MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTATION THIRTIETH ANNUAL MEETING NOVEMBER 6-7, 1986

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100045-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 45
• Publication Date: November 6, 1986
• Content Type: MISC

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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optionol)
Historical Review Program
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DATE 18 March 1987
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Professor Thomas G. Paterson
Department of History
Wood Hall, Room 124, U-103
241 Glenbrook Road
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut 06268
Dear Professor Paterson:
Thank you for your 23 December 1986 'letter requesting information about
CIA's Historical Review Program. As a member of some years' standing, I
congratulate you on your election as pre>ident of the Society for Historians
of American Foreign Relations, and I'm glad to give you an up-date on our
new program's progress. I should note that although CIA's Classification
Review Division manages the Historical Review Program, the History Staff
advises on the selection of records and is responsible for liaison with the
historical community.
As you no doubt know, the CIA Information Act of 1984 required the
Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), after consulting with the Archivist
of the United States, the Librarian of Congress and representative
historians, to submit a report to four congressional committees by 1 June
1985 on the feasibility of a program for the systematic review,
declassification and release of CIA information of historical value. I'll
enclose a copy of Mr. Casey's 29 May 1985 report to Congress, which includes
as appendices the CIA Information Act, the 10 April 1985 report to the DCI
by the consultants noted above, an October 1983 exchange of letters between
Mr. Casey and Senator Durenberger (which was the genesis of this program),
and a 1984 memorandum of understanding between CIA and the National Archives
(which is the precedent for handling records transferred under this
program). I'71 also enclose a copy of the DCI's 18 June 1985 memorandum to
all Agency employees, which briefly summarizes the program's origins and
aims.
In 1985 CIA established a new unit, the Historical Review Branch, in the
Classification Review Division, Directorate of Administration, to coordinate
the actual review of documents in this program. Following our consultants'
advice, this branch is reviewing the Agency's records chronologically,
beginning with the Strategic Services Unit (SSU), 1945-1946. Similarly, in
accordance with our consultants' precepts of "top down" and "finished
first," the DCI's records for 1946-1955 have been reviewed, and work on
ccwnt a~~noc n~ncy
16 March 1987
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finished intelligence for the 1945-1960 period has begun. Review is also
under way on a large group of U-2 prograia records, up to May 1960. khile
our review proceeds here-,::the-Nationai Archives is working hard to process
the final increments of several thousand cubic feet of OSS and SSU records
that CIA has transferred since June 1984.,
I should also mention that we are working closely with Bill Slany and
his staff at the Department of State in their project to prepare and publish
an intelligence.and foreign policy-supplement to the the Forei n Relations
of the United States series. This supplement will consist of severa
vo umes, o pr~n d and microform, dealing with the relationship between
American foreign policy and the merging intelligence community in the
immediate postwar period, 1945-1950. To move this project forward, the
Historical Review Branch is focussing its review of finished intelligence on
documents needed for these FRUS supplemental volumes. At Bill Slany s
invitation last November, the Chief of the Classification Review Division
and I briefed State's 'Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic
Documentation' on CIA's cooperation in this project. I'll enclose an
extract from State's minutes of this session, although you may already have
this information from SHAFR's members, Warren Cohen and Michael Hunt.
In sum, CIA's Historical Review Program is doing its best to declassify
as many historically significant records as it can without risking damage to
our national security. Since we have a statutory duty to protect
intelligence sources and methods (which often require that records remain
classified fora very long time), our work must be careful and deliberate.
For this reason we have to emphasize that the amount of material that can be
reviewed, and the yield of declassified documents from that material, will
inevitably be limited. We are trying hard, however, to concentrate our
resources on the areas that will do historians the most good.
I hope that this gives you a picture of how our Historical Review
Program ~s proceeding, and I look forward to seeing you at SHAFR's Annapolis
meeting next summer.
