SPEECH BY LT. GENERAL VERNON A. WALTERS BEFORE THE ROTARY CLUB OF OKLAHOMA CITY THE CIA AND WORLD AFFAIRS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R002000120009-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 6, 2002
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: January 6, 1976
• Content Type: SPEECH

Approved For Release 2003/01/30: CIA-RDP80R01731R002000120009-2
by
LT. GENERAL VERNON A. WALTERS
before
THE ROTARY CLUB OF OKLAHOT~A CITY
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
6 January 1976
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Mr. President, Chairman...
Thank you for the opportunity of coming here. It is
not always easy in current day America to try to get over
to the public perhaps the other side of the .intelligence
story. You have been reading a great deal of one side
of it and we are always grateful--we do not :have a public
relations program, we do not go out and seek invitations,
but if someone asks us and wants to hear what: we have to
say--we are always grateful for that.
I would like to say a few words about ixitelligence
in America, what it means to the American per.~ple. First
of all, what it is and why we need it. And ~t:hen a few
words about some of the publicity that has been given to
some of the things that may or may not have l:~een happening
recently.
What is intelligence? Intelligence is basically
information concerning the activities, intent::ions,
the capabilities of foreign countries that may in some way
impact upon the security of the United State:, the liveli-
hood of the American people, or what we are a.nd will be
as a country in the future and upon our allif~~s.
How is the intelligence collected? The intelligence
is collected in many ways. Somebody asked me about James
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Bond the other day, and I said, "First of a11, he's
British, and second, he's one of the crosses we have to
bear . " -He has projected an image that just doesn' it relate to a
great deal of what we do. First of all, an ~;normous
amount of intelligence can be collected overtly or openly.
Even during the war I remember we used to collect a great
deal of order of battle, .that is location o:f= German units,
by death notices in the German papers where they would
list someone's death in serving in such and such a unit.
And if you knew what division that particulassinations.
What was the final finding of it--that nobody had been
assassinated. You've had all these stories about toxins.
What was the finding--the toxins had never been used.
Drugs. Somebody had shown extremely poor judgment in
giving a drug to this man who then committe.~. suicide.
That was unfortunate. You had the story oi= massive tele-
phone taps. The Central Intelligence Agen