LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300270007-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2013
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 27, 1968
• Content Type: MEMO

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27 August 1968
MEMORANDT24 FOR: ,Staff Personnel
SUBJECT : .Letter of Information
GENERAL
1. CzechosloVak Crisis: The performance.opTBIS-field?bureaus
and Neadquarters:.eempOnents inYolved in ,,coverage of the occupation of
.Czechedlovakia and the events preceding it..Yap-2.exceptional. Judging
.by the amount of,FBiS Material cited in the State Department. Operations
'Oehter situatiOn'teports,.FBIS made an outstanding contribution in
:keeping U....SA:Government consumers advised on;Aurrent.developments in
'this highly explosive situation.
The speed and resourcefulness of theAustrian, London, ad
German bureaus in coordinating coverage of theiinvasion enabled the
Wire Service to provide consumers with .a complete and up-to-the-minute
picture of fastbreaking developments. The provision of running program
summaries of iteme on various Czechoslovak transmitters which operated
after the occupation proved to be An invaluable device for keeping
abreast Of a vast volume of highly perishable information. Ihe fact
that these transmitters were :forced into clandestine operations soon
after the odcupetion greatly complicated coverage problems.. The ex-
tensive titely coverage of'thesel:Toadcasts and those pf the Soviet
occupatiodfdrced, 'who quickly established their own radio facilities
utilizing CiechOslovak tranatitters, bears .witness to the highly effi-
cient Maximum/effort made by the European bureaus And the BBC..
During the period 21-25 August, the first four publishing
days after the Soviet occupation, the Six area volumes of the Daily
Retort cairied some 293,000 yords (523 'pages) of reportage and comment
on the crisis. The Czechoslovakia section alone accounted for 106,000
Words (190 pages): A full 88-page issue of the Eastern Europe Daily
RePort devotedexclusively to the crisis was published on Sunday,
25.August. As of 26' August the report had carried 70 pages of detailed
chronological reportage on the behavior and program content of the nu-
merous "free? Czechoslovak transmitters monitored by the London and
Austrian'hureaus.
SECRET
Group I
Excluded from automatic down-,
Arading.and declassification
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
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At the request of the State:Department'S Bureau of intelligence
and Research, Soviet propaganda charges of U.S. involvement in the
Czechoslovak situation through 25 July, were asseinbled by 'the Propaganda
Analysis Division (PAD) on a crash basis for the personal use .of Secre- '
tary Rusk. The Director of Intelligence endResearch expressed appre-
ciation for this service in a letter to the DDI. In response to general'
interest in the Soviet propaganda effort to implicate the United States
in the crisis, an article in the 1 August Survey traced this effort .
from its inception on 19 July, with charges of a CIA-Pentagon "plot"
and discovery of -a "cache" of U.S.-made arms in Czechoslovakia, to its '
abrupt cessation After five days. FYI's from the London, PHI) and the
Austrian and German'bUreaus provided inforMation'for'an analysis item
prepared by PAD for,the:FEIS Wire on 6 August pinpointing the suspension
of direct attacka-on Czechoslovakia in the radio and central daily press
of the SSR and its four hard-core allies during the first days of the
month.
2. Saigon Situation: The Saigon Bureau sustained a relatively
quiet month with enemy activity inside the city limited to a few
assassinations and terrorist bombings. Large caches of ammunition
and supplies were uncovered within striking distance of Saigon, however,
and rumors of enemy buildups and imminent attacks were rampant. The
Saigon curfew was further nnlnvnti annlv in the+ mynth and is now in
effect 2200-0600 daily.
3. Paris Peace Talks: The U.S. Vietnam Mission in Paris continued
to rely on FBIS-supplied information by way of the direct line from the
London Bureau. The weekly speech of the DRV delegation's leader is now
regularly monitored by the Okinawa Bureau from Paris radio-teletype.
transmissions to Hanoi and supplied to the U.S. delegation.
Propaganda Analysis Division support of the U.S. Vietnam ? .
delegation in Paris included a.cable reviewing Hanoi propaganda on. ?
internal security, as background for the announcement that the DRV ? t
Ministry of Public Security had recently held a conference on the
building of "politically strong" villages. The Division also responded
to a State Department IHR request for background and interpretation of .
a Moscow radio commentary which suggested that the July lull in South
Vietnam fighting was politically significant and that the President
should have taken it as a cue to applY his San Antonio formula and
stop the bombing. The PAD assessment and background were passed on
to Secretary Rusk and incorporated in a State Department cable to
Ambassador Harriman in Paris.
