LETTER TO GEORGE LAUDER FROM JOHN REES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605410002-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 10, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 8, 1986
• Content Type: LETTER

STAT
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Mr? George Lauder
Director of Public Affairs
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Dear Mr. Lauder:
As we discussed, I enclose some questions which I would
like to include in my interview with Director Casey.
Should it be convenient for the replies to these
questions to be written in advance, it might serve to
reduce the time that I will be bothering him! From the
earlier issues of Conservative Digest that you have, you
will see that our interviews tend to call for rather long
answers.
I've also enclosed a copy of a newsletter with which I
am associated. It circulates to some offices in your
establishment and may be of interest.
Sincerely,
JR:na
EncIs.
John Rees
P. O. Box 1523
Washington, D.C. 20013
1-800-638-2086
March 8, 19.86
Publisher: William R. Kennedy ? Editor-in-Chief: Scott Stanley Jr. ? Senior Editor (Public Affairs): John Rees
National Press Building. Suite Ran ? u, 9- --
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DCI INTERVIEW WITH JOHN REES
1. Overall, how has morale of the CIA's intelligence officers
and employees changed since you took charge?
DCI: I think morale has risen greatly in the past five years.
You can see this just walking the halls, or talking with Agency
officers at home and overseas. Two years ago, I asked everyone to
submit ideas about a search for excellence, and the response was.
terrific--that kind of outpouring only takes place in an
organization with high morale. Our retention rate is well above
that of a similarly sized organization in the private sector, and
better than the government average. We've been able to rekindle a
spirit of professionalism and you can see that professionalism in
the high quality of the information we collect, analyze, and deliver
to policymakers.
2. What are some of the major misunderstandings that the
general public holds regarding the CIA's fundamental mission and
activities?
DCI: I'm afraid the public tends to be misled about our
mission by the huge variety of "spy fiction" that is available in
books, films and on TV, and by what I can only describe as biased
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reporting about the Agency in the media. We are in the information
business. The overwhelming-majority of our effort is devoted to the
collection, analysis and delivery of intelligence information to key,
policymakers and to counterintelligence abroad. Unfortunately,
almost all the public attention is focused on what is only a small
part of our charter--what we now call covert action, the application
of US foreign policy by clandestine means. Some people still
believe the CIA carries out all sorts of illegal activities without
any constraints--in truth, we are one of the most carefully
scrutinized and regulated agencies in the government. Everything we
do is done at the direction of the President and the National
Security Council, we keep the Congress well informed, and we
scrupulously observe U.S. laws and Presidential directives that
regulate our activities..
3. Are intelligence operations alien to the American tradition?
DCI: Quite the contrary--we've always had some kind of
intelligence activity in this country. Even before the
Revolutionary War, George Washington was involved in collecting
intelligence for his British masters about the French and their
Indian allies. During the Revolutionary period, John Jay operated
an intelligence net, and after the war of 1812, Secretary of State
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Daniel Webster regularly used spies against the British. Both sides
used spies in the Civil War, and the Union forces took advantage of
new techniques as well--observers in aerial balloons were sent up to-
see what was going on behind Confederate lines, for example. I
.could document a great deal more about the role of intelligence in
our history--the Agency maintains a collection of more than 20,000
volumes about the history of intelligence in our library.
4. What is the state of relations with the US media and the
academic foreign policy community?
DCI: Our relations with the media can sometimes be
contentious, because we obviously cannot say too much about what
goes on inside the Agency. We need to protect our sources of
information and intelligence mechanisms. We attempt to obtain the
media's voluntary cooperation in that regard. After all, we protect
their freedom as well as our own and that of all Americans. We also
work against hostile intelligence services overseas that are
constantly trying to penetrate our organization and our government.
We have to be circumspect about our capabilities in that area.
Nevertheless, we try to be as forthcoming as we can with the media
and the public within the constraints under which we operate. We.
never lie. to the press or try to mislead the media. And we have no
desire to impinge on freedom of the press. We do have to be
protective of the lives of sources and our sensitive and expensive
collection systems if we are going to be able to carry out our
mission.
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Relations with the academic community are really quite good.
We rely on scholars around the US to help us interpret world events,
and give us advice ona variety of technical issues and to challenge
us constructively and offer different perspectives.. Some academics',
.have expressed reservations about working with the Agency--and some
are clearly hostile--but we are not going to twist anyone's arm to
work with us. Our Director of Intelligence, Bob Gates, who has been
nominated by the President to be Deputy Director of Central
Intelligence, made a speech at Harvard in February outlining the
ways in which we deal with. academics, and the response on the part
of scholars has largely been positive. We have no desire to
restrict or censor the work academics do for us, except that we'must
protect any secret information to which they may have had access.
