INFORMATION REVIEW & RELEASE (IRR) NEWS FOR 26-30 JANUARY 2004

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01247686
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: April 2, 2019
• Case Number: F-2010-01471
• Publication Date: January 30, 2004

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Information Review & Release (IRR) News for 26-30 January 2004
Executive Summary
Future Planning Calendar
(UHAT1i0) 11 February 2004: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Liaisons'
meeting in Crystal City.
(W/At1:30)- 24 February 2004: Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP): Next Principals'
meeting at EEOB in Washington, DC.
(U I ArH30)-31 December 2006: The Automatic Declassification Date per Executive Order 12958, as amended.
Overview of IRR Activities--Last Week
(U//411112) Progress on the Soviet Finished Intelligence Project
(UHAIU0) The Historical Collection Division (HCD) delivered another collection of DI Soviet Finished
Intel1igence-354 documents (4,531) pages�to NARA. This is another set of repackaged previously-released
declassified finished intelligence documents. The purpose of the project is to organize in a single collection at
NARA the finished intelligence on the Soviet Union that we have released in our various declassification programs.
Covering the 1946-1990 period, the collection includes a representative selection of military, economic, scientific
and political papers. To date, releases under the SovFinIntel project total 5,962 documents (almost 121,382 pages).
(U//4R40) National Security Archive Online
(U//Afctia) Ever wonder what the requesters from the National Security Archive do with the documents you
searched, redacted, and released? Look on the Internet. Their database includes more than 40,000 of the most
important declassified documents regarding critical US policy decisions. There are 20 complete collections, each
offering specialized insights. The CIA Library is running a trial subscription of the "Digital National Security
Archive" database, which is available through the end of February. The trial subscription is available through the
Agency Internet Network site To take a look, access the AIN site, then go to CIA Library. If
you find the site useful, contact The library seeks your feedback to gauge the
amount of interest in the site. A briefing on the database will be held in the CIA Library on 11 February 2004 at
1100 hours
(U//A-1450) FOIA Requests
(W/A11113) FOIA/PA Lowers 'Pending' Case Load
(UHAIU0) The FOIA and Privacy Act (PA) teams of the Public Information Programs Division in CIO/IMS closed
3,252 FOIA and PA cases in FY 2003, thus reducing the total number of cases pending by 116 cases�from 1,547
cases at the beginning of FY 2003 down to 1,431 cases at the end of FY 2003. These statistics are included in the
Freedom of Information Act, Annual Report, 2003 that CIA submitted to the Department of Justice in compliance
with a reporting requirement mandated by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) of 1996.
� The report also indicates a reduction in median response time as well as average response time for case
closures, compared to the same time period in FY 2002.
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Editor: The Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy (0IP) recently posted a statistical analysis
of the Exemption 3 statutes used by agencies based upon their annual FOIA reports. OIP's compilation is the
public's only glimpse of which statutes agencies are using. The 01P found that the most commonly used
Exemption 3 statute is 41 US. C.' 253 b(m), which allows agencies to withhold contract proposals except to the
extent that they are incorporated into the contract.
(UHAIIJO) Information Request on the Muslim World League
(U//Aft443.).A journalist seeks all Agency documents, reports, cables or other communications mentioning in any
way the Muslim World League, also sometimes called the World Muslim League or Rabita, covering the 1960-1963
period. The requester seeks the waiver of all fees and expedited processing of his request because the "public has an
urgent need for information about this organization because of the ongoing concern about the export of Islamic
fundamentalism from Saudi Arabia where the Muslim World League.. .has its headquarters." He adds that The
Washington Post is currently preparing a series of articles on this issue.
(UHA-1439) Seeking Information on Presidential Candidates
(UHAIU0) A requester from Alexandria, Virginia, seeks copies of all correspondence "to and from" presidential
hopefuls�Senator John Edwards (1999-present), Gen. Wesley Clark, retired (1990-present), and Senator John Kerry
(1985-present).
(b)(3)
(b)(5)
(UHAW0)-CDC Declassification Center,
(U/A-1110) A New RAC Team
4C4 A second Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Team was formed
mountain of Presidential Library material expected to total some 1.4 million pages for review over the next six
years.
to tackle the looming
Following on President Carter's letter [ref: IRR Weekly, 10/27/2003] relative to the importance of
declassification, the Carter Library's director is requesting that thc Team place 30-50,000 pages of
declassified material into an unclassified system at the library by the end of CY 2004. If all goes well, a ceremony
will be held at the library, attended by President Carter, to commemorate this event.
(UHATI50) From The Archives:
(U//A11.10)- Briefing the Former President
(Whet-RI-et A Memorandum for the Record authored by DCI John McCone describes his "meeting with General
Eisenhower at Gettysburg on 19 September 1963." Much of the discussion was on the situation in South Vietnam,
(b)(3)
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which the DCI states was discussed in great detail. On the issue of the Diem regime, the DCI stated, "All were
agreed that our basic purpose of defeating the Viet Cong and leaving the affairs of South Vietnam to the Vietnam
government was proper. Some in Washington and in the Embassy felt this could not be accomplished with the
Diem regime and the regime should be disposed of forthwith. Others felt that this was hazardous; no coup d'etat to
remove Diem seemed certain of success and no assurances were in hand that a new government would be
appreciably better than the present regime." In response to Eisenhower's questions about a possible coup d' etat, the
DCI noted that CIA "determined that there was not a sufficient unified position among the [Vietnamese] military to
ensure the success of a bloodless coup. Quite to the contrary such an attempt might result in civil war which would
be disastrous for our cause and most advantageous to the Viet Cong. Eisenhower readily recognized the seriousness
of the problem and the difficulties of dealing with Diem..." He urged that "we be careful and deliberate and
exhaust all possibilities of success with the present regime before attempting to dispose of it."
� President Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were deposed and killed during a coup initiated by a group of
senior Vietnamese officers on 1 November 1963. General Duong Van Minh succeeded to power.
(U/herfee) Bulgarian Youth Festival
(UHAIU0) A 31 July 1968 Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) reports that "the World Youth Festival opened in
Sofia this week in an atmosphere of tension. The Czech, Yugoslav, and Israeli delegations reportedly received a
frigid reception as they entered the stadium to attend opening ceremonies. The Czechs responded by chanting in
Bulgarian 'Our democracy is our affair' and 'Dubcek and Svoboda' in front of a reviewing stand filled with
Bulgarian dignitaries. Bulgarian authorities reacted sharply. Radio Prague claims that Bulgaria confiscated a
truckload of Czech stationery and publicity material, which reportedly included pamphlets explaining the reform
program of the Czech Communist Party. The Czech delegation responded by sending out press invitations written
on Bulgarian toilet paper."
� The Youth Festival occurred in the middle of the 'Czech Prague Spring' crisis, and the Czechs obviously tried
to carry their message to the world wherever and however they could
CC:
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