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.