CIA SNAFU IN SINGAPORE VIEWED AS CAPER NOT WORTH CHIPS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67B00446R000500010018-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: September 3, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Front Edit Other
Pago Page 11 1 ?,
TULSA, 0'rtLl`,,10M*pprovfd
WOR1JD
Lt 100,947
S-158,125
SEP 3 1965
,, WASHINGTON - The five-year
old Singapore spy case now used
by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
I to belittle Washington's reputation
in Asia is generally regarded in
the government here as a CIA
blunder in a game that wasn't
worth the candle. Bence officials in the Singapore
High officials are trying to hush government. That government was
up the whole affair as rapidly as generally friendly to the United
possible hoping thereby to.reduce States and such an operation
1 the damage. The charges made, therefore involved a risk, if' de-
by the Singapore government chief tcctcd, of, embarrassing officials
three days ago, however, seem of a friendly administration. This accords with the recollee?
echo through Asian
rtai
c
l
'
e
fl
n ,
.C1A Won
t Comment. ?tion of knowled eable officials
capitals for a long time, feeding g
the conviction already held by The CIA has reused all com- here who, knowing primarily, the
some once friendly, now critical meat on these charges and any record of the Kennedy administra-
discussion of the case and its, own
leaders, Chat the United States lion, say that' cannot recall any
records or recollections of the
through its intelligence agency 'operation are therefore not clear evidence a bribe was offered Lee.
L meddles dangerously in their af- Ito outsiders. Elsewhere in Wash- Rusk in his letter of apology
Lairs. told Lee that the Kennedy adminis-
jington the understanding was
Efforts to soften the blow have that the` agents from Bangkok tration took a very serious view
i been set back, furthermore, by thewere primarily interested in ob? of the whole affair an "is re-
government's own handling of the !twining intelligence- reports to viewing activities of these officials
incident, once Prime Minister Lee !check upon. information which for disciplinary action." The letter
had discussed its occurrence, .Singapore authorities and the Brit- was alipare-tly a key element of
coupling it with a charge, that he ish were furnishing to the United the arrangement made to settle
f"''+- had been offered a bribe of_$3 mil- States officially ancwav The the affair with 'Lee, avoid dis-
spring
uiet
t
thin
i
k
C
close eat the
an
.
..
'?? ? gbc, , _Oil
"
eep we yr uvw
- /. l
on to
IA Alin were said to ?be partic-
?????
d
Reversal by U.S. ularly interested in Red Chinese CIA man from jail. Viei'Nam. The CIA financed weap-,
On Tuesday the State Depart- labor activities. There has beon. no official com- ons and extra pay of on, elite
d
"
ent Ngo Lim Diem s brother
angrily was caun red-handed trying to
issued a denial which Lee
disci nu iva
countered b relehaasin Wednescla bu the Information from a Sin a? thorities indicate no action Ngtt__DinhNhyLNhu used these
Y g y y, g
lit
t
n
f
e
roops as a perso
al
orce.
a letter of apology from Secretary pore official. Acturally it is under- taken against the CIA men m-J e
of State Dean Rusk. The State stood that at least two American volved--except they were all The CIA was thus closely identi-
.Department then acknowledged intelligence agents were initially transferred from Bangkok. The fied with support of the Diem
the substantial' accuracy of Lee's seized by Singapore police One CIA view of the matter was re- family, and its office in Saigon.
allegations in a red-faced state- was released immediately. The portedly that the danger of detect was severely shaken up, its leader
h
er was,held a matter of a few Lion. and arrest are part of the there transferred, as a result of
meat reversing the denial and ot
admitting the Busk letter. months, according to the best normal risk of cloak-and-dagger such disclosures.
