INFORMATION REVIEW & RELEASE (IRR) NEWS FOR 7-18 MARCH 2005 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
05578155
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
3
Document Creation Date: 
March 8, 2023
Document Release Date: 
April 2, 2019
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
F-2010-01471
Publication Date: 
March 18, 2005
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PDF icon INFORMATION REVIEW & RELE[15598860].pdf124.35 KB
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Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155 ADMINICTRATIVE INTERNAL UDE NLY Information Review & Release (IRR) News for 7-18 March 2005 Executive Summary Future Planning Calendar (UHAIU0) To Be Decided, 2005: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Liaisons' meeting at NARA in Washington, DC. (UllicIr(1) TBD 2005: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Principals' meeting at EEOB in Washington, DC. (Ullieltift) 31 December 2006: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended. Overview of IRR Activities--Last Two Weeks (b)(3) (b)(5) (b)(3) (b)(5) (b)(3) (b)(5) (U/441349) 'SOO Audits EO 12958 (11//A4414) On 8 March, Information Security Oversight Office representatives met with CDC managers to discuss automatic declassification�as part of ISOO's audit of EO 12958, as amended. After a CDC briefing on its 25-year program, the !SOO asked several questions about CIA's file series exemption (FSE)�which the National Security Council approved in March 1999.1 The successful session ended with a demonstration of the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST) System. CREST affords public access at NARA to over 9 million pages of CIA records declassified under the 25-year program. (U///41430) FOIA Requests (UHA-1-171E)) Researching the Brainwashing Controversy (UHArli.lia) A journalist with Agence France-Presse seeks "all information on the late Edward Hunter, the journalist, OSS propagandist and CIA contract worker who coined the term brainwashing Mr. Hunter died in June 1978 according to a note to Chapter Eight of John Marks' The Search for the Manchurian Candidate (page 223 of my edition: Allen Lane, Penguin, London, 1979)." The requester volunteers that he is conducting research for a future book on the "cult phenomenon." He justifies his fee waiver request by noting: "the information will contribute significantly to public understanding of the brainwashing controversy." (b)(3) ADMINISTRATIVE - INTERNAL USE ONLY Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155 Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155 (Ull A IQ) Conspiracies�and Loans to the World Bank (UHAIU ) The requester seeks "all information, in any format, regarding John Perkins, author of The Economic Hit Man , former Peace Corp volunteer, from 1989 to the present." He claims to be gathering information on loans made to the World Bank, because "Mr. Perkins asserts government agencies and corporations are involved in defrauding countries and, then, plundering minerals." Thus, he asserts: "The public has an urgent need for information about environmental damage being caused by persons or government agencies who may be identified in these documents." (b)(3) (b)(5) (UM'ettg4+)-Interest in Iraqi Training Camps (U//771=1) The National Security Archive is requesting all forms of CIA records "from 1 September 2001 through 31 December 2003 pertaining to military or paramilitary or terrorist training camps at or near Salman Pak, Iraq." Editor: Salman Pak, located 30-40 km SE of Baghdad, is identified on numerous websites as the site of Saddam-era special weapons facilities, Iraq's own terrorist training camp, and today's new insurgency hotspot. According to hap:// www.middle-east-online: "The area is home of several Sunni Muslim tribes who follow the radical Wahhabi brand of Islam. Salman Pak means Salman, 'the Pure,' in Farsi, in reference to one of the prophet Mohammed's followers, who became the first Persian to convert to Islam." (11//.4./.1XL) CIA Declassification Center (INA1110) ERWG Meets at NARA II (U//I&) On 16 March 2005, the External Referral Working Group (ERWG) held its monthly meeting at National . Archives at College Park, Maryland. The CIA updated the 70 attendees, representing 24 federal organizations, on the Document Declassification Support System (DDSS)�highlighting schedule milestones, and future events. (The DDSS will be an unclassified interagency database for locating and recording review decisions on documents requiring the review of two or more agencies�referrals.) NARA briefed members on the new Interagency Referral Center (IRC) at College Park�which will assist agencies in the orderly review of referrals�after a few problems are resolved in using the IRC module of NARA's Archives