DOES MEMO IN WESTY CASE SET IT WRITE?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707160092-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 92
• Publication Date: November 9, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/08/12 :CIA-RDP90-005528000707160092-1
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
9 November 1984
By D.J. fiAUNDERS and ALTON BEAGLE
A former CIA Vietnamese specialist testified at the Gen.
William Westmoreland libel trial yesterday. chat he had a
deputy prepare a 1967 memo to resolve vahat was Balled the
"political problem" of enemy troop strength snd minimize
"the inquisitive probings of the press."
special assistant for Vied
namese affairs from 1966 to ;
1973
said that th
,
e memo, pre-
~ pared by George W: Allen, !
noted that "the political ~
problem is one essentially
cosmetic in nature, i.e., how
to rationalize a sudden in-
crease in MACV's battle hol-
dings (enemy troop
strength). The fact of a sud-
den increase cannot be com-
pletely disguised from the
Inquisitive probings of .the
press, but the impact can be
minimized by a variety of
means." MACV was the Mili-
tary Assistance Command
countea 1?;nemy: A Vietnam
Deception."
In the program, he was
accused of deliberately.
undercounting .enemy troop
strength to hide America's
lack of effectiveness- in the ,
war.
-- r?~r?+a~. w; :QUESTIONED by
divide battle groups into mili-
tary and non-military so as to Westmoreland's attorney,
keep official enemy. troop~Daniel Burt, Carver said that
strength at about 300,000. both he and Sam Adams, a
It suggested placing those CIA Vietnam analyst, agreed
m the self-defense forces,
mainly' Viet Cong villagers
,
in the non-military category. ,
It maintained that this
would be a "more meaning?
ful listing .of the strength
figures."
Westmoreland, who com-
manded U.S. forces in Viet-
nam, is suing CBS for $120.
million, charging that he was
libeled by the 1982 television
documentary, "The Un-
to the Allen memo.
_ Adams, who later contri?
bitted information to CBS~for
the documentary, is adefend-
ant in the case, along with
CBS and the show's narrator,
Mike Wallace.
In his testimony, Carver,
who was Adams' boss, was
critical of Adams for later
sending a "halfcocked"
cable in Carver's name to the
CIA station in Saigon oppos-
ing official enemy strength
estimates.
He said that Adams was
"prone to jump to conclu?
sions and was very intolerant
of people who .did not share
the conclusions to which he
jumped."
Carver said that he had
decided that the self-defense
forces, which included
young boys, women and old
men, were not a military
threat.
Adams' analysis, based on
captured enemy documents
in 1966 and 1967,1ed him to
the opposite conclusion.
--- ?- ~?~? ??~~~~a~~~ ..esirnore~ana t~enl near testimony of George Carver,
one-time CIA special assistant for Vietnamese affairs, yesterday in Manhattan Federal Court.
Approved For Release 2010/08/12 :CIA-RDP90-005528000707160092-1