available information. operations. Those who defend the CIA say
new expressions of interest in Washington's official concern in 1 Lee's dicision to keep silent five that its operations are subject to
Congress about having the intelli- dealing with this secret crisis at years ago is believed here to.havel continuous scrutiny by the White
gene agency nut under ' some the time was first. to get its agent been reversed this week not be- House and to checking and clea--
government in Sumatra in 1958,,
The Central Intelligence Agency;
Wide currency given to such'
charges and the CIA's policy of,
silence on its operations has led
over the years to the popular I;
assumption that most of them,
possibly all of them, are more or
less true. To the extend that-they
are true they may or. may not be
in exact accord with U.S. policy
Only two years ago there were
complaints in Congress that the
CIA, the State Department, andf
the D e f e n s e Department were,
working at cross purposes in the
kind of congressional watchdog out of jail and second to prevent 'cause he had any new complaints ante with such key officials as[
committee. Oddly enough, it is the incident from becoming an against the CIA but because'he I's. Johnson, Secretary Dusk
now learned, the origioug incident and-U.S. publicity bombshell. trying to move away' from such and Secretary of Defense Robert
In the end the British with their U.S ties as he has had toward S. McNamara.
caused a movement inside the
I caused administration during its close des with the Singapore ad?. i closer relations with Indonesia,
y
ministration at that time are re- f~ CIA critics within the. govpant
first months in office to tighten 11 Red China and Russia, meat say that during the past;
ported to have saved the da for in-
White House and State Department y 11 At the same time Lee has by years the power of each U.5.
the United Sates by persuading dicated a determination to maln- ambassador
supervision over CIA operations Lee to drop his threats 'to make tain Singapore's close association h in a rocaign capital
in the intelligence field. the full affair public' ? 1'over all the Amri tlys rength -
with Britain in the defense ficldi
What struck responsible officials there has been greatly strength
at the time, according to au- Blow to Prestige though he has ruled out any use! erred and that includes power
thoritative information, was that U.S. "officials feared that if it 1, of bases there by U.S. forces. over the CIA.
the incident which upset Lee- did become public it w o u 1 ? it one of the lasting effects of tied Iii jkdoition these inf?rnnrmts say
and which obviously stuck in his seriously damage this country'si; Lee charges against the Unitccl CIA operations are carefully co?
.i mind over the years-was a ques- error's to build trienclly relations a,a~es is A,ce,y LU uC lull ?"-iordinated in Washington with other,
tionable undertaking to begin with. with not only Singapore and Ma- tribution to the long list of com-1 actions of the government.
Responsible accounts of the affair laysia but also other countries in plaints registered by Asian leaders
small responsibility for
the area. against the CIA. Prince Norodorrn Some
indicate: A arentl Sihanouk, Cambodian chief, ofthis goes to the Singapore ineklont
The operation was developed by pP Y the argument which
{
most state once friend, and Howl though. undoubtedly a great deal
was
ff
ti
i
e
ec
ve w
th Lee was ,
the e CIA group operating.m Bang-?
? Thailand, So far as can' now that it was not in his interest M "hostile to the. United States, has
kak
i
start out on he wrct~~py~~~~~y~~tt~ accused the C14, for @xampple, of
Appro a E
er jifpipti6ti~Adt*'PI'4N a-f~I~B00irbwAl6~
administration took office. He said in the 1950s supported Chinese'
The original incident occurre
be determined, it was not checked at the end of the r isenhower ad against him In an effo-'t to break,
out with State 'Department or ministration. It was settled at the his power.
other non-CIA officials. CIA outset of the I{ennedy administra-' Indonesian. President Sukarno,
representatives' went from Thai- tion. ' An aide. of Prime Minister has charged that the intelligence'
land to Singapore and undertook Lee said Wednesday in Singapore agency, assisted an, unsuccessful
Kerniedy, ruled that no money .Nationalist troops based in north-l
would be given ""under the 1; ern Burma, an action which I
counter." .,created anger and resentment in
Kennedy's experience in the Cu
affair and to the`
sense -ona incident w 19GO'
h
k
h
wrec
ed t
e East-West sum
-twhic
mit confer encc hill aris
 Approved For Release 2004/04/08 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000500010018-7
Approved For Release 2004/04/08 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000500010018-7