LETTER TO ROBERT M. GATES FROM (SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90M00004R000300090033-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 16, 2011
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: February 21, 1987
• Content Type: LETTER

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E~ecub e R
87-0850x
STAT
February 21, 1987
91 Mt WoMMUMM
Hon. Robert M. Gates
Acting Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Enclosed is a copy of a letter I am sending today to Senator
Arlen Specter. You will recognize it as an attempt to respond to
his statement to the Senate Select Commitee on Intelligence
earlier this week. I am sending similar letters to Committee
Chairman Boren, Vice Chairman Cohen, and several members of the
Committee. Addressed individually, the letters begin with the
second sentence of the letter to Senator Specter. I hope they
will be helpful.
Sincerely,
STAT
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Central Indigence Agency
washington, D.C.
[phone]
George V. Lauder
Director, Public Affairs
28 July 1986
STAT
I am enclosing a copy of the Jordan map
recently published by the Agency. It will soon
be available to the public through the
Government Printing Office. It contains the
corrections you drew to the attention of the
State Department and the Agency.
You probably have noted that the 1986
edition of THE WORLD FACTBOOK, published last
month, also reflects the wording according to
the State Department's revised guidelines.
Again we thank you for your interest in
ensuring the accuracy of U.S. Government
publications.
Sincerely,
George ii .Laude
Director, Public Affairs Office
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STAT
February 21, 1987
Hon. Arlen Specter
United States Senate
Room 331
Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Specter:
You are quoted as saying that you will weigh heavily the
performance of Robert M. Gates when Deputy Director in deciding
how to vote on his confirmation as Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency. May I relate to you an experience with Mr.
Gates when he was Chairman of the National Intelligence Council
and Deputy Director of the CIA. I believe the action he took on
that occasion indicates the kind of person he is and may provide
a clue to how he will perform as Director.
I found that inherent to Mr. Gates' nature is a readiness to
listen to an ordinary citizen; that to get his attention you need
not be a v.i.p. or the representative of an important
organization. Also, he moved quickly when he learned that the
CIA or its personnel might have been derelict in carrying out
their responsibilities.
The issue which brought the revealing experience with Mr.
Gates is secondary to his response but a brief description of it
may help to appreciate what happened. For some years I have
been engaged in what is now a largely successful effort to obtain
the correction of erroneous and misleading official maps and
written descriptions of the Middle East, in particular the so-
called "West Bank," the 2,200 square miles on the west bank of
the Jordan River and the west bank of the Dead Sea.
Since 1949 the Department of State, which determines US
mapping policy, required that the "West Bank" be shown as an
inherent part of the Kingdom of Jordan. This was done even
though the United States never recognized Jordan's sovereignty
over the area, and even though Jordan had been evicted from the
area in the war of 1967.
The flawed government example was emulated by publishers of
encyclopedias, textbooks, and other reference works, and by the
media. The result was that our "truth" about the area from every
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trusted source of information was really false. This influenced
the perceptions of policymaker and member of the general public
alike. This had consequences for our judgement of the rights and
wrongs of the actions taken in the area and for our foreign
policy.
A great deal of effort, in which I was aided by many
others, produced an agreement by the State Department to correct
the maps. The Department issued a directive dated September 30,
1982. This ordered changes in new maps of the area. However, the
State Department dragged its feet in implementing the directive.
As a result, the Central Intelligence Agency, the producer of the
large official maps in color, had no plans to correct the most
important map of Jordan.
After many months of unsuccessful efforts to get the State
Department to act, I saw an article by Mr. Gates in
THE WASHINGTON POST'S Outlook section on Sunday, December 12,
1984 entitled, "Is the CIA's Analysis Any Good?" He described
the return to excellence in the CIA's analytical research,
intelligence analysis, and accuracy of information.
Toward the end of December I picked up the telephone,
dialed the CIA's number, and asked for Mr. Gates. He returned my
call several days later when he got back to his office. This was
in the afternoon of Monday, December 31, 1984. He didn't know me
or my name. He knew only that I had said that I had something of
importance for him. When we talked I explained that his ideals
for the CIA, described in his Outlook article, were not being
lived up to at the Agency in an important area, that I could
document this and would be willing to do so.
The next day was Tuesday, January 1, 1985, New Year's Day.
Wednesday morning George V. Lauder, the CIA's Director of Public
Affairs, telephoned. Mr. Gates had asked him to meet with me,
and this we did that afternoon. Present at our meeting at CIA
headquarters was a member of the CIA Inspector General's staff.
The conversation with Mr. Gates and what followed eventually
produced happy results. The CIA issued a vastly more accurate
map of Jordan and sent me an early copy. This was accompanied
by a gracious letter signed by Mr. Lauder and dated July 28,
1986. A copy of the letter is attached.
I hope this report of my experience with Mr. Gates will prove
helpful. To me he is an executive who moves quickly to ascertain
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the possibility of wrongdoing by his Agency or its personnel. To
me Mr. Gates not only writes about intellectual integrity, he
practices it.
Sincerely,
STAT
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