CIA UNHAPPY OVER AFRICA; DIRECTOR CITES NEGLECT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000300030032-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 15, 2007
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: October 10, 1977
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000300030032-4
Un h appy
irect~r Cites
By JOSEPH R. DAUGHEN
and JOHN J. FARMER
Of The Bulletin Staff .
your intelligence process." The ever- the CIA can do what .is ? necessary to
present danger of nuclear weapons, he keep the United-States fully infq,-med
said, requires the agency to maintain about Soviet intentions and capahili-
(Second of Two Parts) its current monitoring of the Russians ties. To accomplish this, he said, lies
Langley, Va. - Past United States at the same time it is spreading its has "lots" of agents abroad. '
neglect of southern Africa is just one forces around the globe to deal with "I really can't tell you," he said,
problem CIA _ Director Stansfield' the southern Africa nations and the when asked how many "lots'repre-
problehe is facing as St tries ld OPECs (Organization of Petroleum sented.
Turner says
as
reshape his hens facing
agency t meets Exporting Countries). Turner said the United States __ and
today's changing world. Covert operations - the type of se- Russia are militarily close to. "pa-
In an interview with the Bulletin in ? cret adventure that has damaged the rity," and scoffed at a report by a
his offices here, Turner chose his agency's reputation - cannot be used group of hawks, known as "Team B,"
words carefully but left no doubt of his as successfully in today's world, Turn- that said military trends favor a Rus-
unhappiness over the intelligence Sys- er said, where economics has become sia that is bent on achieving clear su-
tem s failure to forecast adequately a major concern. ~~ periority. The Team B group reviewed
the he racial and political turmoil now "Covert actions fit in less today, critically the CIA's annual national in-
rag the lower half of the African he said. "You're not going to shape telligence estimate at the request of,
continent, another nation's economy through the outgoing Ford Administration.
He said "a good deal" of the seven some kind of covert action. Twenty- "I read the 'B Team' very carefully,
even five years ago, we were the dominant but I always thought from what I read
months he' has been CIA chief s
has,
, economic power of the world. Today, the 'B-Team' was so scared the Rus-
been spent on things south of the Sa-
ban." en added that "as recently as an outfit like OPEC can dominate one sians were coming that, they were un-
the Nixon-Ford Administrations there facet of our economics. my apprehensive," said Turner.
"And our relations with a number of
wasn't much attention on that." Turner said the Soviets emphasize
'It happens to have come to a head other countries- Japan, Western Eu- ?
military prowess" because it is their
here with Rhocjesia' nuclear testing rope - are very critical to our eco- only real stren0th
nomics. We can't just push them "flawed" g. They a
facilities in South Africa, (independ- around. So economic intelligence is of "economic ideology, problem of he s not aid, being able
ence for) Namibia, a war in Ka- and
e
tango," said Turner. greater importance." to feed their own people."
Im licit in his comments was the The lessened dominance of the U.S.
-
P over global economics, Turner said,' ically I see and not them well likely to behind close us the gap,gap,
view that U.S. inattention to to that - over
"
Union has been accompanied by a similar he stated. "I see them behind us polit-
holds among in Zarn- decrease in its military dominance.
g regimes ically, not being true members the
bin, Mozambique, Mali, Angola, Twenty-five years ago, we
could've whipped anybody with one world community but rather striving
Uganda and Somalia. to set up a Soviet empire. Se if I m a
Asked directly if the CIA hadn't hand tied behind our back," he said.
.. Soviet-, I say: 'What strength have I
failed in its task in Africa, Turner re- Today, you ve got to be clever; got to play in my-hand?' And it's the
lied: you ve got to be smart."
p military strength." = `--
''I don't want to be critical 'of my Turner said a political complication -
predecessors because, you know, with
hindsight you could probably say
.;'yes'. But then I ask myself: 'What
am I neglecting today?' You know,
what are you going to ask my succes-
sor someday?
"I'mean, the answer to your ques-
tion is 'yes'. It would be nice if people
had forecast where the action was
going to shift, but I'm very reluctant
to criticize for not forecasting it
exactly .:.. Yes. We should ha ye
tried to forecast the trends in the
world."
Turner said that in the "last five to
ten years" - a period roughly corre-
ministration - a broad new range of the CIA's reputation is low. The I don't see any reason why w can't do
intelligence problems has arisen, in- agency's involvement in Vietnam, its that."
volving economic questions and the complicity in the overthrow of Salva- Turner said his agency's analysis
flexing of political muscle by emerg- dur Allende in Chile and its history of has. persuaded him that the "military,
ing nations. tampering with the affairs of other na- balance" is not "shifting against us."
With these new problems, he said, lions is well known. And he stressed that the CIA's role is
the CIA's concern with the Soviet While trying to overcome all this, chiefly that of analysis, rather than
for the United States has been the In effect, Turner said Russia is des-
emergence of new nations in once-co- tined to remain in second place-behind
lonialized areas. These nations, each the United States as long as American
with a United Nations vote eq)ial to ? military strength is sufficient to deter .
that of the United States, often vote in
opposition to American positions.
"We compete in the political sphere
of winning public opinion," he said.
"You know, you didn't use to care if
you won the votes in the United Na-
tions - you sort of had them in the
first place. You had enough on the
Western side that you didn't worry.
But now you've got a hundred and
something - forty - nations, or what-
ever."
Asked if the Soviets could achieye
world empire without a war, Turner
said: -
"No - as long as-.we don't give
them a standing invitation, that we
don't become too militarily weak that
it becomes too attractive for them.
We've got to -continue. to deter mili-
tary conflict at all levels by that level'
of military preparedness that's. ade-
quate to push the cost to them up too
Approved For Release 2007/10/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000300030032-4