deep mistrust. 00:02:56.716 --> 00:02:57.746 Ula Fritjofson: 00:02:57.836 --> 00:03:00.518 - In social-democratic Sweden it was perhaps 00:03:00.518 --> 00:03:04.778 the most powerful social-democratic party in the world. 00:03:06.698 --> 00:03:10.236 A charismatic leader, Olof Palme – 00:03:10.236 --> 00:03:15.166 a man of indisputable international renoun. 00:03:15.260 --> 00:03:18.210 A man who had enemies. 00:03:18.477 --> 00:03:19.777 Ula Tunander: 00:03:19.851 --> 00:03:22.413 - It was the social-democratic government of the country. 00:03:22.498 --> 00:03:26.048 But there’re also ruling elites who shared quite different views. 00:03:26.131 --> 00:03:28.980 They were closely related to the USA and Great Britain. 00:03:29.028 --> 00:03:33.928 And this means that you have a divided Sweden. 00:03:33.938 --> 00:03:36.781 Once I was invited for dinner with James Schlesinger - 00:03:36.781 --> 00:03:41.278 the former US Secretary of Defense and Director of CIA. 00:03:41.278 --> 00:03:44.969 I asked him what he thought of Sweden 00:03:44.969 --> 00:03:47.609 at the time he had occupied his position. 00:03:47.609 --> 00:03:51.070 And he asked me: ‘What Sweden? 00:03:51.070 --> 00:03:54.138 The political Sweden or the military Sweden?’ 00:03:55.228 --> 00:03:59.525 At the end of 60's, beginning of 70's, the Vietnam War 00:03:59.525 --> 00:04:02.673 shook up the Western states and deeply divided society. 00:04:02.673 --> 00:04:07.203 Outraged youth organized demonstrations all over the world. 00:04:07.206 --> 00:04:11.208 Olof Palme led demonstrations criticizing US policy 00:04:11.208 --> 00:04:14.525 together with the North Vietnamese Ambassador. 00:04:14.525 --> 00:04:15.893 The case is exactly one for the Committee. 00:04:15.893 --> 00:04:18.603 In 1981 Palme is still the opposition leader 00:04:18.603 --> 00:04:24.223 But a year later he wins the elections and has brilliant ratings. 00:04:24.223 --> 00:04:28.822 Palme’s and Reagan’s plans are as much as fire and water. 00:04:28.822 --> 00:04:33.544 However the Committee can use the preliminary work of the CIA. 00:04:33.545 --> 00:04:36.217 Since 70's, the US Secret Service had been scheming 00:04:36.217 --> 00:04:39.202 against Palme on Swedish territory. 00:04:39.202 --> 00:04:43.532 Reagan and Casey knew: Palme is considered to be a traitor 00:04:43.532 --> 00:04:46.812 among Swedish security agencies. 00:04:46.945 --> 00:04:51.505 Besides, important Swedish admirals are on their side. 00:04:53.234 --> 00:04:54.304 John Lehman: 00:04:54.426 --> 00:04:58.300 - Certainly there were efforts to see that the Swedish military 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:02.730 addressed the demands of NATO strategies and ideas, 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:06.240 and that Sweden had access to technologies 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.793 needed to defend their neutrality. 00:05:11.383 --> 00:05:15.253 On the morning of October 28th, 1981 00:05:15.253 --> 00:05:18.763 the Chief of Swedish Naval Staff in Karlsrona 00:05:18.763 --> 00:05:22.143 receives an unexpected report: 00:05:22.248 --> 00:05:25.668 Fishermen found a submarine washed ashore. 00:05:25.733 --> 00:05:29.503 Commander Karl Andersson immediately heads there. 00:05:31.737 --> 00:05:32.507 Karl Andersson: 00:05:32.617 --> 00:05:36.845 - As soon as we called in at Gosefjerden I slowed down. 00:05:36.906 --> 00:05:41.596 And suddenly I saw a black and green 00:05:41.596 --> 00:05:46.235 Whiskey-class submarine 100 meters in front of me. 00:05:46.298 --> 00:05:49.565 It was obviously a Russian submarine. 