EX-CIA AGENT DECRIES IMAGE OF CLOAK-AND-DAGGER AGENCY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140060-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 60
• Publication Date: February 1, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-R
RICHMOND NEWS LEADER
1 February 1982
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By LEE GRAVES stantly supported the Christian Democrats; the "indefen
David Atlee Phillips didn't have any problem telling sible" period, when President Nixon in 1970 sought to
his first four children he was working for the Central - prevent the inauguration of Salvador Allende; and the
Intelligence Agency. "correct" period, when Allende was overthrown. '
But when he broke the news to his 15-year-old daugh- "When (he) was overthrown in 1973, the prime movers
ter in 1975, her response 'was, "`But that's dirty!"' were Chileans," Phillips said.-, "That, along with a lot of other things, got me on the While foreigners who work for U.S. agents lead dan
path of leaving the CIA eight years early," said Phillips, gerous lives, American intelligence. officers abroad
who spent 25 years as an intelligence officer. Now he is an aren't as threatened. More of a concern is- the ethical
author and lecturer, and today at the Woman's Club he dilemma in the states.
advocated a strong but responsibI CIA. ' - "Even when you're stationed in the- U.S. you must
Public perception of the agency, he-in'Ticted, is areal.. maintain that cover that's necessary for you to be effec-
problem. tive abroad, indeed, if you are to survive.
"it's true there are moments like, in James Bond, "It made me think about personal morality and ethics
sneaking around in dark alleys," he said during'a tele- when I had to lie to my neighbors, lie to my banker, all
phone interview from his lfaryland home. "But when that sort of thing," he said.
.,young people ask me, I tell1 them-that, in my personal _ "You have to live this double life. The whole family
opinion, the symbol for intelligence work should be has to go through it." Alcoholism and.a high divorce rate
changed from a cloak and dagger to a typewriter and a among agents result from these stresses, he said.
lot of 3-by-S cards .. It's not always exciting and glam- Still, he advocates a strong intelligence capability.
orous. There are dangers, he acknowledged, such as when do-
"My most, dangerous assignment was surviving the mestic civil rights are violated.'
traffic in Rio de Janeiro when I was assigned there," he "The danger is one.we have to accept for that gain we
quipped.
get from it. We all have the responsibility to see that it's
Phillips' tour of duty spanned the terms of six presi- -done'. the right way, and it hasn't always been done the
dents and took him throughout Latin America: - Chile, right way in the past."
Guatemala, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Brazil and Venezuela. He has helped form the Association of Former Intelli-
*Iie served as chief of station in the latter two countries gence Officers, a 3,000-member organization working for
.. and was made chief of Latin American and Caribbean legislation to improve 'the CIA. For six years they have-
Operations-in 1973. ..been.trying to get a-law passed-making it illegal for,
The role of spy was one he' did .not seek. Raised in former agents to publicize the names of officers
Texas, he went to New York seeking his fortune as a Striving to make the CIA more responsible is helping
playwright. World War II intervened, and Phillips spent 'to. improve its image, Phillips said. The negativism and
part of the conflict in a German POW camp. After the outright hostility he once encountered on college campus-
war, he made enough money writing plays to buy a small es has been replaced by a spirit of dialogue and questions i
newspaper in Chile, where he was approached in 1950 to about how to get a job in the.service. His next book gives:'
gather intelligence on a part-time basis. Four years later, advice on preparing for a career in" intelligence work.
.he was a full-time agent. To illustrate the need for keeping an eye on the other
He has seen history in the making - the.fall of the guy, he tells. the story about two American tourists.who
Arbenz regime in Guatemala,' the - problems of Cuba visit a zoo in Moscow where a bear. and a lamb are kept in
under Batista and Fidel Castro's rise to power. the same cage.. The zookeeper explains that this. illus
a
He also w
s intimate with developments in Chile, trates peaceful coexistence is possible.
where the CIA suffered a black eye. That involvement, he - "He (the zookeeper) looks around to make sure he's
said, can be viewed in three stages: the- "debatable" - not being overheard and. says, `Of course, we have. to
period, lasting more than a decade, when the U.S. con- change the lamb everyday.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140060-9