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
SERVICES AND REQUIFtEMENTS
Propigdnda Analysis: Soviet propaganda treatment of the 11-19
July Warsaw Pact naval maneuvers in the North Atlantic Ocean and the
? Baltic, Barents, Northitand Norwegian seas was reviewed in the Propa-
ganda Analysis Division 1 August Survey in response to at expression
of interest from the Office of Strategic Reeearch. Chinese Communist
' broadcasts to. Japan from Mar through July that attempted to proselytize
the Chinese revolution were researched for an Organization' component.
.In a service to thsacademiC Community, material in PAD files on Peking
and Moscow relations with Havana were assembled for former Ambassador
? Kehler, now-head-of the Institute of Latin American affaiis at the
-University of. Miami fmr Use in compiling a.record of' the Cuban
ievolution.
- 5. Press and Document Exploitation: -The Asia DiviSion,CoMpleted
four lengthy translationsi:for?Organization components. Thee included
two ,Arabic'treielations totaling 169 English pages, one Pereian trans-
lation of 56 English pages, and summarizatiosof.and dormant on a
95-page Arab booklet. The Latin AmerSca Branch 'ofthe Europe, Africa, Latin
--America Division translated a working paper circulated to Latin American
' bishops who will be represented at the latisAmerican.Bishops who will
1. be represented at the Latin American Bishops Conference to open in
' Colombia on 26 August .following the Pope's visit to the Eutharistic
Congress in Bogota: The original text had been leaked to the leftist
Montevideo weekly MARCHA. Advance copies were requested by the
White, House and two Organization components prior to! its publication
by the contractual facility:
6. Special Services: A copy of the Ynpv NFLSV pregram,"
published in an Fpis supplement dated 5 September 1967, vu' Supplied
General'Msx*ell Taylor's office. The White Rouse also requested a
? back copy of the translation of a HOC Tap editorial on party theory
? 'carried by.Hanoi Domesiic Service in October .1966.. The White House
Motion Picture Unit; Naval Phetographic Center,. was: provided Ectape
of a 3 May. 1966 Hanoi Internatiqual Service, broadcast concerning a
DRV government statement on the Paris tailcs, supplied by Okinawa
.Bureau. .
" Translation of a 3,000 word srticlesin the 11 Atgust 1968 issue
of Der Stern was. completed within 4 bedrs by the East Europe/Africa/
Latin America Division intreeponse to,a,request by a high Organization
official. :An Organization component expressed.great.appreciation for
RBIS coverage of the World Youth Festival in Sofia ahd Our direct
wirefilini,of.these items to the London .Embassy. .
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SUBJECT: Litter of.InfOrmAtion, 27 August 1968
7. Use of FBIS Material: ITIS material was cited, in a significant
number of State Department telegrams and airgrams-dUring.the month. A
State Department telegram noted that the FBIS excerpts. of Sihanouk's
8 August press conference "show his statements more important. and
interesting than sketchy wire service reports had' indicated" and
refers to seven related FBIS items. Another telegram cited an item
filed by Bangkok Bureau as'evidence of Sihanouk's efforts to crack
down on communists in his government. A telegram from the Bangkok
EMbassy to the Paris talks delegation cites an FBIS "18 July report
from Hanoi" on the expressions of "deep gratitude to the DRY govern-
ment...." made by three U.S. pilots for its "humane lenient policy."
The U.S. Embassy in Vientiane called attention to London
Bureau's report of a message to Polish leaders from Neo Lao Hak Xat
leaders, translated from TRYBUNA .LUDU, as "one of the very few public
mentions of the Lao People's Party," and attached particular signifi-
cance to the "first appearance of the title of the Lao government used
in the message."
Zambian President Kaunda's."unexpected" ban of the Opposition
United Party, reported in an FBIS-monitored broadcast, was the subject
of a telegram from the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka. A telegram from the
Lagos Embassy quotes African Bureau's report of djukwu's message to
Senator McCarthy, carried by Radio Biafra, expressing gratitude for
McCarthy's "judicious and frank statement" on the Nigeria-Biafra
conflict. A Radio Biafra announcement of plans to recruit officers
for the Biafran diplomatic service, as reported by FBIS. was the
subject of another telegram from the Lagos embassy.
8. Commendation: The Propaganda Analysid Division's 21 June
Special R?TreporrThe Conflict Between Mao Tse-tung and Liu Shao-Chi
on the issue of Agricultural Mechanization" was praised as a "iuperb
job of synthesis and analysis' in a letter to the Chief of the division
.from the Acting Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General,
Hong Kong.
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SECRET
SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
PUBLICATIONS
9. Latin American Press Abbreviations: The Latin American Branch
of the Europe, Africa, Latin America Division published its annual
."Abbreviations in the Latin America Press" via the contractual facility.
The unique 119 page report was sent to all bureaus monitoring Latin
America. .
