SPEECH ON COVERAGE OF BAY OF PIGS BUILDUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP01-01773R000100130080-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 80
• Publication Date: June 2, 1966
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Beech on Cov
OF PIGS: Anti-Castro Cuban exiles
ed Caribbean country a few days befo
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDPO1-01773R000100130080-2
I
force was indeed forming and
that it was very largely fi-
nanced and directed by the
C.I.A. He asked for
Sion to come to New ork to
discuss the situation and was
promptly assigned to cover
the story.
His first article from Miami
-the one I have just shown
to you-began as follows:
'For nearly nine months
Cuban exile military forces
dedicated to the overthrow of
Premier Fidel Castro have
been in training in the United
States as well as In Central
America.
"An army of .5,000 to 6,000
men constitutes the external
fighting arm of the anti-
Castro Revolutionary Coun-
cil, which was formed in the
United States last month. Its
purpose is the liberation of
Cuba from what it describes
as the Communist rule of the
Castro regime."
His article, which was more
than two columns long and
very detailed, was scheduled
to appear in the paper of
Friday, April 7, 1961. It was
dummied for Page 1 under a
fourcolumn head, leading the
paper.
While the front - page
dummy was,being drawn up
by the assistant managing
editor, the news editor and
the assistant news editor,
Orvil Dryfoos, then the pub-
lisher of The New York
Times, came down from the
14th floor to the office of
Turner Catledge, the manag-
ing editor.
the
New
for
said
SDAY, JUNE `2, 1W
rage of Bay of Pigs Bildup
Uniud Pro. mternwon.r
they took part In
Invasion of Cuba In
date f the invasion, and, on
April 15, not to give away in
detal] the fact that the first
air on Cuba was car-
ried t from Guatemala."
er the dummy for the
page of The Times for
Ted Bernstein, who
assistant managing
on night duty at The
and Lew Jordan, the
and he was quivering
emotion. He and Mr.
e publisher himself the
for the change.
Catledge was "flaw-
at this Intervention.
of the paper.
has never been mentioned
publicly before. I have the
permission of Mr.Dryfoos's
widow, now Mrs. Andrew
Heiskell, to read it to you
today:
"Dear Marian:
' 1 want you to know how
sorry I was to hear the sad
news of Orvil's untimely
straint they would exercise
in a shooting war. .
He went on to say, "Every
newspaper now asks itself
with respect to every story,
,Is it news?' All I suggest Is
that you add the question: Is
It in the Interest of national
security?' "
If the press should recom-
mend voluntary measures to
prevent the publication of ma-
terial endangering the nation-
al security In peacetime, the 'q had known him for a
President said, "the Govern- number of years and two
ment would cooperate whole experiences I had with him
beartedly." in the last two years gave me
Turner Catledge, who was a clear Insight Into his un-
the retiring president of" tile usual qualities of mind and
A.S N.E., Felix McKnight of heart one invoi a matter
The Dallas Times-Herald the of national ' security-the
incoming president, and Lee other his decision to refram
Hills, executive editor of the from printing on October
Knight newspapers, took the 21st the news, which only the
President's statement as an man for The .des possessed,
invitation to talk. on the presence of Russian
Within two weeks, a dele- missiles 14 Cuba, upon my
gation of editors, publishers informing him that we needed
and news agency executives twenty-four hours more to
was at the White House. They complete our preparations.
told President Kennedy they 'This decision of his made
saw no need at that time for far more effective our later
machinery to help prevent the
disclosure of vital security In-
formation. They agreed that
thereshould be another meet-
ing in a few months. How-
ever, no further meeting was
ever held.
That day In the White
House, President Kennedy ran
down a list of what he called
premature disclosures of se-
curity Information. His ex-
amples were mainly drawn
from The New York Times.
He mentioned, for example,
Paul Kennedy's story about
the training of anti-Castro
forces in Guatemala. Mr. Cat-
ledge pointed out that this in-
formation had been published
In IA Hors, In Guatemala and
in The Nation in this country
before it was ever published In
The New York Times.
"But it was not news until
It appeared in The Times,"
the President replied.
While he scolded The New
York Times, the President
said in an aside to Mr. Cat-
ledge' "If you had printed
actions and thereby contrib-
uted greatly to our national
safety.
