NIXON REPORTED WEIGHING REVAMPING OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04722A000200020024-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 28, 2000
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: May 11, 1971
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2000/08/28 : CIA-RDP78-04722A000200020024-8
THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY MAY 11, 1971
ix01 e orted Weighing Revamping of Intelligence Services
By BE ABENJAMIN I~ ELLFS gence provided them. Some.ance to the South Vietnamese !informants report, Cdr. Nixon huge intelligence system and
White House officials estimate: 3''s incursion into Laos Feb.: could mere7n. issue an ex :Hake it responsive to his needs,
Ties , 5 to March 25. ;ecutive order defining - thus Mr. Nixon is likely, his staff
WASHINGTO- , May 10 t'-at at least 5500-million could str ngt' ..eai: tl~e authonty associates sa , to choose on
be cut from the Sa billionspent ' 'Their Estimates 1~ ere Better' r g - 3 ?
!President Nixon is said to be f of Mr. Helms over the inteili-,or a combination of - the
considering a major reorgani- annually on nat.onal mtelli-I Hanoi threw 35,000 men or gence operations of such power middle options before him that
zation of the nation's foreign genre. four divisions against the, Mr. Nixon and fir. Kissinger 17,000 in ARVN," said one fuI federal agencies as the do not require Congressional
intelligence activities to im
prove output and cut costs have said that while occasion- qualifed source. "They strippedTertagon, the State Depart-approval.
Those familiar with the plan ally intelligence of extreme North Vietnam of troops, gain -j Invent, the Atomic Energy Com Closer Ties Possible
ssion and the Federal Bureau;
say that the options range; usefulness - such as the in- Ibring that the United States mi
from creating a new Cabinet-credibly detailed Information,wouldn't invade the North _ of Investigation. It is likely, oficials say, that level department of inteili- on Soviet and Chinese Commu- and'they were right. Their esti- Mr. Nixon will eventually bring
Officers Meet Weekly
Mr. Helms and a top-level staff
genre to merely strengt'fening!nist missile development ob-,mates were better than ours." Their principal intelligence of evaluators from C.I.A. head-
the now-imprecise authority oftained from spy satellites -~ The most drastic option open officers meet weekly as mem-1 quarters in Langley, Va., closer
iRichardHelms, Director of Cen-;has been produced, the: sere:-~to Mr.. Nixon would be the ere'bets of the UnitedyStates In- to the White House, possibly
trot Intelligence, over the gig-'ice has frequently failed to ation of a new department of
Iteiligeace Board. Mr. Helms, as into the National Securty
b al intelligence operations of;forecast such sudden develop intelligence to be headed by an'the President's chief inteili-Council staff.
the Pentagon and other 'fed-;rrents as the riots that forced, official of Cabinet rank, It genre adviser and head of the Officials concede that under
era[ agencies. ja last Dec al reshuffle in Poland would combine the Central In-,G I A , presides, but his author-a reorganization Mr. Helms
The reorganization plan has; last December. telligence Agency with 15,000 ity is unclear_ It derives from a; might relinquish to his deputy,
recently been presented to fir. Nixon is particularly dis ,cwilian employes; the Defense{letter written by President Ken- Lieut. Gen. Robert E. Cushman,
Presidnt Nixon. It covers 30; satisfied, .l is associates say, by Departn ent's code?crackirg Na nedy in 1963 to John A. Mc-,of the Marine Corps, some of
Q !the cost and size of the Gov-+tional Security Agency with!
to 40 tyeritten pages a-_d, . Cone, one of Mr. Helms,s prede his responsibility for the C.LA.'s
,was p eoared primarily by;ernrnent's global intelligence op 100 ,000 uniformed personnel"cessors, and has never been day-today collection opera
as vrlien compared t~ith,,and tis Defense Intelligence
lames R. Schlesinger, ass~~tart updated, flops and concentrate, instead,
director of the Office of Man their results. In addition to the'Agency with 3,000. The C.I.A. While Mr. Helms has full' on intelligence evaluation for
,agement and Budget, and K.iCentral Intelligence Agency,jspends about $500-million control over the C.I.A., the!the President. One possibility
Wayne Smith, a former Pen-.five federal agencies are in-iyearly; the National Security'; Pentagon's worldwide inteili-; envisaged under the reorgan-
tagon systems analyst now onjvolved in intelligence overseas.,Agency $1-billion and the De-`ae.~ce gat'herirg activiLes,iization would be the creation
ithe National Security Council 'At least 200,000 people are inHfense Intelligence Agency $500- which Robert F. Froehike, an, by Mr. Helms of an evaluation
staff. volved, 150,000 of these uni-!million. !Assistant Secretary of Defense staff in the White House drawn
The informants say the plan formed personnel in the De The merit, some experts say has e?-imated costs 52.9-billion' from the C.I.A.'s Office of Cur-
grew from instructions Mr.tense Department: would be to concentrate in one yea, 3 rent Intelligence and its Office
The President vv as seriously;rdepartment the-collection of "When you have the author of National Estimates. The
Nixon gnv e his staff last au-
tumn, to dram various reorg cent failures aEes the oform d not intelligence only- b :I A.i butdon't control the re-latter prepares long range
, a Defense Depart studies in depth of potential
k ganizationa- and - cost-cuttin Pentagon's only by the C sou ces~t
?i Defense Intelligence Agency,~but also by the Army, Navy, ment official observed, "you~trouble spots.
studies.
omplaints Voiced which numbers 3,000 and and Air Force separately; tend to walk very softly." Another would be the crea-
~spends an estimated $500-mil- around the world.- However, op-! The President is said to re tion by Mr. Nixon of a White
Both the President and Hen-lion yearly. One was faulty in-position would be forthcoming card Mr. Helms as the nation's House intelligence evaluations
ry A. Kissinger, his assistantite''1 geace prior to the abortive;from vested interests in the host competent professional in-;staff made up of Mr. Helms,
I for natior_