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<xml><p>From the Illumi-Net BBS Decatur, GA
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Conspiracy Theory Conference 404-377-1141</p>
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<p>EX-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> OFFI<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>L SPEAKS OUT: An Interview with <ent type='PERSON'>Victor Marchetti</ent>
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By Greg Kaza</p>
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<p> This article is reprinted from Full Disclosure. Copyright (c) 1986
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Capitol Information Association. All rights reserved. <ent type='ORG'>Permission</ent> is hereby
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granted to reprint this article providing this message is included in its
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entirety. Full Disclosure, Box 8275, <ent type='GPE'>Ann Arbor</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Michigan</ent> 48107. $15/yr.</p>
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<p>Full Disclosure: I'd like to start out by talking about your well-known book,
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'The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the Cult</ent> of Intelligence.' What edition is that in today?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: The latest edition came out last summer. Its the <ent type='PERSON'>Laurel</ent> edition,
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<ent type='ORG'>Dell</ent> paperback.</p>
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<p>FD: Its gone through a couple of printings?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Yes. It was originally published by <ent type='ORG'>Alfred Knopf</ent> in hardback and
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by <ent type='ORG'>Dell</ent> in paperback. That was in 1974 with <ent type='ORG'>Knopf</ent> and 1975 with <ent type='ORG'>Dell</ent>. Then a
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few years later we got some more of the deletions back from the government,
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so <ent type='ORG'>Dell</ent> put out a second printing. That would have been about 1979. Then
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recently, during the summer of 1983, we got back a few more deletions and
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that's the current edition that is available in good bookstores (laughs) in
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<ent type='ORG'>Dell</ent> paperback, the <ent type='PERSON'>Laurel</ent> edition.</p>
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<p>Originally the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> asked for 340 deletions. We got about half of those back
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in negotiations prior to the trial. We later won the trial, they were
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supposed to give everything back but it was overturned at the appellate
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level. <ent type='ORG'>The Supreme Court</ent> did not hear the case, so the appellate decision
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stood. We got back 170 of those deletions in negotiations during the trial
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period. A few years later when the second paperback edition came out there
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were another 24 deletions given back. The last time, in 1983, when the the
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third edition of the paperback edition was published, there were another 35
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given back. So there are still 110 deletions in the book out of an original
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340.</p>
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<p>As for the trial, the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> sued in early 1972 to have the right to review and
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censor the book. They won that case. It was upheld at the appellate court in
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<ent type='GPE'>Richmond</ent> some months later, and again <ent type='ORG'>the Supreme Court</ent> did not hear the
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case. Two years later we sued the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> on the grounds that they had been
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arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable in making deletions and were in
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violation of the injunction they had won in 1972. We went before Judge <ent type='PERSON'>Albert</ent>
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V. <ent type='PERSON'>Bryan</ent> Jr., and in that case, he decided in our favor. <ent type='PERSON'>Bryan</ent> was the same
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fourth district judge in <ent type='GPE'>Alexandria</ent> who heard the original case. He said that
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there was nothing in the book that was harmful to national security or that
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was logically classifiable. <ent type='PERSON'>Bryan</ent> said the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was being capricious and
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arbitrary. They appealed, and a few months later down in <ent type='GPE'>Richmond</ent> the
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appellate court for the fourth district decided in the government's favor,
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and overturned Bryan's decision. Again, <ent type='ORG'>the Supreme Court</ent> did not hear the
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case. It chose not to hear it, and the appellate court's decision stood.</p>
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<p>By this time, we had grown weary of the legal process. The book was published
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with blank spaces except for those items that had been given back in
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negotiations. Those items were printed in bold face type to show the kind of
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stuff the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was trying to cut out. In all subsequent editions, the
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additional material is highlighted to show what it is they were trying to cut
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out.</p>
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<p>Of course the CIA's position is that only they know what is a secret. They
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don't make the national security argument because that is too untenable these
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days. They say that they have a right to classify anything that they want to,
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and only they know what is classifiable. They are establishing a precedent,
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and have established a precedent in this case that has been used subsequently
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against ex-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> people like <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Snepp</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>John Stockwell</ent> and others, and in
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particular against Ralph McGee. They've also used it against (laughing), its
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kind of ironic, two former <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> directors, one of whom was <ent type='PERSON'>William Colby</ent>.
