REPLY TO CRITICISM OF CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000500030079-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 31, 2003
• Sequence Number: 79
• Publication Date: January 14, 1966
• Content Type: OPEN

Approved For Release 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000500030079-1
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE January 14, 1966
,
Lr. SALTONSTALL, Mr. Presiaent, that CIA's ratio of incompetents is--any
for sane years now I have been arivi- higher than that of the U.S. Senate.
leged to sit on the special subcommittee they Those Its always op n~season on CIA
which deals with the work of the CIA. seem to ignore one inescapable fact : A good
Throughout my service on the subcom- intelligence system has become as crucial
raittee I have been impressed by the to national security as an army, or air force.
dedication of the people working In that or an arsenal of powerful weapons, c agency and by the skill with which they The foreigners nriticizing CIA most (the
have carried out their very difficult; and Ghana, e, .) know t I~wnd bodyle exp of
important this jobs. We know that from more ~effortthanthey dotryingtoperect
perfect
to time criticism of the CIA is their cloak and dagger operations.
heard. Unfortunately the many sue- What we ought not forget is that in many
isese s of the agency are seldom men- critical eituatiane those last few ysarr, the
:pried in the press and often are not United States has been able to make the
oven known since publicity might en- because cedecision is guarantee our on that
Ganger the success of future programs CIA had secured information that
and even the lives of those carrying, r8 our enemies es thought we could not possibly
possess, The Cuban missiles crisis is an
thertr out. On the other hand, when example.
"he CIA's Having said all this, I must concede that
judgment appears faulty, _CIA is at a critical point In its history. Not
sharp criticism sometimes follows. duly is it scorned the world over, but the
A recent article' which appeared In fardard device for discrediting tine Peace
the Washington Star alid other news- vorps, USIA and other American agencies is
pcrs seems to me to outline very well to link them to the CIA.
.~orr.e of the special problems which face During the recent tour of East Africa and
the a nency It
REPLY TO CRITICISM OF CL1
`
THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY
Mr. SYMINGTON. Mr. ]?resident,
during my recent trip abroa:1? I was af-
forded the opportunity of looking over
the programs and activities of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency in many cou,:n-
tries. Prior to departure, I received ex-
tensive briefings from the Agency and
during my trip talked in detail with all
Agency representatives in the country
in question, as has been my custom in
past years when visiting %broad.
All felt the latter's programs were
fully coordinated with U.S. Policy of the
Agency with every Ambassador. In
every case, no exception, the Ambassa-
dor expressed his complete approval of
the functioning of the Agency.
I found no instances of any kind
where CIA activities were uncontrolled,
or contrary to U.S. policy. 'Indeed 'it
would appear difficult, if not impossible,
for such uncontrolled activities to oc-
cur. This belief is based on existing co-
ordination procedures and policy direc-
tives stemming from the Washington
level, plus the controls applicable to
field activities.
I have contacts with the Agenc 'with the in-
tegrity and professional competence of
its representatives. Only twice, in over
10 years, have I found anything to the
contrary. Based on the present rules, 1
doubt if those cases of disagreement
could now be duplicated.
It is a pleasure, therefore, to present
to the Senate the fact that I agree with
Secretary Rusk who, in talking about
CIA people, stated:
There is a good deal of gallantry and a
high degree of competence in those who have
to help us deal with that part of the struggle
for freedom.
The Central Intelligence Agency has
a difficult, and at times a very dangerous
mission to perform. Not all men, or
women, of this or any other agency, are
perfect, and it is easy to criticize any
group which cannot defend itself because
.of the nature of its work. Nevertheless
it is my considered judgment that the
American public should be proud of this
organization and its people, a group who
serve our country with unstinting devo-
tion.
