SHIFT IS REPORTED ON C.I.A. ACTIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390083-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 83
• Publication Date: June 11, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390083-0
ARTICLE APPEARED NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 11 June 1984
si
sections to other policies and activi- after man of the
aSHIFT IS REPORTED Y operations beg ~ties. The one exception has been opera- seep into the public domain, risking ex- in Central America, almost all of posure of agents, and after many cov-
ON which, officials said, have been con- ert agents were dropped from the agen-
ON_C1IA:AGTiONS t?ceived and nurtured the upper floors cy's rolls.
of the State Department and in the Reagan Aware of `Carping'
Inter-American Affairs Bureau. A former senior official said Mr.
Plarming Group Established Reagan was aware that "carping"' by
Reagan Is Said to Limit Group Soon after his inauguration, Mr. Rea- the departments would occur as a re-
gas set up what he called the National suit of his reorganization. But this for.
Ruling on Covert Moves ? . Security Planning Group to deal with mer official said the President wanted
particularly important issues in an in- his senior advisers to focus on the
formal setting, according to the former issues themselves and not have people
and present officials. In addition to the around always saying why things could
By LESLIE H. GELB President, the planning group mem- not be done.
bers are said to include Vice President By all accounts, however, Mr. Rea-
s w rb? New vat'rims Bush; Secretary of State George P. gan's stated goal was to preserve se-
WASHINGTON, June 10 - Early in Shultz; Defense Secretary Caspar W. crecy.
his term, President Reagan abolished Weinberger; Robert C. McFarlane, the The officials interviewed acknowl.
interdepartmental consultations for national security adviser; William J. edged that this involved a judgment on
covert operations by the Central Intel- Casey, Director of Central Intelli- the part of senior White House aides
ligence Agency, a move that continues gence; James A. Baker 3d, White and the President that most of the dis-
House influence the number and character House chief of staff; Michael K. Deav- closure were coming from key Penta-
to covert influence the ra er, Mr. Baker's deputy, and Edwin gon and State Department personnel
rding to for- Meese 3d, the President's counselor. rather than from senior levels or from
mer and present senior officials of the ? As distinguished from formal Na- Congress. By law the President must
Administration. tional Security Council meetings, the!* tell Congressional intelligence commit-
In Interviews last week, the officials Chariman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is I. tees of covert operations and certify
said the President abandoned the long- not a member, the officials said, nor; they are in the national interest.
standing procedure in favor of disco,- are aides generally allowed to attend. These officials insisted that by and
sions and decision-making by a small When intelligence activities are dis- large secrecy had been maintained,
cussed, the Attorney General is invit- and that given the volume of clandes-
group of senior political and national ed~ along with the Director of the Office' operations now under way the
security advisers. One result of the of Management and Budget, the offi- overwhelming number remained se-
reorganization, some officials said, cials said, adding that Mr. Casey was cret. In any event, they said the Presi-
was a fivefold increase since the last also usually accompanied by his dent was prepared to accept the trade-
year of the Carter Administration to deputy for clandestine operations. off between losing the value of expert
over 50 continuing operations. As a general rule, officials said those advise and holding down the chances of
Reducing Risk of Disclosures at the meetings were promo advance public disclosure.
notification that proposed covert Previous administrations made the
The intent of this reorganization, the operations were to be discussed at a choice the other way. Sometime during,
officials said, was to reduce the risk of meeting. They said papers normally the first Eisenhower Administration, a
unauthorized news disclosures.' But ate. prepared by the C.I.A. were passed out special group was set up to approve
cording to knowledgeable urficiBut the at the meeting itself and then collected and monitor covert operations. It was'
at the end of the meeting. According to first known as the 54 / 12 Group, then
result has been a sharp and Steady ex- knowledgeable sources, Mr. Reagan the 303 Committee in the Kennedy and
pansion of covert actions by the C.I.A., usually makes his decision at the table. Johnson Administrations, and then
a result in part of the organizational No Advice From Staff under Presidents Nixon and Ford as
shift. Thus, according to the sources, those the 40 Committee. In each case the
About half of the 50 continuing opera- who attend are often without the bene- designation derived from the code
bons are said to be in Central America, fit of staff advice before or d number of the decision document'
the
creating the group.
with a large percentage in Africa as I meeting rrrirr8
well. It is troubling to several officials that Security Adviser Was Chairman
These programs include everything people able to give professional judg- From the 1960's on, the chairman of
from paramilitary operations to fun- ments are absent and that political ad- the group was the President's national
neling money tQ friendly hands, to the visers with no background in these security adviser. Group members in-
collection of infdrmation by individuals matters are present. cluded the Deputy Defense Secre
in sensitive post ions. "There's nobody there tell these the Under Secretary of State for Polittii--I
Administrai on Opinion guys what the problems be, what cal Affairs, the Director of Central In-
Opinion is Divided i could go wrong," one of i said. telligence and the Chairman of the
sharply divided within the; Another policy-level cial said, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Assistant Secre-
Administration over whether suitable "There is also the Drob eal ghat the j taries of State usually attended when'
personnel have been available to carry : people at the top of this Administration the proposed "black" operation was to
out all of these sensitive activities, are fascinated with covert operations be in their region of the world, and
whether proper control at the policy and find it easier to approve them than , papers were normally distributed in
l
l h
b
eve
as
een maintained and whether
the accomplishments have been worth
the risks.
Where officials agree, however, is
that the reorganization removed from
the review process most of those mill.
tary and diplomatic experts in a posi.
tion to fudge feasibility, risks and con-
to discuss complicated diplomatic mat- , advance of the meetings.
te~:
President Carter upgraded the
-
Casey,
Mr. in particular, was cited hers to include the Secretaries of State
as a strong advocate of clandestine ac- and Defense, in what was called the Se-I
tion. Several sources said he did so on curity Coordinating Committee for In_,
several occasions against the advice of telligence. But most of the meetings re-1
C.I.A. agents and analysts. mained at the Under Secretary and
Most of the sources agreed that the Assistant Secretary level.
C.I.A. as an institution had not been a
strong promoter of covert operations
since the early 1970's - after Congres-
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390083-0