CIA'S OLD GUARD HIDES SECRETS, SAYS EX-SPY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R001200070028-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: April 15, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For ReleppgFn1 4/gTW ? .J DP81 M00980R001 200070028-2
15 April 1978
IA's old guard hides S*ecreAs,
say~-.ex7
y )
By ERIC SHARP
Free Press Staff Writer
Assurances by the head of the CIA that his
agency won't break the law any more are
meaningless, a former CIA agent said Fri-
day, because the head spy can easily be keptin ,
the dark about the activities of powerful and
well-entrenched underlings.
"When Admiral (Stansfield) Turner took
over the.CIA last year, he distrusted most of
the people he found there and brought a
cordon of. naval officers: with him,"'said
Frank Snepp: "The old guard at the CIA really
resented this. They simply tucked away the
files on all kinds of sensitive subjects that
Turner doesn't even know exists."
SNEPP SAID one example of this division'
was the MK-ULTRA scandal, in which it was
revealed that the CIA had tested the effects of
various drugs on Americans, and one test
subject committed suicide.
"I'm sure Turner didn't know anything
about MK-ULTRA until he got hit in the face
with it," said Snepp, who was recruited by
the CIA in 1968 while studying at Columbia
University.
"One problem Is that much of the most
sensitive material is in the hands of the CIA
security section, and you can't get into their
files under the Freedom of Information Act.
They even control the evidence that would be
used against them In any- civil or criminal
prosecution."
SNEPP LEFT THE CIA .in 1976 after
nearly five years with the agency in Vietnam.
His book, "Decent interval," bitterly assails
the CIA for what he calls its callous abandon-
ment of thousands of Vietnamese agents to
the mercies of the victorious communists.
The Justice Department has sued Snepp in
federal court. It claims the book violates an
agreement he made to allow the CIA to
review any book he wrote before publication.
The Justice Department wants-to seize any
money Snepp earns from "Decent Interval."
Snepp arrived In Detroit to promote the
book a day after -Admiral Turner assailed,
Snepp and other kiss-and-tell former agents
at an Economic Club of Detroit luncheon-,:"
BUT WHILE HE criticized Snepp for fail-:`l
ing to obtain official clearance for the book,
__ ._.. __
ut
the
urac
of
t disp
e
acc
y
Snepp s charges. .
Snepp said he thinks the division within . (. } ,
the CIA is now so deep that the "old guard"
will be able to thwart Turner's reform efforts
simply by keeping the admiral from knowing
about some things that he should know.
"I have no question that he (Turner) is an
honorable man. But it's ridiculous to expect us .
to believe that his personal intregrity is a-
guarantee that everyone in the CIA will Obey
the law," Snepp said.
SNEPP SAID TURNER'S decision to elimi-
nate 820 jobs within the CIA has created
bitterness and that Turner will discover after
he completes his reform that he fired many
competent agents and kept on the staff many
of those who are responsible for past illegal I
activities.
Snepp also is promoting a "whistle-}
blower" bill sponsored by Sen. James Abour.
ezk, D-S.D., which would protect and provide
an avenue of investigation for federal em-
ployes who complain about waste or corrup-
tion within their agencies.
He said existing oversight groups estab
lished by the president and Congress don't
work well because the complaining employe
often finds himself the victim of retaliation by
the agency.
SNEPP SAID HE SAW the futile and bitter
experiences of a number of federal employes
who attempted to bring. to light what they
saw as wrongs perpetrated by the govern-
ment.
Those experiences prompted him to write
his book without CIA sanction and brought
the wrath of the Justice Department down on
him.
Snepp said he was mildly surprised by the
government's suit against him, pointing out'
that the CIA hasn't sued anyone else over the
"They don't sue people who write lauda-
tory books about the CIA without clearing d
them first," Snepp said. "Apparently, the CIA
only chooses to enforce this provision against
it'
Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070028-2
 SAN Uf/~ : 6IA,-'Ab IM00980R001200070028-2
Approved For Release 1. 18
.CIA - Wan'ts to. G"
Share Its Yfle
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Director Stansfield Turner gave further evi-
dence of his agency's new and more open look
when he told Detroit's Economic Club the
other day that the CIA wants to share its
intelligence information with the public.
"There is economic and political informa-
tion that we can collect that would be of value
to American businessmen," he said, and added
that the CIA is prepared to expand its
intelligence activities into non-military areas
that might give taxpayers "a better return on
their investment."
Later, in Columbus, he said the old modus
operandi of keeping CIA work secret "is no
longer the policy because the public wants to
know. We will be speaking more, answering
the media more completely and publishing
more."
