ANALYSIS OF SENATOR EUGENE MCCARTHY'S ARTICLE IN THE 4 JANUARY 1964 ISSUE OF THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000500040053-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 31, 2003
• Sequence Number: 53
• Publication Date: February 27, 1964
• Content Type: MEMO

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MEMORANDUM 27 February 1964
SUBJECT: Analysis of Senator Eugene McCarthy's Article in the 4 January 1964
Issue of the SATURDAY EVENING POST
1. Senator McCarthy devotes his article to charging that the CIA "makes
foreign policy." According to McCarthy, the only way to keep CIA within its
"proper limits" is to establish a congressional watchdog committee.
2. His basic contention is that the CIA prepares and implements dangerous
foreign policies without authorization, often in conflict with the State
Department. He claims that the CIA has usurped the policy-making role of the
President and Congress by overthrowing foreign governments, violating inter-
national law, and wrecking the 1960 Summit Conference. McCarthy complains
that Congress never gave CIA authority to depart from its role as an "information
center," or authority to assume the roles of the Department of State, the
Department of Defense, and Congress. He cites six specific instances of CIA
usurpation (treated separately in the Appendix).
3. McCarthy's solution to the problems he outlines is to make the CIA
accountable "not only to the President but also to Congress." The President,
with the help of the Cabinet and the NSC, controls and directs the CIA "in
theory" only. The President cannot keep fully informed on CIA's activities
and CIA is thus not "fully" under Presidential control. McCarthy does not
examine the relationship of, CIA to the President, the Cabinet, or the NSC or
any other part of the executive branch, including the Clifford Committee.
4. While much of McCarthy's argument hinges on the implication that CIA
is independent and unsupervised and untrustworthy, he states that the issue is
not one of executive control or efficient administration but of "congressional
responsibility." Congress, he asserts, has a right and a duty to participate in
decisions regarding CIA's activities. Both the judgment and will of Congress
should be reflected in the major decisions and activities of CIA.
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5. Present Congressional supervision is inadequate, he concludes, and
CIA is unique among agencies and departments in that it decides how much or
how little Congress will be told. A joint committee would provide the necessary
safeguards against abuses of power by CIA, give Congress the information it
needs to to evaluate intelligence activities, and insure that Congress shares
in the making of vital decisions. It would also end conflicts between CIA
and "other U. S. operations abroad,"-'and prevent inaccurate congressional state-
ments on U.S. activities.
6. It should be noted that McCarthy attacks only the CIA, not the
executive branch of government or the President. In his analysis, the CIA
acts without Presidential control, arbitrarily and in contravention of
established U.S. policy. Congressional supervision4 is a right, as well as
a necessity, although most of the argument n terms of CIA as an "invisible
/11
government, answering only to itself."
25X1
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Specific Allegations of CIA Misconduct
1. McCarthy cites a total of six situations in which he claims CIA
effectively made foreign policy, usurping the functions of the Department of
State or Congress. Each of these is treated separately below.
2. Vietnam: McCarthy states that the CIA was funding the Vietnamese
"special corps" used against the Buddhists although the US Government publicly
deplored the raids. This activity raises "questions as to how CIA actions
may critically affect U.S. foreign affairs." McCarthy leaves the implication
that CIA was supporting a persecution of a religious group.
3. Laos: Citing former Ambassador Horace Smith, McCarthy claims that
the CIA, with Pentagon backing, supported Phoumi Nosavan in conflict with
"official and public policies of the State Department." The net result was
that Laos nearly went communist, millions of dollars in aid was wasted, and
much diplomatic maneuvering was required to restore stability under Souvanna
Phouma. While admitting that Laos was "highly volatile" and the situation
"hardly ideal", McCarthy charges that CIA was pursuing its own brand of foreign
policy.
4. Iran: McCarthy is uncertain whether to give credit for the coup to
CIA. CIA reportedly is responsible, although many authorities dispute this--
in any event the Agency's cloak of secrecy prevents its "claims" from being
challenged. He then questions who, if anyone, authorized CIA to overthrow
Mossadegh.
5. Guatemala: Although this coup, which the CIA, he says, "claims" to
have masterminded, benefited the US, McCarthy questions whether the CIA is the
"proper tool" t o overthrow foreign governments. He does not elaborate.
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6. U-2 Shootdown in 1960: The development of the U-2 was "possibly the
mightiest achievement of the CIA" and provided an enormous amount of information,
according to McCarthy. He questions the CIA's "usage" of the U-2, however,
and criticizes the CIA for not having a consistent "cover story" prepared.
The flight on the eve of the summit conference jeopardized the foreign policy
of the US and trespassed on the foreign policy perogatives of the President,
State, and Congress. CIA "in effect made foreign policy" while Congress stood
helplessly by because they were uninformed.
7. Bay of Pigs: CIA overstepped its "legitimate role" by encroaching
on Congressional rights and responsibilities. Errors of planning are not as
important as the fact that the CIA undertook to raise any army without both
presidential and congressional approval and undertook an invasion which might
be construed as an act of war.
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