THEY'RE CALLING IT THE SUNDAY NIGHT MASSACRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010179-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 19, 2007
• Sequence Number: 179
• Publication Date: November 3, 1975
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010179-6
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3 November 1975
KISSINGER REMAINS STRONG MAN IN U.S. SECURITY APPARATUS AKEU'
By Jeremiah O'Leary
Washington star staff Writer - - j
171-esident Ford's decision to fire
Defense Secretary James R. Schles-?
finger and CIA Director William E.
Colby. while divesting Secretary of.
State Henry A. Kissinger of his White--
House job as head of the National Se-
curity Council, today is being called
the "Sunday Night. Massacre" be-
cause of its swiftness and the sweep
ir.g changes it triggers in the U.S.
security apparatus.
But the White House accn to get
rid of Schlesinger and Colby was for
uch more complex reasons than
former President Richard M. Nixon's
dismissal of the Justice Department
officials who refused to fire Water-
gate Special Prosecutor Archibald
Lox - the so-called Saturday Night. {
Massacre.:
= Colby's departure- from the CIA
has been expected :for a long time,..
while Schlesinger's ouster is rooted in his bitter confrontations with Kiss-
inger and key members of Congress
on both policy and political matters. 1
KISSINGER LOSES little in giving
up his other hat as NSC chief, since
he is e?xlieeted to be replaced by Air
Force Lt. Gen. BrentScowcroft, the I
NSC deputy chief and an unquestion-
ed Kissinger loyalist. While Kissing .;
er is not ..overjoyed.-at losing his
White House office and the extra ac-
cess it gives him - to Ford,'!
administration sources say the
elevation of Scowcroft leaves the:
secretary of state in an excellent
power position with the
President.
Persistent but uncon-
firmed reports . are that
Schlesinger will be re-.;
placed . by White House
Chief of Staff Donald
Rumsfeld. Well informed
sources say the houseclean-
ing at the top level of the
national security apparatus "..
will produce these changes:
o Schlesinger will leave
government and be re-
placed by Rumsfeld. '
? Colby also will leave and..
be replaced by . George
Bush, the U.S. representa-
tive to the Peoples Republic
of China. .-
? Kissinger, entrenched at
the State Department, will. I
be replaced at NSC by his
protege, Scowcroft......
? Rumsfeld will be re-
placed as White House chief
of staff by his deputy and
alter ego, Richard Cheney.
? Bush will be replaced in
Peking by Senate Minority-
who-reportedly does not in-
next November.
REPORTERS covering
Ford's all-day visit with
Egyptian. President Anwar
Sadat in Jacksonville, Fla.,
yesterday ran into. the
tightest lid of secrecy,of the
the small pool of reporters
in the rear of Air Force One
on the flight back to Wash-
ington, as he generally does
on presidential trips, and -
did not respond to-a- note
asking him to do so.
STAT
SCHLESINGER: -Anta t
gornised. George Mahot, D-
Te-x, - chairman 'of the: i
powerful House Appropria- ..A
tions Committee twa week
ago by denouncing h bleat t
terms a $9 billion deieue
budget cut. Mahon then de- 1A
clared that the $* billion
approved by the, House was
adequate for peacetime de
fense and gave fuel to. Sea-
ate liberals resisting con- J . "
servative efforts. to restore
the cats.
Schlesinger als antago- t
nised Kissinger by accusivi I
him of being too eag for
conclude a strategic arms =
Kissinger, normally the
most accessible of officials
during flights, turned aside
all inquiries about the
shakeup with quips. When
told by a reporter on the
President's plane that the
changes cried out. for
explanation, Kissinger
smiled and. said, "It's a
military coup. Don't be sur-
prised if we land at an Air
Force base." <
Earlier, Kissinger had
expressed ignorance of any
changes. But. he, too, 'later
adopted the' stonewall tac-
limitation treaty with the
Soviet union and of raisii ,
tics of giving no response to
questions.
BUT KISSINGER sup-
porters, who refused to be
quoted, argqed that the
secretary was not responsi-
ble for the firing of Schles-
inger. The implication,
however, is that Kissinger
had to give up his NSC foot-
hold in the White House as
part of the price for the
Schlesinger's removal.
Both men, strong-minded
intellectuals with healthy
egos, have made no secret
of their - disagreements,
while refusing to call their
dispute a feud.
Schlesinger . politicat'Y ex-
pendable with both liberal
and conservative, members,
of Congress, atthoug3 for
diffec~ent?as.on$..
COLBY: White hei is not.':
held responsible for illegal:
or reprehensible acts of the.:
CIA over the past 15 years,
Colby has been accused by
iberals? of disclosing tool
tie and by conservatives of
divulging too much abate::
the intelligence agency.
Colby - has seemed to,':
recognize that his da.ys.?
were numbered, and it has'
been widely assumed that
his resignation would come'
before the Senate, Select
Intelligence Committee
issues-its. report o ; assassi-
The rationale for each
change-in the security hier-
archy. based on known
facts and guarded com-
ments of administration
wide berth when they began- -'
trying to check the mount-
ing reports in mid-after-
noon. Press Secretary Ron-
ald Nessen was asked to
talk- about details of the
shakeup last night but said,
officials is as follows:..;
nation plots.
Approved For Release 2007/06/19: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100010179-6