THE SLOW MURDER THE AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100160021-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: March 1, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/14: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100160021-4
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ON PAGE
AR: Et r ORC?ES JOURNAL, INTER I11
MARCH 1979
The Slow Murder
STAT
The American Intelligence
STANSFIELD TURNER IS AD- Carter Administration will ever provide.
MINISTERING THE COUP DE eftcctiye leadership and reform. Several of
GRACE to the slow murder of the thedepartingofficialstold Turner candidf;.
National lnt_itigence Community. The ini- that they were leaving because of his
tial hope of many intelligence analysts in pervasive interference in intelligence
1977 that he would replace investigations reporting-in areas where he had neither
with reform, and political interference has intellectual depth or expertise. and in
with objectivity and high quality analysis. which he overrode expert opinion with his
faded in 1978 into discouragement-and own judgement.
often into contempt. This broad dissatisfaction with Turrt
Turner's willingness to politicize in- occurs among personnel the nation nee
-
priority for self- most to keep. the intellectual cadre that is
teiligence. his
advancement, preference for technology the brain of the American Intelligence
oyes people, and his single-minded focus Community. The professionals Turner has
on centraiizing control of the intelligence disenchanted are not "cold warriors."
budget and collection activities has special or"black" operations executives. or
destroyed morale within the Central counter-intelligence officers. The firing of
intelligence Agency. led hundreds of key Operations Director William Wells. and
CIA personnel to resign. and has prompted the firing, retirement, or reshuffling of S20
far more to "retire in place." While Turner operations personnel in Turner's 1977
has done some useful work to continue "Halloween Purge" had already removed
cutting back CIA's once bloated most of that cadre from the Community, a
operations staff and to reform the In- reform that former CIA Director William
telligenee Community administratively. Colby had proposed earlier in a form tha
that progress has been more than offset by even more drastic cuts than Turners.
dama