With all good wishes,
STAT
Yours sincerely,
J. Kenneth McDonald
Chief Historian
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MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
ON
HISTORICAL DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTATION
THIRTIETH ANNUAL MEETING
NOVEMBER 6-7, 1986
American Historical Association
Dr. Robert Dallek Dr. Blanche Wiesen Cook
Department of History Department of History
University of California John Jay College, LUNY
Los Angeles, California 90024 New York, New York 10036
Dr. Warren F. Kuehl
Department. of History
University of Akron
Akron, Ohio 44325 _
American Political Science Association
Dr. Michel Oksenberg Dr. Deborah W. Larson
Center for Chinese Studies Department of Political
Lane Hall Science
University of Michigan Columbia University
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 New York, New York 10027
American Society of International Law
Dr. John Lawrence Hargrove
Executive Vice President and
Executive Director
The American Society of International
Law
2223 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
. Washington, D.C. 20008
Organization of American Historians
Dr. Bradford Perkins
Department of History
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Society for Historians of American Forei n Relations
Dr. Warren I. Cohen Dr. Michael H. Hunt
Department of History Department of History
Michigan State University University of North Carolina
East Lansing ,. Michigan 48824 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
27514
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16
' Foreign Relations Supplementary Volumes on Intelligence
Mr. Slany resumed the session t>y introducing the subject of
retrospective supplements to printed volumes in the FRUS series. A
previous Committee had suggested preparation of a supplement on
post-World War II intelligence and foreign policy development which
would incorporate disclosures made since the volumes in this area
were published. The Office of the Historian was considering such a
project, perhaps comprising one printed volume and one microfiche
supplement. He asked Kenneth McDonald, the CIA Historian, to
discuss this proposal further.
Mr. McDonald noted that the idea had originated three years
earlier, when he and Mr. Petersen had participated on a SHAFR panel
on intelligence. In 1983 the CIA was beginning to release OSS
operational records and was also negotiating with Congress on the
Freedom of Information Act. He pointed out that in the bargaining
which culminated in the recent legislation that exempted the CIA
from some aspects of FOIA, an agreement had been reached to review
some older CIA records for possible release. The concept of
supplementary intelligence-related E'RUS publications was given
impetus by this agreement. The Agency now has a classification
review staff which is currently working on the records of the Office
of the Director of Central Intelligence from the late 1940s.
Mr. McDonald commented that the Department's requirement for records
from 1945-1950 thus coincides with the work of the CIA
declassification staff, and will result in State historians being
given good access to CIA records of the period. He is not sure,
however, how much of this material can be declassified.
He then introduced the Chief of the Classification Review
Division (CRD) who described the historical review program. It has
started reviewing records from the Office of the Director of Central
Intelligence, as well as some records from the Special Services Unit
(which superseded OSS) and records of the U-2 incident. The staff
has processed about 135 feet of records. Review must now be
coordinated with other agencies. About 1 foot of records has
completed the entire process. The next group of records to be
examined will be finished intelligence, which the CIA hopes will
help with the Foreign Relations supplements.
Mr. McDonald observed that the Foreign Relations series
represents the U.S. Government's accountability for its foreign
policy. The CIA recognizes this. While the British have never
released any intelligence records at all, the CIA is committed to
releasing its records. The Agency works under the same NARA rules
as other executive agencies, using the same procedures.
Prof. Hunt asked if finished intelligence will deal with covert
intelligence. The CRD chief said that operational records relating
to sources and methods are exempted from consideration by his staff
under the new Congressional directive. The committee pressed to get
an appreciation of where the cut-off line existed in determining
what constituted operational information. Both Prof. Perkins and
Prof. Cook used CIA activities in Italy during the first decade
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after WW II as an example of covert operations which were well
known, historically significant, a,nd could be documented without
compromising CIA methods or sources. Both Mr. Macdonald and the CRD
chief indicated that it was altogether unlikely that the CIA would
officially confirm the existence of covert operations, despite
widespread knowledge of the existence and impact of such operations.
