BRIEF FOR U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY MEMBERSHIP IN THE IAC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP61-00549R000100230002-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 23, 2000
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 4, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

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C IAC-D-82/7
O 4 June 1956
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Brief for, U. S. Information Agency Membership in the IAC
Background
In the spring of 1954, the U. S. Information Agency (USIA)
requested the DCI to study its intelligence needs. ICI agreed,
and the completed study was submitted as IAC-D-82. The IAC
approved, in July of 1954, pertinent sections of the study, in-
cluding the conclusion that "USIA should have an intelligence
organization designed to ensure that full use is made of the re-
sources of the intelligence community and to be responsive to
those USIA needs which cannot be met by the community."
While IAC-D-82 held that USIA should not become a member
of the IAC at that time, it recommended that "the question of IAC
membership should be reexamined after sufficient time had passed
for implementation of the report."
Advantages of USIA Membership in the IAC
The primary mission of USIA is to engage in activities designed
to affect public opinion and combat hostile propaganda abroad. To
assist the Agency in its mission, the intelligence responsibilities of
the Office of Research and Intelligence (IRI) include measurement of
foreign public opinion and attitudes and the analysis of hostile
propaganda.
Membership of USIA in the IAC would benefit both the intelli-
gence community and USIA, with the principal advantages including:
Fuller and more timely use by the IAC of USIA's
unique assets and resources;
Increased responsiveness of the IAC to both long-
range and immediate USIA requirements;
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Deeper awareness within the intelligence community
of propaganda intelligence as a vital segment of the
complete intelligence picture of any area or country.
Among the unique USIA assets and resources of which the IAC
would make fuller and more timely use are:
* The established mechanism for measurement of
foreign public attitudes on issues affecting the
U. S. national interest.
(A poll conducted in Iceland accurately forecast
the unpleasant developments involving NATO and
U. S. airbases in that country. A similar survey
could have been conducted in, for example,
Ceylon prior to the recent elections.
This service, the only one of its kind in the
Government, has never been requested by the
IAC, and USIA--since it is not kept informed
of IAC deliberations- -has never been in a
position to offer the facility at appropriate times. )
USIA field personnel- -numbering 1, 200 Americans
and 7, 000 local employees--at 200 posts in 79
countries.
(Not only do USIS employees travel more
frequently and more widely than other members
of the Country Team, but--by the very nature
of their activities--they have sources and
channels available exclusively to them. In a
significant number of posts, furthermore, USIS
officers are the only official Americans--if not
the only Americans- -resident in the area.
While voluntary reports from USIS posts currently
total 2, 000 per month, the potential- -except in
terms of USIA requirements--has been exploited
only sporadically. )
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Increased IAC responsiveness to USIA requirements would
* Insure timely receipt by USIA of items not now
received or received too late to be of value.
(USIA does not, for example, regularly receive
IAC series papers, PDs, draft NIEs, or FBIS
ticker items marked 'IAC only');
Eliminate certain critical gaps. One example
concerns USIA's present attempt to compile an
estimate of communist propaganda expenditures
outside the bloc. Despite the recognized im-
portance of propaganda in the communist scheme
of things, no such estimate has ever been made.
An increased awareness of propaganda intelligence as a vital
segment of the complete intelligence picture would add significantly
to the comprehensiveness and accuracy of estimates.
Propaganda is more than words spoken, printed,
broadcast. It is more than threats or promises
or statements of national leaders, more than a
slanted film. It also encompasses activities like
trade fairs, cultural exchanges, exhibits.
Propaganda viewed in its entirety is a weapon--
used by the enemy, used by us. It is, further, a
weapon used in both cold and hot wars. It is a
weapon designed not to kill people or demolish
cities, but rather to create favorable attitudes and
elicit desired actions. The uses of propaganda
have always played a central role in communist
strategy. This country has never fully reacted to
this fact, perhaps because, until comparatively
recently, this country had no propaganda apparatus
of its own.
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* It follows that propaganda intelligence is more than
sifting of intelligence for items usable as ammuni-
tion. Propaganda intelligence must also estimate
the enemy's propaganda intentions. It must assess
the effectiveness of his propaganda. And it must
include analysis of his propaganda apparatus--its
command structure, control, policies, methods, and
financing.
* What propaganda intelligence would contribute to the
intelligence picture, then, are such factors and
considerations as: public attitudes on given issues,
probable public reaction to given situations or
events, and an indication of the nature and relative
priority of the attitudes which the enemy is trying
to create and what actions he hopes to elicit from
the populace.
Note on Annex
The Annex to this memorandum, entitled "United States
Information Agency, Office of Research and Intelligence", is
designed to provide brief data on the mission, assets and resources,
and current procedures of IRI. As such, it necessarily duplicates a
few points covered in the foregoing, but, for the most part, it
serves to supplement and present additional details.
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