00:05:55.143 --> 00:05:58.841 The highest rank aboard was the Chief of Brigade Staff 00:05:58.841 --> 00:06:01.317 from the city of Baltiysk – Joseph Avrukevich. 00:06:01.402 --> 00:06:04.542 He had navigated the submarine along quite a narrow fjord. 00:06:04.652 --> 00:06:07.496 The commander Peter Gushchin was forced 00:06:07.496 --> 00:06:09.486 to follow Avrukevich’s instructions. 00:06:10.739 --> 00:06:11.519 Karl Andersson: 00:06:11.623 --> 00:06:15.283 - I could never understand what kind of commander he was 00:06:15.283 --> 00:06:18.318 or what the operation was meant to be. 00:06:18.368 --> 00:06:21.258 I actually didn’t even think of that because 00:06:21.258 --> 00:06:24.517 it was incredibly stupid to call in at Gosefjerden 00:06:24.517 --> 00:06:26.997 since a submarine could run aground. 00:06:27.527 --> 00:06:30.187 The submarine had been drifting for a long time 00:06:30.187 --> 00:06:33.240 until Avrukevich, guided by a beacon, steered the submarine 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.800 into the fairway of the just 100 meter wide Gosefjerden. 00:06:38.210 --> 00:06:39.280 Karl Andersson: 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:42.723 - They could hire a fishing boat under the guise 00:06:42.723 --> 00:06:45.000 of a Swedish flag for that purpose. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.772 But it was a very stupid decision 00:06:47.772 --> 00:06:50.000 to call in there with a submarine. 00:06:51.114 --> 00:06:55.259 The public will discover: the submarine was sent to spy. 00:06:55.259 --> 00:06:58.721 In a fjord that it couldn’t submerge into, 00:06:58.721 --> 00:07:01.541 since there was 1.5 m of water under the keel? 00:07:01.552 --> 00:07:04.475 Anderson notes that the person who was responsible 00:07:04.475 --> 00:07:07.445 for making decisions was the mysterious Chief of Staff Avrukevich. 00:07:07.445 --> 00:07:10.764 He then received an order not to interrogate him. 00:07:11.386 --> 00:07:12.256 Karl Andersson: 00:07:12.329 --> 00:07:15.798 - Yes, I received this exact order. 00:07:15.798 --> 00:07:19.499 I received orders to interrogate Gushchin only, 00:07:19.499 --> 00:07:23.219 the watch officer, the signaler and the navigator. 00:07:23.219 --> 00:07:29.477 I was prohibited from interrogating anyone else. 00:07:33.692 --> 00:07:36.682 Swedish Naval Forces sent a diver under water. 00:07:36.682 --> 00:07:41.302 Their footage is being officially shown here for the first time ever. 00:07:42.674 --> 00:07:44.744 They make a startling discovery. 00:07:44.831 --> 00:07:50.251 A big sand dune formed behind the marine propeller. 00:07:51.262 --> 00:07:52.525 Ula Tunander: 00:07:52.525 --> 00:07:56.477 - In front of the propeller there was no sand dune. 00:07:56.477 --> 00:07:59.405 That meant someone wanted the submarine 00:07:59.405 --> 00:08:02.573 to run further against the rocks, to stay there. 00:08:03.264 --> 00:08:06.580 And then it was turned around more than 50 degrees 00:08:06.580 --> 00:08:10.168 so the submarine would really get stuckin the rocks 00:08:10.168 --> 00:08:13.813 so it wouldn't slide off. 00:08:14.528 --> 00:08:18.262 To sum up: A supposed spy submarine put into 00:08:18.262 --> 00:08:21.735 the extremely narrow fjord, where there's almost no water 00:08:21.735 --> 00:08:26.135 under the keel and will sooner or later run aground. 00:08:26.622 --> 00:08:30.877 When it happened, the engines continued to work at full capacity. 