THIS PLACE IF PRODUCING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000300030027-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2007
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: February 6, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

,.R JGLL Ap._ A roved For Release 200WOSM CIA-RDP99-004988000300030027-0
6 February 1978
To get the view from the top at the
CIA, Washir:pton bureau chief Mel Elf-
in and correspondent David Martin
talked with director Stansfield Turner.
Excerpts: ,
NEWSWEEK: Every single person we have
talked to, without eirception, says morale has
never, ever, been lower than it is right now.
TURNER: I categorically deny that
There is not a morale problem in the
CIA today ... This place is producing.
The President of the United States is
pleased with it. And the product is high.
People work twelve-, sixteen-hour days
out here. I have people, at the drop of a
hat, working all day Sunday, coming
over to my house Sunday night with the
results. They are dedicated, wonderful,
inspired people. Now, there are com-
plaints. There's griping. There is in
every organization of the government
Q. Have such things as the Congressional
hearings, allegations by former agents who
have written books and the fact.that many
people are leaving the. CIA in a disgruntled
mood caused any sources to dry up because
they are afraid of leaks?
A. Oh, that's just balderdash. I have
such confidence in these people who
leave. They're patriotic Americans.
Now, some of them have shown a very
unprofessional stance in running to the
press, but, you know, even Frank Snepp
was very circumspect in writing his
book, as far as I can tell. There is appre-
hension around the world as to how the
Congressional thing will settle out. But
we haven't had, to the best of our knowl-
edge, leaks from the. Congressional side
that can be pinpointed.
And when you're in a period of transi- .
tion to new objectives, new methods,
new management systems, new styles of
openness, of course there are people
who are .complaining, because it isn't
being done the way it was yesterday.
0. Your dismissal of212 persons obviously
hurt morale. Would you do It again, and in
exactly the sarre way? =
A. What I will do differently the next
time is spread the notification out over a
longer period of time. -.. But I did what I
think was the. only honest, proper thing
to do for the agency and for the country
.. There's just nobody around here that
doesn't know that we're in a time when
we have to improve, we have to change,
we have to adapt.
0. Do you have confidenee in the elandes-
tine service, or are you afraid that there Is
something else hidden there?
A. I took a skeptical attitude and I
Turner with Carter, Brzezinski and Mondale: `The President is pleased'
hired [Robert D. Williams] to come in, Q.Aretired CIAofflelaltoldusrecently that National Intelligence Estimate on the Soviet
and I gave him a carte blanche [to inves- If he had been a Russian working In the Soviet Union? If so, does this reflect in any way on
tigate]. At the end of six months, I said to Embassy in Washington, he could probably the most Important job you do around here,
the clandestine service, "I am well satis- have all the documents and information pres- which is the estimate?
fied with the way you are doing things. I ently given to the Congress of the United A. We contract in a number of areas. I
have no concern that you are doing States within a year. don't want to discuss thatNlE in particu-
things deliberately without orders, or A. I don't believe it. I really don't: The lar, but I see nothing wrong with getting,
contrary to orders." I also told them there documents we give to the Senate Select in specialized areas, the very best talent
were, going to be 820 of them less, you Committee on Intelligence are held in the country can bring to bear on a nation-
know. The good news and the bad news. one series of closely guarded rooms, 24- at intelligence estimate ... This is only
~.;.,:.. hour guards on them, alarm systems, one little piece of the Soviet estimate.
0. Can the United States still take action - locks, the whole works. They're not We went out and hired a fellow who
covertly In a national emergency? running around in congressmen's offices. worked for us a few months ago. He was
A. Yes. We're scaling that down in our I went to see a senator the other day, working on this before he left
objectives ... but I will fight to the last to just to pay a courtesy call on him. We got We [also] go outside when it is, in our
retain an arrow in my quiver to do politi. discussing something, and he suddenly opinion, to the government's best inter7
cal action. But not thousands of people to . told me, "Write it down." He was so ests ... to make sure all the divergent
do paramilitary things like we had in security-conscious. His room hadn't views are represented. And if you don't
Vietnam-a small paramilitary capabil- been debugged for a while and [when] 1. happen to have hawks and doves on
ity. Modest, tuned, honed and ready to slipped into saying something classified, some particular situation or you don't
go. Its very important that it be there, we started exchanging notes, just the two have specialists on this and -that, y ou
particularly to combat terrorism. ofus sitting in the room there ... I mean, complement your in-house talent.
IL .
one of the benefits [in] oversight now is
that the Congress is really getting to
know what intelligence is about; they are
recognizing how much of a responsibil-
ity they're shouldering.
Q.Have any ofthe friendly services around
the world shown reluctance to share informa-
tion with the CIA because of leaks?
A. I have heard that foreign services
are questioning how our procedures are
working out under these circumstances.
I have zero evidence that it has, at this
stage, resulted in a degradation in the
quality or quantity of information we get
from them. . . What's changed in the last
decade is [that] technical-intelligence
collection has become so sophisticated,
so expensive, that in all areas of the
world we can do better in many of these
technical areas than anybody else..
0. Is it true the CIA had to contract out to
the Rand Corp. for the first draft of this year's