CIA IS EXPANDING ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORT BUT LACKS DATA FROM INSIDE THE GROUPS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505110063-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: January 31, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505110063-2
But Lacks Data From Inside the Groups
CIA Is Expanding Anti-Terrorism Effort
. By DAVID IGNA77US
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET J OURNAL
WASHINGTON-The Central Intelligence
Agency is working with friendly countries to.1
create a new anti-terrorism network, but the
effort may be hampered by a lack of inside
information about thegrowing array of ter-
rorist groups.
The anti-terrorism effort was described '
yesterday by an authoritative. government
source in an upbeat summary of CIA expan-'
STAT sion during the first three years~oflheR,ea
gan administration. "The source's message,;
likely to be repeated rduring PresidentRea-
gan's reelection campaign, is that arevived i =The CIA-issupporting actively 12,000 10
CIA is back in :business around -the -world. 13,000 ? Nicaraguan 'rebels In their -war
But despite the source's :claims ~of im. against tbe? government. But the
proved CIA performance during Mr. Rea number of a ClA-tifficers involved in this ?co-
gan's administration, terrorism has been a vert war -program d:s.:slightly more than 20
black eye for the agency. The CIA's failure people, *rather ?than -the 500 estimated in
to - am about bomb attacks against the Us. some -newspaper -reports, the source said.
Embassy and Marine headquarters in Bei. The-CIA,:belleves the:`anti Sandinista cam-
rut had many causes, .including the loss ~of paign has been effective, but it doubts the
agents in Iran and in The, Palestinelibera-, rebels will overthrow -ihe.Nicaraguan ,gov-
lion Organization in the past several years., ernmeni;-hesaid. -While CIA involvement in
The 'U.S., for -the moment, is dependent; Nicaragua _ long has been known, the
largely on other intelligence services, -such source's comments are-the most detailed in-
as those of Israel, ? Jordan and Lebanon, formation provided by the government.
which often lack detailed information from -The U.S.also appears to. be helping, at
:inside the terrorist groups. _ . . . least indirectly, anti-government forces in
The CIA has received additional funding Afghanistan and Kampuchea, the source in-
and staffing recently. The Reagan adminis- dicated. -He said in these two countries, and
tration has increased the. agency's staff, in- in Angola,-,pro-Soviet regimes .are facing
eluding a restoration of 800 positions in 'the growing Tesistance . "::
clandestine service 'that were cut during the -The CIA-plans ,to leave to Italian au-
Carter administration, the source said. He thorities the -Issue-of Bulgar3a's alleged role
added the agency has more stations over- in the 1981 -assassination attempt against
'seas, more case officers, more agents, more ! Pope John Paul IL The source said the trial
analytical reports and better relations with -of Mehmet Ali Agca will.show a high degree
foreign intelligence services. { of Bulgarian involvement, leading to a
The new anti-terrorism network appears' "strong .suspicion -that Soviet intelligence also
to be based largely on a greater exchange of `'was -involved. But he said the Soviet link
Information with friendly intelligence ser- `? probablypever}willhe.proved, and 1hat:U.S.,
U.S. also has -developed its own - counterter
rorism strike force of 100 to 150 people,
based in the Defense Department, as -well -as
smaller CIA teams to deal with terrorist.in-
cidents.
To coordinate the increasing flow of in-
formation about terrorism, the CIA also has
established a new evaluation centerthatcan
handle buman,.electronicand other intelli-
gence data. Establishment of such a terror-
ism-information center was recommended'
strongly by a Pentagon commission that in-
vestigated last October's bomb attack
against U.S. Marines in Beirut. The source
said the' CIA's station in Beirut is now in
contact with the Marines there as often as
several times a day about potential
threats.
The authoritative government official,' reports" on current intelligence.
who spoke on the condition be wouldn't be -The Soviet intelligence service, the
identified, discussed a range of intelligence KGB, is on the defensive because of success-
issues facing the U.S: The highlights: ful U.S. counterintelligence operations, the
=The CIA believes 'the Soviet -Union is source asserted. Last year, 147 KGB agents
developing the capability for a nationwide
missile-defense system. The source said evi-.
dence of Soviet preparation -for such a sys-
tem includes laser research,. the -construc-
tion of six large.radarcomplexes, the devel-
opment':of an .anti-aircraft missile system
that also.could;helpsbootdown U.S. ballistic
ierprooucuve.
.The CIA has increased. sharply its ana?
.lytical staff and output, -the source.said. Af-
ter losing about half, Its ,analysts between
1978 and 1980, largely.-through budget cuts
.and'retirement..the agency has added 400 to
450 analysts in The past three years. More-
over, the agency ,currently. produces about
'50 'national -intelligence estimates on for-
eign developments each year, compared
with 22 annually _during the Carter adminis-
tration.
-To guard against political surprises
abroad, the CIA is producing a new .quar-
terly report. on political instability in 30 im-
portant countries, the source .said. The quar-
terly reports, studying long-term political
trends, supplement the CIA's weekly "watch
production :lines: ...:
were expelled, were arrested or defected in
Western countries, he said. As a result, the
source- said, the KGB S own counterintelli-
gence departmentappears to be supervising
KGB operations more closely to prevent
more .agents from being recognized.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505110063-2