00:08:30.877 --> 00:08:33.438 The submarine crawled further onto the rocks until it got stuck. 00:08:33.438 --> 00:08:36.748 But one mustn't interrogate the officer 00:08:36.748 --> 00:08:39.468 responsible for this insane operation. 00:08:39.768 --> 00:08:42.698 ‘Whiskey on the rocks’ hit the headlines. 00:08:42.698 --> 00:08:45.483 Sweden is shocked and indignant. 00:08:47.770 --> 00:08:51.180 Olof Palme wins the elections in 1982. 00:08:51.180 --> 00:08:53.693 He wants to achieve neutrality, disarmament 00:08:53.693 --> 00:08:56.513 and nonalignment to the military blocs for Sweden. 00:08:57.580 --> 00:09:03.130 Confrontation mitigation; but Reagan wanted just the opposite. 00:09:03.906 --> 00:09:07.486 Therefore the ‘Deception Committee’ begins to project 00:09:07.486 --> 00:09:09.736 the operation of psychological warfare. 00:09:09.832 --> 00:09:13.751 A pretense of reality that should return Sweden back on the course 00:09:13.751 --> 00:09:17.241 that corresponds to the Reagan strategy. 00:09:20.483 --> 00:09:25.023 Two weeks after Palme took office a submarine’s periscope 00:09:25.023 --> 00:09:27.775 was detected at a Swedish naval base Muskö. 00:09:29.218 --> 00:09:31.487 It could be – and everyone claimed they were: 00:09:31.487 --> 00:09:34.757 only Soviet submarines after ‘Whiskey on the Rocks’. 00:09:35.471 --> 00:09:36.591 Ula Tunander: 00:09:36.591 --> 00:09:40.879 - They showed their periscopes and cone towers to the public. 00:09:40.949 --> 00:09:44.779 A submarine's captain shouldn’t do that. 00:09:44.869 --> 00:09:45.759 Mathias Mossberg: 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.163 - Why did they want to be seen? 00:09:48.243 --> 00:09:51.513 To turn the trick. And they did that very well. 00:09:53.213 --> 00:09:56.051 A few hours after the submarines had been detected, 00:09:56.051 --> 00:09:58.551 the Swedish Naval Forces convene a press conference. 00:09:58.721 --> 00:10:02.286 More than 750 journalists from all over the world report 00:10:02.286 --> 00:10:05.450 on Swedish Naval Forces with arms ready in hand 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:08.760 but without success; hunt for the Soviet submarines. 00:10:09.739 --> 00:10:13.269 Is it just a pretense for media? 00:10:14.495 --> 00:10:17.760 In the following years, the hunt for submarines 00:10:17.760 --> 00:10:19.630 repeats hundreds of times. 00:10:19.721 --> 00:10:22.701 Foreign submarines are seen in front of the Royal Palace 00:10:22.702 --> 00:10:25.762 and in front of summerhouses and naval bases. 00:10:25.857 --> 00:10:29.457 While Palme negotiates with the Soviets on disarmament 00:10:29.457 --> 00:10:32.485 and proposals of peace, Soviet Military Forces 00:10:32.485 --> 00:10:34.335 apparently pretend to want it. 00:10:34.425 --> 00:10:36.145 Moscow is confused. 00:10:36.226 --> 00:10:38.806 No one has given such orders to their military. 00:10:38.905 --> 00:10:41.475 Or are there self-ruling captains? 00:10:43.487 --> 00:10:45.117 Palme protests 00:10:45.117 --> 00:10:46.694 to the Soviet Ambassador again and again. 00:10:46.764 --> 00:10:50.224 In the end the latter passes a proposal from the Kremlin. 00:10:50.435 --> 00:10:52.545 Boris Pankin, the Soviet Ambassador to Sweden: 00:10:52.881 --> 00:10:56.521 - If you think our submarines are there, you can bomb them. 00:10:56.578 --> 00:10:58.568 But we know there are none, 00:10:58.568 --> 00:11:00.758 that’s why we are not afraid of any bombing. 