POSSIBLE EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80R01720R000400050059-5
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
6
Document Creation Date: 
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
December 10, 2004
Sequence Number: 
59
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
February 2, 1973
Content Type: 
MFR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP80R01720R000400050059-5.pdf219.16 KB
Body: 
Approved Folease 2004/1 f L itfA}E)0017000400050059-5 2 February 1973 SUBJECT: Possible Exculpatory Evidence 1. "M1y name is Samuel Alexander Adams. My address is Route 4, Box 240, Leesburg, Virginia, Zip Code 22075. I am presently employed as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where 1 have worked for the last ten years. Between September 1965 and April 1972, I conducted research on our adversaries in Indo-China. From August 1966 on, I was involved in studying the enemy's ground. .Order of Battle (OL) -- that is, the numerical strength of his ground forces, as variously de_+.fined. Between August 1966 and December 1967, I was the tiiie basis. In the two months following the Tet nff fens i vve n4 l a t e Tonuary7 1 968 T wrote nr nd i t d mnct CIA studies on the Communist O.B in South Vietnam . 2. On 23.January 1973, a copy- of etwr York Times City Edition of 20 January came to my attention. Y` .M7mmod the front page, and noticed an art.i c1o in Columns 1 and 2 entitled "Pentagon Paper. ' Secrets Cited in Public Document,', by Martin Arnold, date- lined Los An eles, 19 January. S eein`~g mention of the Conununi.st Tot offensive on tie front pa-e, I read the article. in its entirety, including its continuation Approved For Release 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80RO172OR000400050059-5 Approved Fo Iease.2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80R0172W00400050059-5 "Thus, the 1968 Joint Chiefs of Staff memo, ihich General Depuy (identified by The Times as a government 'witness) said was dangerous to make public, said this. 'He (the enemy) committed over -67,000 combat maneuver forces plus perhaps 25 percent were impressed men and boys for a total of about 84,000.1 The general said that this- informa- tion in the Joint Chiefs report, which was written in the latter part of February 1968, could help Hanoi evaluate American and South Vietnamese intelligence, and was 'sensitive' even now, in his opinion." (column 3, page 15) "The 1968 Joint Chiefs of Staff memo said, 'Probably the only major unit to escape heavy losses was the 7th NVA (North Vietnamese) Division. Howcvbr, present dispositions ;ive the enemy the continuing capability of attacking in the Saigon area with 10 to 11 Approved For Release 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80R01720RO00400050059-5 -2- on page 15. Two passages in the article struck me as particularly interesting. They were: Approved Forplease 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80R0172, 00400050059-5 combat effective battalion equivalents. Again, the General found making this information public harmful to American forces in Vietnam." (column 4, page 15) 3. The Times article did not state the ultimate source of the statistics in the JCS memoranclum. How- ever, I remember that in February 1968, the customary source for such statistics was the intelligence component (J-2) of the US Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) 4. I have recently uncovered what I consider excellent evidence which tends to confirm what I suspected at the time -- that NIACV J-2 had deliberately fabricated Order of Battle statistics to make the enemy appear weaker than he actually was. This evid- ence is presented in three memoranda I wrote, which the CIA General Counsel sent to the Assistant Attorney General for the Internal Security Division of the Department of Justice on 31 January 1973. One of the memoranda alleged that a deliberate fabrication of the OB-had occurred in September 1967. Another advanced evidence that the fabrication continued into the following months. The possibility rwas raised. that General Westmoreland may have originated the orders which led to the fabrications. 5. I believe the fabrications alleged in the ? memoranda biar directly on the reported testimonv of *General DePuy. The number "67,000," for example (See Para 2Ea) was probably based on MIACV Order of -3- Approved For Release 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80R01720R000400050059-5 Approved Fo Iease 2004/12/22: CIA-RDP80RO17$0!00040005.0059-5 Battle holdings i,whi.ch had been lowered by the use of deliberately "conservative" methodologies. (This method of fabrication was alleged in one of my memoranda) Furthermore, the statement that there were only "10-11 combat effective battalion equivalents" left to attack Saigon (See Para 2b) probably arose from the manipulation of an OB data base which -- as alleged in riy memoranda -- had been deliberately fabricated for some months. 6. This led Hie to question whether the release of these statistics -- which I believe were based on harmed American forces in Vietnam, as reportedly alleUj- ged l ti by General IleFuv. Th_ Je tion may be unanswc,ral~j. I would me-el ; of t t l n t ou .1 p 1cLt. t.ne only document I have read bearing on the point suggests they were at a loss to understand how we arrived at our 7. Information in the Times article brought to y 7 my mind another -possibility -- that General DePuy the government witness, may have had some knowledge of 6: recent memoranda. The Times article notes-(page 1S, ,4 Column 3) that General DDeePuy helped edit a report written by General Westmoreland "early in 1968." This vi,vv~, rarLi ~, auove, supgcsts the ficure -67,000 was report? edited by General Puy contained the number 84, 000, apparently identi ~`=:`-d to the one in the JCS memo. ?l , ^/ n n n v 8. Unfortunately, I am unable to state with any assurance who in the MACV hi,,h command was responsible based on d&:liberatoly lowered OB holdings. ..41.\IllLI~J uv 8~:L uitc-: Mat-Ler loonecz into- nave been so afar unavailing, as f-ar as. I -can--make -out.- The -US- Army Insnoc- tor General: is aware of the, charges, and informed of the fact -that vi.oIations..mav hale. occurred of the Uniform ,-. Code of.?M'ili.tary Justice. Iyut ill a letter to me dated. 23 January 1973, lie disclaimed responsibility for start-i;.- an investigation. Likewise, the Army Chief of Staf' of Into 11 igenco. knows of my all e ations . I have yet to lie r from M.M. Approved For Release 2004/1.2/22 : CIA-RDP80RO172OR000400050059-5 Approved Fo elease 2004/1 Jfiil,6fASkbO 0172000400050059-5 9. 1 swear that to the best of my knowledge the above statements arc true. IN WITNESS: Samuel A. Adams Central Intelligence Agency Assistant General Counsel Home Phone: STAT Approved For Release 2004/12/22 CIA-RDP80RO172OR000400050059-5 Approved For Release 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80RO172OR000400050059-5 Mr. Colby: The attached is4rom General DePuy. Barbara 6 Feb 73 Approved For Release 2004/12/22 : CIA-RDP80RO172OR000400050059-5