(SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91B00135R000601040019-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: August 29, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/05/19: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000601040019-2
STAT
STAT
STAT
Approved For Release 2008/05/19: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000601040019-2
 Approved For Release 2008/05/19: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000601040019-2
WASHINGTON POST
25 August 1983
CIA Documents Set Off St 01
,
TVT , ' ? , -
By Murrev Marder
WU fl ngtun Pus.S{aX( Nailer
'Vietnam war documents from files
of the CIA have set off a storm of
cross-claims in. retired Gen. William
C. Westmoreland's $120 million libel
suit over the 1982 CBS News tele-
vision "`documentary, "The. Uncount-
ed Enemy: A Vietnam Deception."
' CBS attorney David Boies -claims
that the declassified records include
"a classic.' smoking gun' .documeh."
that he said "proves that the thesis
of the broadcast was correct." West-
moreland's attorney. Dan M. Burt of
the Capital Legal Foundation, .makes
just:the opposite claim, saying that
other- cable:. in the same sequence
show that the conspiracy accusation
in:the broadcast. was "a fake."
In the last two weeks, "400 to 500
docurf ents" have . been released by
the CIA' in response td subpoenas,
CBS. attorneys said, as part of a
sweeping search of wartime records
for the case.
l\'estmoreland, . Vietnam field
commander from 1964 to 1968, coil
tends he was libeled by the CBS i
...broadcast. which reported "a. con-
spiracy at the highest levels of Amer
ican military intelligence-to sup
.press and alter critical intelligence
on the enemy- in 1967.
CBS attorneys focused their at-
tention on a cable that they made
available. sent froth Saigon.on Sept.
10. -1967, by. George Carver, then
special assistant to CIA chief Rich.
ard Helms.
?Boies called it "the essence of the
lawsuit" and said -1 think it is just
devastating to the We
presentation.' The cable shows,
Boies contended. that the military
command in Saigon did impose an
arbitrary "ceiling" on counting
enemy strength. in order to make it
appear that the war was being won.
This cable. flout Carver says, in
part:
tors-MACV [Military Assistance
Command, Vietnam] juggling of fig-
ures its own -analysts presented dur-
ing August discussions in Washing.
ton, MACV behavior, _ and :tacit or
oblique lunchtime and corridor ad-
missions by MACV .,officers ... all
point to inescapable conclusion that.:..
Gen. Westmoreland (with',Komer's
encouragement) [Robert: W. Komer;
deputy commander for pacification]
has given instruction tantamount-10
direct order that VC [Viet :Conk)
strength total will . not ? exceed
'30X,000 ceiling. Rationale seems' to
be that any higher figure-would not
he sufficiently optimistic and would
generate unacceptable. level of crit-
icism from the press. - . , .
"This order . obviously makes it
impossible for MACV to engage . in
serious or meaningful discussion of
evidence or our real substantive dis-
agreements, which I strongly suspect
are negligible. I hope to-see Komer
and Westmoreland tomorrow . .-.and.
will endeavor to loosen this strait-
jacket. Unless I can we are wasting
our time...."
Carver headed an interagency
team from Washington sent to re-
solve a running dispute between the
CIA and MACV over counting
enemy strength. Both the CIA and
MAC V's own analysts had con-
cluded that earlier assessments, es-
pecially on' irregular forces, were se-
riously underestimated. That pro-
duced prolonged dispute about the
numbers, and about the categories
that should be counted as combat
forces.
The- CBS News documentary re-
ported allegations by military. ana-
lysts that they were directed to hold
their figures on enemy strength
below a :100,000 total. Westmoreland
denies imposing any "ceiling." The
CIA's own total count on enemy
strength 'was in the '"half-million
range." Admitting , such ,a' figure
would have confounded :the Johnson
administration's determination .to '
display progress in the-war.
Westmoreland ? has testified ' in
pre-trial depositions'-.that his com-
mand inherited from: the South Viet-
namese a "deceptive". and"ermneoA;
breakdown-,.for ...counting. enemy-, strength.-.'When` it was``found that
"we had -underestimated the political
cadre and: .underestimated ':the part
time irregulars," Westmnreland'said,
'I didn't tell: themtto' charige. any=
nu' inber's::.. T 'aid `I want the mat-
ter reviewed." '
"It became: evident," Westmnure.
land said, '"that we- should -come up, ?
with a different' format that would
isolate the order: of battle from the
political cadre and from.the home-
guard types."
His objective, Westmoreland said,
was "to purify the order of battle so
that we had a better fix on precisely
who we. were fighting.. . . " To
combine the figures on enemy
strength, he said, would have given a
false impression "that suddenly we
were fighting more people than we
were before Moreover, West-
moreland said, it would have given
ammunition to those. "who ? were
grasping at ... every item that they
could lay their hands'-on to embar-
rass the administration.'
A breakdown of the figures into
separate categories, said West.more-
lard's attorney, Burt, is what did
evolve; as- shown by other cables
from Carver that he made available.
But it was wrong and irresponsible,
Burt said Monday, to label that "a
conspiracy." ' .
"I ' believe that the entire ?5et of
cables, as well as Mr. Carver's tes-
timony, will make it very clear that
the [CBS] broadcast. was as many
people believe-fake," Burt said.
Approved For Release 2008/05/19: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000601040019-2
 Approved For Release 2008/05/19: CIA-RDP91 B001 35R000601040019-2
Subsequent cables. Burt said.
show that Carver, after meeting with