SECRET GOVERNMENT?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200340001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 23, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 16, 1964
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE: ' JAN 1 61964
M1ONITT9nitized - Approved Foqkhp: CIA-
STATINT
Secret Gavermne ~;
By Robert It. Brunn
Going up in an elevator in the cn- He apologized or
tral Intelligence Agency building we nomics is rather a dismal science and
overheard this fragment of conversation: he hoped that we wouldn't find the
"Cobras? No trouble at all. Never saw ;! gathering too stuffy. With professorial
a cobra during the whole stay." ., understatement he said that the CIA had
Newspaper reporters were being es- '.some interest in American security and
corted (one guide for each man) to the in the weaknesses and strengths of the
CIA 'S first press conference. Subject: Soviet Union.
the Soviet Union's faltering economy.
That scrap of talk was a proper intro- As he turned to the subject at hand,
duction to a cloak and dagger organiza- what interested the reporters around the
tion whose task of assembling iniorma- table was that the CIA was coming out
i' tiara is for the most part mundane. in broad daylight for the first time with=
But merely to enter the heavily out hiding behind the device of "nd
guarded precincts and then go deep into attribution to any official source" The
the agency's formidable looking build- arable offici head of the table
ings did give reporters at least a few said the CIA could be quote dirge
moments of subdued excitement. is as a revo u ionary departure
The taxi driver Coming over from 1 f
CIA ractice
.
rom
Washington only knew that the CIA
pile was "near McLean," in Virginia. As earlier reports in this newspape
ut a bit and a gas have indicated,'one reason the CIA pub
b
d
d
W
a
o
ere
e wan
station attendant said, "You missed. It's licly described in such detail the Sovie
ltur
i
i
'
cu
n agr
s dreary failure
back on Highway 123 more than a mile.: Union
Look for a federal sign." 1 and its impressive consequences wa
The sign was there all right, almost'f that Mr. Khrushchev badly needs mor
But it flexible credit, and together with th
ainst the woods
ht a
i
t t
l
.
g
g
o s
os
didn't say "Central Intelligence Agency." .' State Department the CIA doesn't wan
him to get it.
It only cryptically hinted. Soon we were
walking down corridors wide enough to For the CIA to take this public stc
t6 In:.u~^ cice nat. -1 opin has dcel2j
E
very-
take two-way automobile traffic.
ked sanitary and unimagina-' JET'-" ac s one c:c?SCiiiLlh~ Stai
thi
l
oo
ng
tive. It could have been the inside of nepartmenL They fear CIA is movin
any one of Washington's federal laby- into State's historic province of shapin
_ .. ?
i
] St. t
f,.,.-i n policy.
n
t
es
the
f
th
e vvlu 11 .,
????--
or
rlnlllb, UAUCNb
?which are rivaled only in the Pentagon. Facts are the business of the CI:
they insist.
i
medium
l
es
n
se
We found ourv sized room with gray walls dominated devoted to amassing information end i
ere
phol
Bred in
Th
.+
s
e chairs r
people.
a tawny plastic. Once a week this chaste State Department. Its economists, an o
t
ld . , "have more data In-
o
i
resided anyo e
responsible intell
g n p The staff is made up of highl
over by CIA director John A. McCone, t
d y. The cians and draws on th
i
ra
ne
i whose purpose is to coordinate United best of the academic community as we
States intelligence. Around the table
are usually the State Department's t L b
Director of Research and Intelligence He smiled and said
"Maybe the S
,
Thomas L. Hughes; CIA Representative vict Union will learn something fro
Lt. Gen. Marshall Carter; Air Force Lt. this data. They deliberately fudge da
Gen. Joseph Carroll, acting for the De- 1 but they also make unintentional disto
Maj
fciise
1 Ad-' tions. Premier iihrushchev may we
; A
h
C1
1
"
rm
y;
t
e
Dolman for
EdgarC. come outside analysis.
miral Rufus Taylor for the, Navy;., Several hundred CIA people h
Brig. Gen. Jack Thomas for the Air,
spent weeks preparing this analysis
Force; Air Force Lt. Gen. Gordon A., Mo
cow's economic dilemma. "T
s
Blake for the National Security Agency; Kremlin leadership for several years h
A Er. o?rl several
~.,
h
-?_,a f
or t
e
Rcic
;. A .Ian Belmont for the FBI. resources," said the CIA official at t
On this occasion the newsmen were 1 head of the table who was very nib
not on the edge of their seats, for the at ease.
substance of the briefing had leaked Beyond the administration's drive
With a wry grin one of the top' I the Soviets in an economic b
earlier
.
1 officers of the CIA sat down at the head and to bar long-term credits there a
of: the table to begin a( back-and-forth' ' other reasons for CIA'~S first press co
session on Nikita Khrushchevs cco~ " Terence. CIA officials have Ion., be
comic troubles that lasted more than an.,
concerned by the suspicion and urea
with which the American pco,
hour and a halt. ti
e
m
ss
He began by saying, "unaccustomea" view the agency's work.
as I am to public speaking...." The Behind this feeling lies the qu
sally brought a laugh. ? tion phrased by Harry Howe Ranso
CPYRGHISanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RD
CPYRGHT
one of the few close s u ens o
CIA: "flow shall a democracy insure
that its secret intelligence apparatus be-
comes neither a vehicle for conspiracy
nor a suppressor of the traditional liber-
ties of democratic self-government?"
Because the CIA has "tons of facts"
they do have power, and the agency i3
a new phenomenon in American politics.
So CIA is doubly questioned by other
power centers in the government and
among the citizenry.
.f f F
Behind CIA's first press conference
could well be a desire to support its
indispensable work by improving the
agency's image before the public, show-
ing that much of its work is the analysis
of facts and that this is being done
successfully.
Other CIA press conferences, or
briefings, are expected. "Why not?"
asked one of the CIA men flanked
against one wall. He said that "the rule
of eason" could be applied to the rc
e lease of CIA data. Some significant
stories. do not need to be kept secret, hr_
implied, even if clandestine means are
o; used in part to support the facts re-
l
sed
ea
e The question now is what reaction
there will be both among the general
public and in government circles. Is this
a proper role for CIA to play? What
should its relationship to the State Dc-
b
-
partmcnt, the Whi c 1-louse and the pu
lic bc? Can it properly remove its cloak
where daggers are not concerned?
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