SECRETS OF THE CIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000807500043-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: March 4, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807500043-8
THE WASHINGTON POST
4 March 1981
Ate?r David Wi-s*e`s'
Agency T er
By Christian Jrs14arrw
David - Wise blew.up the Chesa-
peake Bay. Bridge, as a favor to his
wife, but it was his own idea to make
the- director of .the CIA as nutty as a
fruitcake. After .20. years of writing
nonfiction* about. the espionage estab-
lishment, he'd decided to have some
fin.
The result is "Spectrum," a novel in
which- a dashing: CIA station chief,
chagrined -to learn that his agency has
become a nuclear power, takes on the
deranged CIA director in a transatlan-,
tic battle of wits, shellfish-toxin "non-
discernible microbioinoculations" and
cryptography while the future of the
.world hangs, as. they say, in the bal-
ance- C`
"Spectrum" has, been- in the. book-
shop windows since Friday, and its
author will be talking it up on the
"Today" show at &30 this -morning.
But the novel might . be. just another
spy thriller if David Wise, at 53, did
not happen to be. an investigative re-
porter with five books out. ' -
With his partner Robert. B. Roes,
he wrote "The U-2 Affair," `"The Espi-
onage Establishment". and `The Invis-
ible Government,". - an'- account of
American spying. abroad that became
a best seller in -1964,_Since .then he
has published The Politics of'Lying,"
which argued . that government decep-
tion has resulted.- in . massive public
distrust, and,'in..1976, "The American
Police State,".:,an :account of how re=
cent administrations suppressed _dis-
sent and harassed their critics.
Until .:.. now,. however,? Wise: !Nis
unable to :reveal' that` the CIA bad-
'stolen eriough uranium to become the
first nuclear-tipped Washington bu
reaucracy. Such are the encumbrances
of nonfiction, he-eonceded with a grin..
"However, it is -true that- in. 1965,
381 pounds of weapons-grade urani=:
um did disappear, or was stolen, from
a plant in Apollo, Pa., as I say in the
book.. And we haven't been told what
happened to it yet. In 1968 the CIA
concluded. that- the . miming. uranium
:went to the Israelis, who. used ?it= to
become the seventh nuclear. power . in .
the world.".
"And- how does Wise know that?
`,'here was testimony before the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission by a
high official of the CIA, who said that
Richard Helms went to LBJ and told'
him -that. - And LBJ- said, 'Don't- tell
Rusk.Don't tell McNamara: "
? Helms said that?
"Helms says he doesn't remember,"
Wise replied. "But Helms doesn't re-
member. a Iot."
Diid.: the the CIA. in 'fact steal the
uranium?
"I don't know."
Is the . CIA, at the moment; armed
with..nudear weapons?
The novelist only laughs.
Wise ;:insists, however, that after
covering-.spy stories for. 20 years, he
did-not have to invent much when it
came _to decorating his thriller with
the doodads and gizmos of clandestine
tradecraft.
For example, when one of his char-.
acters 'considers' hijacking . a nuclear'
weapon from a transport convoy, he
learns the escorting' guards are
equipped' with M16s that fire gallium
arsenide laser beams for targeting,
that the missile trailers are unmarked;
that the- escort vehicles are ordinary
campers. i Furthermore, the convoy
`!trucks.aredesigned to withstand pen.
' etration by drills, explosives or blow-
torches 'far-one hour, and to survive a
head-on -collision at 60 miles an hour
and - a-' 1,900-degree=;_ fire ; for '': 30
minutes., If a hijacker did. gain entry,
sensors, would automatically set - off
sprays and chemical foams to further
confound him. Meanwhile, the. trailer
wheels would lock. ;
"That's all completely true, Wise
said. .'The laser beams. are just for
computing the target, of course. I got
a lot of -. that from :material- the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission put
out, and also from the Department of
Energy. Almost all the James Bond
stuff in the book is literally true."_
Including the poison dart gun with
which Wise's CIA heronearly gets
bumped off?
.. "Of course,". Wise said.."It shoots a
,tiny fleshette. And they really call it a
?'nondiscernible microbioinoculator.'
;The ,CIA loves phrases like, tlhat. They
also have. a Health Alleviation -Corn-
mittee. Its purpose is not to improve.
your health, but to alleviate it.", _ .:
"IA also
looked into shellfish toxin,
which the. agency likes to use as a poi-
son..I did my own research,. I checked
with "a -.doctor--.and with an'. author.
Shellfish toxin domes from Alaskan
butter clams or Pacific Coast mussels,
after" they've ingested what they call
'red.::tide.' One' mussel - wouldn't' "kill
you, but-what the agency does is ex-
tract-it from hundreds," and then it's
extremely - lethal. I confirmed by . re-'
search. that someone who was admin-
istered this stuff had symptoms indis-
tinguishable from cardiac arrest:'.,:-,...
Nevertheless, the business-about the
cats is surely made up - right?
"Oh no," Wise exclaimed. "Although
maybe it goes better in a work 'of fic-
tion than in the real world. You see,
somebody at the agency decided that
if you wired up a cat with a transmit-
ter, he'd be the perfect eavesdropper.
Maybe sitting right on the suspect's
lap. Who'd suspect, a cat? Well, as a
matter of fact I_ would. I have two
cats, and I'm . extremely suspicious.
But yes, the fact is the agency was ac-
..tually cutting up cats." __ -?j._z
Verification?
"The reason I know the cat stuff is
true is that it. was- cut out of . Mar
chetti's book"- (Victor Marchetti is a
former' CIA 'agent ' who, ' with 'John
Marks, published .'The CIA -and ? the
Cult of Intelligence." All former agents
are required to submit manuscripts to
the agency for review and deletion of
material. deemed unacceptable. Wise,:
who says he has never been employed
by the CIA, is not subject to such re-
view) ~, k ;,?
This brings us to the part where
somebody asks if Wise hates the CIA
and is out to destroy it, subvert its
purpose and generally' make fun of
the vast cloak-and-dagger bureaucracy
unsecretly located behind a conspicu-
ous sign on . George Washington-Me-
morial Parkway. that reads "CIj.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807500043-8