THE CIA AI{D THE CULT OF IilTELLIGEilCE The CIA and the government have fought long and hard - and not always ethically - first to discourage the writing of this book and then to prevent its publication. They have managed through legal technicalities and by raising the specter of "national security" violations, to achieve an uriprecedented abridgement of my constitutional right to free speech. They have secured an unwarranted and outrageous permanenl injunction against me, requiring that anything I write or say, "factual, fictional or otherwise," on the subject of intelligence must first be censored by the ClA. Under risk of criminal contempt of court, I can speak only at my own peril and must allow the CIA thirty days to review, and excise, my writings - prior to submitting them to a publisher fol consideration. ln the fall of 1972, obviously disturbed by the legal action the government had taken against the book he intended to write but which he had not yet started, he felt he needed someone to assist him in his work; Best of all would be a co-author with the background to make a substantive contribution as well as to help in the actual'writing. This book is the result of our joint effort. Victor Marchetti and John D, Marks Copyright €) 1974 by Victor Marchettland John D. Marks AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, First published in Great Britain 1974 by Jonathan Cape Limited Coronet Edition 1976 AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE. John, YWi32 (inscribed on the marble wall of the main lobby at ClAheadquarters, Langley, Virginia) This book ls sold subiect to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which this is published and without a similar condition including this condition being lmposed on the subsequent purchaser. Printed and bound ln Great Britain lor Coronet Books, Hodder and Stoughton, London By C. Nicholls & Company Ltd, The Philips Park Press, Manchester Ml1 4AU lsBN 0 340 20823 0 t I Publisher's Note By federal court order, the authors were required to submit the manuscript of this book to theClAfor reviewprior to publication. Under the terms of the court ruling, the CIA ordered the deletion of 339 passages of varying length. Later, following demands to the CIA by legal counsel for the authors - and the commence- ment of litigation by the publisher and the authors against the CIA challenging the censorship involved - all but 168 of these deletions were reinstated. An additional 140 passages, plus parts of two others, were cleared for publication by a federal judge, but because of con- tinuing appeals they are not available for inclusion. For a full account of these events, see the Introduction by Melvin L. Wulf, l*gal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which begins on page 19. As it presently exists, therefore, the manuscript of The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence demonstrates with remarkable clarity the actual workings of the CIA's "classification" system. In this edition, passages the CIA originally ordered excised - and then reluctantly permitted to be reinstated - are printed in boldface type. Firm deletions, including the 140-plus passages cleared but stlll tied up in litigation, are indicated by blank spaces preceded and followed by parentheses : (DELETED). Thespa@s correspond to the actual length of the cuts. i Authors' Prefaces My introduction to the intelligence business came during the early i' years of the Cold War, while serving with the U.S. Army in Ger- [ . many. There, in 1952,I was sent to the European Command's | "special" school at Oberammergau to study Russian and the rudi- ) ments of intelligence methods and techniques. Aftenvard I was assigned to duty on the East German border. The information we t, collected on the enemy's plans and activities was of little sig- ' nificance, but the duty was good, sometimes even exciting. We . believed that we were keeping the world free for democracy, that , w€ were in the first line of defense against the spread of com- munlsm. After leaving the military service, I returned to college at Penn State, wherel majored in Sovietstudies andhistory. Shortlybefore graduation,I was secretly recruited by the CIA, which I officially , joined in September 1955; the struggle between democracy and ,;;, corlrruoismCOfilflluruSm seemedSeemeG mgfemPIe importantrmpOrmnt tnanthan ever, the UIACIA wasWaS lnin :i the forefront of that vital international battle. I wanted to ,, contribute. ,, Except for one year with the Clandestine Services, spent largely r in training, most of my career with the CIA was devoted to analytical work. As a Soviet military specialist, I did research, I then current intelligence, and finally national estimates - at the i time, the highest form of intelligence production. I was at one i point the CIA's - and probably the U.S. goverrment's - leading i expert on Soviet military aid to the countries of the Third World. : I was involved in uncovering Moscow's furtive efforts that culminaled in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and, later, in i unravelingtheenigma of the "soviet ABM problem." From 1966 to 1969I served as a staffofficer in the Office of the i Director of the Ch, where I" held such positions as special . 12 TIIE crA AND tHE cuLT oF TNTELLTcENcE Authors'Prefaces . 13 assistant to the chief of Planning, Programming, and Budgeting, intelligencg system. Realizing that the CiA and the intelligence special assistant to the Executive Director, and executive assistant community are incapable of reforming themselves, and that to the Deputy Director. It was during these years that I came to Presidents, who see the system as a private asset, have no desire see how the highly compartmentalized organization performed to change it in any basic way, I hoped to win support for a as a whole, and what its full role in the u.s. intelrigence communi- comprehensive review in Congress. I soon learned, however, ty was. The view from the office of the Director was both enlight- that those members of Congress who possessed the power to ening and discouraging. The cIA did not, as advertised to the :institute reforms had no interest in doing so. The others either public and the congress, function primarily as a central clearing- lacked the wherewithal to accomplish any significant changes or house and producer of national intelligence for the government. were apathetic. I therefore decided to write a book - this book - Its basic mission was that of clandestine operations, particularly expressing my views on the CIA and explaining the reasons why covert action - the secret intervention in the internal affairs of I believe the time has come for the U.S. intelligence community other nations. Nor was the Director of CIA a dominant - or to be reviewed and reformed. much interested - figure in the direction and management of the The CIA and the government have fought long and hard - and intelligencecommunity which he supposedly headed. Rather, his not always ethically - first to discourage the writing of this book chiefconcern,like that of most of his predecessors and the agency's and then to prevent its publication. They have managed, through current Director, was in overseeing the CIA's clandestine legal technicalities and by raising the specter of "national security" activities. violations, to achieve an unprecedented abridgement of my consti- Disenchanted and disagreeing with many of the agency's tutional right to free speech. They have secured an unwarranted policies and practices, and, for that matler, with those of the and outrageots permanent injunction against me, requiring that intelligence community and the U.S. government, I resigned anything I write or say, "factual, fictional or otherwise," on the from the CIA in late 1969. But having been thoroughly indoctrin- subject of intelligence must first be censored by the CIA. Under ated with the theology of "national security" for so many years, risk of criminal contempt of court, I can speak only at my own I was unable at first to speak out publicly. And, I must admit, I peril and must allow the CIA thirty days to review, and excise, was still imbued with the mystique of the agency and the intelli, my writings - prior to submitting them to a publisher for con- gence business in general, even retaining a certain affection for sideration. both. I therefore sought to put forth my thoughts - perhaps more It has been said that among the dangers faced by a democratic accurately, oy feelings - in fictional form. I wrote a novel, society in fighting totalitarian systems, such as fascism and com- The Rope-Dancer, in which I tried to describe for the reader munism, is that the democratic government runs the risk of what life was actually like in a secret agency such as the CIA, imitating its enemies'methods and, thereby, destroying the very and what the differences were between myth and reality in this democracy that it is seeking to defend. I cannot help wondering overly romanticized profession. if my government is more concerned with defending our demo- The publication bf 'the novel accomplished two things. It cnatic system or more intent upon imitating the methods of brought me in touch with numerous people outside the inbred, totalitarian regimes in order to maintain its already inordinate insulated world of intelligence who were concerned over the power over the American people. constantly increasing size and role of intelligence in our govern- VICTOR IUARCHETTI ment. And this, in turn, convinced me to work toward bringing Oakton, Yirginia about an opeo review and, I hoped, some reform in the U.S.