HISTORY OF LAWRENCE RESPONSE:
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP79T00827A000300060001-8
Release Decision:
RIPPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
33
Document Creation Date:
December 9, 2016
Document Release Date:
July 7, 2000
Sequence Number:
1
Case Number:
Content Type:
MISC
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CIA-RDP79T00827A000300060001-8.pdf | 1.23 MB |
Body:
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First Draft - Prepared by CS/Pres at request of DDI/ADDI
and submitted to DDI 10 a.m. 15 June.
ADDI called in CS/Pres 1530 and suggested
revisions. Draft at this time was in
original and ca. 6 burn copies, seen only
by DDI,ADDI, DOCI/FYI.
Secdnd Draft- OOB 16 June, 25 copies printed, DDI 12,
DOCI 2. DDI passed to DDCI who distributed
at morning meeting. Written comments from
STATINTL OGC. Meeting 1530-1615 in 0/DDCI for com-
ments by ODCI ExDir, GC to ADDI and CS/Pres,
info cc to
Third Draft - Ready 1115 17 June by Copytron 2400 showing
changes resulting from above meeting. 15
copies prepared for DCI, participants above
STATINTL meeting, ~and Moran. Meanwhile m
had furnishediinput from DCI
STATINTL
Fuu.KrH Ural i -Ul: i - s input 4 i'LIQLIIWU 111 LU 11111-U L1-al. 1. uy. , "YI'
hand, tape, retype, original only. Burn Mlh\;,fr)l
STATINTL copies to- Moran, retained by CS/Pres.
DCI thru - sent word he wanted DDCI,
STATINTL DDI, GC to review the Fpmrth edition with
his input before he looked at it again.
Original of Fourth Edition copied by the
Dennison*in three copies for DDCI,DDI,GC.
STATINTL Told Moran to send their comments
to DDCI or to me for incorporation in 5th
edition. Fourth edition to DDCI,DDI,GC at(17 June)
1615. Bonnie said: "Keep the Edition, just
STATINTL bring me a Utth Fifth." Amen.
broke down; back to the 2400.
FIFTH Draft Proctor called 1600 meeting Tues 21 June with
Moran, at which it materialized
STATINTL thatwe had autho~to revise, reorganize,
add questions. Complete new approach ordered,
building in changes suggested by all partici-
pants for all changes so far, reverting to
first person, interview with Adm. as private
STATINTL citizen. Drafted at home until 0200, all day
'Wed. Typing begun on mag tape by PSB, completed
on mats in Ops Cen o'note, 25 cc oob to 0/DCI,
O/DDCI, Gen Counsel, DDI, DOCI, Moran,
with note asking for essential changes in course
of day.
SIXTH Draft Produced 1400-22291910 on Thurs 23, Itek'd o'nite,
5 cc to DDCI at oob Fri with info copies to
other recipients of Fifth Edition.
SEVEMoved For %tset?hOPR/0 1f :d I~ P7PJ08R7"9930( fQlt-8d oni'te
mainly by Itek, to Lawrence am 28th. DDI handled
any oher Dissem.
II
STATINTL
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001-8
24 June 1966
Q Admiral Raborn, you have just left the Central
Intelligence Agency after more than 14 months as
Director. What is your opinion of the Agency?
A Excellent. It is the finest organization I have
ever been associated with. The people at CIA are dedi-
cated, loyal., and highly capable. I found the Agency
well up to its exacting requirements as our first line
of national defense.
Q Why are you leaving now?
A When President Johnson called me out of retire-
ment from government service, I asked him first how
long I would be needed. He told me I could serve six
months, or a year, or as long as he was in office, or un-
til I was satisfied with certain administrative tasks,
including in particular long-range planning. I'm taking
the fourth option, but I also came close to the one-year
hitch. Actually, the President had had my resignation
in hand for about three weeks when he announced it. I
came in with the Dominican crisis,.and you might say it
behooved me to stay until peaceful elections brought
a duly constituted government into being.
Q Just what are the duties of the Director of CIA?
A The National Security Act of 1947 created the
position of Director of Central Intelligence, or DCI for
short. The DCI is not only the Director of CIA--he is
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also first and foremost the principal adviser on for-
eign intelligence to the President and the National Se-
curity Council. And he is also chairman of the United
States Intelligence Board or USIB, which brings together
the entire intelligence community.
