REAGAN ORDERS INVESTAGATION OF CONTROVERSIAL CIA MANUAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020004-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: October 19, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020004-6
W111SH I NGTON POST
19 October 1984
Reagan Orders Investigation
J-1 Controversial CIA Manual
Aides Say triter Gas `Overzealous'
y Joanne Omang and Lou Cannon
-9
Washington Post Stiff Writers
President Reagan moved quickly
yesterday to disassociate his admin-
istration from a CIA manual advo-
cating political assns: inations in
Nicaragua, ordering an investiga-
tion of "the possibility of improper
conduct" within the CIA.
Senior administration officials
described the manual privately as
the work of an overzealous free-
l.ence," an independent employe un-
dr contract to the CIA.
Reagan acted as leading Demo-
crats, sensing a potentially hot po-
litical issue that could embarrass
him in Sunday's foreign policy de-
bate, chorused denunciations of the
manual, the CIA and the adminis-
tration's policy of aiding rebels
against Nicaragua's leftist Sandi-
nista government. House Speaker
Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neil! Jr. (D-
Mass.) called for the resignation of
CIA Director William J. Casey.
The content and the tactics con-
tained in this manual would never
have been condoned by the presi-
dent or the national security com-
munity," White House spokesman
Larry Speakes said in New York,
where Reagan attended the Alfred
E. Smith Memorial Dinner last
night.
Before leaving Washington,
Speakes issued a statement in
which Reagan asked Casey to have
the CIA inspector general "inves-
tigate the possibility of improper
conduct on the part of employes of
the CIA in regard to the publication
of a manual for the Nicaraguan
democratic resistance forces." He
also requested a probe by the Intelligence Oversight
Board, which consists of three members he appointed.
"The administration has not advocated or condoned
political assassination or any other attacks on civilians,
nor will we," Speakes said.
The manual originally was obtained by the Associat-
ed Press.
Administration officials, speaking on condition they
not be named, said the 90-page booklet apparently was
prepared by a low-level contract employee with Viet-
nam experience, and had never been cleared for pub-
lication. They said they have "a definite suspect" in
mind as the author, but would not say whether the per-
son still is under contract.
Although officials said the manual was a draft, the
head of the largest Nicaraguan rebel group said he had
received a copy of it. Adolfo Calero, head of the Ni-
caraguan Democratic Force (FDN) which is based in
Honduras, said the document was given to him not by
the CIA but by a supporter he declined to name.
Some sections, he said, had been ignored. "It talks
about terrorism, which is something we haven't done,"
Calero said.
The administration officials acknowledged that the
manual was "clearly against the law" as outlined by Rea-
gan in a Dec. 4, 1981, executive order that banned po-
litical assassinations.
The pamphlet, entitled "Psychological Operations in
Guerrilla Warfare," recommends that Nicaraguan reb-
els use "selective violence" to "neutralize" prominent
members of the Sandinista government, terms intelli-
gence sources said can mean murder or permanent dis-
abling.
It says professional criminals can be hired to do "se-
lective jobs" such as creating "martyrs" through staged
violent demonstrations in which rebel backers are
killed. The document also advises guerrillas to be polite
and helpful to rural Nicaraguans to build support.
Democratic presidential nominee Walter F. Mondale
said in a Cable News Network television interview yes-
terday that the manual could "deprive the United States
of its moral authority" and was further proof that "the
whole illegal, covert war in Nicaragua has been coun-
terproductive."
His running mate, Geraldine A. Ferraro, said the
manual was "totally contrary to our basic values
.... Anyone who believes for one minute that refining
murder techniques of Central Americans will advance
our national interests is gravely mistaken."
O'Neill told reporters that the manual was "nothing
short of outrageous" and said Casey "owes the Con-
gress and the American people an immediate explana-
tion." He added, "I want him out of there."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020004-6
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020004-6
~:;s call w s echoed by Rep. James N. Shannon (D-
3_n. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.),` chairman of the Sen-
te Intelligence Committee, demanded "a complete re-
on the manual's history from the CIA, and staff
mr ohers said later that the agency is expected to brief
ti . committee Monday.
Reaz,in's senior staff members discussed the manual
ith the president on Wednesday after a story about it
ti ~s published in The New York Times. The president's
pulit):al advisers expressed concern that Reagan act,
quici iv to repudiate the document before Sunday's tele
;is a debate with Mordale.
Administration officials said national security adviser
Hobert C. McFarlane gave his report to the president., .
and told him that he believed the manual was the world .
cf a "free-lancer" operating under contract to the CIA.
Officials declined to say whether the results of the-
proee, would be made public or whether they would be<
given to the president before the Nov. 6 election.
CIA spokeswoman Patti Voltz said the CIA wog
cooperate fully with any investigation. She said, how,
ever, that inspector general John Stein would disqualifx,
himself because he was the CIA's deputy director
operations from 1991 to July 1 and, therefore, was in
char of the administration's covert program in Nic
2ragua. The probe will be handled by the CIA's deputy,
i:apector general, whom Voltz declined to name.
Another CIA-sponsored manual, in the form of a com
is book, surfaced last summer in Nicaragua. It de-;
scrih,~d how to make Molotov cocktails, pour sugar in
gaF-oiine tanks, disrupt communications and otherwise
harass the Sandinista government. Sources within the
F.DN rebel group confirmed the book had been provided.
by CIA contacts. But it did not specifically advocate orb
demonstrate any "neutralization" techniques, in con-.
trast to the psychological warfare manual. .~,
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cover of CIA psychological warfare manual for rebels.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201020004-6