U.S. MUST RESTORE ITS INTELLIGENCE AND COVERT ACTION ABILITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030002-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404030002-0 ( j
S T A T LAS I~IadcLNNON
When American service L_.3 of, a total secret.
men go into a ction, they S ? Est restore That is where the Soviet Uri
expect casualties. Their ? has what might be ronsi,,
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reports from the area. if not the connivance, of the pre
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nada. The number of dead from the ~ Soviet Union, the press can and
conflict was much higher than covert action ab? ? t J easily controlled. In an open so
expected. The reason was self- ety such as ours
control of t
,
evident: poor intelligence reports s press is impossible unless it afire
badly ynderestiinaIed. The result g4g& disaster under the Kennedy admi
NIanytttiembers of the American _ ~'= ! In both cases, the press w
Jimmy Carter and his-cutback of ~:.f - _ ' - --- - -I and out of loyalty to the nati
Coverf action- Those two words - -~ some members of the media w
alone bring to mind images of men divulge any source, name a
in trenEhcoats, an? beautiful, long name'o be the-next Woodward a
legged women meeting in a smoke- \ Bernstein.
filled bar-in some mythical country \.,` -~- ~~ Crying-wolf.
by a long shot, what covert action useless r s ---. e th "' .
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h,.olic relations problem in this \\\\~~~\~ .? ~/ _'?'j _~ It cannot be stressed enou
reasons for this are many and var- Ii- this country. Like it or not, we Ii
did not shy away from its complic- \ ably upon the United States. V
ity in this matter and has worked have quite a few hostile nations
hard to rectify it. ~\ contend with, not the least of whi
nam and %t'atergate, there was J/' /'j live in a type of fantasy wor
on many types of covert action. 11, \\\\,\\\
AMM benefits of living in this reptibli
should note that the CIA defines 1P `\\\\\ It-1///r L \\\\\\\~~\\\\~\y, details of ho'.ti, the country is pr
operation or activity designed. to a You rntorm Congress of a covert and, to a lesser extent, the Middle Americans make to see that
influence- foreign governments,; .action, you may as well take out a East and Central America. remain a free nation
.
organizations,-persons or events ia full page ad in every paper in the All of a sudden, members of That's fine. Let them live in the
support of United States foreign- ? -country detailing what you plan to Congress-and-the media were won- - ivory towers. Just don't let the
That alone covers a wide spec-. Consequently, the CIA became Why_weren't they "Johnny on the should not be allowed to take
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everything;in between..::. United States from forces without. States? - advantage in competing with th
the democratic ideals we'lave ^t Because of this clampdown on bathroom mirror.. There was an -are always go:,,i? to be part of ou
Because -of -that, in -the 'mid. example or cause and effect. or, to in the late '60s and early '70s and designated to hanJle such matter
discharged from the agency. " law was demonstrated to the Carter and early '80s. While no democratic govern
That -means- that. -where the tool of foreign-policy. not operate in a covert manne
icel scientist and freelance writer Union quickly pushed as hard as it ered a success, it must, to all no more ideals to espouse and pro
from Roslurdale, Mass. could,mostnotably in Afghanistan intents and purposes. -be unheard lect:
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j/?
DOUGLAS MacIONNON
Kennedy-Hart bill.
would totally reverse
the Monroe Doctrine
Dec. 2, 1883. It is not a date
that rings a bell in the minds
of most Americans.
If, however, you are a member of
Congress and are misleading the
American people on the geopoliti-
cal situation in Central America,
that particular date had better
mean a great deal to you.
On that day President Monroe
issued the Monroe Doctrine, the
unilateral statement that says the
United States will regard as an
unfriendly act any attempt on the
part of European powers to extend
Yuri Andropov
could not have
written the bill any
better to suit
himself and his
nation's needs in
this part of
the world.
their systems or control in the
Western Hemisphere.
lb listen to Sens. Edward Ken-
nedy, D-Mass., and Gary Hart,
D-Colo., or Rep. Edward Markey,
D-Mass., you would think they had
never heard of the Monroe Doc-
trine.
Or that if they had, they a) don't
consider the Soviet Union a threat
to the Western Hemisphere, or b)
don't consider Central America
Douglas MacKinnon is a free-
lance writer from Roslyndale,
Mass.
part of the Western Hemisphere.
Nothing else would explain the
bill Kennedy and Hart are trying to
pass in the Senate or that Markey
is trying to pass in the House. It is
a bill whose foundation is built on
the ignorance of these three men.
The bill would prohibit Presi-
dent Reagan from sending troops
into "the territory, airspace or
waters of Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras or Nicara-
gua for training exercises or any
other purpose:' unless Congress
has authorized their presence in
the form of a joint resolution.
Suits Andropov
Yuri Andropov could not have
written the bill any better to suit
himself and his nation's needs in
this part of the world. The Soviet
Union would only benefit from
such a law.
Tb shackle the president's hands
even more tightly would weaken us
in the eyes of our allies and
enemies.