Q What do you mean by that?
A The intelligence community is made up of all the
elements in our government which have an intelligence
function--not just CIA, but the intelligence components
of the Departments of State and Defense, of the individual
armed services, of the Atomic Energy Commission, and of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The National Secu-
rity Council has ordered the Director of Central Intelli-
gence to coordinate the work of all these components. The
National Security Act established the Central Intelligence
Agency to correlate, evaluate, produce, and disseminate
within the government , intelligence bearing on the na-
tional security.
Q What is the specific charter of the CIA within the
intelligence community?
A The National Security Act assigned five functions
to the Agency:
To advise the NSC--and of course the President?
on intelligence matters relating to national security;
to coordinate all foreign intelligence activities
of our government;
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to produce and disseminate finished national
intelligence within the government;
to undertake what we call "services of common
concern"--that is, functions which serve all the compo-
nents of the intelligence community and can best he un-
dertaken centrally;
and finally, to perform such other services as
the National Security Council may direct. That is as
specific as the Congress wanted to he. That fifth assign-
ment is the Agency's charter for clandestine activities,
and you will notice it puts CIA directly under the con-
trol of the President's National Security Council.
Q The emphasis appears to be on information-
gathering. Wouldn't it be more palatable and just as ac-
curate to call it the "Central Information Agency?"
A Our principal responsibility is to gather, spe-
cifically, that information which relates directly to na-
tional security problems and objectives. The United
States Information Agency deals with information in the
broader sense of the term, and distributes it outside the
government. It is useful both to their operations and to
ours to preserve this distinction. There is a further
point in our professional terminology: "intelligence,"
as we use the term, refers to information which has been
carefully evaluated as to its accuracy and significance.
The difference between "information" and "intelligence"
is the important process of evaluating the accuracy, and
assessing the significance in terms of national security.
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Q -rib 41
Approved Fqr finished national iritelli-
!,,ence?" What is that in your terminology?
A When a raw report has been checked for accuracy,
analyzed and integrated with all other available in-
formation formation on the same subject by competent experts in
that particular field, we call it finished intelligence.
When, in addition, it represents the conclusions of the
entire intelligence community, then it is "national in-
telligence." In short, we find that we need a terminology
which can be more precise and more limiting than the
broad concept of "information."
Q People seem to have the impression that the CIA
is a big "spying" organization--that it is staffed almost
entirely by spies. Is there anything to that impression?
A This, of course, is the popular view of any in-
telligence organization, but it is highly distorted. Our
job is to keep the top officials of the U. S. Government
informed of what is happening around the world that may
affect the national security of the United States. Of
course, much of the world's area and population is under
a closed society, run by governments that seek to conceal
their activities and their objectives. They may be hos-
tile to us? and some classical. espionage is required to
give timely warning of when and how these activities and
objectives might threaten us. But to maintain proper
perspective, let me point out that a great deal of the
raw information is public, or available with a certain
amount of digging. The principal role of an intelligence
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organization is to take what is overt and what is secret,
.-nd bring expert knowledge, background information, and
scholarly analysis to bear in a way which has. nothing in
common with the heroes of modern spy fiction.
Q Could you give us the proportions between the
analysts at home and the men in the field overseas who
are collecting this information?
A We don't publish these figures, or even rough
proportions, because the information would be of great
use to the opposition, but I can tell you this much:. the
man who joins CIA has far less chance, in the course of
his career, of identifying with James Bond or "The Spy
Who Came In From The Cold," than he does of serving as an
academic researcher, economist, scientist, statistician,
administrator, accountant, or supply officer.
Q Another idea is that the CIA is in the business
of stirring up insurrections, or starting and maybe run-
ning little wars.
A This again is a misconception. Our major business
is national intelligence, and ;o-.called covert opera-
tions are a relatively minor part of our over-all activ-
ities against Communism. Furthermore, a glance at to-
day's headlines should make it obvious that the leaders
of our government expect us to forestall or help combat
insurrections, not stir them up The government, after
all, is organized on a pretty logical basis: the Depart-
ment of State is in charge of foreign policy and foreign
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relations; running wars would be the business of the
Defense Department; CIA has enough to do getting, coor-
dinating, and disseminating intelligence without running
any wars.