00:11:02.222 --> 00:11:04.478 Endless, unsuccessful war against 00:11:04.478 --> 00:11:07.468 the ghost submarines has its consequences. 00:11:13.482 --> 00:11:14.542 Ulf Svenson: 00:11:14.545 --> 00:11:17.781 - It was impossible for Palme to do anything alse 00:11:17.781 --> 00:11:20.046 than to decisively blame the Russians. 00:11:20.756 --> 00:11:25.786 It was difficult to ensure the policy of ‘common security’ 00:11:25.786 --> 00:11:28.516 in relation to the communist states. 00:11:28.766 --> 00:11:30.788 The leaders of Swedish Naval Forces 00:11:30.788 --> 00:11:34.218 sunk not a single enemy submarine but it successfully torpedoed 00:11:34.218 --> 00:11:36.358 Palme’s ‘common security’ policy. 00:11:36.449 --> 00:11:40.529 Without the Swedish media, this operation would fail. 00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:42.080 Mathias Mossberg: 00:11:42.230 --> 00:11:46.490 - The media were very much taking the lead 00:11:46.490 --> 00:11:52.455 in blowing up this issue according to 00:11:52.455 --> 00:11:58.511 the information they got from our militaries. 00:11:59.651 --> 00:12:04.211 From 1981 to 1983, the number of Swedes 00:12:04.211 --> 00:12:09.521 who felt there was a Soviet threat increased from 27% to 83%. 00:12:11.205 --> 00:12:14.235 Boris Pankin, the Soviet Ambassador to Sweden: 00:12:14.451 --> 00:12:17.781 - I would like to mention why it bothers me now. 00:12:17.945 --> 00:12:22.471 It turned out that even in such an educated, Western-European state, 00:12:22.471 --> 00:12:26.748 in such a bulwark of democracy, it was quite easy 00:12:26.748 --> 00:12:33.348 to distract vast masses of people and brainwash them, to zombify them. 00:12:33.492 --> 00:12:36.527 Since 1983, three investigations 00:12:36.527 --> 00:12:39.267 imto the submarines scam were carried out. 00:12:39.501 --> 00:12:40.685 Mathias Mossberg: 00:12:40.685 --> 00:12:44.101 - The first inquiry concluded that it was Soviet submarines. 00:12:44.101 --> 00:12:47.447 The second concluded that this could not be proven. 00:12:47.447 --> 00:12:50.450 Then a few years went by and an interview 00:12:50.450 --> 00:12:57.486 came out with Caspar Weinberger, the US Secretary of Defense, 00:12:57.486 --> 00:13:02.116 who clearly said that the US was involved in this. 00:13:02.474 --> 00:13:03.764 Caspar Weinberger, the US Secretary of Defense: 00:13:03.848 --> 00:13:07.282 - There was no direct insertion or testing of 00:13:07.282 --> 00:13:11.382 Swedish defense without consultion, 00:13:11.382 --> 00:13:13.792 when speaking of the agreement. 00:13:14.382 --> 00:13:15.552 Keith Speed, the British Navy Minister: 00:13:15.599 --> 00:13:17.800 - There were exercise attacks. 00:13:17.888 --> 00:13:20.517 Could the submarines infiltrate their waters 00:13:20.517 --> 00:13:23.135 and emerge at the port in Stockholm? 00:13:23.257 --> 00:13:25.815 Well, that’s not quite the thing but something like that. 00:13:25.865 --> 00:13:27.540 How far could we go? 00:13:27.588 --> 00:13:29.207 During my administration, we had Oberon-class and Porpoise-class 00:13:29.207 --> 00:13:32.339 diesel submarines for that purpose. 00:13:33.495 --> 00:13:37.517 It's quite clear: Swedish Naval Forces’ leadership knew 00:13:37.517 --> 00:13:41.677 NATO’s submarines were in Swedish territorial waters. 00:13:41.752 --> 00:13:45.112 Why had they kept silent back then? 00:13:45.168 --> 00:13:48.268 And what part had the Americans and British played? 00:13:51.496 --> 00:13:52.765 Mathias Mossberg: 00:13:52.765 --> 00:13:54.965 - Obviously we needed to go into the question again. 