GRENADA/COUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000403960022-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: October 27, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000403960022-7
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
27 October 1983
GRENADA/COUP BROKAW: And American intelligence agencies acknowledged today
that there was a good deal that they did not know about what was
happening in Grenada before the invasion. However, as Marvin
Kalb reports tonight, the administration says that information
only provides more justification for the invasion.
KALB: Administrations do not usually like to admit intelligence
failures. This one is no exception. But top officials do admit
they were quite surprised by the size and strength of the Cuban
contingent on Grenada. A CIA estimate said there were 4-600
Cubans on the island; most of them manual laborers, some
reservists with military experience in Angola. Actually, there
were over 1,000, masquerading as construction workers on an
airport runway, but in fact serving in a combat engineer
brigade--well entrenched and well equipped, even with
anti-aircraft weapons that fired at and hit approaching U.S.
helicopters. Oddly, the White House acknowledges not an
intelligence failure, but a total intelligence gap, but still
proceeded with the invasion. ROBERT MCFARLANE (National
Security Adviser): When you don't have any intelligence
resources there at all, uh, something can't fail if it isn't
there.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000403960022-7