LETTER TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH FROM CLAIBORNE PELL

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
10
Document Creation Date: 
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
February 4, 2005
Sequence Number: 
51
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
July 21, 1976
Content Type: 
LETTER
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PDF icon CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5.pdf378.47 KB
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M SPARK m3rW-M.Mr.ReJease 2005/02/10: CIA-RDP78M02660R0003000b0 I"- 'e PP3fs MIKE MANSFIELD. MONT FRANK CHURCH, IDAHO JACOB K. JAVITS, N.Y. ( T J~ iR Y' / ~~/S STUART SYMINGTON, MO. HUGH SCOTT PA , . CLAIBORNE PELL, R.I. JAMES B. PEARSON, KANS. GALE W. MC GEF_, WYO. CHARLES H. PERCY. ILL. y~(}n (~~j GEORGE GEORGE MC GOVERN, S. DAK. ROBERT P. GRIFFIN. MICH. Cb h~ ~QS Zen ale b ~ if. /~J rY HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, MINN. / j (~~ `~ ~~~yyy DICK CLARK. IOWA O L G 76 , {Y J yJ J JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., DEL. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS r~yy PAT M. HOLT, CHIEF OF STAFF WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510 ARTHUR M. KUHL. CHIEF CLERK July 21, 1976 The Honorable George Bush Director, Central Intelligence Agency Washington, D.C. 20505 As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceans and International Environment of the Committee on Foreign Relations, I have been particularly concerned about the unconfirmed reports concerning the covert use of weather modification techniques designed to cause droughts or severe rainstorms to damage crops of nations considered hostile to U.S. interests (see enclosed article from the Providence Journal). I would appreciate the Agency providing me with answers to the following questions: (1) During the period of 1968 to 1972, did the CIA conduct, finance or encourage other groups, in any way, to seed the wind currents and clouds off the coast of Cuba (or any other nation) to cause them to drop rain before they passed over that country? (2) Did the CIA during the period of 1968 to 1972 seed the wind currents and clouds passing over Cuba (or any other nation) to cause severe storms or flooding that would impede the harvest activities within that nation Sincerely, Claiborne Pell Chairman, Subcommittee on Oceans and International Environment Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 Approved For Release 2005/02/10 CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 al _6 the, over Cuba in--.M69:,and 1970 ; in order to' ,,. w ni,,N%j urr - {ne veiense uepart-- to,suipport his..charges: Nor does' lie claim ' ment- denied_ charges vesterday that the to have been personally involved in the- fall into the ocean before eve.r reaching' Cuba.- Ponce said he does not "K-now whether area of Cuba after'1970. Technology ..Corp. of Washington. P.C., , said the CIA and the Pentagon cooperated in a'program to teed'clouds near Cuba so they would drop their rain,before reaching the island, ..thus-.. causing a. damaging searcher with the International Research & former Defense Department consultant,. Lowell Pont:'*. 'e: modification. around Cuba," the Pentagon the past. That-one was over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in: Vietnam, he said, and _was made public in 1974. .-The spokesman said. the only current weather change program being conducted spokesman said:. ' - . .. He added that there-has only been one classified weather modification program in airports i".. The r CIA . o ulsd i _ ~:.:,:` :: r .S ? is : not. be reached- for. - comment Ponte said the CIA embarked on a major cloud-seeding program -over Cuba after Cuban Premier Fidel Castro staked his honor in 1970 to producing a record . 0-million meiric -ton harvest of' sugar cane.. He said that =the "1970- Cuban sugar harvest felt 'two million metric tons short of Castro's goal. But Ponte added that there is "no_ way to say definitely" 'tt;e CIA's cloud seeding caused the harvest shortfall.' He said the CIA decided to seed wind currents about 200 miles from Cuba "to get clouds heading towards Cuba to drop their _ -He -says his'. information was::. obta ned from .1coa versa tiori , with two; think-tank people and , one foreign intelli ' on the seeding project: rain early before they reached Cuba".hle' said the seeding was done with silver- iodide, but '=that it, would have,.'been impossible to detect because the r ain-u?ould Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 `said of the charge made ? Saturday by a t'=MORAMUM FOR: Approve F(r F fll se 2005/02/1 I am sorry it has taken so long to get back to you re your attached question of 7 July, but we have now checked all appropriate files and the institutional memory of various personnel in DDS&T/ORD and OTS, as well as DDO/LA Division, and I am assured that we have never been involved in any operations directed to weather modifications over Cuba. There is an old feasibility study done by the DDS&T re the possibilities, but the project was abandoned. Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 nzacuttve ?. 1.MT F Approved Fir Rele 5 1 I TPN026(60 5 .115,, f' C.I.A.: Fidel Castro's Helpers '!tor To t`te One cf the favorite arguments of the Latin .Am?ricsn lei' is that the dews - opment of the Souther:: I:emiczphere is impossible because of stif;:t:" incubus of North American power. An Ecuadorean politician once ob- served, quite confidentially, that .