00:13:54.965 --> 00:13:57.529 They instituted a new inquiry 00:13:57.529 --> 00:13:59.939 and appointeded me as Secretary General. 00:14:00.461 --> 00:14:04.284 Mossberg found a document in the Muskö naval base archives. 00:14:04.331 --> 00:14:06.756 Several senior admirals were worried about 00:14:06.756 --> 00:14:10.516 Weinberger’s statement and wanted to be prepared. 00:14:11.489 --> 00:14:12.728 Mathias Mossberg: 00:14:12.761 --> 00:14:18.686 - To the effect we had to coordinate our response to this. 00:14:18.765 --> 00:14:23.859 I wanted to take a copy of this document. 00:14:24.979 --> 00:14:26.785 But our military expert told us: 00:14:26.785 --> 00:14:29.219 ‘You don’t need to do that. 00:14:29.219 --> 00:14:34.535 We have this at the office in Stockholm’. 00:14:34.599 --> 00:14:39.456 I believed him. When I came back to our office 00:14:39.456 --> 00:14:43.496 it turned that we didn’t have this document at all. 00:14:43.686 --> 00:14:46.758 And next time we went back to that archive 00:14:46.758 --> 00:14:50.886 that particular document had disappeared. 00:14:51.416 --> 00:14:55.486 So these were the kind of things we had to fight with. 00:14:56.002 --> 00:14:58.492 The board faced resistance: 00:14:58.492 --> 00:15:01.274 Access to the archives was denied and it discovered 00:15:01.274 --> 00:15:03.556 that the military destroyed important evidence, 00:15:03.556 --> 00:15:05.776 photographs and documents. 00:15:07.903 --> 00:15:08.733 Mathias Mossberg: 00:15:08.733 --> 00:15:12.233 - What we were dealing with was a certain group 00:15:12.233 --> 00:15:16.523 that was not telling the government the full truth 00:15:16.523 --> 00:15:26.466 about what they knew or had happened or was happening. 00:15:26.566 --> 00:15:35.470 And they were taking decisions which had far-reaching implications 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:40.270 for Swedish defense and foreign policy. 00:15:40.390 --> 00:15:45.310 They were decisions that were taken outside 00:15:45.310 --> 00:15:49.868 the democratic framework of the Swedish government. 00:15:49.978 --> 00:15:54.066 Then of course, you ask yourself where you are. 00:15:54.356 --> 00:15:57.504 In a country, where the army conspired together with 00:15:57.504 --> 00:16:01.164 a foreign power against its own Minister-President? 00:16:01.204 --> 00:16:02.259 Mathias Mossberg: 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:04.455 - Sweden was taken for a ride. 00:16:04.455 --> 00:16:06.495 Public opinion was taken for a ride, 00:16:06.495 --> 00:16:09.475 Swedish parliament was taken for a ride, 00:16:09.475 --> 00:16:14.465 Swedish government was taken for a ride, the press was taken for a ride. 00:16:14.465 --> 00:16:18.285 What sort of world are we actually living in? 00:16:18.745 --> 00:16:22.185 In a world where Olof Palme was murdered. 00:16:22.189 --> 00:16:25.329 The killer hasn’t been found yet. 00:16:26.246 --> 00:16:27.734 Mikhail Gorbachev, The President of the USSR 00:16:27.734 --> 00:16:32.954 -I’m sure it was a political killing. It was a contract killing… 00:16:33.045 --> 00:16:39.335 I don’t think he was murdered for some domestic reasons… 00:16:40.517 --> 00:16:43.567 - Why do you think it was a political killing? 00:16:43.567 --> 00:16:48.272 Because this man and the things he was proposing... 00:16:48.743 --> 00:16:53.152 Their implementation involved the interests 00:16:53.152 --> 00:16:59.222 of groups who weren't particularly interested 00:16:59.222 --> 00:17:01.562 in making world a better place.