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<ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent> was the guy behind my case when he was director. In fact, he was sued
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by the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and had to pay a fine of I think, about $30000 for putting
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something in that they wanted out about the <ent type='PERSON'>Glomar Explorer</ent>. He thought they
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were just being, as I would say, "arbitrary and capricious,'' so he put it
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in anyway, was sued, and had to pay a fine. Admiral <ent type='PERSON'>Stansfield Turner</ent> was
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another who, like <ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent> when he was director, was the great defender of
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keeping everything secret and only allowing the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> to reveal anything. When
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<ent type='PERSON'>Turner</ent> got around to writing his book he had the same problems with them and
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is very bitter about it and has said so. His book just recently came out and
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he's been on a lot of TV shows saying, "Hells bells, I was director and I
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know what is classified and what isn't but these guys are ridiculous,
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bureaucratic,'' and all of these accusations you hear. It is ironic because
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even the former directors of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> have been burned by the very precedents
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that they helped to establish.</p>
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<p>FD: What are the prospects for the remaining censored sections of your book
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eventually becoming declassified so that they are available to the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent>
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people?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: If I have a publisher, and am willing to go back at the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> every
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year or two years forcing a review, little by little, everything would come
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out eventually. I can't imagine anything they would delete. There might be a
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few items that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> would hold onto for principle's sake. Everything that
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is in that book, whether it was deleted or not, has leaked out in one way or
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another, has become known to the public in one form or another since then. So
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you know its really a big joke.</p>
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<p>FD: Looking back on it, what effect did the publication of the 'The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and
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<ent type='ORG'>the Cult</ent> of Intelligence' have on your life?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: It had a tremendous effect on my life. The book put me in a
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position where I would forever be persona non grata with the bureaucracy in
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the federal government, which means, that I cannot get a job anywhere, a job
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that is, specific to my background and talents. Particularly if the company
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has any form of government relationship, any kind of government contract.
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That stops the discussions right there. But even companies that are not
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directly allied with the government tend to be very skittish because I was so
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controversial and they just don't feel the need to get into this. I have had
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one job since leaving the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> other than writing, consulting and things like
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that, and that was with an independent courier company which did no business
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with the government, was privately owned, and really didn't care what the
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government thought. They ran their own business and they hired me as their
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friend. But every other job offered to me always evaporates, because even
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those individuals involved in hiring who say they want to hire me and think
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the government was wrong always finish saying, "Business is business. There
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are some people here who do not want to get involved in any controversial
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case.'' Through allies or former employees somebody always goes out of their
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way to make it difficult for me, so I never have any other choice but to
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continue to be a freelance writer, lecturer, consultant, etcetera, and even
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in that area I am frequently penalized because of who I worked for.</p>
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<p>FD: The government views you as a troublemaker or whistleblower?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: As a whistleblower, and, I guess, troublemaker. In the
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intelligence community, as one who violated the code.</p>
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<p>FD: The unspoken code?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Right. And this has been the fate of all those <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> whistleblowers.
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They've all had it hard. <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Snepp</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>Stockwell</ent>, McGee, and others, have all
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suffered the same fate. Whistleblowers in general, like <ent type='PERSON'>Fitzgerald</ent> in the
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Department of Defense, who exposed problems with the C-5A, overruns, have
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also suffered the same kind of fate. But since they were not dealing in the
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magical area of national security they have found that they have some leeway
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and have been able to, in many other cases, find some other jobs. In some
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cases the government was even forced to hire them back. Usually the
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government puts them in an office somewhere in a corner, pays them $50000 a
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year, and ignores them. Which drives them crazy of course, but thats the
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government's way of punishing anybody from the inside who exposes all of
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these problems to the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> public.</p>
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<p>FD: <ent type='PERSON'>Phillip Agee</ent> explains in his book the efforts of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> to undermine his
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writing of 'Inside The Company' both before and after publication. Have you
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run into similar problems with extralegal <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> harassment?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Yes. I was under surveillance. Letters were opened. I am sure our
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house was burglarized. General harassment of all sorts, and the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> has
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admitted to some of these things. One or two cases, because the Church
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Committee found out. For example, the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> admitted to working with the <ent type='ORG'>IRS</ent> to
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try and give me a bad time. <ent type='ORG'>The Church Committee</ent> exposed that and they had to
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drop it. They've admitted to certain other activities like the surveillance
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and such, but the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> will not release to me any documents under the Freedom
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of Information Act. They won't release it all -- any documents under <ent type='ORG'>FOIA</ent>,
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period.</p>
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<p>FD: About your time with the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: No, about my case. I only want the information on me after leaving
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the agency and they just refuse to do it. They've told me through friends
