NEED SEEN FOR INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES INDEPENDENCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000605570008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: September 23, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605570008-2
ON PAGE
ARTI ` ~iC'R~ ? r..
T HE R ~ 7 rn T POST
:.r.S L?.~.0:;
23 SE? E: ER 1982
Need Seen for Intellige~c
Independence
By George Lardner Jr.
Washington Post 9tatt Writs
The chairman of a House intel-
ligence subcommittee warned yester-
day that the CIA and the rest of the
nation's intelligence agencies may be
in danger of being "co-opted by the
policy-makers at the White House."
Rep. Charlie Rose (D-N.C.) said a
special staff study of intelligence re-
ports and assessments of El Salvador
and Nicaragua in recent years sug-.
gests the need for a stiffer resolve.'
and posture of independence on the
part of the U.S. intelligence commu-
nity.
The 47-page study sets out what
Rose called examples of "sloppiness,
overstatement or inaccuracies" that
should be warning enough of the
need for more care and objectivity. '
The full House Intelligence Com-
mittee decided at a closed session
Monday to make the report public
despite objections from the CIA, the
National Security -Agency and the
Defense Intelligence Agency.`'" A draft copy,obtained by The
Washington Post and cited in yes-
terday's editions 'was a toned-down
version ' prepared by minority staff-
The committee ordered release of
a more strongly worded and detailed
majority study on a :voice vote that
Rose said was "pretty much along
party lines."
The report praised U.S. intelli-
gence reports and estimates in Cen-
tral America in a number of areas,'
such as the CLk s mid-1978 predic-
tion of the downfall of the Somoza
regime in Nicaragua.
But the study by. the Oversight
and . Evaluation subcommittee - staff
said it had also found certain weak-
nesses, including intelligence reports
and presentations that suggested
greater certainty than the evidence
warranted, that relied on "some un-
questioned and * sometimes contra-
dictory assumptions," and that ac
cepted Salvadoran government de-
scriptions when there was ground for
skepticism.
The subcommittee staff said it
also noticed a tendency to view in-
formation from non=intelligence
sources "simply As material to be
countered" rather than examined .
objectively..
The report was published with a
disclaimer stating that "it does not
represent the views of all members
of the committee," but Rose told
reporters that "it certainly represents
my views and, I .would say, the views
of the majority." .
The report took issue with the
administration's complaints earlier
this year about news stories of a
massacre in the El Salvador's bio-
razan province. Congress was told
two U.S. Embassy officers were sent
out to investigate the stories and "no
evidence could'be found to confirm
that government forces systematic-ally massacred civilians" or that the
numbers killed remotely approached
those cited in press reports.' .
The embassy investigators, the
House staff study emphasized, "nev-
er reached the towns where the al-
leged events occurred."
The subcommittee's ranking mi-
nority member, Rep. C. W. (Bill)
Young (R-Fla.), protested the release.
of the report and said. he considered.
it "extremely biased."
/A Orm VrPc
Rose'saicFhe stood solidly behind
"What I hope=this says to the in-
telligence community," Rose told
reporters, 'is 'fella, you do a great
-job but be careful you don't get co-
opted by the policq=makers at the
White House: It is far more impor-
tant that you retain -a degree of in-
dependence and aloofness from the
political process. If that doesn't hap-
pen, there is going to be a loud call.
from the Congress that we construct
real independence between the ad-
ministration and the intelligence
community.'" Spokesmen at the. White House
and the CIA said they had no com-
ment.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605570008-2