We also must bear in mind the impact some types of research may have
on U.S. foreign policy if CIA's interest is revealed. The best
academics seem to understand that without CIA and others out there
defending the American way of life, their own academic freedom would
vanish in a hurry.
5. How can CIA respond to critics when fundamentally
everything it undertakes is secret?.
DCI: What is secret about intelligence, basically, are the
sources and methods we use to obtain information. This means that
much of what we do contains at least some classified elements. But,
the Agency can seldom answer its critics because for security
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reasons it can rarely tell the whole story. Much of the criticism
is ill-founded, and some of it is so "far-out" that it doesn't even
deserve a response. There is a tradition in intelligence that we
are supposed to be a silent service, so for the most part we have to
rely on others to take up cudgels in our defense.
6. To what extent has trust and cooperation with allied
intelligence changed?
DCI: I'm not going to discuss relations with our allies--this
is a sensitive subject and should remain under wraps. I can say
that relations with our friends continue to be good, as they always
have.
7. How do you view the adversarial positions taken in the
House and Senate overall? Are criticisms of CIA related more to
questions of administration policy, or are they more on fundamental
concepts of intelligence such as covert action?
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DCI: We've usually had good relations with the Congress. We
provide both Houses with an enormous amount'of intelligence because
they are highly interested in foreign policy matters. Our relations
with the Oversight Committees are also good, in spite of what you
may have read in some press accounts. We recognize that many things
that go on on the Hill are due to partisan political activity, and
that some of the criticism of the Agency is really aimed at the
White House. I believe the Members of the Oversight Committees have
generally been responsible and helpful colleagues--there have been
some exceptions, however, and some material has gotten into the
.public media that should have remained in the vaults up there. We
don't like the political posturing and we certainly don't approve of
using the press as a forum to debate intelligence issues.
Nonetheless, I think I can say that our relations with the Congress
generally remain useful and productive.
8. In the field of combatting international terrorism, what is
your agency's role? With respect to states that sponsor terrorist
groups, what are the key problems-besides Libya?
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DCI:. CIA's role in combatting terrorism involves providing
information to our national leaders about who the terrorists are,
where they are, how they operate, and what they intend to do, if we
can. This is a tough nut to. crack, because these groups tend to be
hard to penetrate, and they operate outside the bounds of normal
international affairs. As you may know, the State Department has
the lead in dealing with efforts to stop or interdict terrorists,
and we provide our information to State and the military, both of
which would be involved if the President decided that some sort.of
counterterrorist activity was necessary.
You are correct in stating that Libya is heavily involved in
supporting and training terrorists--but it is not alone. In fact,
state-sponsored terrorism is one of the more frightening
developments in international relations in recent years. A number
of countries have provided training sites and operational bases for
terrorists--Iran, Cuba, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia come to mind--and we
also have learned that the proceeds from narcotics traffic from
South and Central America as well as from the Far East is helping to
provide funding for terrorist groups.
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9. Has the US effort to combat terrorism-been a factor in the
way CIA campus recruiters are regarded by college students? How do
students now regard a career in intelligence? What's the most basic
requirement--foreign language skill, political science degree?
DCI: Our recruiting program both on and off college campuses
has been a real success story in the last few years. Our recruiters
have faced a certain amount of disruption at certain schools, but
this has not deterred those who are seeking a career with us. In
fact, some students have told us that the demonstrators do not
represent the mainstream of student opinion, by any means, and that
many of the demonstrators are not even students. College students
today are increasingly interested in careers in government or in
military service, and the response to our campus presentations, and
other recruiting drives have really been overwhelming. Young people
today bring us some different skills than in the past--technological
and scientific backgrounds, or computer capability. Their
enthusiasm is inspiring. We recruit people from all sorts of
disciplines, and with all sorts of backgrounds. We are looking
primarily for people who are interested in work related to the
affairs of the United States in the foreign environment. I should
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point out that we are extremely selective in our hiring procedures,
and that only about one percent of serious applicants make it
through the process.
10. How do you hope your term as Director will be remembered?
DCI: I'm not sure how long people will remember me personally,
but there are some things that I will be able to look back on with
considerable pride: the rebuilding of our capabilities abroad has
been very important. We have also been able to.establish a new
sense of mission during my tenure as DCI, and our new building, due
to be completed next year, is a symbol of the general upgrading of
our resources and the support we have from both the President and
the Congress. But the people are'the most critical ingredient in
intelligence. In some ways, I feel like the conductor of a highly
professional and competent symphony orchestra--I can give the beat
and perhaps lead the orchestra to play a bit louder or softer, but
in the end the quality of the music depends on the musicians.
Americans can be proud of the fact that its intelligence "musicians"
are the best in the world.
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