WHY THE CIA IS UNDER FIRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100150027-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: December 11, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/22 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100150027-9
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
11 December 1978
President Carter complains
he's being hampered by
intelligence failures. Result:
a probable comeback for the
old-fashioned spy.
Why was the Central Intelligence
Agency caught by surprise by the cri-
sis now rocking Iran?
And: Why has U.S. intelligence.
failed to forewarn the White House-
of other critical political develop-
ments in recent months?
The President himself is demand
he is addressing his demand princi- CIA Director Stanfield Turner, Carter's Annapolis
1: 1 ate classmate is key figure in new controversy.
et
pally to an Annapo is c ass
? 6.11 cies. He assumed overall
na
whom he drafted to manage a
Lion's troubled intelligence services. technological spying, such as satellite responsibility for coordinating the
Adm. Stansfield Turner, Director reconnaissance. collection and analysis of foreign in-
of the Central Intelligence Agency, President Carter tended to lend telligence and also for managing the
has received a handwritten "Dear weight to this criticism at a Novem- budget for all intelligence activities.
Stan" note in which Carter says her 30 news conference with the as- When policymakers over the past
bluntly that "I am dissatisfied with sertion: "I have been concerned that year complained of serious shortcom-
the quality of political intelligence." the trend that was established 15 ings in the "product" that they were
The note also went to Secretary of years ago to get intelligence from getting from Turner's organization,
State Cyrus Vance and White House electronic means might have been critics say that he rebuffed the com-
National Security Adviser Zbigniew overemphasized" plaints with the argument that the
Brzezinski, who share responsibility Turner's preoccupation with run- President was satisfied.
for alerting the President to potential- ning a "clean" espionage agency-a. - At his news conference, Carter
crises overseas. - - pledge he gave to Congress-also is praised the work of the intelligence
Carter's complaint was triggered blamed for inhibiting the initiative of community but indicated clear dis-
by the CIA's optimistic assessments American spies. A former overseas satisfaction with Turner's perfor-
of the Iranian crisis. A mid-August operative says that senior officers are mance in political intelligence.
report by the agency concluded that loath to risk dismissal by exercising Turner's apologists say the CIA is
"Iran is not in a revolutionary or . too. much initiative or participating simply being made a scapegoat by
even prerevolutionary situation." in an unsuccessful operation. frustrated policymakers. Scapegoat
The President is disturbed by oth- The CIA has worked in Iran under or not, -the fact is that the White
er recent episodes. In one, the CIA exceptional handicaps House repeatedly has complained of
failed to alert him to an imminent There was an understanding with CIA failures since the early 1960s.
pro-Communist coup in Afghanistan: the Shah-a tacit one, if not explic- Long list President Kennedy pri-
nce officers and dip- vately blamed the CIA for disastrous
d
vance
In another, the CIA gave no a
warning of a large-scale Rhodesian
incursion into Zambia at a time when
Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith
was in Washington negotiating with
the Carter administration. -
Poor morale. One fundamental ex-
planation cited for the intelligence
failures that resulted in Carter's de-
mand for an in-house inquiry: The
CIA is suffering from the demoraliz-
ing effects of four years of scandals,
investigations and reorganizations.
The demoralization is especially
acute among operatives engaged in
clandestine activities overseas. These
operatives have taken the brunt of
lomats from the United States would . miscalculations that led to the Bay of
not contact dissident groups or en- Pigs fiasco. Former Secretary of State
gage in any independent intelli- Henry Kissinger treated the agency's
gence-gathering operations. - assessments with contempt. And for-
Washington, as a result, was largely mer President Nixon charged on
dependent on information provided French television on November 28
by the Shah's personal intelligence that the CIA for 11 years underesti-
service, Savak, which itself miscalcu- mated Russia's military buildup, lated the scope and nature of the Whatever the outcome of this lat-
upheaval that threatens sur- est inquest, a ranking Carter admire=
violent
vival of the monarchy. istration official says that this is clear.
Administration policymakers ex- The U.S. must revitalize.the role of
press dismay over the failure of CIA the old-fashioned spy, which has
analysts to question the erroneous in- been undermined by four years or.
formation they were receiving from ? scandal, organizational turmoil and
Teheran, especially given the fact preoccupation with technology.
the criticism and, despite his denials, that other intelligence organizations,
they fee - - ' - - r-- - -le --A ..r:. .-v I-.;- This annlu-eis ww u7itten Inj Asso-
Approved For Release 2007/06/22: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100150027-9
vulnerable position. He
conducted a bruising but
unsuccessful battle to se- -
cure control over every
element of the American
intelligence community.
- Also, he introduced a
sweeping reform, ostensi-
bly to insure maximum ef-
ficiency in the collection
and analysis of informa-
tion by a half dozen agen-