BOB GATES WILL HAVE TO BRING THE CIA IN FROM THE COLD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: February 16, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/15: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260005-2
BUSINESS WEEK
16 February. 1987
STAT
STAT
G 'FES
THE CIA I FRO
ILL HAVE TO BRING
THE COLD
EDITED BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM
upporters of the Central Intelligence Agency breathed a
sigh of relief when the Senate Intelligence Committee's
report on the Iran-contra affair showed that agency
personnel were not extensively involved. But that doesn't
mean the CIA is out of trouble. Intelligence professionals warn
that the first task of new chief Robert M. Gates will be to find
and defuse what a former girci777rThe?rrland mines"
buried around the globe during William J. Casey's tenure.
Casey, who resigned as director of Central Intelli-
gence because of illness on Jan. 29, gets great cred-
it for rebuilding an agency demoralized by the Nix-
on era scandals and neglect during the Carter
Administration. But Casey also got the CIA back
into covert operations in a big way. Says a former
Casey deputy: "He ran the clandestine side him-
self." Under Casey, agency officials "let themselves
drift back into operations without informing Con-
gress," adds a former top official. "Some of what
they did was in contradiction of the law."
Intelligence sources decline to pinpoint the legally
questionable adventures undertaken by Casey's CIA
Aside from the obvious problems in Iran and Nicaragua, spec-
ulation focuses on covert activities in Afghanistan, Angola,
Cambodia, and Ethiopia. Casey, says a colleague who has
known him since his days in the Office of Strategic Services,
"was a freebooter. His ambitions and the 'President's ambi-
tions meant that a tremendous number of things could be
going on, and no one would question them."
MENDING FENCES. Many former CIA officials are urging Gates
to get the cleanup operation under way even before his Senate
confirmation, which is expected in February. "Gates must sort
out all of the clandestine services' activities, particularly the
covert action, and get a handle on them," says one profession-
al. There is some indication that Gates, in fact, began that
process as soon as he became acting director in December. But
the new intelligence chief must also rebuild relationships with
Congress that were shattered by Casey's evasiveness and
confrontational style.
Gates, who at 43 is the youngest man ever to become
Director of Central Intejligence, is well-equipped for the job.
Although he has been in intelligence since graduating from
college, Gates has been an analyst, not a spy or covert opera-
tor. Many professionals, including some who spent time on the
clandestine side of the CIA, consider that a plus. "His analyti-
cal bent will be useful in overseeing operations, particularly
covert operations, to be sure you're getting the bang for the
buck," says former CIA Deputy Director John N.
McMahon. A specialist in Soviet affairs Via-777;s
MriTarrT.tes put in time at the White House dur-
ing the Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administrations,
when the CIA detailed him to the National Security
Council staff. James R. Schlesinger, who headed the
\ cIA under Nixon, thinks Gates is capable of han-
\dling the difficult job he faces. "Bob Gates is a solid
professional," says, .gr. "I believe he will do
for the _agency what is necessary at a time of some
heavy weather."
Gates is well aware that he was not the White
House's first choice: Former Senate Majority Lead
er Howard Baker rejected an offer of the job. And many
observers outside the intelligence community believe that only
an outsider can be counted on to undertake a thorough house-
cleaning credible to Congress and the public. But Gates's
status as an insider?one who so far, at least, seems untainted
by illegality in the Iran affair?will allow him to hit the
ground running.
The most difficult problem Gates could face is the Whits
House's probable desire to limit disclosure of possible CIA
wrongdoing. Full disclosure of questionable covert activities
and an overdue briefing of congressional leaders on agency
actions are bound to produce new revelations. "Gates is going
to have to come clean, and he will run into opposition from thE
White House," says a former top CIA official. "The Administra
tion has always thought that what it did was in the nationa
interest and that-everyone should agree."
By Evert Cart
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/15: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301260005-2