-Caveat Lector- repost of some comments by Ralph McGhee Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com http://www.Asheville-Computer.com/dave >From another news forum: CIA SEERS PROPHESIZE SOVIET DEMISE WASHINGTON - In a dramatic development, the CIA released newly-declassified...documents boasting that CIA analysts accurately predicted the fall of communism. The release of the records, formerly classified as "top secret", [are] now classified as... "clever propaganda"... Another post says: From: "Rudolf Kies, Ph.D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Posted for Dr. Macartney TV SERIES ON THE CIA. The 4 part series on intelligence which ran this week, Monday through Thursday, on the History Channel (on cable) will be RE-RUN back to back this Sunday, Nov 21, 3pm to 7pm, EST. http://www.historychannel.com/ontv/index.html John Macartney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The CIA's Soviet-Fall prediction is as obvious as it is false. The "Fall" came in a study by the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence -- not surprisingly it says the CIA got it right. But this is the role of the Center -- to retroactively "correct" the record. The Soviet-Demise study was produced some time ago and was thoroughly discredited at that time. If the CIA is ever to become an intelligence agency it must cease defending the failures of its past. Instead, it must examine honestly what went wrong, and how it should change. Defending the errors of the past will pollute the future. Bureaucrats apparently do not care, they are protecting their turf -- to them this seems their sacred mission. The CIA, via Tenet, proclaims over and over that it fights weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, narcotics traffic, etc. -- all extremely important goals. The CIA's major enemy, however, is its past. Examine what went wrong and why, and you might actually learn how to produce real intelligence. To do this -- you need an entirely new CIA -- one of analysts dedicated to accurate intelligence on those threats -- not operators and paramilitaries justifying themselves. So far under Tenet the CIA has created any number of major intelligence failures -- but we can assume the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence later will write "studies" showing how it got these right. The CIA works overtime defending and propagandizing the past via domestic press operations, Hollywood films, Television programs, and scholastic forums. I was bothered to see the very effective and honest Dr. Kies, moderator of CLOAKS, post a message for Dr. Macartney -- a member of the CIA's lobbying organization, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO). Dr. Macartney's post announced a TV documentary. CIA helped produce this series -- what does that say about its objectivity? As stated above the CIA will never, can never, develop the expertise Tenet so vehemently and frequently exhorts until it ceases defending, rather than honestly examining its past. Tenet and others deceive themselves and us to augment their future. Is this important? Is developing anti-terrorist, anti-WMD, and anti-narcotics abilities important? Or is it all smoke and mirrors? Ralph McGehee http://come.to/CIABASE --------------------- An Earlier Post: Media Operatons Attached herewith is information from an earlier post on CIA and the Media based on a CIA document released under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. This helps explain the media reality. Dissembling, Deception and Lies The Agency's domestic propaganda operations are continuous and massive although hidden from sight -- and I assumed, illegal. However, we have a document released under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that sets forth the operations of the Agency's Public Affairs Office (PAO). The below are partial quotes from that document. After quoted details from that document, further below is a brief examination of the CIA's clandestine use of the domestic media in the 50s' 60s' and into the seventies. It should be noted that the CIA ran massive media operations around the world to overturn other governments -- this subject is huge and also requires study. The best available example of this usage is contained in the Church Committee's report of the Agency's covert operation to overthrow the Allende government in Chile from 1963 - 1973. I posted extensive quotes from this document recently and they can be found at my web site. 20 December 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence (After a number of introductory remarks the document sets forth the programs of the Public Affairs Office (PAO). A. MEDIA 1) Current Program: a. PAO now has relationships with reporters from every major wire service, newspaper, news weekly, and television network in the nation. This has helped up turn some "intelligence failure" stories into "Intelligence success" stories...In many instances, we have persuaded reporters to postpone, change, hold, or even scrap stories .... b. PAO spokespersons build and maintain these professional relationships with reporters by responding to daily inquiries from them over the telephone (3369 in 1991), by providing unclassified background briefings to them at Headquarters (174 in 1991), and by arranging for them to interview the DCI, DDCI and other senior Agency officials (164 in 1991). c. PAO responds to numerous requests from authors, researchers, filmmakers, and others seeking information, guidance, or cooperation from the Agency...Some responses can be handled in a one-shot telephone call. Others, such as Life Magazine's proposed photo essay, BBC's six-part series, Ron Kessler's requests for information for his Agency book, and the need for an Agency focal point in the Rochester Institute of Technology controversy drew heavily on PAO resources. d. PAO has also reviewed some film scripts about the Agency, documentary and fictional, at the request of filmmakers seeking guidance on accuracy and authenticity (sic). In a few instances, we facilitated the filming of a few scenes on Agency premises. Responding positively to these requests in a limited way has provided PAO with the opportunity to help others depict the Agency and its activities accurately and without negative distortions.... e. PAO coordinates the preparation of detailed background materials, usually in Q&A format, on major news issues for the DCI and the DDCI for their appearances before media groups, world affairs councils, universities, and business and professional groups. PAO also prepares verbatim transcripts of their interviews with reporters and their appearances before media groups. 