"All this means very little
now, but I did want you to
know that a good many
people some distance away,
had the same % regard for
'Orvil's character as did those
who knew him beat.
"I know what a blow this
Is to you, and I hope you will
accept Jackie's - and my
deepest sympathy.
"Sincerely, John F. Ken-
nedy ?
In the Cuban missile crisis,
things were handled some-
what differently than in the
previous year. The President
telephoned directly to the
publisher of The New York
Times.
He had virtually been in-
vited to do so in their conver-
sation In the White House
barely a month before.
That conversation had been
on the subject of security
p leaks in the press and how
more about the operation you to prevent them, and Mr.
would have saved us from Dryfoos had told the Presi-
a colossal mistake." dent that what was needed
was prior information and
'Sorry You Didn't Tell It' prior conldltatlon. He said
More than a year later, that, when there was danger
President Kennedy was still of security uniformatlon get-
talking the same way. In a ting into print, the thing to
conversation with Orvil Dry- do was to call In the pub,
foos In the White House on fishers and explain matters
Sept. 13, 1962, he said, "I to them.
wish you had run every- In the missile crisis, Presl-
thing on Cuba.... I am just dent Kennedy did exactly
sorry you didn't tell it at the that. Ten minutes before I was
time."
due on this platform this
morning Mr. Reston tele-
phoned me from Washington
to give me further details of
what happened that day.
"The, P.e s alt :led me,"
Mr. Reston said. "He una
stood that I had bewr.'talkin '-
to Mac Bundy and he kney
from the line of questiosthg
that we knew the critical fact
the ti____ B- P.ne was going on television on of the Those words were echoed
Georgia confessed that, al- -""'L Russian missiles bad
though he was chairman of Indeed been emplaced 1;i Cuba.
the Senate Armed Forces "The President told me,"
Committee, he didn't Mr. Reston continued, ,,.,-_t
by Arthur Schlesinger when
he wrote, "I have wondered
whether, if the press had be~
haved irresponsibly, it would
not have spared the country
a disaster."
They are still echoing down
the corridors of history. Just
the other day in Washing-
ton, Senator Russell of
Compromise Plan Is Sou + it
on Overseeing Agency
By E. W. HENWO Y
spew to TA. 111w rat TYw
--
WASHINGTON, June 1.:
Contending over supervision oe
the t Intelli coos oday In
postponed al postponed a
toils hi
misc.
Senator J . W. 1112,
chairman of the Foreign
lions Conr>inittee, had plaatred
to present for floor active ft
resolution to add three mearbers,
of his committee to a "watebo
committee.
This resolution, sponsored bF
Foreign Relations Cdo tae
on May 17.
Two hours before the Satiate: }
conven ed at noon, however, the
rhajority leader, Mike Mans"
d.
called Senators Flght, Rd$.'
sell, McCarthy Jobs
St=o
nis of Mississippi to be slave..:
Afterward, Mr. Mans field sea
that the McCarthy resoltttlatt +.
would not be brought up this
solution in consultation wits
various interested Senstors,"
Barked by Mas.fkU
ports the contention of Sena?
fora Fuibright and McCartW'
the Foreign Relations Commit-
tee should be represented on the group exercising legislative ?-
"oversight" of the agency,
Ever since the agency wag', created In 1947 by the National.
Security Act, seven Senators
from the Armed Services Corn.
mittee and the subcommittee pt
the Appropriations Committee
handling' the defense budget
have constituted the group to
which the agency's director bas
reported. On the House side,. the
director has reported to two
subcommittees of Armed Sere
ices and Appropriations com-
mittees.
Senator Mansfield reported
that all of those present at the
meeting "had open minds" and
"seemed to be not averse to a
compromise if one could be
worked out."
CUBA ACCUSES U.S.
AGAIN Of SABOTEURS
HA"ANAy June.,3 (Reuters)-
verpment accusal 'ate
'aide a heavily armed saboteur
in Cuba. It was the second time
in two days Cuba had made
such an accusation.
A communique issued on the
fifth day of a state of alert
at1 -6-1L UL we l.enl.rai In-
d0 the Amerir,.n nann1e Ha said telligenrp Avon- ... _, .., ,. Identified an
th" security i Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDPO1-01773R000100130080-2 iez Cabreras.