NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP10M00666R000503340001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 10, 1987
• Content Type: LETTER

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/02 : CIA-RDP10M00666R000503340001-6
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/02 : CIA-RDP10M00666R000503340001-6
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/02 : CIA-RDP10M00666R000503340001-6
87-2308x
'9TFi DISTRICT. NEW YORK
WASHINGTON OFFICE
2428 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
[phone]
BRONX
3255 WESTCHESTER AVENUE
BRONx, NY 10461
[phone]
YONKERS
SECOND FLOOR
5 SEMINARY AVENUE
YONKERS, NY 10704
[phone]
LA" 111114
Qtongrea of the Mniteb 'tateg
gouge of Repregentatibeg
Wagfjtngton, DC 20515
June 10, 1987
COMMITTEES
rDUCATION AND LABOR
SUBCOMMITTEES
LABOR MANAGEMENT
SELECT EDUCATION
ELEMENTARY. SECONDARY AND
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
HUMAN RESOURCES
VICE-CHAIRMAN
MERCHANT MARINE AND
FISHERIES
SUBCOMMITTEES
CHAIRMAN,
MERCHANT MARINE
PANAMA CANAVOUTER
CONTINENTAL SHELF
SELECT COMMITTEE ON
AGING
Judge William Webster
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington,D.C. 20505
SUBCOMMITTEE.
CHAIRMAN, HUMAN SERVICES
CHAIRMAN, AD HOC
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
FOR IRISH AFFAIRS
Dear Judge Webster:
As Chairman of the 119 Member bi partisan Ad Hoc
Congressional Committee for Irish Affairs, I am writing
to request that you undertake an investigation of alle-
gations made in a Jack Anderson column of June 9 dealing
with an effort by British intelligence officials to distort
the role of the Central Intelligence Agency in Northern
Ireland during the early 1970's.
I contend that the allegations that are made in the
Anderson column are grave and warrant a response within the
parameters of national security interests. If such a cam-
paign were in fact waged by British intelligence, without
our knowledge and consent, this would be a matter of deep
and profound concern. Our policy with respect to Northern
Ireland has revolved around strong support of the British
direct rule over the six counties of Northeast Ireland, a
position I strongly oppose. I would assume that if this
discrediting campaign was part of British policy over the
years, it might lead to reassessment of the position.
I would hope for a prompt and thorough response to
these allegations, and i appreciate your assistance.
.10
THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE WITH RECYCLED FIBERS
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/02 : CIA-RDP10M00666R000503340001-6
JACK ANDERSON and JOSEPH SPEAR
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British Allegedly Tried to Link CIA, IRA
B ritish Intelligence printed and circulated fake
CIA identity cards in Northern Ireland in the
early 1970s in an attempt to discredit the
U.S. spy agency, according to a former senior
official in the British Army.
According to the official, Colin Wallace, the point
of the bizarre counterfeiting operation was to link
the Central Intelligence Agency with the outlawed
Irish Republican Army, which has carried out
terrorist attacks for years in hopes of forcing the
British out of Northern Ireland. Wallace was a
senior information officer at British Army
headquarters in Lisburn in the late 1960' and early
1970s.
Wallace claims to have seen the phony ID cards
printed and photocopied. In a report to Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984, he explained
why British officials were anxious to discredit the
CIA. "I can recall the quite strong feeling in British
Intelligence circles that the CIA had not only
turned a blind eye to arms smuggling from the USA
to the IRA, but also encouraged it," he wrote.
Our reporter Lisa Sylvester has seen an excerpt
from Wallace's confidential report, as well as copies
of the fake ID cards. One card, dated November
1972, contains the statement: "This Certificate of
Credentials is issued under the authority of the
Central Intelligence Agency. It is requested that
the bearer be afforded the necessary help to enable
him to satisfactorily discharge his duties."
Wallace said two different cards were forged and
circulated. "They were designed to create the
impression that the CIA was active in Northern
Ireland. The rumor was that American intelligence
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believed the IRA could come under control of
Eastern Bloc countries who would supply weapons
and ammunition," he told us.
Wallace said he left the service because he
objected to efforts by British Intelligence to
discredit and oust then-Prime Minister Harold
Wilson. Wallace's claim of a disinformation
campaign against Wilson by British Intelligence
coincides with charges made by Peter Wright, a
former intelligence official. Wright's book detailing
the charges has been banned in Britain.
Wallace said he first made allegations about
improper British Intelligence operations in a report
to a deputy minister in Parliament in 1975. Since
then, he has been charged with murder and
convicted of manslaughter, and has served six years
in prison. Wallace, who was released last
December, said he was set up on the homicide
charge to shut him up.
William Colby, who headed the CIA at the time,
told us he had never heard of the alleged forgery of
ID cards. He would not discuss CIA operations that
might have been going on in Northern Ireland, but
pointed out that CIA agents on covert assignments
do not carry cards identifying themselves as such.
"But it's not a question of what the CIA would
do," Wallace said. "It's what the people in Northern
Ireland believed."
The Protestant majority in Northern Ireland has
long believed that Catholic Irish Americans are the
IRA's main support. Faked evidence that the CIA
assisted in this support would conceivably discredit
U.S. efforts on behalf of the Catholic minority. Why
British Intelligence would encourage this is not clear.
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