Q The National Security Act of 1947 envisages a
field of clandestine activities, however, where the CIA
will play a role which cannot be undertaken by State, or
Defense, or other overt agencies of the United States
Government. Do you have a free hand here?
A Absolutely not. Any such activities are by di-
rection of the National Security Council. To be precise,
they must have the prior approval--in detail--of a com-
mittee of the NSC on which top-ranking representatives of
the President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary
of Defense meet with the Director of Central Intelligence
for this purpose. These gentlemen see to it, not only
that every activity of the CIA is completely in consonance
with the established policies and objectives of the
United States, but that it is also advantageous to the
United States.
Q With that approval, are you free to operate as you
wish in the field? Would the U. S. Ambassador in the
country concerned know about your activities there?
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STATINTL
Q But some of our Ambassadors have denied any prior
knowledge of activities which are known to be, or at
least suspected of being, CIA operations.
Q Does the Ambassador receive your intelligence in
the field, or does he have to get it from Washington?
Q You and your predecessors have stated, as have
the President and Secretary Rusk, that CIA does not make
policy, but the accusation persists. Could this be be-
cause your information contributes to policy decisions?
A To maintain that record, let me say again flatly
floes vtot t44l.i does not
that CIA as never made policy, and 95ias neve operate
STATI NTL
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ti
outside or contrary to established policy. Now, cer-
tainly nobody would expect the top officials of a gov-
ernment to make their decisions without considering all
available information. It is the mission of CIA to
provide the most accurate, the most comprehensive, and
the most objective information available about matters
which interest our Government, together with whatever
we can learn or project about possible impending devel-
opments. In specific answer to your question, put the
emphasis on "objective" information.
Q But this information does play a part in the de-
cisions of government?
A The top officials of the Administration, and for
that matter, the legislators, obviously find it useful,
because there is a constant increase in the demand for
our current intelligence and our projective estimates.
Let me point out that there is one unique contribution
the CIA makes to government officials facing a choice
between alternative possible courses of action. Pre-
cisely because the CIA does not commit itself to any one
choice among the alternatives, our intelligence input
is free from partisanship or advocacy, and recognized by
the recipients as objective.
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Q Is there any other Administration control of
your operations besides the special NSC committee you
men t ioned?
A The CIA and its activities have been reviewed
in detail in the past by Hoover Commission task forces,
the Doolittle Committee, the Clark Committee, and
several special investigating bodies for specific pur-
poses. On a permanent basis, the entire intelligence
community is under continuing and full scrutiny by a
most knowledgeable and distinguished board of private
citizens appointed by the President. This is the
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, first
established in January of 1956 as the Killian Com-
mittee, and now under the chairmanship of Mr. Clark
Clifford. The present membership includes Dr. William
0. Baker of Bell Telephone Laboratories; Mr. Gordon
Gray, former Special Assistant to President Eisenhower
and one-time President of North Carolina University;
Professor William Langer of Harvard; General Maxwell
Taylor; Ambassador Robert Murphy, former Under Secre-
tary of State; Mr. Frank Pace, Jr., former Secretary
of the Army and former Director of the Bureau of the
Budget; Dr. Edwin Land, head of the Polaroid Corpora-
tion; Admiral John Sides, USN (ret.); and Mr. Augustus
Long, formerly the top executive of the Texas Company.
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This Board meets in full session about every
six weeks, to examine in depth and detail the work
and the progress of the entire U. S. intelligence
program. The meetings last two or three days and
include comprehensive discussions with the Director
and his senior officers, heads of other intelligence
components, and senior officials of the Government
who are our "customers." Upon completion of each
such session, the Board reports to the President and
makes recommendations for the improvement of the in-
telligence effort. In addition, the Board has a
number of two-man or three-man panels and subcom-
mittees to delve more deeply and on a full-time basis
into specific aspects and categories of intelligence
work.
Q What about control of your funds?
A The Central Intelligence Agency budget is re-
viewed fully by the Bureau of the Budget, which re-
quires the same assurances and justifications for
expenditures by intelligence agencies that it re-
quires from any other part of our government. We
are not immune from detailed examination of our re-
quests by the Bureau, nor are we exempt from its
skillful pruning knife. We have to go to Congress
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for our funds, just like other agencies. The only
difference is that after our requests have been ap-
proved by certain special Congressional subcommittees,
the specific appropriations are then lumped in for
passage with other appropriations, to deny hostile
intelligence services information about our activ-
ities which would be very useful to them. We have
meticulous auditing procedures to ensure the tightest
possible control over the expediture of funds en-
trusted to the CIA.
