THE LUGUBRIOUS SPECTACLE OF THE CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00318R000100770043-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2013
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: April 26, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

AR" "I.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/07: EIZRDP67-00318R000100770043-7
SPRINGFIELD (Ohio)
SUN
Circ.: 4i. 17,336
Front Edi Other
Page gag Page
DP: APR 26 1961
The Lugubrious Spectacle Of The, CIA.
It is good sense on the part of President
Kennedy to order an investigation of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency, and good news that
Attorney General Robert Kennedy will take a
hand in the business.
When the President announced at thp outset
of his administration the reappointment of
CIA Chief Allen W. Dulles, there Were doubts.
The iiena equated with that of
FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, which was unfor-
tunate because while Hoover is the more con-
troversial of the two, he is also by long odds
the more able. The record of his success is far
better known than the record of Dulles' fail-
ures?many of the latter, indeed, being
swathed in "top secret" classifications and
bureaucratic red tape. Still, there was little
disposition at the time to protest Mr. Ken-
nedy's retention of Dulles. He is a favorite
of some Republicans on Capitol Hill, for one.
thing; for another, Democrats and independ-
ents who look askance on the man nonetheless
respected Mr. .Kennedy's good will in the
matter and were reluctant to criticize.
Now, however, that the Dulles organization
has pulled its biggest?or anyhow most con-
spicuous?blooper in a long series, by mis-
reading the temper of Cuban opinion, mis-
judging the time for an anasion,
and mishandling, the forces available, Presi-
dent Kennedy can hardly do other than insist
on a close scrutiny of the CIA. It may be in
greater part conducted beyond reach of the
public, for reasons Of national security among
others, but we hope that Gen. Maxwell D.
Taylor, recalled from retirement to bead the
investigation, and Attorney General Kennedy
will be as candid about their findings as prac-
ticable.
The CIA's dismal record began with itt post-
war inception. include-Cfrightful blunders of
one kind or another in most major sectors of,
the globe, from N449114114. China through
Asia, Europe, Africa, ansl 5ou,th and Central
America to the recent U2 digester in Russia
and the present confusionTnIn Laos,
as a case in point, the ,CIA spent vast amounts
of money?which it never has to account for?
in backing a politician opposed to the 'U.S.
State Department's choice, Avho was also re-
ceiving expensiye American support. It was
not the first time this incredible organization
has worked at cross-purposes to other Ameri-
can interests?diplomatic, military, and com-
mercial.) d
One thing wrong with the CIA is that it
mdsltroom d
overnight, so to speak, from
notning to a gigantic buruucraa with un-
precedend latitude as to action and-disburse-
ment of fuixls. Yet it had pOstory, no guid-
ing principips. no backgrcaina'of experience in
either politAtal Or military, intelligepce. Even
today it exists alongside the established intel-
ligence servicek bithe Army and Navy. The,
FBI's counter-4pionage and internal security
setup remains AoSppletely separate (a good
thing, too): An .44w weeks, ago
the $ stiaa..A4. owo itAelliunce
branch as well, now merged with the CIA.
Moreb?Oer, Old CM'ic7tA?Ttor: its pay-
tiality to Ivy League graduates and its obses-
slot-icy-11V SO-cial-Oreeinite7on the Washington
scene. It has had a succession of inconsequen-
tial chiefs, socially acceptable 'worthies with
few qualifications for the job.
Dulles is the least amateurish of those
secohd-raters, having at any rate been in and
out of intelligence work at the administrative
level as part of his long association with the
State Department in minor posts. But his
dossier, like that of most bureaucrats, offers
no tangible clues to his shortcomings. Until
now, that is. Dulles must be held responsible
in some measure for the grotesque failures
of the CIA under his direction, only a few of
which have been publicized to any extent and
some not at all.
Examining this chronical of bureaucratic
clumsiness and replacing Dulles with a more
competent director will not resolve all the old
problems of the CIA or ,eliminate all the new
ones, but, it would be a start toward some-
thing better than we have had so far. And
soniething better is urgently needed.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/07: CIA-RDP67-00318Rnnn1nn77nnA7