principal driving force, more fundamental than their political and economic pretensions. Militant atheism is 1 yoad tO . ” not merely incidental or marginal to Communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central pivot. To carry out this policy in the Soviet Union, tens of millions of innocent human beings were systematically tortured, and murdered. Out of 60,000 churches in 1914, by 1941 only 100 remained. While all of this was going on, it was business as usual for the American businessmen who helped set up the Soviets. For the majority of church leaders in America, it was silence. As was the case with Mexico, when the Communist government was about to fall it was the United States government that came to its rescue. This crisis came about when Stalin's government was bankrupt and staying alive by check kiting. At this point President Roosevelt gave the Communists diplomatic recognition, making it possible for them to obtain credit. From that time on the United States government has done everything possible to help the Communist leaders in the Soviet Union stay in power. Although ignored by the CFR-controlled American news media, much of what is known about past and present conditions in the Soviet Union has been revealed by defectors. One of these important defectors is Lev Alburt, a Soviet scientist who became an International Chess Grandmaster in order to escape and become an American citizen. Twice he earned the title "U. S. Chess 118 The Secret Side of History