Q In light of the recurring arguments about a
so-called "Watchdog Committee" for CIA, how much in-
formation does Congress actually get--not your in-
telligence reports, that is, but information about
your activities, your budget, and so on?
A Ever since CIA was first established, the
Director has been authorized and in fact directed to
make complete disclosure of CIA activities to special
subcommittees in both the Senate and House. In the
House, the Appropriations Committee and the Armed
Services Committee each have a special subcommittee
for this purpose. In the Senate, there are corres-
ponding subcommittees which usually meet jointly. In
addition, the Director reports regularly to the
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VAMIF
Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy on
intelligence matters in that field. Now, when I
say "complete disclosure," I mean complete--and fre-
quent. The CIA is completely responsive to their ques-
tions, no matter how sensitive. I have discussed
matters with these special subcommittees which are
so sensitive that only a small percentage of the
personnel in CIA have access to them. And in case
there is any suggestion that these meetings are
sporadic and casual: In my first 12 weeks as Di-
rector I found that I was called to 17 meetings with
these Congressional committees. Our legislative log
for the year 1965 shows that the Director or his
senior aides met a total of 34 times with the four
special subcommittees.
Q Are they the only Congressmen who receive in-
formation from CIA? Intelligence, that is, as op-
posed to operational matters?
A No, there were also 19 other committee hear-
ings in 1965, for instance, to obtain substantive
intelligence from CIA--and some of these hearings ran
as long as three full days to cover the intelligence
appreciation of the global situation. We also fre-
quently brief individual members of Congress. Let
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fir
me make this distinction clear: I had authority to
brief any Congressional committee having a juris-
dictional interest on substantive global intelli-
gence. But discussion of CIA activities, methods,
and sources is another matter. Public Law 80-253 of
1947--that's the National Security Act--makes the
Director of Central Intelligence exclusively re-
sponsible for protecting the security of the sources
and methods of the entire intelligence community. I
was authorized by the President and by National Se-
curity Council directives to discuss such matters only
with the special subcommittees designated for this
purpose, not with any others.
Q What is the reason for this limitation?
A It is not arbitrary or bureaucratic--we are
safeguarding the lives of trusted agents and our own
staff people all over the world who contribute to our
Government's intelligence objectives. We owe it to
them to take every precaution to protect them--and we
owe it to our Government to deny hostile intelligence
services even indirect hints or the slightest clues
which might enable them to take steps to blunt our in-
telligence operations, methods, and sources.
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Q You mean it is a question of security leaks?
A I prefer to say inadvertent disclosure. Even
a professional intelligence officer has to be alert
to draw the line between information which helps to
evaluate or authenticate a piece of raw intelligence,
and information which might point to the source or
the method we used to obtain it. The more people who
have both types of information, the more you multiply
the chance that somebody will overstep that line by
accident.
Q How damaging can such disclosures be?
A Well, the minute you even hint that you have
information the other fellow has been trying to keep
secret, it is one of the first principles of the art
that he will do everything possible to locate and de-
stroy your source, or disrupt your method of opera-
tion. If the opposition is given any clues to help
pinpoint the source, the counter-intelligence job
is that much easier.
Q Have the special CIA subcommittees in Con-
gress expressed any dissatisfaction over the years
that they were not getting enough information?
A We have never withheld any information,
substantive or operational, from the four special
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subcommittees. On some occasions, in fact, they have
asked us not to give them the identities of very
sensitive sources, because they did not wish to know,
and we have complied. If you refer to dissatisfac-
tion with the amount of information which we have--
rather than the amount we give them--no professional
intelligence operation anywhere in the world is ever
satisfied with the extent of its knowledge, and these
gentlemen have been working with us long enough so
that they have probably acquired this same profes-
sional dissatisfaction.
Q Isn't it true that much of the information
you gather isn't really secret at all, but would be
available to anybody in the right spot at the right
time?