Kennedy feels that members of
Congress will be pressured to sup-
port the bill when they talk with
constituents. Says Kennedy, "The
American people are ahead of Con-
gress on this issue:'
Wrong! If Kennedy feels that
the American people are ahead of
Congress on this issue, it is
because men like him, Hart and
Markey have misled them.
They would allow the Soviet
Union and Cuba to operate in Cen-
tral America with impunity.
Markey has made by far the
most ridiculous statement on this
bill to date. He said, "The bill is a
Tonkin Gulf resolution in reverse;"
referring to the legislation that
President Johnson used to justify
escalation of U.S. involvement in
Vietnam.
Markey desperately needs a
geography lesson. Central Amer-
ica is not Vietnam. It is not half a
world away. It is in our own back-
yard. The entire situation threat-
ens one of our best allies and
neighbors, Mexico.
Playing a game
To ' the Soviet Union,
involvement in Central America is
a game to be played on the highest
of planes. The game has no rules.
The Soviets simply push until the
United States pushes back. If there
-is no one to push back, they take
what their war machine has rolled
over.
Much of the U.S.-Soviet relation-
ship established over the years is
predicated upon such "games."
They indicate to the Soviets just
Markey desperately
needs a geography
lesson. Central
America is not
Vietnam. It is not
half a world away. I
It is in our
own backyard.
how much to push and what they
can and can't get away with.
It is imperative that the presi-
dent remain relatively unencum-
bered when dealing with situations
such as these.
Kennedy, Hart and Markey
would soon make the president
nothing more than a figurehead, a
puppet whose control would rest
with Congress.
If that is their intention, I sug-
gest they read the Constitution.
That is not how this nation was set
up to be governed, as I'm sure they
are well aware.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17,1985 / PAGE 3D
DOUGLAS MACKINNON
The recent earthquake that
tragically struck Mexico..
has once again turned the
world's attention to that
strife-torn nation. ? -
It is imperative, however, that the
U.S. government turn its attention to
Mexico for another reason. Actions
and reactions are taking place in
that country which will have direct
and possibly severe consequences
for our own nation.
Asked before a Senate select com-
mittee on foreign affairs what it felt
would be the single-largest threat
facing the United States in the com-
ing years, the Central Intelligence
Agency did not give the obvious
answer.
It did not name the ever-present
danger of a potential nuclear war. It
did not name either the Soviet Union
or the People's Republic of China. It
did not name Libya or, for that mat-
ter, any nation in the Mideast.
What it did name as a potential
threat to the well-being of the United
States was one of our best allies and
neighbors: Mexico.
Surprised? Who would not be?
Mexico and Canada are just about
the last countries to enter one's mind
when considering what nations con-
stitute a threat to the United States.
The possible threat from Mexico
would not be military but rather a
threat by the average Mexican citi-
zen caused by the abject poverty
that permeates the country.
Mexico is a nation of 72 million,
and its population is growing so fast
that it staggers the imagination. The
poverty is something you would
associate with a backward country
in Africa, not with the world's fourth-
largest oil producer.
How poor are the Mexican peo-
ple? Twenty-five percent of all
Mexicans go without meat. Fifty
percent cannot afford milk. In
Mexico City, a metropolis of 17 mil-
lion, (making it the world's most pop-
ulous city), half the city's work force
is unemployed. Of those who work,
half make less than $50 a month. The
air pollution is so horrendous that on
many days visibility is reduced to
less than two city blocks.
Even with all that going against it,
Mexico City grows in population by
1,000 a day. The rural poor are so
desperate for work that they will go
anywhere to find it. Even Mexico
City.
What alarms many is that the gap
between the rich and poor is so wide
Douglas MacKinnon is a political
scientist and a free-lance writer
based in Boston.
Mexico's
urol ed
V
Problems
and so intense that it may lead to a
revolution between the two social
classes.
The potential threat to the United
States that the CIA referred to man-
ifests itself in a number of ways.
The obvious threat is a mass
migration of tired and hungry Mexi-
cans to the United States in search of
employment and escape from the
harsh reality of poverty.
It is somewhat of a Catch-22
situation for the United States. As we
crack down on illegal migration
from Mexico, we fan the very fires
we seek to extinguish.
While illegal migration is a vent
for the steam building inside the
Mexican borders, it remains a solu-
tion unacceptable to the government
of the United States, for the obvious
reasons.
Actions and reactions
are taking place in
Mexico which will
have direct
consequences for us.
A possibly greater threat to the
United States lies in the axiom: "As
goes Mexico, so goes Central
America" We need a strong Mexican
government to counteract the chaos
in Central America.
The United States hopes that
Mexican President Miguel de la
Madrid Hurtado can use the coun-
try's vast oil supplies to offset an
economy that is dropping out of
sight.
The government of Mexico needs
help. It needs help from its friend
and neighbor, the United States. The
more we assist Mexico in stabilizing
its economy, the more we help our-
selves.
One thing, though, is certain.
Mexico is in trouble. Well-known
Mexican writer Irma Salinas Rocha
asks: "The poor are much poorer
now than they were during the rev-
olution of 1910. Is this progress?"
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