MORE OPEN C.I.A. SOUGHT BY COLBY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000300400033-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2006
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: December 29, 1974
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK TIMES 25X1
Approved For Release 29 WtM4CIA-RDP88-01314R000 00400033-3
~t the time of the back-' Marchetti Book Cited
{} e ~L Js round session, the a,enr:v's This, he.
said, was long ra-I
idea was to demonstrate the; tiona!e behind his year Iona of-!
expertise of its people. After: fort to obtain legislation from1
pi II m thcoup occurred in Chile he! the C ogs that wot the
{Jl~1 B Sept. 11, 19 3733, however, the; pose strong penalties for fnr the
C.I.A. was accused of causing: horized di -W u f f
SOG Y Y
re o
r
Intelligence Director Asserts
He Has a Duty to Explain,
in Part, Agency's Role
By DAVID BINDER
Spectat to The New Yo.k Timed
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28-In
the 16 months since he took
office as Director of Central
Intelligence, William E. Colby
has made more public appear-
ances, spoken to more reporters
and testified more often before
Congress than any of his prede-
cessors-perhaps more than all
of his predecessors put to-
gether.
Mr. Colby has said several
times on the record that he be-
lieves these deliberate efforts
to "go public," though seem-
ingly paradoxical for an espio-
nage chief, constitute an essen-
tial part of his responsibility as
the head of the Central Intelli-
gence Agency.
In a speech before the Los
Angeles World Affairs Council
last summer, Mr. Colby ex-
plained his credo as follows:
"We in the intelligence profes-'
siorr are aware that ours must
be an intelligence effort con-'
ducted on American -principles'
and that it must be more open.
and responsive to our public;
than the intelligence activities'
of other nations."
Vietnam, Watergate Influence
Privately, Mr. Colby and his
press aides acknowledge that
J the Vietnam conflict and the
Watergate scandal have practi-
cally compelled the leadership
of the C.I.A. to take defensive
steps by letting the public
know a bit more about the
workings of the agency.
Certain sectors of 'public
opinion held the C.I.A. resocm-
sible for both, even though in-
fluential figures in the agency
warned in Administration eoun-
cils against involvement.
Soon after Mr. Colby took
command in September, 1973,1
it became pdssible for reporters
t call the C.I.A. headouartcrs
im Langley, Va. and make ap-1
pointments for briefings with
5!`,11L'?r analysts on a i'ii' r_! pre
of foreign intoll; gene topic
In one such ''bac~:c: sunder,"
o more than 100, a C.I.A. spe-'
cialist told a rc port-r in late
Arigust, 1973, that sb e\a:ected
snare start C: I??il;tar~' Cis .: it in t:h ie within three ~t'_ 'lip The
:,1'::t then l+ tnct +i c f;e e.'
a
-
the downfall of the Government' " intelligence secrets,
of President Salvador Allende; tin larlyby ormeC.I.A. em-
Go~sens through actions that , ..
were not public knowledge.
? Colby Talks With Editors
Mr. Colby himself began meet-
trig reporters for such briefing;
sessions early in the autumn of
1973. Recently he estimated'
that he had talked to more than
132 press representatives in one'
year. i
in addition, Mr. Colby tray-I
eled afield to talk with editors-
and reporters of the Los An-t
gees Times, The Chicago Sun-:
Times, The New York Times, The i
Washington Post, The Washing-I
ton-Star-News and Time and'
Nd.vsweek magazines.
These talks, too' were on
"background," meaning that the
information could be used, but
not attributed to a specifiedi
source. Mr. Colby also gave sev
eral interviews on the record. I
In addition to his public:
speech in Los Angeles, he ad-'
dressed the Fund for Peace.
Conference devoted to C.I.A.'
and Covert Actions" last Sep-!
tember in Washington. And he
spoke to closed groups of citi-;
zens interested in foreign policy;
in New York and Chicago.
In his Washington address1
entitled, "The Viwe from Lang-1
ley," Mr. Colby set out some-1
'thing of his philosophy about,
the C.I.A.'s work and its public
image:
"'There have been some "bad
secrets".concerning intelligence;
their exposure by our academic,
journalistic and political critics
certainly is an essential part of,
th2 workings of our Constitu-I
tin. There have been some,
'ndn-secrets' which did not need
to-he secret; I have undertaken.
a 'program of bringing theses
into ti : open. But. I think that!
responsible Americans realizel
that our country must protect
some 'Good secrets'."
The effort was prompted in'
large part by publication of
"The C.I.A. and the Cult of 'In-
telligence," of which the main
author was Victor Marchetti, a
former agency employe. The
C.I.A. sought to obtain a court;
injunction enforcing 225 dele
tions of classified secrets, but'
had to settle for 27 deletions..
Mr. Colby indicated recently'
that he intended to continue his'
round of public appearances:
and his responsiveness to re-i
porters and members of Con-1
press. He and his aides haves
testified 28 times before 18;
congressional committees since?
he took office.
But in the midst of a con-'
troversy during the last week
over allegations that the C.I.A.,
had conducted large-scale -spy
in on American citizens within,
the country Mr. Colby has thu&
fat elected not to go on record.;
Approved For Release 2006/12/19: CIA-RDP88-01314R000300400033-3