A Yes. In fact, a considerable part of the in-
formation used by the Agency in preparing its finished
intelligence reports is derived from the foreign
press and radio, from technical journals of foreign
countries, and from official publications of these
countries. We don't disregard information simply
because it is not secret. Finished intelligence, how-
ever, consists of the expert correlation and interpre-
tation of all the information we can obtain, by both
overt and clandestine means.
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Q Do you gather information about the domestic
events in foreign countries, as well as the opera-
tions of foreign governments?
A Our interests and responsibilities may vary
from country to country, but they are pretty compre-
hensive. It is obviously impossible to confine your-
self to a nation's foreign affairs if you are re-
sponsible, for instance, for assessing the stability
of the regime, the health of the economy, or the
prospects for subversion in the boondocks.
Q Do you collect information of a business
nature?
A We collect economic information which may be
useful to the security interests of the U. S. Gov-
ernment--and we collect it exclusively for that pur-
pose.
Q Do you have to cover every corner of the
whole world?
A Of course we have priorities, but our intel-
ligence requirements are worldwide. Our top Admin-
istration officials need factual and unbiased intel-
ligence on a timely basis as one of the many elements
which go into the decisions they have to make. At a
minimum, we have to have certain basic information on
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hand about virtually every country in the world.
Country X .-- you name it -- might appear remote and
totally unrelated to our national security, but it
is nevertheless impossible to state with certainty
that detailed information about Country X will not
become necessary to our government on a crash basis
some day.
Q How detailed?
A The basic information on foreign countries
which is compiled in what we call the National Intel-
ligence Surveys already adds up to more than 10 times
the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Much of
this information, of course, is hardly secret. It
has to cover such prosaic matters as economic sta-
tistics, legal codes, sociological conditions, and
transport facilities, but it comes in handy when our
customers start playing Twenty Questions.
Q At what point do you feel that this type of
information--the basic data, the information which
is open to the public--should be reported back on a
running basis to our government--as fast as you get
A This goes back to the distinction between
information and intelligence--and the needs of our
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government. If everything is quiet, there may be an
occasional situation report based largely on open in-
formation. If the situation has a direct relation to
US national security interests, particularly in a
crisis, we will be trying to get as close to "real
time" reporting as modern communications permit.
Q Is the information which you collect inter-
preted by somebody on the scene, or does it reach you
in raw form so that you can sort out the facts from
the opinions?
A We require the original report, or the
original statement of the primary source, whenever
we can get it. When this "raw material" reaches us,
it may be accompanied by the opinions and interpreta-
tions of intermediaries through whom the information
has passed, and by the informed comment and pre-
liminary evaluation of our own collectors in the field,
but these additions are clearly labeled as such.
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Q How do you cooperate in the field with the other
elements of your intelligence community? Aren't CIA and
State and the military intelligence people all looking for
much of the same information?
A Our finished national intelligence derives from
the work of all of the elements of the intelligence com-
munity. Foreign service officers provide the Department
of State with political intelligence, commercial attaches
are responsible for economic information, the military
attaches send military intelligence to their respective
services, and for that matter there are agricultural
attaches and labor attaches. All of them provide depart-
mental intelligence for the specific needs of specific
departments. All of these reports are also available
to CIA. The Agency has been added to supplement and
expand the collection and fill any gaps. It has a broader
charter for all types of intelligence necessary in the
national interest, and--as I mentioned at the qutset--the
added statutory responsibility to "correlate and evaluate
intelligence relating to the national security, and provide
for... appropriate dissemination." For example, a piece
of political intelligence from one country, and the army
attache's report from another country, may add up to a
conclusion of major significance to the National Security
Council, or specifically to the AEC. It is CIA's respon-
sibility to see to it that the two halves do get added up
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in Washington to make the whole, and furthermore that the
finished evaluation reaches the department which needs it.
Q But how do you avoid duplication of effort in
the field?
A The United States Intelligence Board, which
represents the entire intelligence community, establishes
guidelines and priorities for the intelligence collec-
tion effort. This machinery can control unnecessary
duplication, but when you are after the closely guarded
secrets of a closed society, duplication of effort is
often desirable, rather than unnecessary.
Q Are the State and military intelligence people
operating under handicaps, in comparison to CIA, in
obtaining information?
