DEAR CLARK:

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04723A000100100038-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 9, 2000
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: June 26, 1967
• Content Type: LETTER

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The -Ionorable Clark Clifford
C;nairman
The President's Foreign Intelligence
Advisory Board
Executive Office Building
Dear Clark:
Thank you for your letter of 22 June forwarding a proposed
memorandum and recommendations to the President concerning the
-problem of information handling in the intelligence community.
I have not had the benefit of seeing the study to which you er
L n your letter and on which I understand the memorandum to the Pr,-s.c:ent
is based. Before attempting any definitive comment on the propose:.
-memorandum, it would be very helpful to have an opportunity to ex,- .: _ne
the study. Information avaiiedble within the community does not sum L
Many of the conclusions of t.i e proposed memorandum and I am not, :cre-
fore, at this time able to agree with at least some of its recommc:i( ::-.ons.
actual evidence contained in the basic study which I have not yet Si
,-,-may of course change my view. Some preliminary observations wil:
~gge st my current reaction to at least some of the points made in the
memorandum to the President and the accompanying recommendations.
Paragraph 3 of the memorandum to the President uses the
example of biographic intelligence as an illustration of the deficiencies
of the community in adapting modern methods and technologies to infor-
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.ation handling. Actually it is my impression that the field of biographics
not a good example, either of the problem or of inadequacy in hand ling
of information within the community. Indeed, experienced officials in
the community believe that one of the reasons why progress with the
,xperimental COINS project (referred to on page 2 of the recomrnen(fa~i:,ns
section of the report) has been delayed is clue to the selection of biograp ics
as the subject for the experimental project, In the view of these officials,
biographic information is not a particularly rewarding subject for usc? as
a pilot system in the information handling field. That existing facilities
are not entirely inadequate is suggested by the fact that CIA recently
supplied Dr. Hornig with 44 .51- o raphie s of
personalities on something less than three hours notice. I believe tha:
STATINTL
::: would be a mistake to include references to alleged deficiencies in this
iiald in a formal report to the President.
I also believe that it would be a mistake to include the statement
made in paragraph 4 of the pro-posed memorandum to the effect that "another
crisis situation such as the presence of Soviet strategic missiles in Cuba
would most likely require improvised information-handling arrangements
,,::cause of inadequacies in the present system." We have of course just
> perienced another crisis which placed demands on the information handling
cilities of the community comparable to those levied by the Cuban missile
c:r.sis of 1962. It is my personal impression, which I believe to be shared
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by other senior officials of the Government that the collation and
dissemination of evaluated intelligence was accomplished promptly and
with commendable efficiency. I have had no indications of significant
inadequacies in the present system which were revealed as a result of
the recent Middle Eastern crisis.
I of course welcome the guidance and support of the Bureau
of the Budget in efforts to improve information handling procedures and
facilities within the community. It is my impression, however, that the
present authority of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget is fully
adequate to provide this guidance and support. Similarly, the Special
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Special
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology individually can
also contribute substantially to certain aspects of the information handling
problem as it exists within the intelligence community. I see no need,
however, for the review body proposed under recommendation Z of the
-sic recommendations which would be made up of these three officials
~.._i1 which would perform a "monitoring function, including periodic tollotx~_
u~;p s, with respect to the e st abli. ~shment and ape ration of the community-wide
syss;:ern."
As I understand them; the specific conclusions and recommen-
dations of the memorandum to the President and the attached recom-
rrm.endations are based on an inadequate understanding of the difficulties
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and some disadvantages inherent in an atten-ipt to establish a fully
i>.tegrated information handling system on the present functional, legal
and organizational structure of the intelligence community. This is not
to say that very substantial improvement in present methods and arrange-
.rents for the rapid collation and dissemination of information is not
possible and desirable. My predecessor and I had consciously post-
poned a vigorous all-out attack on the community information handling
-roblem pending the results of the panel referred to in your letter which
was established by the PFIAB and the President's Scientific Advisor 'in
June of 1965, and which produced the study on which the present recom-
aendations are based. We havo recently, however, initiated a full-scale
review in this area and my Deputy for National Intelligence Programs
,valuation (NIPE) has obtained a very senior and experienced officer
to act as a focal point for providing centralized guidance and stimulus for
she improvement of information handling methods and procedures in the
community as a whole. In connection with this action we have reviewed
-L are in the process of reorganizing the appropriate USIB structure.
do not believe that the creation of an additional deputy to the Director
Central Intelligence is wise or necessary.
The foregoing are preliminary thoughts which are submitted in
esponse to your request for informal comments on the proposed report..
Sincerely,
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4 Director