RADIO TV REPORTS, INC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100080013-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 1999
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: April 29, 1965
• Content Type: TRANS

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AADI. STa~iit5 ~p~r ir&For Release : CIA-RDP75-
FORS CIA- Mail Room Library
PROGRAM Newsnight
DATE April 29, 1965 q'
CPYRGHT
POPULAR CRITICISM OF CIA
CITY
WTOP-TV and
CBS Network
DAVID P.4CCONNELL: "This is David McConnell.` As former Admiral
Raborn assumes the duties of his new post, that of director of the
CIA, he must know that his agency has become the object of a great
deal of criticism both at home and abroad. Recent things in South
America and in South Viet Nam have caused many authors and journalists
to take issue with the CIA's policy and it's personnel. The latest
example of criticism in connection with CIA affairs is a novel published
by Morris West. Some say it resembles too closely the recent events
which surrounded'the end of the Diem regime. The man who says this,
and is prepared to discuss the CIA and its defractors is correspondent
Stewart Alsop:"
STEWART ALSOP: "Faction writers seem a bite fear minded these
days. A year or so ago, the fashion in political fiction was to
suggest the military, and the Air Force especially, was about ready
to take over the U.S. government in order to blow up the world with
nuclear weapons. Now the great villian is the Central Intelligence
Agency. No less than four anti-CIA novels have just been published
or are about to be published. In all of them, the poor old CIA plays
a thoroughly discreditable role.
"One of them, called The Ambassador,is pretty certain to be a
best seller, since its aut or, Morris West, is a good writer, with at
least one first class novel to his credit. Most of these works have
the usual disclaimer to the effect that they are works. of fiction and
pure imagination, and that is precisely what they are. Any resemblance
to what the. CIA is really like is totally coincidental, The Ambassador
for :0x.aYhi l, is a very thinly veiled account of the downfa o t e
late president in South Viet Nam. A lot of readers are going to assume
that the book is an accurate reflection of what actually happened in
Viet Narii at the time. It is, in fact, in many respects, the precise
opposite of what happened. To cite one example: the CIA station
chief is represented as a slimy fellow who is principally responsible
for Diem's assassination. Actually, the CIA station chief at the time
John Richardson was recalled in part because he fought a losing battle
against the policy of pulling Diem down with no one to replace him.
Sanitized -Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100080013-5
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