FORMER CIA DIRECTOR COVERS ARMS SCANDAL DURING SPEECH AT V-I

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00418R000100150033-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 15, 2012
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: November 20, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

S1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/15: CIA-RDP99-00418R000100150033-0
Former CIA director
covers arms scandal
during speech at Vi
CHRIS CRISCIONE
Staff Writer
A former director of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency said the
Iran-Contra scandal resulted from
a "massive exercise in bad
judgment," and proper use of in-
telligence resources could have
prevented the situation.
William Colby, CIA Director
under presidents Nixon and Ford,
believes, however, reaction to the
Iranian arms scandal will close
"loopholes" in America's current
intelligence system. Colby spoke
at Virginia Intermont College
Thursday night as part of the
school's Leonard .Hall Memorial
LerW MiAtirn i v1,wri srr
Though he feels the Iran-
Contra scandal hurt President
Reagan's effectiveness as a
leader, Colby does not feel fallout
from the Congressional recom-
mendations will seriously hamper
the country's intelligence capabili-
ties. The situation could have
been avoided entirely if the proper
people had run the operation,
Colby said, referring to the roles
of Lt. Col. Oliver North and oth-
ers from outside the intelligence
community.
"If you're going to run an op-
eration of that magnitude. you,
have to rely on profesm
Colby said, "not depen
thusiastic group of amateurs"
Colby knows well. the
of professional intelligence ga
ing. He began his career in intel
gence during World War II in the
Office of Strategic Services, the
CIA's predecessor. In the 1950s,
he joined the fledgling CIA, even-
tually becoming Chief of the Far
East Division. He was named
CIA Director by President Nixon
in 1973, and served in that capac-
ity under President Ford until
1976.
When he was appointed to
the post. Colby was described by
U.S. News and World Report as
the "professional's professional."
The business of intelligence
gathering has gone through a
number of changes since the
CIA's inception, Colby said. One
of the major changes was this
country's decision to make the
CIA answerable to the Constitu-
tion, he said.
"We believed American intel-
ligence must operate under Amer-
ican law. That was a very novel
idea because, for many years, it
was thought the intelligence had
to operate outside the law."
This legal measuring stick
was violated when North, late
CIA Director William Casey and
others in the intelligence commu-
nity initiated the Iranian arms
deals and began funneling profits
from those deals to the Nicara-
guan Contras, he said. In doing
so, they witheld information from
Congress and stepped outside the
law. Colby said.
But Colby believes the recent
report from the Iran-Contra com-
mission will result in only minor
modifications of our intelligence
system.
"It's like our tax structure.
There are loopholes. When you
find a loophole, you fill it in. Con-
gress will just fill in some loop-
holes in the intelligence system."
Despite the cloak-and-dagger
image of the CIA, the agency puts
much less emphasis on espionage
these days. Colby said. Instead,
more resources go to the collection
and analysis of data and informa-
tion. Technology and science have
revolutionized the intelligence
business, he said.
One example is the devel-
opment of "spy planes" that can
conduct photographic surveil-
lance. Such plans were vital in un-
covering the installment of Soviet
missile bases in Cuba. and the
subsequent removal of those
bases, he said.
He added. however, that
spies still have their uses in intelli-
gence gathering, such as in ex-
plaining why Soviet leader Mik-
hail Gorbachev disappeared for 56
days last summer. Colby does not
Newsweek
Time
U.S. News & W' ortd Report/)
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Date
believe various Soviet explana-
tions, including one that said Gor-
bachev was just vacationing with
his family.
"There is an explanation
there that you won't see in the sa.
tellite cameras, and you won't see
in electronics. You need a good
traditional spy to find out why,"
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/15: CIA-RDP99-00418R000100150033-0