A You have to take into consideration, firstly, that
the collection, of intelligence is not the primary responsi-
bility of the Department of State and the Department of
Defense, and secondly, that the representatives they send
abroad must operate in the open as recognized officials of
the U.S. Government. In effect, CIA often is in better
position to obtain necessary intelligence because CIA is
specifically organized for clandestine collection and
can give it first priority.
If, by handicaps, you mean the obstacles which
foreign governments place in the way of intelligence
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collection, foreign governments make every effort to preserve
their essential secrets, just as we do. Year by year security
procedures become more sophisticated and harder to circumvent,
so that skill and specialization are even more necessary.
On the other side of the coin, there are few if any countries
in the world today which are as much of an "open society"
as the United States.
Q What about cooperation with the intelligence
services of friendly countries? If we collect information
which is important to one of our allies, is it passed to
them?
A I am not at liberty to go into detail, but wherever
it is of mutual interest and advantage, there is substantial
cooperation among the intelligence services of friendly
countries.
Q Does machinery exist to correlate all of the
information that flows into Washington, and refine it into
firm and useful conclusions?
A Yes--specifically, the United States Intelligence
Board, or USIB, which advises and assists the Director
of Central Intelligence, and is under his chairmanship.
This Board meets every week, or more often if necessary, to
coordinate the work of all of the intelligence components
of the U. S. Government. It consists of: the Deputy
Director of Central Intelligence, who represents CIA
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so that the Director, as USIB Chairman, will be uncommitted;
the Director of Intelligence and Research, Department of
State; the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; the
Director of the National Security Agency; an Assistant
Director of the FBI; and the Assistant General Manager for
Administration of the Atomic Energy Commission. The heads
of Army, Navy, and Air Force intelligence meet with the
Board as observers. USIB assigns intelligence priorities
to see to it that there are no gaps in our coverage, and
ensures that the judgments which go forward to the President
are finished, national intelligence.
This job of correlation and coordiiation, however,
starts long before the product reaches USIB for final review.
More and more, as we develop and refine the concept of an
intelligence community, the analysts and the specialists in
one component are in constant touch and interchange with
their opposite numbers in the other departments and agencies,
so that the national intelligence process begins as soon as
the raw information reaches Washington, if not before.
As for moving from the raw information to a firm
and agreed conclusion, in many instances this can be done
by the expert analysts available, backed up by our store-
house of background knowledge. There will always, of course,
be the "unknowables"--questions which have no definitive
answers, possibly because the future is open to the effects
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of many variables, or because the future depends on decisions
which certain foreign statesmen may not even have made yet.
Who will succeed the Premier of Country X? When and by whom
will there be a coup in Country Y? Our government leaders
need and request our best answers on the "unknowables."
This we do in our National Intelligence Estimates. From
what we do know, the best thinking available in the entire
intelligence community makes rational inferences about
unknown--with varying but specified degrees of confidence,
and an occasional footnote reflecting an individual
dissent from the agreed opinion.
Q How many of these estimates do you produce?
A It varies with the need. The Estimate is not a
global periodical, on a weekly or daily basis; it addresses
itself to the probable course of one development, or one
country. Many of the Estimates come out with a scheduled
frequency-?-annually, for instance, if necessary. Some are
produced in times of crisis in a matter of hours. All
are geared to the intelligence needs of the top government
officials. All reflect the greatest possible professional
skill and dispassionate objectivity we can bring to bear.
CIA has no axe to grind, and does not permit itself to
become advocate of a specific policy in preparing an Estimate.
All aspects of every Estimate get the fullest
consideration, by the inter-agency working groups which
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begin the drafting, by the Board of National Estimates--
a group of distinguished senior officers of long experience
and proven competence in diverse fields of government--and
by the United States Intelligence Board. In the end, the
National Intelligence Estimate is the report of the
Director of Central Intelligence to the President and the
National Security Council.
Can this machinery operate fast enough to permit
quick action when the flow of information suggests impend-
ing danger or trouble?
A The process is extremely flexible. Conceivably,
when the schedule permits, the draft of an annual Estimate
might start two or three months before the target date,
to permit comprehensive and deliberate consultation, ref-
erence to the field, and so forth. On the other hand,
the Board of National Estimates when required can complete
what we call a "SNIE"--a Special National Intelligence
Estimate--in a matter of hours, as I said. As for immediate
intelligence on current developments, we are geared to re-
ceive information, evaluate it, produce intelligence and
react 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nobody in the
Agency, from the analysts to the Director, is guaranteed
a night's uninterrupted sleep, or an unbroken weekend.