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"You can sue until you're blue in the face but you're not going to get
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this'' because they know exactly what would happen. It would be a terrible
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embarrassment to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> if all of the extralegal and illegal activities they
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took became public.</p>
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<p>The most interesting thing they did in my case was an attempt at entrapment,
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by putting people in my path in the hopes that I would deal with these
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people, who in at least one case turned out to be an undercover <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> operator
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who was, if I had dealt with him, it would have appeared that I was moving to
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deal with the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent>. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> did things of that nature. They had people
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come to me and offer to finance projects if I would go to <ent type='GPE'>France</ent>, live there,
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and write a book there without any censorship. <ent type='GPE'>Switzerland</ent> and <ent type='GPE'>Germany</ent> were
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also mentioned. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> used a variety of techniques of that sort. I turned
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down all of them because my theory is that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> should be exposed to a
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certain degree in the hope that <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> could conduct some investigation out
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of which would come some reform. I was playing the game at home and that is
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the way I was going to play. Play it by the rules, whatever handicap that
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meant. Which in the end was a tremendous handicap.</p>
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<p>But it did work out in the sense that my book did get published. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> drew
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a lot of attention to it through their attempts to prevent it from being
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written and their attempts at censorship, which simply increased the appetite
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of the public, media, and <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent>, to see what they were trying to hide and
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why. All of this was happening at a time when other events were occurring.
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Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers had come out about the same time I announced I was
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doing my book. Some big stories were broken by investigative journalists. All
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of these things together, my book was part of it, did lead ultimately to
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congressional investigations of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. I spent a lot of time behind the
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scenes on the <ent type='ORG'>Hill</ent> with senators and congressman lobbying for these
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investigations and they finally did come to pass.</p>
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<p>It took awhile. President <ent type='PERSON'>Ford</ent> tried to sweep everything under the rug by
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creating the <ent type='PERSON'>Rockefeller</ent> Commission, which admitted to a few <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> mistakes but
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swept everything under the rug. It didn't wash publicly. By this time, the
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public didn't buy the government's lying. So we ultimately did have the Pike
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Committee, which the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> did manage to sabotage. But the
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big one was <ent type='ORG'>the Church Committee</ent> in the Senate which conducted a pretty broad
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investigation and brought out a lot of information on the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. The result of
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that investigation was that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> did have to admit to a lot of wrongdoing
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and did have to make certain reforms. Not as much as I would have liked. I
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think everything has gone back to where it was and maybe even worse than what
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it was, but at least there was a temporary halt to the CIA's free reign of
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hiding behind secrecy and getting away with everything, up to and including
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murder. There were some changes and I think they were all for the better.</p>
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<p>FD: So instead of some of the more harsher critics of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> who would want
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to see it abolished you would want to reform it?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Yes. Its one of these things where you can't throw out the baby
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with the bathwater. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> does do some very good and valuable and
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worthwhile and legal things. Particularly in the collection of information
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throughout the world, and in the analysis of events around the world. All of
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this is a legitimate activity, and what the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was really intended to do in
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the beginning when they were set up. My main complaint is that over the years
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those legitimate activities have to a great extent been reduced in
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importance, and certain clandestine activities, particularly the covert
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action, have come to the fore. Covert action is essentially the intervention
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in the internal affairs of other governments in order to manipulate events,
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using everything from propaganda, disinformation, political action, economic
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action, all the way down to the really dirty stuff like para-military
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activity. This activity, there was too much of it. It was being done for the
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wrong reasons, and it was counterproductive. It was in this area where the
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<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was really violating U.S. law and the intent of the U.S. Constitution,
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and for that matter, I think, the wishes of <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> and the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> people.
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This was the area that needed to be thoroughly investigated and reformed. My
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suggestion was that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> should be split into two organizations. One, the
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good <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> so to speak, would collect and analyze information. The other part,
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in the dirty tricks business, would be very small and very tightly controlled
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by <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent>, and if possible, some kind of a public board
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so that it didn't get out of control.</p>
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<p>My theory is, and I've proved it over and over again along with other people,
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is that the basic reason for secrecy is not to keep the enemy from knowing
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what you're doing. He knows what you're doing because he's the target of it,
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and he's not stupid. The reason for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> to hide behind secrecy is to keep
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the public, and in particular the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> public, from knowing what they're
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doing. This is done so that the President can deny that we were responsible
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for sabotaging some place over in <ent type='GPE'>Lebanon</ent> where a lot of people were killed.