And in an address at Ohio State University,
he said: "We hope the academic community
can gain from intelligence. We need the
relations with the academic community be-
cause the lifeblood of intelligence is the annual
infusion of a few good, high-quality persons
from the campus."
GRANTED TIkAT much of what Turner
states may be attributed to rhetorical image-
building on behalf of his embattled agency.
Still, the promise to share intelligence gains
with those in this country outside' the military
and governmental community who might
benefit from it, is constructive and overdue.
No other organization in the United States
has the formidable facilities for sheer collec-
tion of information that the CIA does with its
electronic devices, its high-flying planes, infra-
red cameras and assorted language and politi-
cal experts and grey eminences.
TURNER NOTED THAT through the use
of satellites there is a good deal of data
available about possible oil and energy re-
serves, crop. projections and industrial poten-
tial and that the CIA, as a public-funded
agency, should share such information on a
larger scale.
. This kind of talk, we are happy to say
Approved, 200070028-2
~-84001group o yore.
 THE DAILY ILLINI (UInIV. of ILLINOIS)
Approved For Rele s5e 10n/W CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070O28-'1~~
T h e new man at the_helm:
Admiral Stansfield Turrer
by Barry Kliff
WANTED: Director of the Central In-
telligence Agency.
Job Description: Responsibility for
gathering and analyzing United States in-
telligence. Supervisean estimated force of i
150,000 employees with an estimated
budget of over $7 billlion. Must report to
eight congressional oversight committees
and the president of the United States.
I'm here to run the CIA and that's all
I'm going to do. This is a big enough job
for anyone and I don't think about what's
going to happen in the future. We've got
enough work now to keep this agency busy
fora long time."
Turner is certainly keeping the agen-
cy's 20-30 lawyers busy. When a CIA agent
gains employment they are required to
sign an oath that forbids' them from
publishing or describing the names,
locations or methods which the CIA uses
in gathering or analyzing its intelligence.
Several agents, most notably Philip Agee,
Victor Marchetti and Frank Snepp have
recently written books vlhich detail CIA
activities ?,'h here zbrnad, :'r,.,.s
Aside from the Snepp matter, Turner
said the CIA will certainly be a leaner but
more efficient organization in the future.
"We're going to be bringing in other
people to check our work and I think that
will help. We've got to avoid duplication."
As an example, Turner said the CIA
recently sent a copy of its world energy
report to major energy companies' chief
executives. "Some of them told us we
were all wet and then we invited them in
to tell us why. Well, they came in and now
we can see their side. I'm not saying that
we're wrong, but they do give us an ad-
ditional perspective that we need to see."
Turner also said that although clan-
destine activities will be curtailed, they'
will not be eliminated. "Unfortunately the
other side isn't playing by the same rules
we are. However, we don't allow
assasinations anymore or things of that
nature." What most people fail to realize
is the nature of this business; this isn't an
ice-cream factory, this is a spy shop."
References: Not required but may be
submitted.
For the last five years, the Central In-
telligence Agency could have easily ran
an ad like this because they have had to
look for a new director. In any other
-business, five new directors in any period
of time would be enough to close the com-
pany's door. Yet, competition for the job
isn't going to stop and the work must go
on. It was envitable, then, that whoever
President Carter picked for the job would
be a controversial choice.
Admiral Stansfield Turner did not
disappoint the president. A former An-
napolis graduate, Turner, 54, has creden-
tials that are impressive to both con-
servatives and liberals. A Rhodes
scholar, he studied at both Oxford and the
War College in Washington before earing
his four stars at age 51. A native- of
Highland Park, Ill., Turner has gained the
reputation as an having unconventional
military mind that-prefers to discuss tren-
ds and not statistics.
"I've tried to make it pretty clear that
if I can't tell someone something, I want
them to know I can't tell themTurner said
in an interview with The Daily Illini. "We
do and will continue to declassify secrets
but it is a very time-consuming process
and we don't have enough people to do the
job adequately."
- Turner, who was recently put in
charge of overall U.S. intelligence, is cer-
tainly the most powerful CIA official since
John Dulles and the start of the Cold War
r
even sloppier execution by the American
forces which forced U.S.troops to aban-
don several thousand Vietnamese that
would have otherwise been saved.
"I talked to Snepp in this office and he
told me he wouldn't publish this book,"
Turner said. "If he didn't like the way
things were going, he should have gone
through channels., He could have gone to
the oversight boards, but instead he told
me one thing and did another."
Turner -said the courts should decide
this matter, but added that it can set a
dangerous precedent. "This is a very dif-
ficult business and if we go to court, then
we have to prove that something is harm-
ful. This is going to require us to produce
additional classified documents which
releases more information. It's a self-
perpetuating monster."
