STUDY IS REPORTED TO FIND CONGRESS WAS MISLED ON C.I.A. ANGOLA ROLE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP91-00561R000100080019-3
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
February 23, 2012
Sequence Number: 
19
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
July 16, 1978
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP91-00561R000100080019-3.pdf131.38 KB
Body: 
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080019-3 SIAI ARTICLE APP ARF'l1 ON PAGE 1-/ 7, THE NEW YORK TIES 16 July 1978 Study Is Reported to Find. Congres Was Misled on. C I.A. Angola Ro By SEYMOUR M. HERSH The Senate-IntelligenceCommittke has concluded, attera secret year-long study; that Henry A. Kissinger and William E. Colby misled Congress about the extent of the Central Intelligence Agency's ac- tivities in the 1975 civil war in Angola, ac- cording to sources with first-hand knowl- edge. The committee's extensive compilation of C.I.A. documents indicated, contrary to vanous:assertioni. Iiy'1VlY -ihsiinger and Mr. Colby, _that more than $l million was allocated to recruit mercenaries and' that an undetermined number of C.I.A. agents helped train military units. inside- the former Portuguese.. colony:- a West. Africa. _ .~. In a seri es of interviews over the last two months;. the sources * said that. the study: has triggered as, dispute-among Senators and committee staff-members as to whether. Mr. Kissinger, then the Sec- retary of State, and Mr. Colby, the Direc- tor of Central Intelligence at the time, deliberately lied in testimony. before Can- gress. - - _ ;' C.LAi.Offidals Furious In addition, the-`study. hasp.infuriated ?senior officials of the intelligence agency. They have been urging the committee to modify the study,'saying that it is mis- leading, biased and- has- "a negative tone." - A senior C.I.A. official. obviously refer- ring to the section of the report dealing with Mr: Kissinger?s " testimony, _com- plained_ "Some people who go- back -a .long way are using this to prove and dis- proveapoint" "If we did anything,". a ker Senator. said in an interview, "we bent over. back- wards on objectivity. There area lot of things that-weren't said it doesn:t seek to poinrany fingers: -' He acknowledged; -.that: 'the?- report;: which was sent to the-WhiteHouse-andthe agency, for continent May-17; has sO far drawn no official -Administration reactioii~`:W'e're rioC going to' 1Mft die,' he said. "I'm- not going to, forgets about, this report:" A Government official said-?-that 'the Senate stud-did accuse the C.I.A. specif- ically of having "misled" Congress in briefings by Mr. Colby and other intelli- gence agency officials, Including James Potts, who was then chief of its African division `Misled' Is the key word that - got everybody upset," the official said. "The implication was clear that it was done consciously and that's what people in the C.I.A. object to." In recent weeks, the official said, the agency has. turned more documents and files over to the committee in an effort-to show that Congress was not misinformed and to force. a revision of the study. The official said the agency has been "show- ing them the dates" on which specific in- formation about C.I.A. activities was for- warded to-the Senate. Intelligence Com- mittee during the Angolan civil war; : . * Some Senators and: committee staff members made it clear in interviews that they believed that the-C.IA documents already compiled, which include cables direct from Angola, not only contradict Colby but also indicate that they knew at the time that their testimony was not cor Lack of Evidence The sources said, however; that others on the committee believe there is no evi- dence available as to whether Mr. Kiss- inger and Mr. Colby saw those documents -'We-did not learn-how far up the chain of -command the documents. went.-. a Senator said. ' Another Senator acknowledged that there were deep divisions in the commit- tee. Some, he said,. "got all- excited" about the staff study. "They thought it was a great, enormous event; that beads tires." - - "To me," the Senator added, "it's not significant whether somebody does' or does not get indicted for perjury: To me, the major element is: 'Why didn't people Some- Senate staff members were known .to believe, however, that Presi. ward the report to the Justice.* Depart.7 charges could be sustained.. Asked whether the' White House wasi planning any action, a spokesman for the National Security Council said, "Weir waiting for the agency and the committee to sort it out When there is a formal and: finished report with, recommendations,, then we will consider it."- - - I Some of the Kissinger and Colby testW mony challenged by the Senate study ap., parently was given in closed bearings in ' late 1975 before the Intelligence Commit- tee, then known as the Church Commi tee. Mr. Colby also gave dozens of classi tied briefings on Angola in late 1975 and early 1976 to at least six House andSenate committees. ? - s - . Mr. Kissinger testified-on Angola a least once in public,. telling the?Afri i Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate For eign Relations Committee on .Jan. 29, 1976, that "the C.1A-is not involved" in the recruitment of mercenaries for Ango. Mr. Kissinger went on to say, "It is, 0 course, possible that in. a?.very indi way that money has-been* given" to the pro-Western National Union for the Totah Independence of Angola, or Units, one o 'the two factions supported by the Unit .States Government-- ' - : .Allegation on Recruiting According to one former C.L.A. offici however, the 40 Committee, a high-level group chaired by Mr. Kissinger that ap? proved all covert intelligence activities ?authorized $1.3 million in October 1975, three months before the Kissinger testi- mony, to aid in the recruitment of Po guese mercenaries. Mr. Kissinger's testi - mony on the mercenary. issue is known t be discussed in the study. : - i Another issue raised - in. the study is testimony in- which Mr.- Kissinger and Mr.Colbydenied that and._.I.A,atents were acting as-military advisers- to the, C.I.A.-supported factionss in Angola. ' ? ?= The sources said that file do wnents in,: cluded as an appendix to the study show. that at least 12 and possibly as many as 24? C.IA agents did help train military rants insideAngola.-_' ? ? .. - - ?? . ;; Another possible discrepancy concerns the extent. of tbe-American intelligence agency's cooperation with the South Afri. can intelligeexe service. Sources said that Administration witnesses sought to minimize the link.. but that the Intelli? genre Committee uncovered C.I.A.'doty. ments stowing. that much information was relayed to the South Africans, who also provided suppoet to Unita_ CONTI Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/23: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100080019-3