Church probe off to an inauspicious start
By GORDON ATCHESON deftly avoided saying much of anything. ibility in the eyes of the American people and thus
WASHINGTON - The federal government is one To further obfuscate the matter, he refused to an- blunt its findings about the-CIA.
of the greatest places to hear double talk, gobbledy- swer reporters' questions concerning his announce- Thus far the two other probes of the agency's oper-
igook, and new-speak. Pick your favorite term ment. Church would not acknowledge if connections ations have not been distinguished by particularly
for it because in the end it's all the same anyway- between the plots and the White House, as distinct forward, candid methods.
incomprehensible, from the president, had been established or if some The Rockefeller Commission report, released last
Last week, a classic example of a government of- information not compelling enough to be considered week, has been labeled a whitewash in many re-
ficial flaping his gums but saying virtually nothing spects and the most crucial part of its material -
leaped onto the front pages of newspapers across the the evidence on assassination plots - has re-
country. mained secret.
"Thus far the committee has no evidence that would
directly link the CIA involvement in this kind of"Frankly, the public would be much
activity with the president of the United States at the better off if the committee findings
time under consideraion," Sen. Frank Church told an
eager group of reporters awaiting further develop- were released in their entirety rather
ments on the investigations of the intelligence com- r"than trickled out in undecipherable
munity, as those spies in the sky, behind bushes, and b n$
bits and pieces by Church.
s :<.
"When Church issued his most re-
cent statement on the investigation
into murder plots, he deftly avoided
saying much of anyhing. To further
obfuscate matters, he refused to an-
swer reporters' questions about t h e
announcement."
just about everywhere else have been euphemisti-
cally called.
Thank you, Mr. Church. That statement is about
as enlightening as a Zeiglerism.
CHURCH, OF COURSE, heads the Senate probe of
the CIA and the agency's activities which have in-
cluded surreptitiously reading other people's mail, giv-
ing LSD to human guinea pigs who were unaware
of synthetic additives in their food, and plotting the
assassination of certain foreign leaders.
Now most of these fun things are thought to be
illegal and that's why Church and others including
our unelected Vice President Nelson Rockefeller have
been trying to find out who's responsible.
But when Church issues his most recent state-
ment on the investigation into the murder plots he
Frank Church
"evidence" had been unearthed linking the chief
executive to the murder plans.
"I STATED IT accurately," Church said, ducking
the questions - or at least the answers. "I'm not
going to be drawn into that quagmire.
One wonders exactly what quagmire he was . refer-
ing to, probably the one he had just created with his
cryptic remark.
Frankly, the public would be much better off if the
committee findings were released in their entirety
rather than trickled out in undecipherable bits and
pieces by Church.
Such actions can only hurt the Senate panel's cred-
THE COMMISSION ITSELF was never considered
particularly unbiased - its eight members all assum-
ed that the CIA was a necessary part of the govern-
ment's foreign policy even before they began their
investigation.
And the House inquiry on the CIA has become snarl-
ed with internal problems since it was learned that
the chairman, Rep. Lucien 'Nedzi of Michigan, had
been briefed over a year ago on many aspects of
agency, activities but did not tell his fellow commit-
tee members about those contacts.
Nedzi is now in the middle of a power play in which
other committee members want him ousted while
the House leadership feels he should remain at the
helm. Whether Nedzi stays or goes, the group's re-
liability and forthrightness has been irreparably mar-
red and whatever its findings, they will probably be
ignored.
This leaves Church and his investigation. And the
senator must be careful to avoid undercutting his
panel's mission with ill-timed, unclear, and conceiv-
ably misleading public statements.
Gordon Atcheson is Co-editor in Chief of The
Daily and a summer intern for the K n i g h t
Newspapers Washington Bureau.
The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Thursday, June 19, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
SU PERHAWK
Packard: Ford's money man
SA
yet,
clar
chie
Pac
PE
t t 2969
Whole truth on Magic'
PE
IT IS TIME for the Ann Arbor Police Department to busi
come clean and report their version of what hap- core
pened and the names of their officers involved in a lys
month-old incident in which at least four city police
and county sheriffs allegedly brutalized six members of
rock and blues band, Blue Magic.
In sharp contrast to our local law enforcement
agency, the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Department fen
should be applauded for their fair and above-board
handling of the matter. cot
Sheriff Fred Postill conducted a thorough investi-
gation of the case which culminated in the firing of two Sil
deputies, Randy Evans and William Tommelein, for
"grossly and neligently" abusing members of Blue Magic bo
and their property.
Curiously, the two unidentified city police officers Lo
standing next to Tommelein and Evans while they al-
legedly committeed both verbal and physical atrocities .
against the band, are presumably innocent since Police Cou
Chief Walter Krasny has taken no public disciplinary was
action whatsoever against any officer involved in the H
Blue Magic incident. and
JJOWEVER, EVEN IF city police are innocent of ac- chie
tually taking part in the brutalization of the band, ofr
any officer witnessing victimization and not attempting W
to stop it is guilty of not only failing to do his job and -th
legal obligation, but of not meeting his responsibility as hol
a human being. nes
In a country supposedly gripped by a "post-Water- defe
gate morality" where even conservative types like Nel- sect
son Rockefeller no longer reflexively whitewash illegal ver
activities, it's disturbing to think that, -locally, the new plan
morality, hasn't reached the police force into whose out
hands we place our trust each day. the
By RICK JURGENS
AN FRANCISCO - The news isn't official
but President Ford - who hasn't yet de-
ed his candidacy - has already chosen his
f fundraiser for the 1976 election: David
kard, California electronics multimillionaire.
ackard-a Deputy Secretary of Defense from
to 1971 - confirmed to PNS he has been
:d to do the job but hasn't made up his
id.
ackard is a chief member of what Dun's
ness magazine referred to as the "very
of the business establishment." He recent-
stepped down as chairman of the Business
"As Deputy Secretary of De-
nse, Packard helped save the
ntroversial Safeguard (ABM) mis-
e system, defended - the B-i
mber and set up the bail-out of
ckheed Corporation."
ncil - a prestigious group whose influence
termed a "little short of awesome."
e is- also a member -of other local, national
international organizations of corporate
efs and has served on the boards of directors
numerous corporations.
'hile serving as Deputy Secretary of Defense
ie "most powerful number two man ever to
d that job in the Pentagon" according to Busi-
s Week - Packard put his job on the line to
end the multibillion dollar B-1 bomber pro-
t from efforts to trim its budget, helped ar-
ge the compromise that saved the contro-
sial Safeguard (ABM) missile program, and
yed an important role in setting up the bail-
(through government-guaranteed loans) of
financially troubled Lockheed Aircraft Cor-
David Packard
poration, the nation's second largest defense
contractor.
NOW, Packard and long-time business asso-
ciate William Hewlett earn 'over a million dol-
lars a year as heads of the electronics corpora-
tion they began in the 1930's - Hewlett-Pack-
ard. They operate in Germany, France, Scot-
land, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil.
Rick Jurgens is a former co-editor of
Pacific Basin Reports and a regular cor-
respondent for PNS. Copyright, Pacific
News Service, 1975.