^e gringos controlled everything in his country, even the traffic lights. In e "One Hundred Years of Solitude," c:r:._ most widely read novel in Latin ymri- ca, Gabr:el Garcia Marcus ail^g_s that the Americans control the era What aucocity! W0 a tray this cr2ii`nsmlo and nara::o:a ...._ afflict Latin Arn.ica's -=1_-cev_C.Y.d in tcl!rctuals! But wait:- C.I.A. to ti-. rescue. T? weekend, as President Ford was le_- turilg Fidel Castro against interventionism, a former Cepnrtmeny - researcher revealed ti: the UnitedS;utes his R??_ri .vag;. a secret we;.clie: war against Cub' try ing to top pie the Castro re; ime by artificially s_Lynulatin g a drought in order to wreck the-isLz,1t's ag'ia I -I tural economy. Fortunately, this weather war like co many of the agenc;'s brilliant and well-publicized ploys against Cubs, was apparently a com?'_e-te failure. Indeed, one wonders w i.ei.her .he agency and the supporters of cia::- fA destine operations in the White House . and the Congress have managed to achieve precis_:y the obverse of that in; nded. By c eat ng a constant aura threats to Cu^ :.'s security, the U.S. provided Cast o with the environ- necessary for the rationalization of his police state. The agency may ;:ell be the best friend Castro ever 'find. suspects that the greatest im of the awn-'Y's dirt. tricks has b en :elt, riot abroad, but rather:vith!n the l5iiited States. Each new revelation of the agency's derrin; do is a new of an America honor: a .ountty capable of shabh:,st kind of behavior. The ,its have i?~.i:~ 4. run :t:53:.3 of h __..u_'.{. They are fc-ce-::~ og a new, a-d isolationist ge :ration of young Americans, a generation stopped in c?: nicism and disulusioament about c.ar actiVities overseas. Of course, tb~ra are some sentinels c1 iibc ty who have warned against l. L . ^::c,es which cause the sapping of the c* :hem. But then, was he not also, director of the Nat.nn31 Security Council when the weather war was l ^aaunched against Cuba'? .ALFRED L. PAVtULA Sr. Ass. Prof., Dept. of History University of Maine Portlz _:td, Me., June 29, 1976 Approved Fo1elease 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 'PNCLASSIFIED r.ONFIDENTIAI SECRET \ Approved or Release 200510211.0 : CI#. r7**02E60R000300050051-5 EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT Routing Slip ACTION INFO DATE INITIAL 1 DCI 2 DDCI X 3 S/MC DDS&T X 5 DDI DDA 7 DDO 8 D/DCI/IC 9 D/DCI/NI 10 GC II I LC 12 IG 13 Compt 14 D/Pers 15 D/S 16 DTR 17 Asst/ DCI 18 AO/DCI 19 20 21 22 For response to DCI question. A ecu ive ecretary 8 July 1976 Date . Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 STAT Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 OLC 76-2100 2 8 July 19 76 MEMORANDUM FOR: DD/S&T DDO (Attn: FROM: EO/DDO) Assistant Legislative Counsel SUBJECT: Request from Senator Claiborne Pell 1. Attached is a letter from Senator Claiborne Pell requesting information on any CIA activities with respect to weather modifications from the period 1968-72. Would you please review your records to determine whether any of the allegations mentioned in Senator Pell's letter have any basis in fact. 2. Please note that in addition to the time period specified (1968-72), Senator Pell is interested in whether we either conducted, financed, or encouraged other groups in any way in weather modification activities; specifically, to cause drought or to cause severe storms or flooding. Although Senator Pell's interest is primarily in Cuba, he also asks whether we conducted any activities with respect to any other nation. 3. We need to respond to Senator Pell no later than 30 July. Attachment: As stated Distribution: I - Each Add'e v1~ OLC Subject 1 - OLC Chrono OLC:THW:ndl (28 July 1976) ST Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR0003 0 0 2 D051-4 + 12? 30 July 1976 MEMORANDUM FOR: Office of Legislative Counsel SUBJECT Request from Senator Claiborne Pell -- Weather Modifications ATTENTION REFERENCES A. OLC 76-2100, 28 July 1976 (DDS&T #3059-76/1, 28 July 1976) B. Letter from Senator Claiborne Pell dated July 21, 1976 David S. Brandwein Director Office of Technical Service 1. In response to referent correspondence, the Office of Technical Service has searched its files and records concerning the possibility of any weather modifi- cation activities that might have been conducted during the period 1968-1972. 2. Senator Pell may be advised that this Office has never conducted any such weather modifications during the specific time frame of 1968-1972 or any other time. cc: SA/DDS&T ST ST Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 I b Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 04C1G-.2/3G 29 July 1976 T MEMORANDUM FOR: Assistant Legislative Counsel SUBJECT: Weather Modification - Senator Pell's Inquiry Per your request of 28 July 1976 regarding Senator Clairborne Pell's letter of 21 July 1976, the Office of Research and Development has reviewed its files and finds no record of involvement of ORD personnel or resources in an of the activities referred o. Acting rec r of Research and Development ST Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78MO266OR000300050051-5 Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5 EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT DDCI zigiv aQ_ dot. ST Routing Slip ecutive re ary Approved For Release 2005/02/10 : CIA-RDP78M02660R000300050051-5