DREDGING UP OUR OLD MISTAKES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00318R000100770014-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2013
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: April 27, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ri=7.02;:?Decia-s';rfre.C1 and Approved For Release 2013/05/07: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100770014-9
1
REGISTEKCIUMW
E. 36,017
S. 36,049
? APR 2 7 195',
Aredging Up Our Old Mistakes
?
-wt?N
Harry Truman, when he was. pr at% v:Itiorida's Sen. George Smathers is most;
ops.4 41aggi1,40,aay the Eisenhower ad-
misaqatikaiLlillaekintelligence re-
ports coming out of Cuba before Castro
dame to power. 4nd Lyle .c..6..Ws_ilmr.1,2 a
Un1tiLErjai4,,,,4,aa?iert that . some of
these reports, slieteing that Castro was
.untiiisTWOrthy and -etrtainly no. demo-
crat; htur...x,ractelhigb gommand
levels adin4tration. Senator
Smathers .wants a house cleaning in the
state department. '(Does. this sound fa-
miliar? Read the headlines of 1952.).
This would lead us to believe that we..
may see a state department blood. bath
that will be as irritating to :Republicans
as the similar venture into vengeance
was irritating to Democrats 10 years ago.
We may take lessons from 10 years
ago. Rare, indeed, was the state depart-
ment official who was actually disloyal,
who was truly subversive. Some were
soft-headed, whic4 is nci crime. Others
- Were, themselves; iictirns of bad informa-
tion. Such a eittiation -is undoubtedly
still true. But :what Senator Smathers
and Mr. Wilson tiggest is true, if inTh
Th_e_lattisies, artsUhe ?In- formation damaging to Castro actually '
quiries, will be in two ar.L4. UP' -s withheld from top policy officials,
?pertecLasp.L.W.Lelp,irnates -*Th-gegii.b.eads ought. to roll?and we ought
:the runtored13,C4',. 11.1s..4.?cutie? iejtairi exactly why it was: withheld.
:Mow e war Awith
Castro in the first place? The human animal, in his .personal
...um relationships and in his organizations,
The first inquiry is better taken than learns from his mistakes. Weniade a big
the second, partly because we may yet welcoming Castro, antertain-
be able, to do something about g' him royally' in America just two
"igf4tgiwi ikk..-laau.....c.oulgtojickto years two and in making his rise to pow-
the Ce iliggnz,e,AgencY, a super .er'414 -easY. Our error, and it was an:
secre oth that ;Operates on a error, ?waS- in assuming that anybody',
budgd4i: unknown size in unknown who opposes a dictator is, perfOrce, a
ways. -iiiiaitAmericans will concede that fine fellow. We made that mistake with
such an agency needs a great deal of Stalin. We made, it with Castro. And L
secrecy if it is to function. But they there are those who say we are making it 'f
may in turn demand high quality per- with Franco.
formance. If they don't get it. they can
demand drastic reforms in the CIA. The
tub comes in examining the Tratient.
How much can Congress, not to men-
lion the public, be trusted to know
about a cloak-and-dagger operation like
CIA? ?
, dent, had a little sign on his desk. ;11
said, "The buck stops here." That was
Mr. Truman's way of saying what Pres-
ident Kennedy has been saying about
the Cuban fiasco. The responsibility, ul-
timately, must lie with the, ran who is,
right now, President or, 6- -United
I States. Mr.
tabu -full re.sponsibility..Aor. whatever
errors were made in the estimate of the
Cy..1.2.ajialti2iLjays he doesn't want
anybody digging under the covers to
see who might have been in the bed
before he lay down in it.
Mr. Kennedy's charitable, and realis-
tic, view of the situation t, be
shared by all Democrats. Unders and-
.,
ably, many D emo crats 14. er
"Chil" the China which, in 4.1
publlon phrase:0 the day, 'le
.,... ?
It has."taken the Democrats 10 year a? to
live down responsibility for "losing"'
China. Now they may be excused if they
root around to learn who "Ici.st" u? Cuba
in 1959 and 1960.
if"tis
The important thing is to recognize
the mistakes' we have made. Often they
have been mistakes of public attitude
rather than cupidity or venality from
high places. So if there have been mis-
takes. let's have them trotted out for us
to see. But let's look at them intelligent-
The second inquiry?our too-late re- ly and let's try to avoid the 1950-style
I alization of the kind of revoluation Cas- witch hunts that serve more to incite
, led?is likely to be the nasty one. and confuse than they do to enlighten.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/07: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100770014-9