TE
Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Wednesday, July 31, 1974
News Phone 764-0552
Committee bombs
YESTERDAY, THE HOUSE Judiciary Committee in ef-
fect sanctioned genocide, and in addition let the
exclusive power of war-making slip through its fingers.
The irony of condemning one of Nixon's domestic cover-
ups while condoning one of his foreign ones evidently
escaped that august body.
Honkeys and "strict constructionalists" of all stripes
heaved a corporate sigh of relief after carving out three
articles of impeachment, and evidently decided that
anybody who's got "Commander-in-Chief" on his letter-
head is entitled to obliterate uppity Indochinese at a
whim, while concealing the whole caper.
The committee members certainly said a lot of funny
things, and they voted against John Conyers's (D-Mich.)
proposal to impeach the president for the secret bombing
of Cambodia for some pretty funny reasons.
For instance: "Lots of presidents did it," "He did it
already, so we can't stop it now," "Lyndon Johnson start-
ed it," "We can't impeach Kenedy or Johnson for it, so
we can't get Nixon either," and "Besides, we were guilty,
too, and we can't impeach ourselves." Fascinating.
A SIDE FROM THE OBVIOUS inanity of the "everybody
else does it" ethical defence, these arguments raise
some interesting auestions: If, indeed, lots of presidents
have done it. documentation of when and how secret
wars were conducted and paid for would make very en-
tertaining reading.
A second angets-nn-the-hend-of-a-nin legal debate
that merits close consideation from the voting laity is
the "He nirodv did itWe have a new law that says he
can't do it" smokescreen. Since he "already" committed aj
clear breach of the Con-ittion it would seem appro-
priate to indict him for that breach. Not to these clowns.
And what -mnrantee exists that says he will obey .a new
law (which ineidentlv. includes a rider about impound-
ing funds that he doesn't like at all) when he has "al-
ready" clearly violated more than one old law?
Then comes the rationalization that Lyndon Johnson
was the sole author of the Vietnam War. Far be it from
me to defend Johnson's or Kennedy's conduct in Indo-
china. But in all that liberal breast-beating about Demo-
cratic presidents. one fact escaed notice: the foreign
policy of this country was first linked to a shakey dicta-
torial regime in Indochina on the advice of ,one shifty-
eyed junior legislator from southern California named
(one guess) Richard Nixon. If he inherited the Indochina
War, he was in part his own benefactor.
THE "CONGRESS WAS GUILTY, too, therefore Richard
Nixon isn't even indictable" argument is too byzan-
tine for me to rebut in such limited space. Suffice it to
say that Christian charity and enlightened self-interest
stretch itst so far. And how about some Christian charity
for the Indochinese?
The Michigan Daily Humor in Congress Edgar goes
to Renresentative Delbert Latta (R-Ohio) for his im-
passioned defense of His Presuhdint, to wit: "He fought
that secret war-and two or three Senators knew about
it-to save American lives. And besides that, we were
there at the invitation of The Cambodian government-
at least, they didn't comlain about it too much."
Another Latta thigh-slapper: "Anyhow, he had the
passive consent of, well, everybody." Except, of course,
the Cambodian and American people.
-MARNIE HEYN
Pa rdon our 'toon
I WOULD LIKE to clear up some misconceptions about
the cartoon that appeared yesterday in place of our
usual editorial It was not my intention to place the blame
for the recent tuition hike on the secretaries of the Uni-
versity. Rather, the intention was to point out to the
University - administration, staff, and students as well
-the great wastes that occur in this University. A better
solution to the University's money problems would be to
find some of this waste and eliminate it instead of con-
stantly raising tuition fees,
The Daily apologizes to all offended by the cartoon
and calls upon everyone-not just the administrators-
to eliminate this waste and suggest alternative ways of
Improving our financial situation.
-STEVE LeMIRE
Victor Marchetti:
A spy comes in from the cold
By GARY THOMAS
F SECRECY is the sacred vow smoug the high
priests of the U.S. government, then Victor
Marchetti has committed a mortal sin - he
'ung" to the public.
Short, rotund, and bespectacled, Marchetti looks
or all the world like an accountant. Yet he
was assistant to former (IA Director Richard
Helms and spent 14 years with the Central In-
telligence Agency. When he decided to write a
book about his former bosses, the agency had a
collective ulcer.
"They gave me a high powered song and dance
:'bolit 'freedom of speech','" Marchetti said,
"and then proceeded to delete 21-odd passages
from the book."
In an exclusive interview with the Daily, Mar-
.hetti talked about the subsequent court battle
over the book, titled "The CIA and the Cult of
Intelligence," and his years in the intelligence
community.
