THE CIA ROLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010019-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2007
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: December 18, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010019-3
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
OBSERVER
What kind of covert intelligence
and. para-military operations should-,
the United States engage in abroad?
That-question should have been re-
solved before the Senate began con
firmation hearings on George Bush ~,~:;' --; & at>*
chosen by President Ford to be direc-
tor of the Central Intelligence Agen
cy..
Congress is as confused and divid
ed as Americans in general on this
subject. We are only now openly
confronting the fact that our govern-
i
i
l
d i
h
b
na- ,
n assass
nvo
ve
ment
as
een
tions, attempted assassinations and a . 1 unney T~tuz'tnond
host of other covert operations that
many Americans would prefer not to
know about. Congress must define
country, but it- should.not have pro-
duced results like this among think=
the CIA's role and limits. ;ing people. Naivete or cynicism or both char In otfriview; the United States has
acterize the views of such conserva- a legitimate interest in the outcome
tive senators. as Strom Thurmond of in Angola. It is not' our business to
South Carolina and Barry..Goldwater control-that 'country's -domestic af-
-of Arizona, on- the one hand, and::lib-=. -fairs. But neither-Js it.the business -of.
eraIs such as John Tu'nney"of- Cal '
i- the Russians, :the Cubans and the
fornia and Dick Clark of Iowa on the South Africans, all of whom have in-
other. truded forcefully. Given this situa-
Sens.? Thurmond and Goldwater, tion, the' United States should assist
both Republicans, seem to :think the moderate Angolan -.forces that are a
CIA will be a good boy from: here on not controlled by the Communist in-
Of we will just leave it alone. vaders of Angola. And we should
On the other. end of the spectrum, :.help those forces to avoid being con
Sens. Tunney and Clark, both Demo- trolled by South Africa, which may
crats, said Monday they. would op- --.,very well--dominate them if nobody
pose a-$112 billion defense appropri : ":..else helps them significantly..
ations bill if it provided money for - _
the CIA-to use in covert operations. It is silly to suggest that we can-
They' and other Democrats compared "not do that -without repeating what
the fighting in that southwest African we did in Vietnam. By that logic, we
nation with the Vietnam'. war and should- never, .engage. in any covert
argued that any CIA involvement activities abroad. The, sad' fact is
would lead us into another Vietnam -that, if we did not, the new colonial-
quagmire. fists of the-.world would be:-,having
Are Sens. .Tunney. . 'and ' 'Clark field days everywhere. That hot little
saying in effect that every situation team of imperalist Russia and its cli-
of cgnflict in the . world . is like Viet- ent state, Cuba, could upset demo-.
nam? That if we are involved -at all, cratic and - non-democratic. govern-
,the- first thing you know we will ments from Zanzibar to Paraguay if
have. half a million troops there? Vi- everybody just stood aside and
etnam has been traumatic for -the. watched:
Approved For Release 2007/06/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010019-3
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