COLBY: CIA LEAKS COST U.S. 'CONTACTS'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100240020-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: January 28, 1976
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT '
y
a
zeaessent
butes to an
rector attriexcess o
L-2 he thinks the American people have been- ""'0 - Do vo
generany recogmzeu as we wwU, IU a ue~L pearl counure~
A
i
"
mer
?'s'.:
If you , asked the average
can:.. rope. In the .e
t c'ti~~n in 1975 to associate the word CIA`
~.af"~'~ ?_ witny something; :you. would' probably ` Pression was
was going to s
a Second of four arilcles based on an come up with assassination and thed rt Latin Ameri
eun," Colby said."But-we never assass:~
exclusive interview.,witli.CfA Director great roinanti
-
By. KINGSBURY SMITH--
National
The Hearst Newspapers.
WASHI,;GTON America has lost
50 -foreign contacts ' and its intelligence
p22r its ave een "very badly";~urt~
rt-the past. few weeks by the leakage. of.,
:,secret into rmation given: to congression=
al. committees:` ~_;R~ :~._ :.;>;:.. ?:,_
r="-r;.This.was disclosed hf ~ifiiliam,Colby.
$:idirector of.tae:C~ntral IntelligenceAgen
;:c~yy-.in an `exclusive; nterview : with, The'
I3earst Newspapers:'
_Last?-year.,Corgressena:aed a Iaw
compelling: the. CIA to :report its covert'
.operations.; to,-.-six,., committees. Almost'
every:hing'reported:to t lose cDnimit
has, Colby said been leakedto the news
;media:ai:d spread, around the world
We have los['something lie.-50 of'.
our. foreign':contacts,".;he-added.=-..It's%
rot`the:numbers that is.importart:'It s
the quality of-the services rendered.'
"Some:ot o~ir`best contact, have cut`
-.-cff:tFieir. retatiocship with-us:-_Tl:eyhave;
said they just calloL continue to ?xor
with us because of our inabilfry to keep:
--,-secrets. Many of. these people are very,
worried 'about the situation.-."='_
"Some of the. foreign intelligence
agencies-wI icli have cooperated-c if
sewith-ts have, reduced the level of. L-tfor-
:oration they give us. ;They-limit the sen-1
i.'sitivity of the information, . they, had:
:,previouly shared.with is:Y:;= "==`
'"I? am,:quite-frankly!.very-upset-
?about.this.: Up-to a few. weeks ago-I-had
-:hoped-we might ?get-through-this -situa
tion without any-serious damage to our:`'
-:foreign -sources- and friends.. That- we
.could say: to them: 'We haven't.exposed
you and we-haven't exposed individuals::
"Unfortunately,. the-- erosion in._the:;
past few weeks of all,the'secret?reports to Congress- has frightened ' a lot of. our,.:
friends.around the world.-.I-.have to say-?
our-position has gone very.badly in-the
past few weeks ' in terms of confidence
requirements" ,
? , Colby recalled reading a. recent col-
umn in the-London Daily. Telegraph
.which..aid, in effect::"What is America-
doing to itself? Come; we don't mind you
playing around, burdon't destroy the
gIe best hope in the'world;''meaning a -
strong *America -with-:efficient intellt--'
._,.
gence services.'_
Colby says he'feets that- the.Water--l
.natedanyone and the dart gun never was all Latin Ames
a totally hostile
used. 'How did we meet that threat? With
.If you read the Senate report rather
carefully, you will note that we did take: a political -program through the
steps to try to bring about the demise of'- OAS;(Organization of American States)
two individuals, neither of whom died as' :=- with an-economic program through
a result."'Colby was referring to Cuban:. the Alliance for Progress, and.with CIA
dictator Fidel Castro and Congo leader assistance:
Patrice Lumumba. 'As 'a. result, Latin. America is- not
. ,.' ~.:....,; ; .-?: ? ' ?i
"There were certain other. activities hostile to the United States today. Gue-?
that involved people getting killed in the.: vara-- and revolution did' not sweep like
process of a coup or something like that wildfire through Latin America. I am not
but they were not assassinated by us: saying that CIA did it alone, but it made
You come down to the fact that we"did .a major contribution as part of a: nation-
.,not assassinate anybody. To create the ? at program orr a strategic level.
impression that.ourbusiness is lotting..::'`,-,. The Bay .of Pigs was a mistake. It.
assassinations gives a totally false. im didn't :vork. It went wrong: But to char=_ -
acterize..?the:: CIA's operations. in- Latin-
a Thee 5fi`Year?6ld St. Paul=boor- CIA.'-Ameriea.as the: Bay of Pigs is just plain..
ai. `veteran, ?whose'-intelligerce work dates.,_'wrong. also:--A- lot of -things. the CIA -did
W. a -?',?ere very- successful.:.: %
to 13 when he parachuted behind the - 1-is"Edon!!- mean the overthrow of?Chi=:?
. German lines in France-to join.a'resist- an PresidentAllende:.We'did not overt,!
ance -group, was appointed director.: in firow-President Allende. What the-CIA'.:!;
e
-d in Chile :was to, try to support, th
May .1973.
:. Formerly head of-the CIA's clandes- emocratie forces; there; as y'.-e had done.
Stine (covert) operations,'otherwise Western'_Europe.::-
known as the "Department-of Dirty President;Allende-exacerbated the
Tricks," Colby thinks the good things - it uation;with.hiseco .omit policies; with .
achieved by the agency's covert work its pressareson the middle class and on
have been ignored while attention has the countryr.to the extent that. firaliy the-
.been focused on some illegal. activities ..military overthrew him. We had nothingd
which he admits were wrong and should to do with-that coup::,;r;.
not be allowed to happen in the-future. 'Over-the,years:there was only.one'
However, he points out the wrongdo- time when .,wewent out with the idea of
ing was mostly due to an excess of zeal trying, w&erthrow him: In 1970- there
encouraged by a long time presidential- was a period.of about a-month in which:
and congressional policy towards the in- we vi erelooking-around to see w gat- we
telligerce service>of: "Do it and: don't could do at the specific direction-of- our-
tell me:''- =' President: All we. were trying to do there
That-was dangeroushe said. "I- was to help the democratic forces with a.:
believeone of the reasons we did get into .'view to free elections. -~..::
trouble"was becausie we. were President -Allende. got himself in a'
~?ised. There should. be active osupervi- -susreme he re a e the ' o-n[ollge
-leakage of secrets and confidential infor= all issued statem ants saying the presi-
dent waoperating outside the constitu-
mustnconcerning intelligence activities -ion: Imagine what would happen in this
--;=With --Wth plgag regard-to the e covert operations= country under such circumstances."
whiht if
c represenn terms o cost only 5
per cent of the CIA's functions, 'Colby'
suggested people look,at the record.
"it is popular to point. to the Bay of
Pigs and things like that," he said. "The
impression is created that these covert
.operations were all. a ,isaster. but the
facts are different:- ::::-.
"For example, Western Europe in the
late 1940s was-, faced:with'three grave-'?;
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/25: CIA-RDP90-01208R000100240020-5
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/05/25: CIA-RDP90-
BALTIMORE INO,IS AbERICAN
28 JANUARY 1976
gate and Viet riam"experiencea caused 'eco ;omit three
Congress to turn -the.sootlight on secrets Marshall Plan
in government == and the biggest secret threat represer
business_ 'Soviet-sponsor
While the. investigation of the CIA by CIA opera
revealed some -misdeeds,- which- the di-= Democratic fo
woi
ll
f
i
"