In addition to this brief report, which
of necessity must be general, I am also
reporting my fUidings and conclusions in
more detail to Chairman RUSSELL and
the Subcommittee for the CIA of the Sen-
ate Armed Services Committee.
a was written by one of
the persons most knowledgeable about
the work of the CIA, Carl Rowan, former
:Dire: ctor of the USIA and former Am-
oa,saador to Finland, who has now re-
ll: r n;i ' to his earlier occupation as a
.;~yaiiicated columnist, As Ambassador
Rogan points out:
A good intelligence system has become as
aruciet to national security as an army, or
ar 'orca, or an arsenal of powerful weapons.
I think we should recognize the im-
-.?Orva:at role which the CIA has played
.n our national security. I think, too,
that we should give credit where credit
is due: Over the Years the CIA has done
a good job in carrying out the tasks as-
signed to it. I hope It will continue to
do so.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that Ambassador Rowan's article be
printed in the body of the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered-to be printed in the RECORD
as follows: '
[From the Washington (D.C.) Sunday Star.
Dec. 19, 19651
REPLY TO CRITICISM Or CIA
(By Carl T. Rowan)
Pit, the poor old Central Intelligence
;c r (CIA). It is the perennial whipping
lc, o: the columnists and Congressmen and
>f 1;; t about every foreign dictator seeking
o di v : t attention from his own crookedness
or is ;ep,;itude.
A:; cne who knows a bit about CIA (which
:nest of its critics decidedly do not), I get
.~ little sick 'of seeing it badgered and abused
by gust about everybody capable of scratch-
ing out a sentence or calling a press confer-
ence.
Now this may be interpreted as my being
ire favor of sin (which most people are) but
put me on record as saying CIA does a pretty
darned good job of protecting not only U.S.
sect:r.ry but that of many weaker countries
all over the world as well.
T;-ue, It makes mistakes. Big ones. But
only at about the same rate that the State ;
Depar?onent, the Defense Department, the
'?`v"t.u e House or my old agency, the U.S. In-
:
orrr a ion Agency makes booboos,
southeast Asia, it was made clear to me that
suspicion and fear of "the CIA" has become
a sort of Achilles heel of American foreign
policy.
This may seem to justify the 01aeks on
CIA in Congress e,11d elsewhere but ,: ie t
th
ru
is just the opposite, The home-grovn11 critics
are 100 times more to blame for the wild and
irrational foreign fear of CIA thin is the
agor+cy itself.
? A Ghana official recently was lamenting
tho fact that the United States denied a food
recieust because Nkrumah publishes, a book
riti.aclding CIA and labeling just about every
American who over put foot in Ghana as a
"CIA Spy."
"Aro you surprised that Americans would
react unfavorably to . this kind of attack?"
I asked. .
"We are surprised that you would direct
your anger at us," said the Ghana envoy.
"Our President took practically everything
be wrote out of American books and other
publications."
At a dinner in Lusaka, the Vice ]'resident
of Zambia began conversation by asking me
to give him an appraisal of "The Invisible
Government," a book by two of my journal-
istic colleagues about so-called C'iA Cloak-
and-dagger operations abroad.
I ducked the question by comme ,tang: "I,
only wish CIA were capable of :calf thel
things for whi.oh it Is blamed or pra'sed. '
Several Zarn.bian Cabinet member;; refused
to let me duck, however, and I soars found
myself caught in a wild discussion with peo-
ple who believe fervently that CIA is In the
business of overthrowing and Installing gov-
ernments all over the world-without the ap-
proval or knowledge of the Secretary of
State or the President.
I later learned that every top. and middle-
level Zambian official had been instructed to
read. "The Invisible Government," Andrew
Tally's book "The CIA," and Morris West's
I new book "The Ambassador."
I'm not naive enough to suggest that news-
mer_ and authors stop writing about CIA.
Our society is naturally Intolerant of secrecy
(which any good intelligence operation re-
quires), so the questioning and criticism will
go on.
But it would sure help if some of the critics
conceded that, whether we like clandestine
intelligence operations or not, they are in-
dispensable in this crazy, crooked, bellicose
world in which we live.
Approved For Release 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP75-001-498000500030079-1