REAGAN URGED TO REORGANIZE U.S. INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420022-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: December 8, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420022-3
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Reag fzn Used
'o ,Reorganize
U.S. ihielliggenc- -e
By JUDITH MILLER
Spy D. TheNew York Times
WASHINGTON, ,Dec: ;7'- 1 President-
elect Ronald Reagan's.transition team
for.the_Central Intelligence. Agency has
proposed several sweeping,changes in the
organization and operations of the na
Lion's intelligence: programs, including
increased emphasis-on covert. action
abroad, according to Mr. Reagan's advis
ers..
The. aides said that a preliminary re-:
port on the C.I.A. was completed late last,,
week and Is to be,submitted to, Mr. Rea-'
gan's transition headquarters tomorrow.;
The. panel is headed by J, William Mid-,
dendorf. 2d,, former,- Secretary of the
Navy, who is presidenvot Financial Gen
eral Bankshares; a Washington-based`
bank holding company.
In addition. to calling for an. enhanced
role?and increased financing for covert
activities, the report recommends
greater attention to counterintelligence
to-,combat what is viewed as a growing
threat of Soviet espionage and interna-j
tional terrorism.
'Central Records System
This could be accomplished, the report
is said to suggest, through the-creation of
a central records system that would be
used by both the C.I.A. and domestic law-~I
enforcement agencies, including the Fed-,
eral Bureau of Investigation. Such a,,
move has been resisted by Government
officials in the past on the-ground that its
could pose a threat to the civil liberties of
American citizens.
The,report, Mr-. Reagan's aides added,
NErT YORK TIMES
8 DEC MB~E'`t 1980
also recommends the establishment of a
competitive system of intelligence analy-
sib; intended to provoke wider debate on
sensttive international issues. Under the
proposal, the Central Intelligence Agency is
would be forced to defend its conclusions
against those of other intelligence agen-
cies, such as the Pentagon's Defense In-
telii'gence Agency.
According to several aides, these steps
could be taken without legislation. But C
they, added that the proposals, and the
transition effort itself, had already
prompted deep anxiety and debate within
the aggencies. Moreover, the wide-ranging
debate over the structure of the intelli-
gence -bureaus and the quality of intelli-
gence,they produce have recently exacer-
bated 'long-standing tensions on the Sen-
ate Intelligence Committee.
Though Mr. Mittendorf declined to dis-
cuss._thd report, he said in an interview
ye$tLrday that he favored a more "ag
g essive" approach to intelligence and
tiiat.zhe report's recommendations were
ai n d at "increasing the productivity" of
the intelligence agencies.
William H. Casey, Mr. Reagan's cam-
paign director, who is a strong prospect
for the post of Director of Central Intelli-
gence; is known to hold similar views.
However, it is not known whether either
Mr.-Casey or Mr. Reagan will approve
the transition team's recommendations.
The proposals are similar to several
contained in a recent report prepared for
senior Reagan advisers by the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative Washington-
based.- research group. However, the
proposals touch on a number of complex
issues that have been debated for years
by intelligence officials.
Among the most sensitive of' he
proposals is the call for the competing
centers of analysis. Many intelligence ex-
perts believe that the idea is good in prin-
ciple but difficult in practice, as a previ-
ous attempt reflects. Four years ago, a
group of outside specialists was asked by
George Bush, then Director of Central In-
tellio nce and now Vice President-elect,
to appraise Soviet military potential and
intentions.
Trouble in the Agencies
The group, known as Team 3, con-
cluded that the C.I.A. and other agencies
had underestimated the Soviet buildup
and that Moscow was bent on achieving
strategic superiority. The effort sparked
an acrimonious debate in intelligence cir-
cles and upset C.I.A. analysts when re-
ports of Team B's conclusions appeared
in the press.
Reagan aides contend that under its
plan, the competing analyses would be
provided not by outsiders but by such
other intelligence bureaus as the Defense
Intelligence Agency. While the Reagan
aides believe that this approach would
improve the overall quality of American
lintelligence, C.I.A. officials maintain
that the Pentagon intelligence apparatus
is not capable of functioning as an effec-
tive counterweight.
Moreover, some intelligence experts
contend that competing centers of analy-
sis, as once existed, would overempha-
size disagreements among intelligence
agencies. The President now receives a
consensus view from the Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence in so-called National In-
teligence Estimates, in which disagree-
ments among intelligence bureaus are
usually noted only in footnotes.
A Longstanding Debate - j
The report's recommendation that a
"central file" be established to enhance 1
coordination of counter-intelligence ac- 1
tivities is likely to be opposed by civil
liberties groups. The file would contain
data collected on the activities of sus-
pected foreign agents, including their
dealings with Americans. Such groups as
the American Civil Liberties Union have
maintained that this information could
violate citizens' privacy rights.
Finally, there has for years been a
growing debate over the push for a larger
CONTTTrm
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505420022-3