FORMER DIRECTOR COLBY EXPLAINS CIA ACTIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00418R000100100005-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 11, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: February 17, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

U#~VAO~_Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/11 : CIA-RDP99-00418R000100100005-6
ins C
or er Director Colly p
that.
By SUSAN CARR those laws we ran everything from the American people believed that
See related interview, page 4. individual spy to the Bay of Pigs. The was the case."
"We can almost literally peer over result of this," he continued, "was a Consequently,. he went on, "a
the corners of the earth and learn realization that no part -of the US journalist put it all on the front page.
about things we never would have government can operate outside of it Many events were sensationalized, ss
as well." and there was a gross
William would declared
Colby, former director of the in speaking of public investigations misunderstanding of what we had,
Central Intelligence Agency, as he into CIA operations, Colbysaidof the been doing. But when you read the.
wn internal attempts to reports," Colby explained, "you find
'
s o
spoke before a near-capacity crowd CIA
in Hubbell Auditorium last night. investigate itself. In 1973, "We looked that the CIA was not out of control.
Colby said that "American, back to see if the CIA was operating that it was responsive, under
intelligence now operates under outside of the laws. We gathered a complete Presidential control, and
American law, and that's a very novel little bundle of such instances, wiped that then the Congress knew about it,
" as he spoke of a "New our hands and thought we'd brought or didn't Want to know."
r American laws. As a result of the investigations,
idea
d
,
e
Intelligence" for the United States, ourselves in un
"different from any past images of But it was equally important that the-- Colby explained that information is
spies, cloaks, and daggers."
Tracing a general history of the
intelligence operatives in the United
States, Colby declared that the need
for some centralized information-
gathering center "began at Pearl
Harbor. Pearl Harbor was not the
result of lack of information," hesaid,
but we just didn't put that
information together."
Describing the nature of the CIA
and its functioning, Colby said that
there were more individuals -
scholarly, managerial,and technical
- from a wider diversity of
backgrounds than in most other
governemnt organizations.
He said that "running such a great
enterprise has become comparable
to running great technical
insititutions - a school or a
business."
Colby outlined some of the courses
of basic changes . in the CIA's
oprations since Vietnam and
Watergate. He stated that, when the
CIA was first organized and laws
governing its activities were first
established, they were "laws in nice,
fuzzy, broad language, and under
William
now in public documents, and that
"instead of the Congress shutting its
eyes, congressional committees will
do the supervision."
Colby did not say, however, that
complete honesty with the public
could be.feasible. "I think we tried it
once," he said, referring to the years
immediately following World War I.
But people then quickly learned that
"the world was not populated by
gentlemen." Colby stressed the
importance of intelligence "in a world
we have to share with other super-
powers."
In response to questions dealing
with various undercover and illegal
activities the CIA has been charged
with, Colby replied, "This business of
giving secret help to other countries
Colby...
(continued from page 1)
must be placed into proportion.
Because these things ? happened
doesn't make them right, but we can
look back and find many things that
are right."
Colby defined the CIA's role in
Vietnam as one of "providing
assistance to those who wanted to
fight for their freedom." He
:k maintained, "The South Vietnamese
5, were fighting the war, we were
o helping."
i Colby was questioned intensively
about his involvement in "Operation
3 Pheonix," a covert program he
s directed in 1967-68 whose purpose
d was the imprisonment of thousands
of Vietnamese citizens.
o Colby stated that the purpose of to '
d program was "to bring accuracy and
decency into a very brutal battle.
Most of those killed were in military
combat and some by the Vietnemese
police. Some were undoubtedly and
wrongly killed. But the purpose and
the effects of Pheonix were to
eliminate that as much as possible."
"Stories of atrocities were much
overblown, but I never pretended no
deaths occurred under the Pheonix
program." He clarified his statement,
adding, "Pheonix was outside of the
CIA."
Colby spoke about the importance
of central intelligence for the
immediate future, especially in light
of threats from Third World countries.
He predicted that Brazil and Iran
would also rise as super-powers. He
said, "Knowledge gained through
good intelligence will deter the
problem well be faced with."
Colby said, in response to a
question about whether the US had
the right to interfere in other nations'
internal affairs, "Except in self-
defense, we do not have the right to
impose our beliefs, but we may go in
and help those who are sympathetic
to our interests." '
Colby concluded by saying, "If the
CIA has-done some -things wrong,
then let's correct it and let's control it.
But let's not blind ourselves in the
process."
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Colby spoke last night in Hubbell Auditorium.
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Colby' spea!cs on CIAUR link
By WILLIAM HARTEL
The CIA is "not perfect and has
made some mistakes in the past," said
former Director of Operations
William Colby, "but it is still the best
(intelligence service) in the world -
the best in scholarship and the best in
technology - and will continue to be
so."
During an interview with a Campus
Times reporter yesterday afternoon,
Colby discussed various aspects of
the Central Intelligence Agency.
Colby spoke on topics ranging from
current issues regarding the CIA and
covert operations to. Project MK-
ULTRA and the UR.
Present CIA Director Stansfield
Turner, recently revealed that public
disclosure of a total spending figure
for alt US intelligence agencies would
be an acceptable risk. Colby,
however, disagrees. Disclosure of a
single spending figure "wouldn't
mean anything to anyone," said
Colby, "it can only lead to, further
disclosures."
Turner and Colby agree that
detailed information on intelligence
spending would be a powerful
weapon for US enemies, allowing
adversaries to focus counter-
measures against American efforts.
"Otherwise," said Colby.. "(Turner)
runs a tight ship." Turner is an
admiral in the United States Navy.