Snepp denies these charges and claims
that he tried to go through channels, but'
said that the committees wouldn't touch
in the 1950s. An active Navy officer, Tur-
ner's critics charge that he would rather
be chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff
or chief of Naval Operations and is using
- his post at the CIA as a stepping stone. He
pointedly denies thesecharges.
Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070028-2
 Approved For Release 2004/07/08 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001200070028-2 ,
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE 1-7
By RENE BECKER
Copyright W4
The Michigan Daily
--"The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
is clearly in the forefront of the Centers one
Communist China."
"At the Harvard/Stanford level?"
-"It's above Stanford."
So began a conversation between employees
of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on
December 3, 1965. The transcript of that
dialogue begins an extensive documentation of
the CIA's secret ties to the University's Center
for Chinese Studies.
1S A RESULT of a freedom of Information
At (1'01A) request The Daily has received
from CIA files more than 200 documents con-
cerning the University, including letters to and
f-c)on faculty members, inter-office memoran-
d :ros, and field reports.
Approximately 75 per cent of these doctnrn-
ts d? ectly concern the Center for Chinese
Studies and reveal the CIA's various ties to in-
from the Center which date back to
the 'pll-sixties.
In the spring of 1966, the CIA conducted a
'es of field trips to China studies centers at
'?ii ;niyersities. The purpose of these trips "was
to assess the facilities, faculty, curriculum,
d faculty research interests in order to
c',ovelnp some leel for the China study activity
.-country."
i!E FIELD TRIP report on Ann Arbor of-
nothing but praise for the University's
Cc n.t er for Chinese Studies.
s one of the nation's outstanding centers
MICHIGAN DAILY
UNIVERSITY OF M1ICliIGAN
15 April 1978
The heavily-censored field report discusses
course offerings at the University, faculty,,
Agency image, the prospect for expansion of J
China studies and research. Although most of
the remarks under the research heading were
deleted the Agency did allow that the Chinese
Center here was the only group doing
"significant" Chinese studies in the country.
THE CIA, in several cases, provided resear-
ch aid to University professors. In one well
documented case beginning in October of 1967,
the CIA arranged interviews, provided resear-
ch materials, and had Agency analysts
cooperate with a University professor.
"I have decided to try to do an inter
view project focusing on problems of
political communication within the
Chinese political system," wrote the
unnamed professor. This would involve
interviewing "between twenty and thir
ty ex-cadres from the party or gover-
nment ..." A cadre is a Chinese Com-
munist party or government official.
After a detailed explanation of his`,
planned research, the professor '.vrote
his reason for approaching the Agency:
"The immediate question about which I
would appreciate your guidance con-
cerns the practical aspect of this type of
THE PROFESSOR asked if twenty to;
thirty ex-cadres would be availabie for
an interview and whether he could gain
access to them. "In particular might it
be possible to get some informal official
help or cooperation in locating a num-
ber of ex-cadres now in the United.
States?" wrote the researcher.
In connection with this the professor'
wrote, "I do not know whether the fact
that I will have a clearance before long'.
would affect my ability to gain access
to these people."
If the "clearance" the professor;
wrote of is with the CIA, it would mean
that a contractual relationship existed
between the professor and the CIA, ac-
cording to Bill Peterson, an Agencvi
''Far--astern studies ... whether as a source
of qualified graduates or a location for training;
ancy personnel, Michigan belongs in the top
Ink," the report states.
Che CIA deleted all names from the',
clcr_cuments and often deleted whole passages,
sometimes leaving a page with only the
University of Michigan's name left intact. The
CIA claimed all deletions were made under the
provisions of the FOIA, which allows the CIA to
protect the privacy of its employees,.I
associates and intelligence operations and
methods. .
spokesman. "If a guy's got a CIA
clearance, obviously he must have
something. to do with the CIA." On the I
other-hand ; Peterson said, it could
mean he was cleared by another gover-
nment aeencv.
The CIA response to the professor's.
inquiry discounted the possibility of,
finding 20 to 30 Chinese ex-cares
anywhere. But the CIA agent promised,
to arrange interviews'with a few ex-
cadres who live in the Washington area.
"Let me know a bit in advance when
you may be in town and I'll try to set
things up," the agent said.
In _spol,se to the qu,- .t.t~
h oiz:ssor's ciearar,ce
project the CIA agent wrote that "so far
as I can ascertain, there is no dif-
ficulty; of course, our role in any such
project should not be publicized. In any
c se I can arrange a short session on
the ground rules when you get to town."
The documents indicate the professor
met with CIA personnel on several o,--
casions. He met with a too CIA 'Un;,r