Q As we understand it, the Central Intelligence
Agency does not run clandestine operations of ally kind
within the United States. Is that left entirely to the FBI?
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limp
A The CIA has the responsibility for conducting
operations outside the country; the FBI has as its principal
mission the internal security of the United States and its
possessions. There is, of course, close cooperation and
considerable interplay between our organizations, because
we are combatting an international conspiracy whose opera-
tions and agents move back and forth between this country
and foreign nations. The FBI and CIA therefore work very
closely together and keep each other intimately informed
on items of potential interest or concern to each other.
This allows us to combat international conspiracy in the
most effective possible manner. The division of responsi-
bility for clandestine operations, of course, should not
be confused with the perfectly overt contacts CIA has
domestically, for example, with experts in the professional
world to discuss international situations and exchange
analyses.
Q Do you work largely in a vacuum, with little or
no contact with the rest of the government outside the
intelligence community?
A By no means. It is inherent in the concept of
a Central Intelligence Agency that any branch of the gov-
ernment which has a legitimate need for information can
call on us for it. By the same token, when we need
expertise to help us in evaluation, or in the accomplish-
ment of any of our missions, we will not hesitate to go
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aiywhere in the government or outside it, within the
limitations of security, where we might expect to find the
necessary help. But our closest ties, of course, are
within the intelligence community, and to the top officials
of the Executive Branch.
Q What form do your intelligence reports take?
A We disseminate finished intelligence in an
infinite variety of formats, tailored to specific purposes.
I reported frequently in person, of course, to the President
and to the National Security Cquncil. I have mentioned
the Estimates, and our "55-foot shelf" of basic background
information. In addition, we have daily, weekly, and
monthly publications, some global in scope, some for a
specific country or crisis. When the situation is truly
critical, I have on occasion ordered situation reports as
often as every hour on the hour, around the clock. Then
there are individual memoranda which give us great flexi-
bility in scope, format , deadlines, and distribution. And
we also turn out studies in depth which are the equivalent
of a scholarly book or a doctoral dissertation. Various
publications have dissemination lists, depending on their
sensitivity and purpose, which range from less than half a
dozen copies to hundreds.
Q What is the "ancestry" of the CIA in U. S. intel-
ligence activities? Does it operate differently from its
predecessors?
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IWO*
A The Agency grew from the need to establish a
centralized and objective intelligence organization in
peacetime. A primary impetus, of course, was the experi-
ence of Pearl Harbor, and the determination to ensure
against such surprises in the future. The requirement
for a centralized organization stemmed from the success-
ful experience during World War II of the Office of
Strategic Services under General Donovan. The requirement
was made all the more real by the threat posed by(the USSR
and international Communism which became readily apparent
shortly after the close of World War II. There was gen-
eral agreement within the Government that there was need
for a nonpartisan coordinating agency in the intelligence
field. As a result, the CIA was created in.1947. In some
respects the Office of Strategic Services of World War II
was our ancestor, but it did not have CIA's responsi-
bility for coordinating the work of the entire intelli-
gence community, or our requirement for across-the-board
coverage.
Q Does CIA have anything that might be called
regulations to govern its activities? Who prescribes them?
A Is there a government agency nearly 20 years old
that doesn't have a rule book? Start with the original
legislation, which spells out the mission of CIA and
provides that we function at the behest and under the
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control of the President and the NSC. Under that charter,
CIA is governed by several layers of regulations known as
the "Nonskids," or National Security Council Intelligence
Directives; the DCID's, or Director of Central Intelligence
Directives, issued by the Director in his capacity as
chairman of USIB and head of the intelligence community;
and finally, as in the case of any other governmental
component, CIA's own Agency regulations.
Q :Do you have any counsel or advisers outside the
government?
A We have several panels of technical experts,
both inside and outside the government, to keep us informed
on new developments and techniqueq which could be of use
to us. On these panels are the best brains in this country,
on virtually the entire range of human endeavor. We con-
tract for studies and research projects, wherever in the
United States these can best be performed. CIA has long
made it a practice to discuss its evaluations of the
international situation with top men in the civilian world.
