STUDY IS REPORTED TO FIND CONGRESS WAS MISLED ON C.I.A. ANGOLA ROLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100080019-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 23, 2012
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: July 16, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080019-3
SIAI
ARTICLE APP ARF'l1
ON PAGE 1-/ 7,
THE NEW YORK TIES
16 July 1978
Study Is Reported to Find. Congres
Was Misled on. C I.A. Angola Ro
By SEYMOUR M. HERSH
The Senate-IntelligenceCommittke has
concluded, attera secret year-long study;
that Henry A. Kissinger and William E.
Colby misled Congress about the extent
of the Central Intelligence Agency's ac-
tivities in the 1975 civil war in Angola, ac-
cording to sources with first-hand knowl-
edge.
The committee's extensive compilation
of C.I.A. documents indicated, contrary
to vanous:assertioni. Iiy'1VlY -ihsiinger
and Mr. Colby, _that more than $l million
was allocated to recruit mercenaries and'
that an undetermined number of C.I.A.
agents helped train military units. inside-
the former Portuguese.. colony:- a West.
Africa. _ .~.
In a seri es of interviews over the last
two months;. the sources * said that. the
study: has triggered as, dispute-among
Senators and committee staff-members
as to whether. Mr. Kissinger, then the Sec-
retary of State, and Mr. Colby, the Direc-
tor of Central Intelligence at the time,
deliberately lied in testimony. before Can-
gress. - - _ ;'
C.LAi.Offidals Furious
In addition, the-`study. hasp.infuriated
?senior officials of the intelligence agency.
They have been urging the committee to
modify the study,'saying that it is mis-
leading, biased and- has- "a negative
tone." -
A senior C.I.A. official. obviously refer-
ring to the section of the report dealing
with Mr: Kissinger?s " testimony, _com-
plained_ "Some people who go- back -a
.long way are using this to prove and dis-
proveapoint"
"If we did anything,". a ker Senator.
said in an interview, "we bent over. back-
wards on objectivity. There area lot of
things that-weren't said it doesn:t seek
to poinrany fingers: -'
He acknowledged; -.that: 'the?- report;:
which was sent to the-WhiteHouse-andthe agency, for continent May-17; has sO
far drawn no official -Administration
reactioii~`:W'e're rioC going to' 1Mft die,'
he said. "I'm- not going to, forgets about,
this report:"
A Government official said-?-that 'the
Senate stud-did accuse the C.I.A. specif-
ically of having "misled" Congress in
briefings by Mr. Colby and other intelli-
gence agency officials, Including James
Potts, who was then chief of its African
division
`Misled' Is the key word that - got
everybody upset," the official said. "The
implication was clear that it was done
consciously and that's what people in the
C.I.A. object to."
In recent weeks, the official said, the
agency has. turned more documents and
files over to the committee in an effort-to
show that Congress was not misinformed
and to force. a revision of the study. The
official said the agency has been "show-
ing them the dates" on which specific in-
formation about C.I.A. activities was for-
warded to-the Senate. Intelligence Com-
mittee during the Angolan civil war; : . *
Some Senators and: committee staff
members made it clear in interviews that
they believed that the-C.IA documents
already compiled, which include cables
direct from Angola, not only contradict
Colby but also indicate that they knew at
the time that their testimony was not cor
Lack of Evidence
The sources said, however; that others
on the committee believe there is no evi-
dence available as to whether Mr. Kiss-
inger and Mr. Colby saw those documents
-'We-did not learn-how far up the chain
of -command the documents. went.-. a
Senator said. '
Another Senator acknowledged that
there were deep divisions in the commit-
tee. Some, he said,. "got all- excited"
about the staff study. "They thought it
was a great, enormous event; that beads
tires." - -
"To me," the Senator added, "it's not
significant whether somebody does' or
does not get indicted for perjury: To me,
the major element is: 'Why didn't people
Some- Senate staff members were
known .to believe, however, that Presi.
ward the report to the Justice.* Depart.7
charges could be sustained..
Asked whether the' White House wasi
planning any action, a spokesman for the
National Security Council said, "Weir
waiting for the agency and the committee
to sort it out When there is a formal and:
finished report with, recommendations,,
then we will consider it."- - - I
Some of the Kissinger and Colby testW
mony challenged by the Senate study ap.,
parently was given in closed bearings in '
late 1975 before the Intelligence Commit-
tee, then known as the Church Commi
tee. Mr. Colby also gave dozens of classi
tied briefings on Angola in late 1975 and
early 1976 to at least six House andSenate
committees. ? - s - .
Mr. Kissinger testified-on Angola a
least once in public,. telling the?Afri
i Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate For
eign Relations Committee on .Jan. 29,
1976, that "the C.1A-is not involved" in
the recruitment of mercenaries for Ango.
Mr. Kissinger went on to say, "It is, 0
course, possible that in. a?.very indi
way that money has-been* given" to the
pro-Western National Union for the Totah
Independence of Angola, or Units, one o
'the two factions supported by the Unit
.States Government-- ' - :
.Allegation on Recruiting
According to one former C.L.A. offici
however, the 40 Committee, a high-level
group chaired by Mr. Kissinger that ap?
proved all covert intelligence activities
?authorized $1.3 million in October 1975,
three months before the Kissinger testi-
mony, to aid in the recruitment of Po
guese mercenaries. Mr. Kissinger's testi -
mony on the mercenary. issue is known t
be discussed in the study. : -
i Another issue raised - in. the study is
testimony in- which Mr.- Kissinger and
Mr.Colbydenied that and._.I.A,atents
were acting as-military advisers- to the,
C.I.A.-supported factionss in Angola. ' ? ?=
The sources said that file do wnents in,:
cluded as an appendix to the study show.
that at least 12 and possibly as many as 24?
C.IA agents did help train military rants
insideAngola.-_' ? ? .. - - ?? . ;;
Another possible discrepancy concerns
the extent. of tbe-American intelligence
agency's cooperation with the South Afri.
can intelligeexe service. Sources said
that Administration witnesses sought to
minimize the link.. but that the Intelli?
genre Committee uncovered C.I.A.'doty.
ments stowing. that much information
was relayed to the South Africans, who
also provided suppoet to Unita_
CONTI
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080019-3