THE ROLE OF APPENDICES IN NIE'S

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79R00971A000100030013-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 27, 2005
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: August 22, 1952
• Content Type: MEMO

Office Memorandum ? UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
Approved For Release 2005// : CIA-R P79R00971A00.01 0030013-9
TO Assistant Director, National Estimates
SUBJECT: The Role of Appendices in NIE's.
DATE: 22 August 1952
1. I would like to offer the following thoughts on Appendices
in the hope they may be of some use.
a. Shouldn't our policy on length be flexible? I suggest
that we would not want to establish any fixed rules. Of course
we want to keep NIE's as brief as possible, but this may not be
desirable in special cases, where the paper really needs an
appendix.
b. We should be guided wherever possible by the needs of
our consumers, not just the views of thlintelligence agencies.
Our c &'-e consumer, the NSC, wants more supporting data; it
wants to be convinced, not to receive a bare opinion. Moreover.,
I strongly doubt whether the theater commanders, etc. are as
concerned about length as G-2 says they are.
c. Moreover, we fail to see why the presence of a brief
appendix or two at the end of the paper necessarily commits
anyone to read it. The theater commander or high policy maker
need only read as far as they want, but the appendix is there
for the reader who does want further information.
d. There is absolutely no point in issuing such brief
appendices separately. They are not self-contained and, if they
were separated, the connection between them and the estimate
would be lost. Moreover, they are just not big enough (seldom
more than 7 printed pages at the outside) to justify the expense
of separate production.
e. With specific reference to the North African paper, the
appendix is not just a tacked-on compendium of basic facts, but
an integral part of the text. It is wholly incorrect to call
it a "baby NIS". It covers current political problems in no
less than six different areas within only 20-odd double-spaced
pages, andi`s thus very highly compressed. It was designed
specifically to avoid the necessity for a long section on the
CONFIDENT'
Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP79R00971A000100030013-9
 Approved For Release 2005/O iJ03 :-, t_A=000~9P,00971A0 00030013-9
"Current Situation" which would interrupt the flow of the
estimate. We believe that the brief Appendix covering the
highlights in each area is indispensable to a real understand-
ing of the complex North African problems covered in NIE-69.
2. I believe that we will be sharply limiting our estimative
flexibility if we insist that every paper, regardless of subject or
complexity, be so brief that we cannot properly develop the key
points. Shouldn't we shoot for the IAC approval of the principle of
flexibility within the general understanding that NIE's will be as
brief as feasible, but with each case being decided on its merits?
3. Since I's one of the strongest proponents of
more supporting data a paper, may I suggest that we enlist his
support in convincing the DCI in this case.
25X1
C flf'FNTIMI
Approved For Release 2005/08/03 : CIA-RDP79R00971A000100030013-9