We have done a great deal of this, but we must do still
more.
was to
mental experts on China.
Q Have you found that the sporadic criticism, along
the lines that spying is a devious business and that CIA
operates without any control, has made people reluctant
to work with you?
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One of my
`w
e
last acts with the Agency, for instance
,
n greater inte chanewith the non-govern-
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A I have found no measurable reluctance on these
grounds, although there is always the more general concern
of the academic world that governmental funds and govern-
mental projects must not be accompanied by unwelcome con-
trols or commitments. On the whole, patriotic citizens in
all walks of life are glad to work with us in serving the
national security interest. The intelligence community
finds this very gratifying, because it helps us give the
President, the Executive Branch, and the Legislative
Branch the very best judgments that the best minds in this
country can arrive at.
Q What about the effect of the criticism on your
own personnel?
A I think it is an eloquent testimonial to the
dedication of the people in CIA that the criticism has
not affected their morale. Bear in mind that by our
rules, they cannot answer, deny, or refute the adverse
comment, even when it is patently and sometimes viciously
false. Add to that the grave responsibilities for the
nation's security, the pressure, the anonymity of achieve-
ment, and the constant need for security alertness--it
is a source of pride, and nothing short of amazement,
that we keep our people, and keep getting more good ones.
I asked recently for some statistics on how long our per-
sonnel had been with us. The answers showed that more than
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Nor
a quarter of our professional personnel--as differentiated
from the clerical--had been with CIA more than 15 years, and
that an astounding 77 percent had ten years or more of in-
telligence experience. About 15 percent have graduate
degrees; five percent have the doctorate. When you con-
sider only the analysts who have the direct responsibility
in Headquarters for analysis of a foreign area, six out
of ten of them had lived, worked or traveled abroad even
before they came to CIA. When you combine all the years
required for graduate study, foreign experience, and then
10 to 15 years of intelligence work, it adds up to an
impressive depth of knowledge, competence, and expertise
at the service of the nation. I have been careful to stick
to percentages, but in actual numbers, we could easily and
adequately staff the faculty of a University with our
experts. In a way, we do. Many of those who leave us
join the faculties of universities and colleges; some of
our personnel take leaves of absence to teach, and renew
their contacts with the academic world. I suppose this
is only fair; our energetic recruiting effort not only
looks for the best young graduate students we can find, but
also picks up a few professors from time to time.
A What about the criticism that the CIA uses
"dishonorable" methods? Do you operate on the principle
that the CIA, as a participant in the Cold War, is justified
in adopting any measures that may be used by the opposing
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Napo,
governments--"fighting fire with fire?"
A Let's be quite clear in our minds thatour_,ad-
versary does not go by the Marquis of Queensbury rules.
It is a rough fight, and the CIA may have to be clandes-
tine from time to time, but I emphatically reject the
word "dishonorable." The men and women in CIA are, after
all, Americans with the same ideals, the same ethics, the
same moral codes as the rest of the nation. I have with
me a copy of a remark Secretary Rusk made to a press
conference last winter, which I would like to read into
your record if I may:
++ .....would emphasize to you that CIA is
not engaged in activities not known to the
senior policy officers of the Government.
But you should also bear in mind that be-
neath the level of public discussion, there
is a tough struggle going on in the back
alleys all over the world. It's a tough
one, it's unpleasant, and no one likes it,
but that is not a field which can be left
entirely to the other side. And so once in
a while some disagreeable things hapen,deal
good
and I can tell you that thereis a competence
of gallantry and a high degree in those who have to help us deal with that
part of the struggle for freedom."
And President Johnson, when he swore me in as
Director of Central Intelligence on April 28, 1965, put
it this way:
++ . We have committed our lives, our
property, our resources and our sacred honor
to the freedom and peace of other men, indeed
to the freedom and peace of all mankind. We
would dishonor that commitment, we would dis-
grace all the sacrifices Americans have made,
if we were not every hour of every day vigilant
against every threat to peace and freedom. That
is why we have the Central Intelligence Agency...
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Admiral Raborn, what are you going to do now?
A I have a house in Palm Springs that backs up
to the finest fairway of the finest golf course in the
country. It has been neglected for some time now, and
is going to require the undivided attention of a former
naval person and a former cloak-and-daggerman.
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