Jimmy Carter recently signed a bill
into law requiring that all "para-
military" operations of the CIA be
approved by the president. The new
law prohibits torture and
assasinations, and disallows US
involvement in 'overthrow of
'democratic' governments. Colby
feels that the term "democratic" will
have to be better defined before the
law can.,k,ecome effective in that,
respect. Colby doesn't figure the new
regulation will severely hamper the
effectiveness of the Agency.
Regarding assasination , plots
against Premier Fidel Castro, Colby
said he was not aware of any such
plans until just before he was
appointed director in 1973. Colby
immediately issued a prohibition
forbidding the assasination attempt.
Colby stated that the assasination
would have been "extremely
unethical and dangerous."
When asked about CIA
involvement in a plot to overthrow the
government of Chile, Colby said that
he knew the US was sending support
to a "center democratic government
organization," when, in 1970,
President Nixon issued an executive
decree ordering the CIA to prevent
the rise of President Allende. to
power. Allende was later found dead
and listed as "apparent suicide,"
Allende had been shot twice in the
mouth.
Throughout the decades of the
1950s and 60s, the CIA-conducted
experiments on college campuses
under the guise of innocent research.
Colby said that this research by the
CIA should not have been done
without the consent of the president
of the university. Colby also stated
that the secret research was not
widespread and is no longer taking
place. - 480
The UR was involved with such
research from 1953 to 1964. Project
MK-ULTRA was disguised as motion
sickness testing and began
September 1953 with subproject 46,
which lasted until September 1962.
CIA subproject 17 lasted from
October 1953 to October 1955:
Subproject 148 lasted from October
1963 through 1964. MK-ULTRA
studied the metabolic rate and
distribution of psychotropic drugs.
About, classitied projects such as
MK-ULTRA, Colby said the mode of
research was "improper." Directives
issued udring Colby's administration
in 1973 prohibited the CIA from
conducting tests on unknowing
individuals. i
Colby was not personally involved
in drug research, but he was aware
that testing of biological warfare
weapons was taking place in theearly
1960s. A treaty to prevent biological
warfare was ratified in 1969 and all
research was discontinued.
Colby stated that, in hindsight, he
believed the testing was somewhat
immoral and unethical. However, had
we "discovered that LSD could be
used in certain ways of if we had
discovered an antidote for its effects,
the answer would be yes, the
research was valuable and
necessary."
With regards to recruiting of CIA
agents on college campuses, Colby
said that extremely few, if any,
professors are CIA agents. However,
a college professor might approach a
CIA agent regarding a particularly
bright student. Colby feels that there
is nothing wrong with a citizen
"consciously helping the US maintain
its high. standards."
The CIA agent might then confront
the student in question and "relate" to
him various opportunities in foreign
espionage. When presented with the
hypothesis that, since the UR has a -
high percentage of foreign students,
this school might possibly be a prime
target for recruiting agents, Colby
replied, "Well, it's not beyond
possibility.
I
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400 at U of R talk
By DOUGLAS C. LYONS Washington, spoke before 400 students
Former CIA Director William E. t the University of Rochester. His
Colby looked more like a college pro- isit had a certain irony and a
fessor than a spy last night during his momentary trace of the college pro-
speech on "The New Intelligence" tests of the early '70s.
before a group of University of Roch- The irony was that the former CIA
ester students. - director was speaking at a 'university
But during the question-and-answer that had been used by the CIA to
session, Colby became the spy who conduct mind-control research during
came into the cold as several students the 1950s.
sharply questioned the rationale of The aura of the college protest
CIA operations in foreign affairs. period came at the beginning of
"You tell us of the CIA's efforts to Colby's speech as nine students
support friendly groups in the election passed out flyers denouncing Colby's
of foreign governments, but how do visit to the campus.
you reconcile that with our country's Despite some sharp questioning
support in the right of selfdetermina- La~nddVietnam, ut the CIA's involvement in Chile
tion?" a student asked Colby. the audience was recep-
"I would answer your question as I' to Colby.
did a similiar question earlier," Colby lby had joined the Office of Stra-
responded. "We are in favor of self- tegic Service, the forerunner of the
determination for any country, but we Central Intelligence Agency, in 1943.
are not in favor of self-determination With the exception of a brief stint in
for a country that will put us in law school and private practice, Colby
mortal harm." had been with the CIA until 1975.
Colby, now a private attorney in Colby was deputy director in charge
of the CIA's Directorate of Operations
when he was appointed director of the
,CIA in 1973 under then-President
Richard M. Nixon. Colby resigned the
post during a major shakeup in the
Ford administration.
During an interview before his
speech, Colby lived up to -the "profes-
sional," "soft-spoken," and -very
careful" accolades that were used to
describe him five years ago when he
was named to head the CIA.
"I guess the'most difficult year for
me was in 1975, when I was asked to
testify on Capitol Hill about CIA
operations," Colby said. "I tried to be
in the middle and not hide the things
that were mistakes.
"I think that I was well criticized
around Washington for saying too
much," Colby said when asked about,
his resignation. "I ' think that that
contributed to it (his resignation), but
I think the President had to make a
change to show that he was in
control."
During the press conference, Colby
outlined. three reforms that he said
could improve CIA operations.
These include enacting a clear set.
of guidelines to regulate CIA opera-
tions, maintaining supervision of CIA
operations thf'ough congressional
oversight committees, and promoting
a greater public understanding of the
importance of intelligence operations.
Colby, however, remains opposed to
requiring the CIA to make its annual
budget public.,
"If you put out a number in a
budget, it doesn't mean anything, and
when that figure goes up, it'll raise a
lot of questions," Colby said. "I think
that's going too far."
Colby defended the CIA as "the best
intelligence gathering operation in the
world." He also praised President
Carter's executive order that places
all nine U.S. intelligence agencies
under the direct budget control of
current CIA director Adm. Stansfield
Turner.
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