MARCHETTI AND HIS co-author, former Sts'e
Denartment intelligence analyst Jon Marks,
claimed the security oaths they signed upon leav-
ing their sensitive positions were not legally bind-
ing.
"We also fought them on the content of the
gook," Marchetti said. "The agency wanted to
delete some 200-odd passages from the book.
We said there was nothing in the book that would
harm 'national security.''"
Hut after much court wrangling, the agency
won a partial victory. The book was pub-
ishpd with large portions cut.
But the book still gives a fascinating portrait
of the agency and its worldwide operations. It
csnirms the fears of many of the agency's
critics - that it has become a power unto itself
wiht little or no oversight from Congress.
"The insidioes thing is a secret fraternity of the
political aristrocracy of this country who agree
with agency goals and the goals of intervention,
i-ified for all kinds of reasons," Marchetti said.
"They also agree to take whatever means are
necessirv to further those goals."
MARCHKTTI CHARGES that the agency is
more interested in covert action - carried out
by the CIA's Clandestine Services Division -
than it is in pure inteligence gathering.
"There is too much interest in that type of
oeration," he said. "It's wasteful and counter-
Prodiuctive - not to mention wrong."
Marchetti attributes much of the emphasis on
covert action within the agency to the rise of
former clandestine operators to top positions in
the CIA hierarchy. He cited former CIA directors
Allan Dulles and Richard Helms as examples.
"Helms, for instance, did not hit it off with
Kissinger and Nixon," Marchetti said. "Nobody
hit it off with Nixon. Within six months, the CIA
was in trouble with Kissinger and the rest of the
administration. But they still liked his covert
action. Kissinger wanted to take strong action in
Chile, for instance. And Ht-,ls coonerated with
the Plumbers and was interested in th Huston
domestic intelligence plan."
HELMS WAS sacked as director in 1973 and
appointed Ambassador to Iran - a move Mar-
chetti thinks may have taken place because
Helms refused to shoulder the entire blame for
Watergate. 'He (Helms) knew what a can of
worms that was," he said.
After an itterim period with James Schlesinger
"They gave me a high power- .
ed song and dance about
'freedom of speech, and then
proceeded to delete 200-odd
passages from the book."
as director, William Colby - another Clandestine
Services alumnus - was appointed to the post.
'Colby was the only guy they knew who to
appoint to the job," Marchetti said. "Kissinger
liked Colby, who is a loyal bureaucrat with a
commissar mentality. So he got the job, while
Helms was shipped off as Ambassador to Iran."
How has the Nixon administration shaped the
CIA to its own needs?
"It's a layer above the normal bureaucracy
in the Nixon-Kissinger era," said Marchetti. "Kis-
singer is an action-oriented loner. With the
paranoia of the administration, they liked to go
outside channels, as in the Plumbers Squad. The
CIA, with its clandestine mentality, fits their
needs perfectly."
MARCHETTI ADDED that the agency hs gone
to great lengths to portray itself primarily con-
cerned with gathering intelligence for policymak-
ers.
"But that's a goddamn lie," he said. "They are
really into the 'fun and games' of manipulating
the internal affairs of other notions. A lot of
the information that is gathered is useless. If it
is useful, it is used as a basis of covert action."
Another problem with the agency, Marchetti
said, is the lack of budgetary oversight. "There
is only one auditor each for the CIA, National Se-
curity Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and
the National Reconnaissance Office. And the
Agency always played games with them."
Marchetti expressed a great admiration for
former CIA Director John McCone, who took
over the post from Allan Dulles after he was
sacked by President Kennedy after the Bay of
Pigs fiasco.
"McCONE HAD a great respect for research
and analysis and its impact on policy making,"
he said. "He was quick to learn the value of
technical collection (of intelligence) and wasn't
fascinated by the clandestine side of the agency.
He used to get in fierce firefights with (former
Secretary of Defense Robert) McNamara, who
was one of the most overrated men in govern-
ment. But, of course, McCone still got involved
in covert action."
Marchetti has been pleased with the re'ctin of
the public to the book, which he attributed in
part to the Watergate scandal.
"I've been pushing this line (CIA reform)
since 1971," he said. "Response was good from
the informed, but not the general public. This
time around I've been amazed. People are really
spooked. They ask me way-out questions that
imply distrust of the government in general and
the CIA in particular. I think Watergate has edu-
cated them -about the massive power of the
agency."
MARCHETTI said he has another idea for a
book and hopes he will be allowed to publish. Ha
wants to continue being the spy who came in
from the cold to face the hot glare of the
public spotlight.