Approved For Release 2007/06/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100140100-8
THE WASHINGTON POST
ARTICLE APPEARED 9 May 1978
ON PAGE _ A-1,6
Ex-official Charges
Planted False Anffo3
C
C
: ; Wa,binzton Fit 8tai1 Writ.n
N'E W- YORK-.The, Central Intelli-
gence Ageney, planted false informs
;tion with the American press, congres.
sional leaders and the United Nations
about the 1975 civil . war. in Angola,
former CIA official John Stockwell
:charged here yesterday. -
Stockwell, who headed the CIA's
-Angolan, task .force,. said the intelli-
gence agency sent its own propaganda
specialists to Africa in 1975: The spe-
cialists secretly, coordinated an infor-
mation campaign for two- of the three
-competing Angolan forces: - -
In addition, Stockwell said the CIA.
set up, a small .task force in, a New
York hotel room to fund and advise
the Angolans on a daily basis when
they came to-the--United States to .c
plead their= case. To U.S. officials and
reporters,'- the Africans 'distributed
CIA-prepared-?propaganda that Stock-
.well said. was sometimes "false- to the
point of ? being ludicrous" and' other.
times "simply inaccurate,"'"
At a news conference; -the .41-year-
old Stockwell - also .'said that- former-
CIA director William E.:.Colby and
former-secretary of state. Henry A..
-Kissinger both gave inaccurate infor-
mation about the-CIA's,role in-the An-.
golan war:.to congressional-investigat
ing committees' in 1975-and 1976.
Stockwell; :who--resigned 'from' the,
CLA last.year,:made the charges yes. '
terday in connection with the publica- l
tion this week'of'his books -"In- Search '
-witted to the CIA for prior approval._
actions in - Angola," a committi
spokesman said yesterday.. .
Support Stockwell or Colby.
Stockwell for five days in ? closed
The' CIA, meanwhile, continued toj
decline comment'-on. therStockwell sib..,. a
allegations. A spokesman said. yester f cial and reminded him that the C
day that the agency ? had not been had gone to court against Snepp, ak
aware the former official was writing cording to Stockwell, who said, "I too
a book,. and thus had not ,been. given that as a threat" He said he-has al-
the chance to review it for classified ready approached the American. Civil
material. Liberties:. UnionMwhich.is,defending
The: Justice Department has filed Snepp.
suit against Frank Snepp, another for-
"Stockwell told reporters that while
mer CIA official, charging .he broke the CIA's Angolan propaganda pro-
the terms of his employment contract . gram was - carefully- organized he
with the agency by refusing to submit could . recall. only-,two specific case
for-review his book about the. fall of In which-- a,U.S;, newspaper- published
Vietnam.. articles' that the CIA- had a hand in
In that suit,. however, the. govern- preparing. Both articles appeared in
disclosed classified material. . Stock One article reported the fall of the
terday that he
k
l
d
d
ll
now
. ac
yes
e
we
ge
Angolan. city of Malanje to the Na-~
had used classified information: in his tional Union for the 'Total Liberation
no current
ex
osed
b
k b
id h
t
p
.
u
sa
e
oo
, of. Angola (UNITA) and the capture',
eration and changed the names of
o
p
of 20 Sitdi
ove avsers,
s. by the group.
agents. B. Adamson; a spokesman The information was planted by CIA
Propagandists
artment said yes- "and .was= completely
De
Ju
'th
tic
f
p
or
s
e
e
%
, terday that while there had been no false; Stockwell said.
formal communication yet from the In,.tiie .second case-.the CIA ap.,
aeration of legal action" against Stock-J on the. Angolan situation :which -was
well. He said Stockwell's unauthorized sold to-- The; `Post bp' a?-tree 1-a n ee
we're trying the Snepp case,- to see if
the contract is enforceable."
At his news conferenceyesterday,
Stockwell said- he made' up- his mind
to write a book about the-Angolan
episode before he left the CIA a year
ago. He refused to sign;-the intel-
ligence agency's standard secret
pledge when he left, he said,: despite
a half-hour of- persuasion by a C
security official: ?:r.,? _ ;..
Stockwell said be did not.-take an
documents when he left but did have
a complete set of notes he-kept dur,
lag the Angolan conflict. "r also had
the opportunity before I left to rea
most of the most-sensitive ;documen
on the subject," he said. -
On Sunday, Stockwell said, he tel
.phoned CIA. Director Stansfield T
ner- to let him know that -the book
would be' published this:-week - and
that he would be appearing on the
.CBS-TV show "60 Minutes'' that day
'to. discuss its contents.,
The call to ' Turner, said Stockwell,
.was Intended' as - "a - gentlemanly " 'g
Lurel" but "it didn't turn- out- - that
way'
gush" before it was sold. -
UNITA and the other QA-supported
group, the Nationals Front' for the,
supplied. CIA prepared propaganda to
other news organizations, Stockwell-
CIA specialists metieeIensly pre-
ment- for representatives -of the two-
groups to give to the press and key
political; officials when they came-to
the United States, Stockwell said. "It
was made to look like their work but
It was ours," he said. "We really
should have called it a gray paper.-:
In - addition to clandestine. props.
gandizing-, Stockwell. said,? the CIA
Oil to act as "cover" for some of its
Angolan operatives-' Both -companies,
be said, flatly refused to cooperate.-
.. Stockwell said that while the CIA
never took part-in the recruiting of
U.S. mercenaries - for the Angolan
war; itbrlEfed,, transported and armed.
.A ' ed directlyy by the FNLA. The CIA did
recruit' mercenaries fins=France and
STAT