DCI BRIEFING OF DEFENSE SUBCOMMITTEE OF SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE - 19 NOVEMBER 1970

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73B00296R000100020028-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 25, 2006
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: November 23, 1970
• Content Type: MFR

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OLC 70-0831
23 November 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: DCI Briefing of Defense Subcommittee of Senate
Appropriations Committee - 19 November 1970
1. On 19 November the Director appeared before the Defense
Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The session
lasted from 1552 until 1805 hours. A technical sweep of the room,
5-126 in the Capitol, was conducted and the room was kept under
technical monitoring throughout. Discussions included No
material. Highlights of the session are summarized below.
transcript was taken.
2. Present from the Subcommittee for all or part of the
briefing were:
Allen J. Ellender (D., La.), Acting Chairman
John Stennis (D. , Miss.)
John O. Pastore (D. , R. I.)
Mike Mansfield (D. , Mont.)
Milton R. Young (R., N. Dak. )
Margaret Chase Smith (R., Me.)
Gordon Allott (R., Colo. )
Roman L. Hruska (R., Neb.)
Ex Officio Members present were:
Stuart Symington (D., Mo.)
Henry M. Jackson (D., Wash.)
Strom Thurmond (R., S. C-)
3. Present from the Subcommittee staff were:
William Woodruff, Counsel
Francis Hewitt, Assistant Clerk
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4.. Accompanying the Director were:
Lawrence K. White, Ex/Dir-Comet
George Carver, SAVA
1 --1
John M. Maury, Legislative Counsel
5. The Director's presentation included those portions of his
prepared briefing dated 19 November 1970 (on file in the Office of
Legislative Counsel) concerning the Middle East, Indochina, Chile,
Soviet Naval Activity in Cuba, and Communist Military Activity.
(He did not use the section on the Cuban political situation. )
6. During the discussion Senator Young asked
and the Director said they had been
informed of them in advance and had not reacted to them. In response
to another question by Senator Young, the Director said the Israelis
could destroy the Aswan Dam if they wished.
7. In response to Senator Ellender's question the Director
said we had good reason to believe the Soviets had continued to supply
missiles and related equipment for installationin the "standstill" zone
after the cease fire in Egypt. Speaking to another question, the
Director said the SA-3's in Egypt were still largely manned by Russian
crews.
8. Senator Ellender asked why the Russians continued to
supply SAMs to the Egyptians, and the Director speculated that they
wanted to protect their very substantial investment in the Middle East,
and couldn't afford to let their Arab allies go down the drain. Senator
Ellender observed that "this goes back to our refusal to help them with
the Aswan Dam. "
9. After hearing the Director's prepared remarks on Chile,
Senator Ellender asked whether, and how, the Soviets had assisted
the Chilean leftists. The Director mentioned financial and propaganda
support in particular. Senator Ellender asked whether we had not
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supported the other side in Chile to at least the same extent the
Russians had supported the leftists.
Senator Pastore asked whether the coup was
engineered by Moscow or was a popular reaction against the status
quo. The Director suggested it was partly both.
10. Senator Symington questioned the Director's statement
that Chile had been moving steadily toward the left--he wanted to
know whether "toward the left" meant more democratic or more
totalitarian. The Director said he was only trying to note the trend
toward more nationalization and governmental control. Senator
Symington said the trend toward more government control could
take place under both rightist and leftist governments, so that
shouldn't be the test of who we help.
11. Senator Pastore emphasized the danger that we might
fail to recognize truly popular revolutions and label them Communist-
inspired. The Director acknowledged this danger but pointed out the
U. S. had been trying to respond to legitimate popular aspirations by
promoting liberal reforms through democratic rather than totalitarian
means.
12. Regarding the Cienfuegos situation, Senator Jackson
asked about secret negotiations like those in 1962. The Director
said there were apparently no formal written agreements but there
were, in addition to public statements on both sides between Washington
and Moscow, normal confidential diplomatic exchanges.
13. Senator Jackson said he understood that as a result of
operations in Cienfuegos the Russians could, base their nuclear sub-
ma.rines there at any time. The Director said they could indeed, but
they still didn't have the facilities necessary for maintenance and
support- -equipment to remove and replace the missiles themselves,
or overhaul the reactors.
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16. Senator Thurmond came back to the question of whether
there was a "written agreement" between the Soviets and the U. S. on
Cuba and the Director said he was aware of no specific document, but
the State Department would be the final authority on this.
17. Following the Director's testimony on Indochina, Senator
Symington called me aside to ask me to bring to his office later a
copy of the chart on infiltration which was displayed on the viewgraph.
18. Senator Symington asked the Director what he meant by
saying we were trying to get down to "an advisory level" in Indochina.
The Director said he assumed this contemplated a sort of residual, non-
combat MAAG. Senator Symington asked how many air strikes we were
now conducting over Cambodia and Laos. The Director said he didn't
have the precise figures but there had been some cutback.
19. In response to a question by Senator Young, the Director
explained the former importance of Sihanoukville in Communist
logistics, noting that earlier estimates on this point had been
substantially too low. Senator Mansfield commented that since CIA
had not been operating in Cambodia they had been saved from responsi-
bility fo.r'what happened there.
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20. Follow up action:
a. Senator Symington's request to examine a copy
of the chart indicating infiltration rates in Vietnam. (This
was done on 23 November. 1970.)
JOHN M. MAURY
Legislative Counsel
Distribution:
1 - Subject (via DCI)
1 - DD CI
1 - Ex/Dir
1 - DDI
1 - SA VA
1-ER
,'`1 OLC Chrono
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