FREE-FLOWING THOUGHTS ON TERRORISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00885R000100060017-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 15, 2007
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: February 2, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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SECRET
17 February 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Intelligence
Deputy Director for Operations
NIO for Counterterrorism
The DDCI would like you to give some thought to paragraph 7 of the
attached and let him know when you might be ready to give him your
preliminary views.
Attachment:
DCI Memo to DDCI; Subject: Free-Flowing Thoughts
on Terrorism dtd 2 Feb 84
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2 February 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
FROM: Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT: Free-flowing Thoughts on Terrorism
1. In talking to the President today and later Fred Ikle, who came over
to talk about the new NSC package on terrorism, a lot of thoughts and worries
that I have been developing came up as well as theirs, and I take this means
of passing them on to you.
2. I have a strong feeling that while we have a lot of people working
on it, we do not yet have the capability to develop, maintain and keep in
focus a coherent picture of the changing threat theory, nor are we addressing
all the elements which may be necessary to deal with any form it may take at
any given stage. Sh r _.a_nged for an organized and orderly accumulation
of the of information that ct o me o ay we Piave the Senegalese
3. I don't know how you keep all this fast-moving data constantly in
focus but there needs to be a single point charged with making that effort.
4. I told the President that some day there would be another large-scale
attack or disaster and that the only effective retaliation would be against
a national state practicing the sonns for po1itic2a1__m_a ns.
ere a really only three such states and any one may be involved in any
single incident. 'lhey are ran, Libya and Syria. Fred We said that some
VlAnning for this contingency was eing done a the JCS, but that it was not
adequate and that it needed to be supplemented by continuous planning elsewhere.
This needs to be pushed. Preventive effort thus far has largely consisted of
intelligence to participate and security arrangements to resist. This needs
to be supplemented and to be effectively carried out, to be conducted within a
framework of a diplomatic initiative working towards cooperation between all
the target nations. The approach I like is to resuscitate the international
law of pirac which a,couple hundred years ago im_plie an o iga ion on the
arm of sates t eize ira e e ore a cou d do their dirty work. The
terrorists might be treated as modern pirates with everybody commi ed to
apprehend and check out suspects if only to slow down a possible attack while
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putting them through the appropriate legal processes. This would then be
implemented by tighter controls, exchanges of information, etc., etc., etc.
The balance of the initiative would be addressed to states practicing the
support of terrorism, i.e., economic, diplomatic, and political squeeze.
5. On action to anticipate and preempt terrorist attacks, some nations
have more freedom than others. Some can provide police training and others
can't. In our case, we now cannot assassinate but when there was a Hitler
assassination would have been popular. We certainly don't have to extend
the restrictions now extant. Any NSDD should make clear that any action has
to be within the Executive Order. Legality of self-defense would not violat
the Executive Order.
7. I would like to see an effort to articulate a comprehensive diplomatic,
political, military, special activity, intelligence program to provide protection
against international terrorism in which a lot of nations would be invited to
participate. We probably have the best background for putting this together
than any other part of the federal government.
8. We should put an NIO, a DDOer, a DDIer and a lawyer together to see
what they can come up with. `-
William J. Casey
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