This, the CRD chief stated again, is the central issue. The CIA
works for the President under Congressional oversight. It has
orders from both the Congress and the President to protect sources
and methods. If he were to look at these records to see if they
could be released, he would ask the following questions: Who
ordered the activities? Who was used? Where did the money come
from? How did it get there? The Agency would probably not reveal
this. Where, he asked, should they draw the line? Just admitting
that this activity occurred would riot, he felt, be enough . There
was no real answer, but he would probably be inclined to ?'cut it off
early."
Mr. Slany observed that these issues were worth consideration by
the Committee. Perhaps the Committee could explore how the Office
of the Historian could work with the CIA to bring material on
intelligence formulation to light and could confirm that the Foreign
Relations was a useful vehicle for disclosure.
Prof. Dallek stated that although it was fine to publish a
retrospective volume and that its publication would represent some
progress, there should be no illusions about the volume's reception;
some scholars would "savage" it, scoffing at how little was being
released compared to what was already widely known. He worried
about creating cynicism, about creating a sense of a gap between
U.S. rhetoric and action. He was not, however, insensitive to the
Office's and the CIA's dilemma. The volume would produce an angry
reaction, but he favored publishing it.
Prof. Perkins asked for a concrete indication of what was being
considered for publication. Mr. Petersen responded that one volume
relating to the organizational development of the intelligence
community from the Second World War to 1950, and a second volume
largely relating to finished intelligence concerning the Soviet
Union are being prepared. Prof. Perkins asked what was the
proportion of previously released documents to never released
documents in the proposed supplement? Mr. Petersen responded that
probably less than 25$ of the volume on organization of intelligence
would comprise CIA material. The second volume would have a larger
percentage. Mr. Petersen added that there was also the CIA report
to every NSC meeting on the world situation, as well as Director of
Central Intelligence memoranda to the President. Although much of
this material has been declassified, it will be published in a
coherent way for the first time. To avoid disappointment, he
recommended defining the terms of reference for the supplements very
carefully and then sticking to them.
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Mr. Slany suggested that the committee might want to nominate a
reviewer or two for these volumes before publication. Prof. Dallek
felt that such a review might serve to help preserve the credibility
of the FRUS series.
Prof. Kuehl observed that most important to him was the question
of the budget trade=off in preparing a supplement. The Office was
proposing two additional volumes at: the same time it was reducing
the size of the regular series. Mr. Slany responded that one or~two
volumes could be added over four or five years without a change in
the schedule for the regular series. Three or four volumes,
however, would tip the balance. This was less a problem for
printing and publication than it was for declassification. The
Committee's recommendations would be useful to us in setting our
priorities.
Prof. Kuehl asked whether a new policy of supplementing the
series was being established. Both Prof. Hunt and Prof. Cook stated
they would need to see the material involved before making a
recommendation. Prof. Cook also asfced for more guidance. She was
worried about creating a dual system rather than being vigorous
about a 30-year rule and accountability, even though she realized
some issues won't wind down after 3C1 years. Prof. Larson said that
political scientists would find such volumes very useful, even if
they contained nothing more than finished intelligence,
Prof. Oksenberg wondered whether the retrospective supplement
might encourage people not to declassify things now--to delay
release--because they knew there would be a supplement to the
volumes they review now. Was there any validity to this argument?
He offered the observation that Mr. McDonald had neglected to
mention the very important CIA dealings with other intelligence
communities, either overt or covert-~-would it be useful to delay
publication until liaison relationships could be included?
Mr. McDonald responded that the area of liaison arrangements was
extremely sensitive. The British do not admit the existence of
intelligence organizations for 30 years, even if commonly known.
For the United States to acknowledge the existence of these
organizations could endanger current liaison arrangements.
Therefore release of this information was unlikely. The CRD chief
confirmed that the Unified States cannot unilaterally declassify that
material, noting that most countries do not require their
intelligence services to release information.
Distribution of FRUS Volumes
Mr. Slany asked Paul Washington, Director of Publishing
Services, to comment on production and distribution of FRUS.
M~. Washington noted that the primary issues considered by the
committee last year in his area inclu