'DON'T COUNT ON' SEYMOUR HERSH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000402830001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 28, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 19, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

' Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402830001-7
ARTICLE APPEARED
0: PAGE
The last time I saw former New York Times
reporter Seymour Hersh in the news was a lit-
tle over a year ago, when I was interviewing
him for this paper. At that time he told me such
unbelievably idiotic things as:
He didn't know if communism was godless'
or if the North Vietnamese tyrant Ho Chi Minh
was a more honorable man than either South
Vietnamese President Thieu or Richard Nixon.
Said Mt: H: "Just because somebody is a
communist doesn't mean he doesn't have some
personal integrity"
Well, now Mr. iI is once again in the news and-
he appears to be as stupid as ever. According to
an article in the American University paper,
i he Eagle, headlined "Hersh Cautions
U.S.," i ;r. Ii has urged our country to stop
"fighting immorality with our own immoralitv'w
In his recent talk, sponsored by the Kennedy
Political Union and the Society of Professional
Journalists, Mr. H complained that the United
States "went bananas" when the Soviets shot
down Korean Air Lines "Flight 007, murdering
269 innocent men, women and children.
Mr. H said the United States "went bananas"
even though "the evidence is now clear that the
Russians made a terrible mistake." Our
"instinctive action" to this atrocity,'he said,
"hurt relationships with the Russians."
Huh? What in the world was this guy talking
about? There is no evidence at all that the
shooting down of Flight 007 was anything other
than an act of premeditated,cold-blooded
murder. As for the United States having gone
"bananas" in reaction to this brutal act of mass,
midair murder, the assertion isludricous. Ttie ,
Reagan administration did nothing about'fhis
carnage, nothing of any real substance at least.
In his talk at A.U., Mr. H, criticizing a variety
of U.S. foreign policy actions, asked rheteri
tally: "What am I advocating?'I don't know -
Sure, why not? If you believe, as Mr. H. has
said, that communists can be honorable men
v: ith persona'. integrity, then why nut unilater-
ally disarm? I mean, they certainly wouldn't
take advantage of us, right?
r In the winter 1984 issue of the Urd ersity df -"'7'
Chicago magazine, an exasperated Mr. H tells
i" an inter' i ewer who had asked about his
..motives: "What difference does it make what's
in my mind? Who cares?" He says that his latest
book "The Price of Power" speaks for itself:
But this is an astonishing question for a -
reporter to ask. Obviously, what is in one's mind
is what determines the light in which one views
all facts. This is an extremely relevant ques-
tion. Arguably it is the most relevant question
that can be asked of a journalist.
But Mr. H is not your average, run-of-the-mill
reporter. No siree. Noting that he is a person
who wants to have "impact;" this University of
Chicago magazine piece quotes him as saying,
with characteristic brashness, "I'm not inter-
ested in history because I'm trying to ;
change things."
Well, indeed, Mr.?Hersh has tried to change
things in his latest book. And the price of some
of the things he alleges in "The Price of Power"
should cost him 5100 million bucks in dam-
ages, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of
Morarji Desai, a former high official of the gov.. -
ernment of India.
In his book, Mr. H says of Mr. Desai that he '-'
sold some of his government's confidential
ormation tote CIA for $20,000 a year, and
thath e was fired from his post of deputy prime minister by Indira Gandhi in 1969. In a doc-
ument filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division,
Mr. Desai's attorney says these charges are
"false and defamatory" And, it is alleged, Air.
H's book contains quotes from "highly
biased sources, out-of-context quotes or mis-
quotes from responsible sources, -
statements that are not based upon any source
whatsoever, and distorted information"
In his recent talk at A.U., Mr. H did say some-
thing with which even his critics will probably
agree - certainly when it comes to himself.
Warning about the fallibility of the national
media, The Eagle quotes Mr. H as saying,
"Don't count on us"
Well, don't worry, Mr. H., not many of us do.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402830001-7