STATEMENT OF MR. DAVID SHERIDAN HARRINGTON BEFORE THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE, JULY 20, 1973

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00380R000600050004-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 31, 2000
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: STATEMENT

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Statement of MMr o David Sheridan Harrington
before the
Senate Armed Services Committee, July 20,1973
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t ie C: Tc?1:'::~ i GAi: about to des ^rbc" occurred _
' early 1969 while
Was assigned to CORD S/V ICi:.~ c it as a Program Officer at the I Corps re-
gional headquarters. 2~ t that ti me. I was a First Lieutenant in the Un-
a ted S tatec Marine Corps and on a voluntary extension of an initial
thi teen month- tour in Vietnam. My selection into CORDS was based on
iii combs infantry experience, my fluency in Vietnamese and French, and
my trai) ing in psychological ooeration_s. Since then, .-7 completed my
ta_ ee years of active duty in March ,19 70 , and resigned. my core fission at
the and of my six year service obligation.
The possible confirmation of Ambassador 4tii1liar: E. Colby as the
Di-_r ecto:" of Central Intelligence disturbs '_mme because I have believed
for a long time that he has never explained fully the Phoenix
at. its' operational level. Furthermore, he has never, to my knowledge,
offered anything more than va(.:);ue statements on his efforts either to
cease the widespread killings occurring under the Phoenix Program or
to divest the United States of any involvement in the assassination of
Vic tnamese c1_vilians.
Specifically, in testimony before the Committee on Government Op-
eraticns :in 1'971, Ambassador Colby answered questions on the Phoenix
grogram by resorting" to evasive and jr is ending bureaucratic language
i:G C fist n l s Phoenix policy from operations, and to claim that only
a few abuses occurred at the local level, and those without the approv-
al of Phoenix- ad Qinis trato:r s .
i c'wev' attended a meeting in 1969 at which Mr. Colby was told
C :_. i. , C ly ~.,Dct_ G the operational o fie: iS of Phoenix, and the many muses
GC ::: __ng the local level . From this breifing, he could only conclude
Saigon and opera;:yoi.
exss uud between .1.. 3o ~-Cy in -
?ir. Colby prow cs a Complete of the Phoenix Pro-
_U
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~.. ...c a .w c. ~e ire zc, ~e eve Mr. 01.0V s involvement in Phoen-
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0_ _Ou.s c-, estio to his su_`Cab ! i y, for h i g
1 Lj v Sri' i ~ nt
ass
~~ c_r y lr~. ,tUr ii1 la~~ i'oOillc ~/ O
.:Y
r :C'_ _J 9 I was i v .Y ~. ./ ~;.
?_- .:..~ - ~ ~' ~ '' ,, was ~v ;. CORDS CG:L'a;, ~ 1_.,. .
h Colby was co_ i g moo a high level briefing
.01. all
.. ..a he ./ . ~-. i . _ ' t . ' . 'o ,V C catio sabili ..y 1.
sties and mat c 1- meeting sands out ia
.,1 y mini . Yr G. J 1 d AIL Y :ed to a c ~1C thea: meeting 'Co o_ 0vide back-up information
as nee sec. C.-iv to 4t::.;re YLU L es. J 0 A ~J.r u di l.y -23 _.ea sad me e .. ..~~:ca as 4r ~l as
f ^ , o
4~ i..CCa .:. aL:G l:: f L?.. ~..i.~ s :,+ f-iGi:i Saigon and hearing a d_.. :~1:. ~,as sZJaa
C. J..a .in ti.- ~..::J
}
The ri eeti was he'd -..n the second Lloo:i: conference room of CORDS 25X1Q
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regional headquarters at 22 Baca ua lrlg, Datiang -Present. at the :uC %,-n3
Sais-c-n. ware !,.i-abassador Colby,
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/a ang, ..T.-, Fi.-ie his deputy Mr. ..~1 i?1...:u" TLlC7:?~~......~, an 1. 11o di_rec o . co _.?"Jother s an .G.= /YIang star._, Robert
07 4
Robert ill s, attend.e t o G ons 7i the brief ng.
