GATES: CIA IN A 'CATCH-22' WITH CONTRAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504670001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 17, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504670001-2
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
17 February 1987
GATES: CIA IN A 'CATCH-22' WITH CONTRAS
,7-BY E. MICHAEL MYERS
WASHINGTW (UPI) _ The CIA, prohibited from aiding the Nicaraguan
rebels but criticized for not knowing how they got their money, was in a
""Catch-22 situation,'' director-nominee Robert Gates told a Senate panel in
secret testimony released Tuesday.<
The agency was barred by law from providing military support to the
Contras fighting to overthrow the Nicaraguan government, but was also
criticized for not knowing about the possible diversion of profits from the
sale of arms to Iran to the rebels, Gates told the Senate Intelligence
Committee. <
11 We basically were caught, it seems to me, in a 'Catch-22'
situation,'' Gates said, referring to the absurdities described in Joseph
Heller Is novel of World War II. <
"We had the law telling us to stay the hell away from everything
having to do with the Contras and Contra funding and everything else associated
with the Contras,'' Gates told the committee Dec. 4 in a closed session.<
"And yet, now we are being held accountable for not knowing how they
funded it,'' he said.<
His testimony was released during the first day of his confirmation
hearing as director of the intelligence agency.<
No apparent conflicts arose between his open testimony on Tuesday and
his statements made last year.<
Committee members were skeptical in December about the CIA's lack of
knowledge about the Iran-Contra cash connection and they reiterated that
skepticism Tuesday.<
But Gates maintained that since Congress had barred the CIA from
virtually any involvement with the Contras at the time of the reported
diversion, it was highly unlikely the agency would have detailed knowledge of
how the rebels received financial support.<
Gates denied the CIA was involved in the diversion or had substantial
advance knowledge of the scheme, largely blamed on fired National Security
Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North.<
When it came to funding of the Contras
agency people
and I would
,
,
say here from the director (William Casey) on down, actively shunned
information,'' Gates said in his closed testimony.<
11 We didn't want to know how the Contras were being funded, in part,
because we were concerned it would get us involved in crossing the line imposed
by the law,'' he said. -And so we actively discouraged people from telling us
things. ''<
Gates was serving as deputy director at the time of his closed
testimony and Reagan has since nominated him to succeed Casey, who resigned
this month. Casey had surgery in December for a malignant brain tumor.<
Congress had banned military aid to the Contras in 1984, in part
because of the CIA's covert role in supporting the rebels. The agency had been
heavily criticized for helping mine Nicaragua's harbors and preparing a manual
on political assassinations.<
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504670001-2