2) Recommendations: (This section generally calls for expanding public relations efforts.) B. ACADEMIA 1) Current Program a. The Agency has a wide range of contacts with academics through recruiting, professional societies, contractual arrangements and OTE. PAO has recently been designated the focal point for all information about CIA's relations with the academic community. As such, PAO is building a database of information about Agency contacts with academia-conferences and seminars, recruiting officers and scholars-in-residence, contracts, teaching--and serves as the clearinghouse of such information for Agency employees. b. PAO officers also speak to approximately 250 academic audiences a year. Subject areas vary, but the focus on the structure and functions of the CIA, its role in the intelligence community, the intelligence process, and congressional oversight. PAO has developed a speakers' package for Agency officers and retirees who speak in public, including an annually updated Q&A package to aid the speaker in answering a broad array of questions. c. PAO maintains a mailing list of 700 academicians who receive unclassified Agency publications four times a year.... d. PAO sponsors the DCI Program for Deans twice a year. This program seeks to expose administrators of academic institutions to senior Agency officials -- the DCI, the DDCI, and the DDs, and heads of independent offices -- and to give a sense of what the Agency does, how it operates, and how it fits in and relates to American society. C. GOVERNMENT 1. Current Program: a. The Agency has a broad range of contacts throughout government and provides product, briefings, and exchanges to both Executive and Legislative Branches. PAO is an active participant in briefing the military and other government agencies on the CIA, its mission and functions. This year PAO provided more than 70 briefings to groups from the National Security Agency, Foreign Service, Pentagon, Defense Intelligence College, and the United States Information Agency. A footnote to the government section said: (5.) Hill staffers rely heavily on OTA and CRS products. Moreover, active interaction with these congressional support organizations can provide invaluable insights into issues that key House and Senate Committees and individual members believe are important, as well as what legislation is under consideration ....Some hill staffers have suggested that CIA assign officers to act as liaison through OCA for relevant OTA projects, as the military services do. D. BUSINESS 1. Current Program: a. The Agency currently has three types of basic relationships with the US business sector. First, business is an important source of intelligence information via NR collection activities. Second, the US corporate sector is involved in the vast bulk of the Agency's contracting efforts. Finally, business receives selected briefings by Agency-talks on the counterintelligence challenge, counterterrorism and other presentations at business-oriented conference organized by groups such as SASA. Given the emphasis on economic security for the United States in the 90's, the business sector is looking to the potential contributions the Intelligence Community can make in this area. b. This year, PAO provided remarks and support for DCI and DDCI for some 40 appearances before outside audiences -- including a wide range of groups from the business, legal and civic communities.... c. PAO participates in providing briefings on the CIA to participants in AFCEA's biannual "Intelligence Community" course, attended by nearly 200 industry and government representatives. E. PRIVATE SECTOR 1. Current Program: A. PAO officers this year made presentations about the CIA to members of more than 60 civic and service clubs. Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs in particular have been recipients of this service. PAO took steps to establish a speakers' bureau last spring to increase the number of presentations that the Agency could provide. (End of document quotes) -------------------------------------------- In the fifties and the Sixties the CIA employed the entire range of media operations to deceive the American and Foreign audiences. The CIA, inter alia, published more than 1000 books under assumed guise as covered in the Church Committee's review of CIA operations. By far the most influential of the CIA disinformation operations is its own intelligence. The CIA is so effective at deception, dissembling and cover-up that it believes its own lies. THE CIA's MEDIA OPERATIONS OF AN EARLIER ERA "CIA ASSIGNED DOMESTIC POLITICAL ESPIONAGE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PRIORITY." Among executives who cooperated with the CIA were William Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Henry Luce of Time Inc., Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times, Barry Bingham Sr. of the Louisville Courier-Journal, and James Copley of the Copley News Services. Other organizations that cooperated with the CIA include the American Broadcasting company, the National Broadcasting Company, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Newsweek magazine, the Mutual Broadcasting System, Miami Herald and the old Saturday Evening Post and new York Herald-Tribune. By far the most valuable of these associations, have been with the New York Times, CBS and Time Inc. Joseph Alsop is one of more than 400 American journalists who in the past secretly carried out assignments for CIA. Some of these journalists' relationships with the Agency were tacit; some were explicit. There was cooperation, accommodation and overlap. Journalists provided a full range of clandestine services -- from simple intelligence-gathering to serving as go-betweens with spies in communist countries -- (Comment: to placing propaganda and repressing real information.) Reporters shared their notebooks with the CIA. Editors shared their staffs. Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters who considered themselves ambassadors without portfolio for their country. Most were less exalted: foreign correspondents who found that their association with CIA helped their work; stringers and freelancers who were as interested in the derring-do of the spy business as in filing articles; and, the smallest category, full-time CIA employees masquerading as journalists abroad. In many instances, CIA documents show, journalists were engaged to perform tasks for the CIA with the consent of the management's of America's leading news organizations. Use of journalists has been among the most productive means of intel-gathering. Although the agency has cut back sharply on the use of reporters since 1973, some journalists are still posted abroad. Investigation into the matter, CIA officials say, would inevitably reveal a series of embarrassing relationships in the 1950's and 1960's with some of the most powerful organizations and individuals in American journalism. "The CIA & the Media" from Rolling Stone, 10/20/77 Thomas H. Karamessines -- in 67 started an operation to handle the antiwar press via the new Special Operations Group (SOG) in the Counterintelligence section. Angleton appointed Dick Ober to coordinate SOG and expand his Ramparts magazine investigation to encompass the entire underground press -- some 500 newspapers. SOG designated MHCHAOS. CIA assigned domestic political espionage the highest level of priority. SOG ops grew to sixty field agents as well as other CIA compartments. Due to the large number of reports generated computers were used for the first time to handle the traffic. CIA coordinated efforts with army agents, the local police and the FBI. The FBI used its agents to create dissension within protest groups. Ober had relied on the CIA's Domestic Contract Service (DCS). Mackenzie, A. (1997). Secrets: The CIA's War at Home 26-41 Three agencies acted to disrupt the underground press, FBI, Army and CIA. Operations may have affected 150 of 500 underground publications. CIA was the first to disrupt Ramparts magazine. Via IRS the Agency reviewed tax returns, learned the names of backers and asked IRS to investigate backers for possible tax violations. Then went after advertisers. Columbia Journalism Review March/April 81. Ralph McGehee http://come.to/CIABASE DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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