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So that the President can deny period. Here is a good example: President
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<ent type='PERSON'>Eisenhower</ent> denied we were involved in attempts to overthrow the <ent type='NORP'>Indonesian</ent>
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government in 1958 until the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> guys got caught and the <ent type='NORP'>Indonesian</ent>s produced
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them. He looked like a fool. So did the N.Y. Times and everybody else who
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believed him. That is the real reason for secrecy.</p>
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<p>There is a second reason for secrecy. That is that if the public doesn't know
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what you are doing you can lie to them because they don't know what the truth
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is. This is a very bad part of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> because this is where you get not only
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propaganda on the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> people but actually disinformation, which is to
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say lies and falsehoods, peddled to the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> public as the truth and
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which they accept as gospel. That's wrong. It's not only wrong, its a lie and
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it allows the government and those certain elements of the government that
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can hide behind secrecy to get away with things that nobody knows about. If
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you carefully analyze all of these issues that keep coming up in <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent>
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over the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, this is always what is at the heart of it: That the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> lied
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about it, or that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> misrepresented something, or <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> did
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it, because the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> work hand in glove. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> is not a
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power unto itself. It is an instrument of power. A tool. A very powerful tool
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which has an influence on whoever is manipulating it. But basically the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
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is controlled by <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent>, the inner circle of government, the inner
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circle of the establishment in general. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> is doing what these people
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want done so these people are appreciative and protective of them, and they
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in turn make suggestions or even go off on their own sometimes and operate
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deep cover for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. So it develops into a self-feeding circle.</p>
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<p>FD: Spreading disinformation is done through the newsmedia.</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Yes. Its done through the newsmedia. The fallacy is that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
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says the real reason they do this is to con the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s. Now I'll give you
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some examples. One was a fellow by the name of Colonel <ent type='PERSON'>Oleg Penkovsky</ent>.</p>
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<p>FD: <ent type='PERSON'>Penkovsky</ent> Papers?</p>
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Yes. I wrote about that in 'The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the Cult</ent> of Intelligence.
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The <ent type='PERSON'>Penkovsky</ent> Papers was a phony story. We wrote the book in the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. Now,
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who in the hell are we kidding? The <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s? Do we think for one minute that
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the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s, who among other things captured <ent type='PERSON'>Penkovsky</ent>, interrogated him, and
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executed him, do you think for one minute they believe he kept a diary like
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that? How could he have possibly have done it under the circumstances? The
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whole thing is ludicrous. So we're not fooling the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s. What we're doing
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is fooling the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> people and pumping up the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. The <ent type='NORP'>British</ent> are
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notorious for this kind of thing. They're always putting out phony
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autobiographies and biographies on their spies and their activities which are
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just outright lies. They're done really to maintain the myth of <ent type='NORP'>English</ent>
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secret intelligence so that they will continue to get money to continue to
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operate. Thats the real reason. The ostensible reason is that we were trying
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to confuse the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s. Well that's bullshit because they're not confused.</p>
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<p>One of the ones I think is really great is '<ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev Remembers</ent>.' If anybody
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in his right mind believes that <ent type='PERSON'>Nikita Khruschev</ent> sat down, and dictated his
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memoirs, and somebody -- <ent type='PERSON'>Strobe Talbot</ent> sneaked out of the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union with
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them they're crazy. That story is a lie. That book was a joint operation
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between the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent>. Both of them were doing it for the exact same
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reasons. They both wanted to influence their own publics. We did it our way
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by pretending that <ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent> had done all of this stuff and we had lucked out
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and somehow gotten a book out of it. The <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s did it because they could
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not in their system allow <ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent> to write his memoirs. Thats just against
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everything that the <ent type='NORP'>Communist</ent> system stands for. But they did need him to
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speak out on certain issues. <ent type='ORG'>Brezhnev</ent> particularly needed him to
|
|
short-circuit some of the initiatives of the right wing, the <ent type='NORP'>Stalinist</ent> wing
|
|
of the party. Of course the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent> was not going to allow the book to be
|
|
published in the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union. The stuff got out so that it could be
|
|
published by the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent>s. That doesn't mean that the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent> didn't let copies
|
|
slip into the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union and let it go all around. The <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent>s achieved
|
|
their purpose too.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>This is one of the most fantastic cases, I think, in intelligence history.
