U.S. NEED FOR CIA SEEN GREAT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100260042-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 20, 2010
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: February 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100260042-8
WILMINGTON NEWS (DE)
23 February 1986
U.S. need for CIA se
great
By S.M. KHALID
Staff reporter
Political terrorism, simmering regional
disputes around the globe and recent losses of
classified information to the Russians prove
the United States needs the Central Intelli-
gence Agency more than ever, a noted intelli-
gence scholar said Saturday.
"The need for more intelligence and better
intelligence was never greater," Williams
College professor Russell H. Bossert told an
afternoon gathering of alumni at the Wil-
mington Country Club.
Bossert, a Stansfield Professor of History
and noted scholar on intelligence gathering,
declared his support for covert action by the
CIA as the "best chance for stability" in pro-
moting regional peace in Central America
and the Middle East.
"The American public and the press have a
hell of a lot to learn about being confronted
with nasty choices," declared Bossert. "We
live in a world where you may have to exe-
cute a lesser evil to prevent a greater one.
There are no obvious or easy choices."
He added that covert programs. such as
CIA support for anti-government groups in
Nicaragua and Afghanistan, were a new
method of containing Soviet global influence.
He portrayed this as the best alternative
between diplomacy and war.
Bossert supported the Nicaraguan contras
fighting to topple the Sandinista government.
They [Sandinistas] are hard-core Marxists
who believe in spreading their revolution
across their borders," he said.
Bossert gave President Reagan high marks
for improving morale within the CIA by
appointing current chief William Casey.
Borrowing from a theme first advanced by
President John F Kennedy, Bossert said the
U.S. is now facing a "twilight world," one
knowing neither peace nor war, and that the
CIA would prove invaluable in plotting a safe
political course.
"Like Britain after World War II." he said.
"we have too many obligations and too many
places and we need to get rid of them, but not
at a high cost."
While Bossert cited cases where the CIA
had made "poor decisions" in the past, he
claimed that investigations by Congress and
the agency itself had proven that "the CIA is
not a rogue elephant, set out on the street."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/20: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100260042-8