LBJ SEEKS DOMINGO SCAPEGOATS; LOTS OF CANDIDATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100160127-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 23, 2000
• Sequence Number: 127
• Publication Date: May 22, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK
DAILY NEWS
Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100160127-0
MAY 2 2 1965
Atd6d$Se
CPYRGHT'
By TED LEWIS
Chief of THE NEWS Washington Bureau
blaiue for the Dominican Republic mess: The fact that such a hunt is on is sufficient proof
that.Ahe Administration realizes the whole military intervention operation has been
It Could Be Long List '
Because the errors in judg-
ment, or misinterpretation of the
Administration's program f o r
'bringing order out of chaos,
involve diplomatic, military and
intelligence agencies, the list of
scapegoats could be pretty long.
. . ,, , !'-
C
tensive in connection with the
present messed-up situation than
the roll of, wrong guessers and
blundering operatives in John F.
Kennedy's Bay of Pigs fiasco in
1961.
Comparatively innocent high
officials had to take the rap
CIA Chief Raborn
Too new to be blamed?
under Kennedy in 1961, such as
the then CIA head Allen Dulles,
his deputy Rich.ird M. Bissell Jr.,
and the then ch,urman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Ly-
mangy Leninitzcr. But Kennedy at I sidered more instrumental than
that' time accepted the whole ll any other 'adviser in the Presi
blame himself. To date. the White ('dent's decision to act at. once. On l
Continued
House has shown no similar in-
elinp,l;ion,
Instead, Ambassador fl nnett
is being blamed on various vague
counts: that he failed to have'
the right contacts in the Domini-
can Republic, that he overempha-
sized the danger to American
lives in urging the President to
rush the marines in on April 28.
Raborn of--the CIA is accused
of making too emotional an appeal
to the White House about the
Communist ,threat. This charge,
from Admiuistration sources that
should know better, makes little
sense. Raborn had just been sworn
in on April 28 when Johnson or-
dered the marines in. The main
CIA appeal for prompt action
came from retiring CIA chief.
John McCone.
Mann in a Key Spot .
But the' digs at Raborn are
basically aimed at the intelligence
operation he heads. The State De-!
partment and Pentagon have con-1
sistently cast aspersions on the
value of CIA "evaluations."
Undersecretary of State Malin
is caught in, the- scapegoat hunt
mainly because he has been con-
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 MAY 221965
z Rat
Ambassador Bennett
Many fingers point at him
Undersecretary Mann
He has the boss' ear
to Santo Domingo last Saturday.
emispheric affairs his views have The aim was to end the fighting.
?onsistently carried great weight' This mission sought unsuccess-
ith LBJ. I fully to form a coalition govern-
The inside Administration in- ment headed by Antonio Guzman,
rigue in this scapegoat hunt has 'a close friend of exiled President
dd aspects. Some of those trying' Juan Bosch.
o make Ambassador Bennett the I Guzman's left-wing status was
hipping boy are really ? after such as to have made him sus-;
Mann. The latter is considered re- pest but it is held in intelligence
nsible for $onnott's boin in circles here that the Bundy niis i
to Domingo in the first p face, sion refused to accept this Guz
There is an almost hy;tcriral nian valuation.
effort by those in the possible On almost every aspect of the
line of 'Presidential fire to pass p r e s e n t messed-up situation
the buck to other agencies and there have been false notes strue
here. What leaks out of th
individuals. State Department, Pentagon o
Knife Out for McG. Bundy Too CIA privately has no relation t
For example, certain high in- 'the statements issued publicly b
telligence officials have the knife the Administration even at the
McGeorge White White House level,
out for Burry Unneutral Neutrality
.House national se.rurity adviser. The White house again insiste
Bundy is Mauled for the White formally today that our troop
House detisiop to send a special were in strictl ya neutral postur
mission on a, desperation basis in the Dominican Republic. Al
the evidence from the scene, in
eluding motion pictures and com
ments from our paratroopers an
marines themselves ,indicates ou
military are playing footsie wit
the Junta, while the Fundy mi
sion has been playing footsie wit
the rebels-at least on certai
days of the week.
The buckpasing, the lack
6fficial candor and all the bac -
biting going on here suggest onl
one thing. The President h cg
found himself boxed in with
throughly loused-up situation cri
his hands, and he is trying d -
sperately to find a wa yout. Wh t
basically went wrong?
There is no argument abo t I
thiit. Johnson was led to belie e
that once we put' our troo s
ashore the whole mess could e
cleared up in a few days with a
temporary coalition governme it
operating to stabilize the count
Instead, this is the fourth we k
of our intervention, and no 111-
mediate solution is in sight.
Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000100160127-0