REVIVING A SPOOKY SPIRIT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000300040006-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2004
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: August 27, 1979
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

Approved For Release 2004/10/13 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000300040006-2
MacLEAN'S }MAGAZINE (Canada)
27 August 1979
t would have made .James Bond shiv-
er. "We're looking for y ou special men
and women who still have a spirit of
adventure. There aren't many of you.
One in a thousand maybe," read the ad
in The Washing on Poste, placed last
month by the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) whose star has fallen to
such a degree it is forced to advertise
for spies. This has made William Brock,
chairman of the Republican National
Committee, more anxious than ever
about the state of agency affairs. He
cites the ad as further evidence that the
CA is demoralized and desperate.
In the past, recruits were found in the
old-boy network, from discreet univer-
sity interviews and referrals from other
branches of government. But these
sources have clearly dried up. Following
the traumatic congressional investiga-
tions of the past few years-with their
revelations of assassination plots, se-
cret medical experiments and attempts
to undermine constitutional democra-
cies-the glamor has gone from the spy
business. People just don't want to get
involved, anymore.
-
The implications are far greater than
the newspaper ad might suggest. For, as
Brock is quick to point out, America's
intelligence agents have stopped deliv-
ering the goods. From Cuba to Korea,
from Iran to Rhodesia, they have failed
j to get things right in the past two years.
11 Now Brock has produced a scathing re-
port saying the CIA and its mistakes are
causing "confusion and chaos" in the
nation's foreign policy. As a result the
Republicans recently decided to call for
a massive overhaul of intelligence oper-
ations and plan to make the subject a
major issue in next year's presidential
elections.
In politicizing the plight of the agen-
cy, in drawing attention to its short-
comings, Brock hopes to get the CIA a
new deal with Congress and at the same
time cash in on the right-wing policy
drift that is evident throughout the U.S.
today. He says: "Pressures and mis-
guided initiatives by the Democratic-ii
controlled Congress during the Nixon,;
Ford, and Carter administrations have:
drastically reduced U.S. intelligence-?
CG TINUED
Approved For-Release 2004/10/13 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000300040006-2