10. Processing Branch Hours: Working.hours for ProCessing Branch
personnel were changed from 0700-1530 to 0800e.1630 effective 5 August.
The new hours permit a closer coordination of the typing and editorial
functions in preparing the Daily Report. When typing for the current
day's reports. is completed. the branch continues typing for the fol-
lowing 'hey.' books.'
11. Contractual Facility Support: To assist Austrian Bureau during
a period.of heavy workload and staff shortages, the.domestic contractual
facility undertook the translating, editing, and typing on mats of two
lengthy "current" press items for the Daily Report, the 40,000-word
theses for the upcoming, Polish party congress and a 45,000-word Zhivkov
,speeCh to "a Bulgailei pat:5r plenum. Both items were issued as Daily
Report supplements, A 12,000-word article from the Moscow KOMMUNIST
translated by the facility was published in the 15 August Daily Report.
12. Supplements: Eight supplements to the Eastern Europe Daily
Report were published during the past month: "Materials on Czechoslovak
Political Developments, Volume V," dated 22 July, 78 pages; "Materials
on Albanian Political and Economic Developments," dated 24 July, 54 pages;
"PZPR Central. Committee Theses for Fifth Party Congress'," dated 30 July,
82 pages; "Materials on Polish Political and Economic. Developments,"
dated 1 August,- 78 pages; "Materials on Czechoslovak Political Develop-
ments, Volume VI," dated 6 August, 80 pages; "Materials on Yugoslav
Political and Economic Developments, Volume II," dated 13 August, 65
pages; "Todor Zhivhov Speech at Bulgarian Communist Party Central Com-
mittee Plenum 24 July 1968," dated 14 August, 81 pages; and "Materials
on Polish and Yugoslav Politicoll.anti Fonnnmir evelopments," dated
16 August, 78 pages.
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SECRET
SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1964
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FIELD OPERATIONS
13. TABS Coverage: The main TABS service in English'to Europe
discontinued radio transmissions on lAugust after the BBC began
receiving a similar file via landline through TASS' London Bureau.
TABS intimated to BBC that the new arrangement was to prevent illegal
interception of the file and that BBC was the last Subscriber using
the radio service. The landline service continues to be available
to FBIS London editors. Other TABS radiotelet e services continue
to function as before.
14. Okinawa AUTODIN Entry: As a stopgap measure prior to,the
bureau's entry into the high-speed Automatic Digital Netwm1c,(AUTODIN)
and to alleviate overloading of the manual relay center, Okina*Bureau
has been connected into AUTODIN with Mode V, 100:wpm equipment. On
12 August this, equipment was made -operational for test and training
purposes. At that time the bureau's routing indicator was changed
to RUAOEUA.. Most traffic normally sent by common-user will' be
entered to AUTODIN until such, time as Headquarters and Okinawa Bureau
receive Digital Subscriber Terminal (DST) equipment -for high-speed
AUTODIN.
15. Monitor Recruiting: The unexpected resignation of a senior
Korean monitor in Okinawa caused both that Bureau and the Tokyo Bureau
to start an immediate recruiting drive for a qualified replacement.
The new Vietnathese-monitor who entered on duty at the Saigon Bureau
brings the regular monitorial staff to eight. A former monitor on
military assignment in Saigon has been working at the Bureau in his
spare time. The Okinawa Bureau Operations Officer' visited Taipei,
22-24 July to interview and test candidates for Chinese monitor posi- ?
tions in both Okinawa and Hokkaido. A Vietnamese monitor and a'French/
Thai monitor entered on duty at the Bangkok Bureau on 1 August and 15
July respectively. The bureau is recruiting to replace one of its two
Burmese monitors who is leaving. Anew Arab monitor has ?ered on
duty at the Mediterranean Bureau.
16. Broadcasting Developments: Radio Hanoi's introduction of major
increases in international broadcasting'which generated substantial
interest in the intelligence community, was the subject of a Monitoring
Operations Section Special Memorandum. Moscow's "Radio Peace and Progress"
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
announced that it commenced on 13 August "four half-hour programs daily
in Mongolian." These include one basic broadcast with two identical
repeats and the other a partial repeat. Tokyo Bureau is covering. All-
India Radio has announced that it will begin broadcasts in nine new
languages shortly: Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodian, Sikkimese, Bhutanese,
Russian, Malay, Sindhi, and Japanese.
Presumably these programs will
be international service programs.
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17. Special Services: A completely
revised Arab World Section of
Program Schedules of Foreign Broadcasting
Stations
was issued by the
Monitoring Operations Section.
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ENGINEERING
18. Hokkaido
Bureau: Radio
Frequency, audio, and control wiring
of the Bureau's main radio console
and the monitoring positions has been
completed.
