At the time, the US was attempting to block Western Europe from importing Soviet natural gas. There were also signs that the Soviets were trying to steal a wide variety of Western technology. Then, a KGB insider revealed the specific shopping list and the CIA slipped the flawed software to the Soviets in a way they would not detect it. "In order to disrupt the Soviet gas supply, its hard currency earnings from the West, and the internal Russian economy, the pipeline software that was to run the pumps, turbines, and valves was programmed to go haywire, after a decent interval, to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline joints and welds," Reed writes.

"The result was the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space." US satellites picked up the explosion. "While there were no physical casualties from the pipeline explosion, there was significant damage to the Soviet economy." Reed said he obtained CIA approval to publish details about the operation. The CIA learned of the full extent of the KGB's pursuit of Western technology in an intelligence operation known as the Farewell Dossier. Portions of the operation were disclosed in a 1996 paper by Gus Weiss, a technology and intelligence expert who was instrumental in devising the plan to send the flawed materials.

According to the Weiss article and Reed's book, the Soviet authorities in 1970 set up a new KGB section, known as Directorate T, to plumb Western research and development for badly needed technology. Directorate T's spies often operated in Soviet delegations to the United States; on one visit to a Boeing plant "a Soviet guest applied adhesive to his shoes to obtain metal samples", Weiss recalled in his article. Then, at a July 1981 economic summit in Canada, president Francois Mitterrand of France told Mr Reagan that French intelligence had obtained the services of an agent they dubbed "Farewell", Colonel Vladimir Vetrov, a 53-year-old engineer who was assigned to evaluate the intelligence collected by Directorate T.

Vetrov, who Weiss recalled had provided his services for ideological reasons, photographed and supplied the CIA with 4000 documents on the program. The documents showed how the Soviets were carrying out a broad-based effort to steal Western technology. "Reading the material caused my worst nightmares to come true," Weiss recalled. The documents showed the Soviets had stolen valuable data. "Our science was supporting their national defence." The Farewell Dossier included a shopping list of Soviet priorities. In January 1982, Weiss said he proposed to Casey a program to slip the Soviets technology that would work for a while, then fail.

The sabotage of the gas pipeline has not been previously disclosed, and at the time was a closely guarded secret. The role that Reagan and the US played in the collapse of the Soviet Union is still a matter of debate. Some argue that US policy was the key factor; others say that internal Soviet factors were more important, including economic decline and President Mikhail Gorbachev's revolutionary policies of glasnost and perestroika.

- Washington Post