INTELLIGENCE OFFICER CONTRADICTS CBS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707160126-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2010
• Sequence Number: 126
• Publication Date: October 19, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707160126-3
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGF __,6,A
0
WASHINGTON TIMES
19 October 1984
Intelligence officer
contradicts CBS
NEW YORK (UPI) - A former
intelligence officer yesterday con-
tradicted a CBS documentary that
said Gen. William Westmoreland
was unsure what to tell President
Johnson about enemy troop
strength in Vietnam.
CBS said Gen. Westmoreland,
who is suing the network for $120
million over the 1982 documentary
that accused him of lying the
strength of the enemy in South
Vietnam, had said: "What am I
going to tell the press? What am I
going to tell the Congress? What am
I going to tell the President?"
Col. Edward Caton, now retired
from the Air Force, attended
weekly briefings with Westmore-
land and other staff officers and
prepared daily intelligence reports
on enemy troop strength while sta-
tioned in Saigon from June 1966 to
June 1967.
Mr. Caton was asked by the gen-
eral's attorney, David Densen, if he
ever heard Gen. Westmoreland say
after a briefing, "What am I going
to tell the president?"
"No, sir, I did not:' replied Mr.
Caton. "It would be unlike Gen.
"I had indications
that led us to logically
conclude we had done
serious damage to the
enemy."
Westmoreland. It would be unchar-
acteristic."
"Did you hear anyone else say,
'What am I going to tell the pres-
ident?' " asked Mr. Densen.
Replied Mr. Caton: "Gen. Earl
Wheeler ... He was surprised."
Gen. Wheeler was head of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff at the time.
Asked later about his opinion of
the enemy's capability at the end of
his tour, Mr. Caton said, "I had indi-
cations that led us to logically con-
clude we had done serious damage
to the enemy and he was less capa-
ble than when I arrived."
Robert Komer. who was sent to
Saigon in 1967 as a diplomat operat-
ing under Gen. Westmoreland,
briefly preceeded Mr. Caton to the
stand to clarify answers given dur-
ing his testimony Wednesday.
Approved For Release 2010/08/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707160126-3