WRC INTERVIEWS JOHN MARKS, AUTHOR OF BOOK ON CIA

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020067-0
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RIFPUB
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U
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2
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 9, 2011
Sequence Number: 
67
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Publication Date: 
September 19, 1974
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OPEN SOURCE
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Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020067-0 RADIO-TV MONITORING SERVICE, INC. 3408 WISCONSIN AVENUE. N. W. WASHINGTON. D. C. 20016 244-8682 PROGRAM: DATE: NEWS FOUR WASHINGTON THURS., SEPTEMBER 19, 1974 STATION OR NETWORK: TIME: WRC TELEVISION 7:00 PM, EDT WRC INTERVIEWS JOHN MARKS, AUTHOR OF BOOK ON CIA JIM VANCE: Senators Howard Baker and Lowell Weicker have introduced a bill that would create a Congression- al committee to oversee the activities of U. S. intelligence agencies. A great deal of criticism has been levelled against the CIA for its alleged involvement in the internal affairs of Chile. We have with us here in our studio right John Marks, who worked with a former member of the CIA, Victor Marcetti, in putting together this book, The CIA and the Cult of Intelli- gence. And John, I want to get right into you with this thing about Chile. .The CIA says that it did not do anything in Chile that it should not have done. Did you find anything different in researching this book? JOHN MARKS: Well, we wrote about Chile in our book, and the government tried to censor it. What we wrote about two years ago has now come out, that the CIA intervened in Chile, that they spent about eight million dollars trying to destabilize the Allende government in Chile, and trying to make it impossible for Allende to govern. And I might point out that Allende was democratically elected in Chile, and it was the legal government. And we were interfering, trying to over- throw him. VANCE: The CIA's function, as I understand it, is to gather intelligence. From this overview of this book here, I see that the CIA has, in fact, been involved in a great deal more than that, and in more places. than in Chile. Can you give us some idea of the scope of the CIA's involvement in world internal politics? MARKS: Well, we can tell you in 1958 they tried to overthrow the government of Indonesia. In 1954 they did over- throw the government of Guatemala. They tried things in Cuba-- you all remember the Bay of Pigs. They've been active all over Latin America, in Brazil in 1962, in Peru in 1965. I mean 00735 Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020067-0 Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020067-0 they're just a very active bunch of fellows. VANCE: But at the same time, if there is a government somewhere that is about, or if there is a government somewhere the developments of which are about to threaten something that has to do with United States interests, isn't it in the interest of the United States to have somebody over there doing something about it? And isn't that what the CIA is all about? MARKS: Sure, if it was really threatening to our interests, but what was the threat from Chile? I mean, the Chilean army wasn't going to invade the United States, but yet the United States felt compelled to intervene there--the CIA felt compelled to intervene. In fact, most of the countries where the CIA has intervened have been in the third world, and those aren't countries that pose any conceivable threat to the United States. VANCE: A great deal of your book is not here on tliese pages. I don't know if you can see this or not, but much of this--there are blank spaces where it says "deleted". The government went to court and kept you from putting, or kept you from printing, a lot of what you had intended to put in this book. There was one passage here having to do with the statement that Henry Kissinger made in June _.27th of 1970 in reference to Chile. What did he say there? And I understand that you can tell me about that. MARKS: Well, I can't tell you officially, but I can tell you that the New York Times said that he said there that I don't see why we should stand by and see a country go commun- ist just because of the irresponsibility of its own people. And I think that was a very interesting commentary by Mr. Kissinger--by Dr. Kissinger--because it shows his attitude, that he feels the United States should be intervening in foreign countries if he perceives a threat. VANCE: John, it's fascinating. I wish we had more time to talk about it. I'm really sorry we've got to cut it off. 00736 Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020067-0