CIA CRITICS USE MAGAZINE TO UNMASK AGENCY'S SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100390032-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 6, 2004
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: January 17, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

STA1
Approved For R",31%06/1(Jj pC i ff ("A 1~14R000
17 January 1979
Written . -Agent Agee, 50thers
By JAMES P. HERZOG
Scripps-Howard Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -'Some place in they
nation's capital is the office of the Co-
vert Action Information Bulletin.
For fear of harassment, the exact lo-
cation is kept secret even from friends.
The magazine, three; issues old andl
edited by virulent domestic critics of thel
Central Intelligence Agency, is attempt-i
ing to systematically unmask CIA agents
stationed around the world.
For those who send a $1O-a-year sub-
scription to a post office box, the Covert
Action Information Bulletin offers six is-
sues replete with chatty notes about the
comings and goings of CIA station chiefs
around the world.
The publication of a magazine whose
subscribers include foreign embassies'
and whose goal is to damage undercover
activities by the CIA, angers agency offi-
cials. Dale Peterson, a CIA spokesman,'
described publishing the names as "dis- ,
rupting" and said the list "poses some
danger" to persons on it, whether or not
they really are agents.
The Covert Action Information Bulle-
tin, which is edited by six persons includ-
ing former CIA agent Philip Agee, says
it is identifying agents -because "we do
not believe that one can separate the
dirty work of the CIA from the people
who perform it. The exposure of past op-
erations is valuable, but is only half the
job:"
in revealing the name of a new CIA
station chief in Jamaica, the bulletin's
editors said they don't believe the CIA
intends to stop its-,,"nasty- covert
operations."
The magazine- pledged "to ? expose
high-ranking CIA officials whenever-and
wherever we find them.".
The unmasking by Americans of their
own intelligence agents became an issue
in late 1975 when Richard S. Welch, a
CIA station chief in Greece, was assassi-
nated after being named in a magazine
called Counter-Spy. Claims by the CIA-
that the article led to Welch's death were
vehemently denied by CIA critics.
Key figure at the Covert Action Infor-
mation Bulletin appears to be Louis
Wolf, a 38-year-old self-described "spook
spotter." During an interview Wolf said,
"I truly believe that what Philip (Agee)
and the rest of us' do is truly patriotic.
This is fully within the American posi-
tion of trying to enforce Democratic
positions."
Wolf identifies himself as a graduate
of a small Vermont college who went to
Southeast Asia with a volunteer program
.as a conscientious objector in the early
1960s. After three years is Laos, Wolf
went to the Philippines, where he spent
several years as a graduate student.
He became a journalist and recently,
collaborated with Agee in writing a book
called "Dirty Work" that names 711 per-.
sons that the authors say are intelligence
agents. Agee, with his initial book, "In-
side side the Company," was the first of sev-
eral ex-CIA agents to publicly reveal]
what they know about the American in
telligence network.
"The naming of people makes it much
more difficult for them (the CIA) to en-
gage in joint covert operations and to do
some intelligence gathering," said Wolf. i
"We feel this is a service we can per-
form - a form of protection to people
who, would have been targeted (by the
CIA)."
.,'..Wolf is earnest. and intense. His wool
jacket and coat, his neatly kept appear-
ance give him the look of a somber I
young college professor. He is imprecise
as to why agents should be exposed.
But he indicates it's because the CIA
won't stop its attempts to overturn gov-
ernments and kill those deemed as en- I
emies. Exposing agents will interfere
with those operations and will limit the I
CIA's ability to do harm, he suggests.
The CIA's Peterson, meanwhile, said,
"It certainly does not serve any useful
purpose to draw up lists of people who
they claim are agency-related o?ficials
in the field." .
Peterson said that if someone tried to
name Soviet agents, "it would be discon-
certing to their operations as well." He
added, "They're obviously aimed against
the United States. I don't know what
their relationship," and he stopped in
mid-sentence:
"The laws at this point are not very
strong in terms of espionage per se,"
said Peterson. "There are not very many
laws on the books that protect individ-
uals from publishing this kind of
information."
The CIA's only course against exposes !
by ex-agents has been to file civil suits,
claiming that the authors violated secre-
cy oaths by publishing books or articles.
A government suit against Frank W.
Snepp III, a former agent who wrote that
the CIA bungled the U.S. withdrawal
from Vi-rnam, resulted in a U.S. District
Court ruling that Snepp couldn't keep the
profits from the book.
Not only does the Covert Action Infor-t
mation Bulletin name names - about 231
so far - but it also gives advice on howl
to unmask a CLA agent.
And the magazine advises readers,
that once names are fully checked, they
should be published.
"Then," says the magazine in an arti-
cle by Agee, "organiie public demon-
strations against those named - both at
the American Embassy (overseas) and
at their homes ... Peaceful protests' will
do the job."
The "Naming Names"' section of the
bulletin has the chatty style of a newslet-
ter. For example, the bulletin describes
one man as "a. relative newcomer to the
agency," who was 'noted, at least as of
early 1978 at the Beirut embassy _as.1'
third secretary."
The CIA will neither confirm nor deny t
the validity of the lists. And spokesmani
Peterson said that any newspaper that
repeats the names is "just lending cre-.
dence" to a disruptive list.
STAT
Approved For Release 2004/10/28 : CIA-RDP88-01314ROOO 1003900
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