COLBY DENIES ANY DIRECT CIA ROLE IN OVERTHROW OF ALLENDE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000200010014-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 22, 2004
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: September 14, 1974
• Content Type: NSPR

13Y RICHARD RESTON
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`\ ASHINGTOiti In the face of important that our leaders- and Detense ox ici.is, .anu
haven clear pereeDtion of Daniel Ellsberg, the -main
h
ten
e m ""??,
criminal," CIA ?Director William tJ
Colby Friday defended his agency's and strategies of other avers. to the press. 77
right to conduct covert operations . powers so that they can be Ellsberg and Colby ex-:, ,!
61 O 13 aoroad and denied any direct U S deterred, n e g o t i a t e d changed sharp remarks at
intelligence-role in the 1973 military about, or countered in the one ppinL during. the. after-. o e N i.X
if ne- noon, discussion. Ellsberg
interests of peace or
,
coup in Chile The head of the Central Intel cessazy, the ultimate se- accused Colby- of not. un- f
" demanding the United: 1 f i x u WT0 ti 1 / ?h Az
ntr
i
f
our cou
ty o
li- ence Agency- appeared on Capitol cur
y. States Constitutiois and of
Hill for three .hours of public. testi Colby faced an openly pursuing a policy. ofand of s mony at.the conclusion of a two-day hostile conference panel pursuing policy. Ire
conference on the secret activities of and audience; His testimo- yvthat similar to the.
? the CIA. The ,conference was spun-: ny was often Interrupted Soviet t regime and its ?
cored by the. Private Center for Na by hisses, jeers and deri- Sov. of egimeeandn
tional Security Studies and was held sine laughter. Time and again-- Colby
in a hearing room of the New Senate= At one point, when Col- attempted to defestd the
Office B u:i 1 d.i n g before . several by was explaining CIA. ac covert- attempted
? od the
'hundred spectators. tivities in Vietnam, a pa- agency.
'While Colby.-denied a direct CIA nel member broke in with The agency conducts
out
role in the Chilean-coup, he never=:: a sharp thats an
- such activities only when
theiess conceded; "We did look rageous lie." Later, an?rth- specifically authorized when
x and to a 'change in goverrtmeat,'=? er panel member -called the National Security
out,. "Another lie, another Council. Thus,CIA covert
but through democratic elections by lie." Co
. C unci reflect national
political forces."' He said the clear. From the audiences came pactions olicy," Colby said.
objective of U.S. policy in that coup- i` shouts of "How many did' , policy," of policy has
National try was to ''encourage the continued you kill in Vietnam; Col-" been in a state of change,
existence of democratic forces foe `..by?" and "You're not .only and CIA's involvement in
future elections." a liar, you're. a Nazi war covert action.: has ecorre-
The Chilean coup; in September, criminal." covert spondingly Chang." took the life of 'Marxist To the Vietnam cam He said CIA covert op-
ident Salvador Allende. went, C o I b y ? answered erations overseas . were
The focus on Chile at. the confer- with: a terse- but even- now only a small part of
end's disclosure. of a letter by Rep; .
Michael Harrington (D-Mass.) that
reported the CIA had funneled up to
$8 million into that country to um-,
dermi ne the Allende government...
Colby.zefused .all, comment on the
specific methods and techniques
used in covert CIA activities. rang-.
ing from Chile to Indochina and oth-
e.r nations of the developing world
In his. opening statement
the director defended the'
policy of secrecy covering
certain. CIA actions.
"If we cannot protect our
intelligence sources and
methods, I fear' we may
.reiieh a situation in which
our adversaries p r o f it
from 'our openness while
-Vie are blinded by their se--
crecy . .
voicee: "i aien'L ini any-? uu e_-: overall u.J. , zntaiu-
body:" fence-gathering - mission
A final, question came i-r? said this was true be-
from a Vietnamese in the cause the United States
audience began with this- was' "no longer faced with
comment:. "How can you the same kind of Commu-
go home at night a'nd re-. nist subversion and insur-
spond to your wife and gency that characterized
children after all the kill- the 1950s and 196t?s..
ing in, Vietnam?" Colby : Some of the sharpest de-
said he has spent seven ,bate . during the confer-
years in Vietnam trying to ence- came -over -Colby's
help the Vietnamese role as head of the old
protect themselves, and Phoenix program in Viet-
that he had come away nam, an operation de-
from that country with signed to disrupt and elim-
tion and sympathy for the Communist 1"iet? Cong and
Vietnamese people.".'-'.r
At no point during the
long and somewhat. star-
my session did the CI.- di-
rector lose his temper or
lee
t
le-in. rAllend
Approved For Release 2004/11/01 :CIA-RDP88-013158000200010 4-0~
L o
r ~cr rir~t ;
dbv Dee DErd~rk'
North Vietnamese lead-
ership apparatus.
Colby appeared at the
conference as part of a
new CIA- effort to explain
agency plans and opera-
tions in public and with
Thei conference anal more candor.
winch can destroy itself ? panel
t h rough misunderstand included two members of
in g or miscalctved, For Re
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