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19. Panama Bureau: One of
the bureau's VEE antennas, which has
been modified and reoriented in
accordance with design data provided
by the Engineering Staff, was placed in operation during the month.
Preliminary tests
of receotion of
certain Central American stations
are encouraging.
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20. Headquarters:
As of 26
August, the rearrangement of FBIS office
space in the Key Building was virtually
complete. All components have
moved into their new spaces on the 4th, 10th, and 11th floors and some
partition work and a small amount of painting are
reauired to finII sh the
space changes and component relocation project.
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MISCELLANEOUS
21. Visits and Briefings: FBIS personnel attended familiarization
briefings at the National Military Command Center and the State Depart-
ment Office of Communications. Several visitors from DIA were briefed
on FBIS during the month.
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std PIT
SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
Vis.irs to field bureaus included:
to London and Austrian Bureaus enroute to the Medi-
terranean Bureau to assume the duties of Chief and Deputy Chief
respectively; Japanese representative to the RICOM.Advisory Committee
Ambassador Kiro Takese, Chief of Staff USARYIS Colonel.R. H. Deason,
and VOA Tokyo corresnondent Mr. Raw Kabaker tn the nkplawa Bureau;
to the German
Bureau; Cyprus Deputy Chief of Mission, William R. Crawford, Embassy
Political Officer, Eric Neff and Embassy Defense Attache.Col. Robert
E. Gildersleeve to the Mediterranean Bureau; Fort Clayton ASA Chief
Lt. Col. William Davidson to the Panama Bureau; Kenneth Bache And
Steve Telkins, Director and Deputy Director of USIS in the Northern
States of Nigeria, to the African Bureau.
ADMINISTRATION
22. Medical Examinations: Medical examinations are required for
all personnel and dependents transferring lateral1y.and on various other
occasions. There have been instances where the employee was examined,
but the dependents were tr..
3hould be consulted whenever doubt
exists.
23. Re-Entry Permits: When non-Staff employees holding re-entry
permits secured through FBIS resign from FBIS to return to the U.S. to
take up residence, they should return the permits to FBIS Headquarters
if they are not picked up by immigration' authorities. Such personnel
should be instructed to forward the permit(s) to the Chief, Administra-
tive Staff, by registered mail as soon as they arrive in the U.S.
24. Pen and Ink Changes:
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information 27 August 1968
25. R93ulatory Inguancen. Tbe following regulatory issuances
were disseminated:
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PERSONNEL
26. New EmRloyees
Assignment
Area Officer, USSR Division
Editor, Publications Division
Editor; Publications Division
Editor, Publications Division
Area Officer, Asia Division
Editor, Publications Division
Area Officer, USSR Division
Administrative..Officer, Caribbean Bureau
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information; 27 August 1968
27. Reassignments
Fran
Watch Officer
Caribbean Bureau
Area Officer
. . . ?
:WSW nuns ion
Deputy Chief. .c.
Executive &, Planning
Staff
'Chief . ? .
Exec:Olen:ling Staff
Senioreilitot
:.Caribbean Bureau.
Monitor
Caribbean Bureau . ?
Area Officer ,
USSR Division
Teletype, Supervisor
Caribbean Bureau
SeniotBditor ? -
.Wire Services Staff
Chief
USSR Division
Editor
Publications Div. ''
Watch Officer ?
Key West BureftiA.;::. '
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To
'Asst. Chief Engineer
Okinawa bureau
Editor . ? .
PubliCations Division
Deputy 'Chief
Mediterranean Bar.
-Chief
'Mediterranean Bur.
Liaison Officer
EXec.&Planning Staff
?
Area Officer,,' .
Eut/Af/LA Division
Analyst . ?
Propaganda Anal. Div.
Teletype Supervisor
Wire Services Staff
?+'
Senior Editor ?
? Okinawa Bureau
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Deputy Chie.f,,
Operations Group
Editor
'Panama Bureau
Engineer
Engineering Staff
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 27 August 1968
? Reassignments ,From To
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Editor ?Area bfficer
Publications Division EUr/Af/LA Division
Editor. ? . Editor .
Publications Div. Mediterreinehn Bureau
28. Resignations
Editor '
African Bureau
Asst.. thief Engineer
L,Okinawa Bureau
. Editor
Publication's- Division
Chief Engineer
West Coast Bureau
Liaison Officer i;Senior Editor
Exec&Planning Staff Bangkok Bureau
Typing Unit Supervisor ,Secretary
Publications Division Engineering Staff
From
Area Officer, Eur/Af/Latin America Div.
Editor, Publications Division
Editor, Publicatione Division
Area Officer, Asia Division
Monitor, Caribbean Bureau
OGER G. SEELY
Director
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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