::Z.u .1....__~.._..".. phase o_ the n lasted a ov"- one you r and a final-,
c 0sS and SIA:^52Cy cca, CGueS ....0_. r a1.swe y
n
:i. C 1,.son ot ha oresen tatioin. ,if. Colby had prepared thoroughly
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i. it Jw ef cln c d `rpoin to a Co'ueestaons ors ci__ phases of C io c
r1GV1 A
-o a pre, antaj-_
asides his :position and -IL-.he fact
a v t. lS ` ee0,01 f i05S include X had serious questions
;~ c CIA agents who carried luger pistols and folding scot c
;,, -i,L-aors were fairly widespread that these covert ope
c _ ;'i e l C? in a very dirty war -h Viet Cling' and their s~Tn-
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J
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J 0...'e was d :e to co---pi- nts
and low iz--
_?_C:.. _.. .:.t,e G. i:f,..Ca~_ ~C'"i.. l.CI::C~ C"~."l..i...L' V C_) Mr. Colby ^d c 1 L ^ in
oG
,edgily his concern and his desire to
focused on three areas o 25X1A
C:-,. sio?n .i n respoInd, 4 nc to Sa? jOli cri i 1s"S:;S . O na he low quality 0:_
olperationa' groups such as Provisional R' cony issance Unit'-.s (PRU' ; two,
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of Vol killed ',ossible inter0ga"i.ion; and three,
a cL_t_cisr.a of Saigon pressure =or ~ igh quality V`' was
., ... xC a c -''r picture G f e Phoe i program at the local level in O'""e
'co and o_ f C :.,~Li tS AiC har ras sment
e log C 0 presentation moved very clear. l y -towards
I a .: v'l._1.'.1 L. LJ in _l. Cowp. .to ti'fi t..h the -i=aC- r a"
U_L
l _ ^ '' a.'. 'fir`s - ._ers _. e- i
. in very too: operational
,,ha _ scI'-:'D j --ni d _ a bare of t :c ?~%Ius ul"e
by .. s :1. ,'.,,~ .~ ` a result f ~..'' poor c i~ly~
J :J! lj a-a s. i'].`' to 4 of the pGI- Cdiscipline
7 ,s l i ~-~.c: of t
c7 G CO.-_-01 ~-
: - , r:. :.~ 1 ~~G :x1st~ c~.p t_arecL ~
gs;.ook pl e away zo: CIA supervision and consequently, ! e-
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,__ W G was kill d and c :r to my could not CO i pi e c t
:os C,-) "a rant_,,
VC),
.- ca ac U:y Cam.. : ~14.ri['ic'.wr ca',Te
0l c"": unit out on ar'Sign .!:ClZi- in Viet uCing
~a s li _g Vi '.`~tc.m e susp`^l i with a silei1CC i quieted
g Z- . s poin` Cary interjected
~. as no "c o.less o:.. breakdown at the local
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f -. n t4
0 Saigo pu.r culia ly vexing
oLi=_d "~ e C uof a system i r
o:. ro sei ote c " 10113 / Ta and had little use for
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__ _.v... _ ...v _.. t::._\...,. llr+s . ..l~ ~ e V S
,1
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was
aha does m e io ne .'a
...~ was _ /~ a ermissi on to inclu.l e
a.-....... zo .
1'_~'t c':A:._ z susooc s n~ie'C_ra,1:1.U'ed in _' is a, Mr Colby have X o re-
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II .~ t -.-. -^ .
e C_.c" a an n e Standing gained from the i 1e 1110 was that
7 J S( s oc l ed at '.=. e opera _O:1cievel of i he Phoenix Progr r' n
:ad. and uncontrolled assassnations.
Lk i-
of is test_mo V J) fore the louse Committe on ovF:"~31T11 ii'i- Cnerations1 oa
;.Cl::l