Document Review and Redaction System (ADRRES). Many attendees then had their first opportunity to tour the IRC, and watch a demonstration of the tool used to capture information on exempted and referred material accessioned to NARA. (Uthtte0) From the Archives: (UHAL1.41.) She's an Oldie, But a Goodie (U//Arriltt) A Current Intelligence Weekly Summary article of December 1955 analyzes the Soviet automotive industry, which is falling short of its production targets, among other problems. Responding to criticisms of the industry, Soviet Deputy Premier Mikoyan replies that he is "perfectly aware that present Russian cars and trucks correspond roughly to General Motors products of 1939, but the 1939 models were nevertheless, excellent and fully capable of performing the tasks for which they were designed....and that 'Soviet trucks are something like my wife� she is still very good indeed, but you would hardly call her modern." (U/M414�1) Case of the Missing Diamond (U//404g) In the Spring 1979 issue of Studies in Intelligence, photointerpreter Dino Brugioni explains how DCI Richard Helms was able to testify to Congress that CIA knew in 1970 that a naval installation in Cienfuegos, Cuba was for Soviet, rather than Cuban, use. According to Brugioni, "U-2 photography showed the task force, and (b)(3) (b)(5) (b)(3) (b)(3) AE614N+STPARVEN-TERNAL USE ONLY Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155 Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155 HUIVIINI I Pk1 I - INi N L_ intensive construction activity suggested . . . the Russians were establishing a base to support the operations of their nuclear submarines." And how did the CIA know this facility was exclusively for Soviet use? Helms said it was because there were "sports facilities for soccer, tennis, and volleyball only, and we have yet to see a major Cuban military installation that does not provide for 'beisbol." (U/1441.1.1Ct) Soviet Union Is Number One (U/M117117Trom the Carter Library collection, an NSC "Evening Report" for 22 August 1979 comments on "Soviet Problems with Alcohol." It reads: "The adult per capita consumption of alcohol [in the Soviet Union] is the highest in the world, 8.07 liters of pure alcohol per annum. [The US ranks fourth, at 4.25 liters.] The RSFSR [Russia] has an estimated 11.6 percent of the population in the category of alcoholics, 19 percent heavy drinkers, and 94.6 percent regular drinkers. Furthermore, a Soviet publication in 1975 estimated that from 21 to 43 percent of all money spent on food and drink by families goes for purchases of alcohol." (UHATI1&) The Muslim Insurgency in Chad (UMTIVITr'rom the Nixon Library comes an Office of National Estimates draft memorandum on "The French Dilemma in Chad," dated 17 March 1970. The memo states, "Since 1965, President Tombalbaye's regime in Chad has been combatting a Muslim insurgency that is persistent and widespread, though hardly cohesive. Last Spring he asked France for military assistance in suppressing the dissidents, and President de Gaulle, fond of Chad because of its key role in World War II, responded by dispatching regular combat troops, foreign legionnaires, and military administrative advisors. The French Government felt it important to intervene in large measure to show how it honored its African defense agreements . . . The French are still there, but the rebels have shown considerable staying power, and French public opinion has become increasingly disenchanted with the adventure. Rebel resiliency is due to their local support and fanatic belief in the justice of their cause." (UNALLICI.g_The Chadian Army, even with French officers and equipment, remains pretty feckless. Its mobility is poor, its morale low, and its discipline very weak. Chadian soldiers would almost certainly be unable to defeat the insurgents on their own. The Frenchmen in Chad have very little respect for Chadian capabilities. In turn, Chadian administrators and soldiers tend to resent the arrogance of the French advisors; the public at large tends to resent the brutality of some of the French units and the presence of so many of the old colonial masters." (U/7*144e)-L-The counterinsurgency effort, therefore, depends primarily on the staying power of the French. But the French Government, perhaps following through on an original plan for a limited campaign, unwilling to expend too many resources on a long drawn out effort, or simply reacting to criticism in the press and National Assembly, has announced that its legionnaires will be phased out of Chad after July 1970 . . . even if the conflict is not settled." � Comment: The French withdrew their troops by 1972, President Tombalbaye was overthrown in a coup in 1975, and the insurgency persisted. CC: (b)(3) (b)(3) (b)(3) Approved for Release: 2019/03/27 C05578155