|
|
Two rival governments cooperated with each other on a secret operation to
|
|
dupe their respective publics. I always wanted to go into much greater length
|
|
on this but I just never got around to it. Suffice it to say that <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>
|
|
magazine threatened to cancel a two-page magazine article they were doing on
|
|
me and my book if I didn't cut a brief mention of this episode out of the
|
|
book.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>FD: How was this operation initially set up?</p>
|
|
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<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: I don't know all of the ins and outs of it. I imagine what
|
|
happened is that it probably started with somebody in the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Politburo</ent>
|
|
going to <ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent> and saying, "Hey, behind the scenes we're having lots of
|
|
trouble with the right-wing <ent type='NORP'>Stalinist</ent> types. They're giving <ent type='GPE'>Brehznev</ent> a bad
|
|
time and they're trying to undercut all of the changes you made and all of
|
|
the changes <ent type='GPE'>Brehznev</ent> has made and wants to make. Its pretty hard to deal with
|
|
it so we've got an idea. Since you're retired and living here in your dacha
|
|
why don't you just sit back and dictate your memoirs. And of course the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent>
|
|
will review them and make sure you don't say anything you shouldn't say and
|
|
so on and so forth. Then we will get in touch with our counterparts, and see
|
|
to it that this information gets out to the West, which will publish it, and
|
|
then it will get back to the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union in a variety of forms. It will get
|
|
back in summaries broadcast by <ent type='ORG'>the Voice</ent> of America and Radio Liberty, and
|
|
copies of the book will come back in, articles written about it will be
|
|
smuggled in, and this in turn will be a big influence on the intelligentsia
|
|
and the party leaders and it will undercut <ent type='PERSON'>Suslov</ent> and the right wingers.''
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent> said okay. The <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent> then went to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and explained things to
|
|
them and the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> said, Well that sounds good, we'll get some friends of ours
|
|
here, the <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent> magazine bureau in <ent type='GPE'>Moscow</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Jerry Schecter</ent> would later have a
|
|
job in <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> as a press officer. We'll get people like <ent type='PERSON'>Strobe</ent>
|
|
Talbot, who is working at the bureau there, we'll get these guys to act as
|
|
the go-betweens. They'll come and see you for the memoirs and everyone will
|
|
play dumb. You give them two suitcases full of tapes (laughs) or something
|
|
like that and let them get out of the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union. Which is exactly what
|
|
happened.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><ent type='PERSON'>Strobe</ent> brought all of this stuff back to <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent> and then <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>-LIFE began
|
|
to process it and put a book together. They wouldn't let anybody hear the
|
|
tapes, they didn't show anybody anything. A lot of people were very
|
|
suspicious. You know you can tell this to the public or anybody else who
|
|
doesn't have the least brains in their head about how the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union
|
|
operates and get away with it. But anybody who knows the least bit about the
|
|
<ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union knows the whole thing is impossible. A former <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> premier
|
|
cannot sit in his dacha and make these tapes and then give them to a U.S.
|
|
newspaperman and let him walk out of the country with them. That cannot be
|
|
done in a closed society, a police state, like the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The book was eventually published but before it was published there was
|
|
another little interesting affair. <ent type='PERSON'>Strobe Talbot</ent> went to <ent type='GPE'>Helsinki</ent> with the
|
|
manuscript, where he was met by the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent> who took it back to <ent type='GPE'>Leningrad</ent>, looked
|
|
at it, and then it was finally published by <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>-LIFE. None of that has ever
|
|
been explained in my book. A couple of other journalists have made references
|
|
to this episode but never went into it. It's an open secret in the press
|
|
corps here in <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent> and <ent type='GPE'>New York</ent>, but nobody ever wrote a real big story
|
|
for a lot of reasons, because I guess it's just the kind of story that it's
|
|
difficult for them to get their hooks into. I knew people who were then in
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> and State Department who were very suspicious of it because
|
|
they thought the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent>...</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>FD: Had duped <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>?</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: Exactly. Once they learned this was a deal they quieted down and
|
|
ceased their objections and complaints, and even alibied and lied afterwards
|
|
as part of the bigger game. <ent type='PERSON'>Victor Lewis</ent>, who was apparently instrumental in
|
|
all of these negotiations, later fit into one little footnote to this story
|
|
that I've often wondered about. <ent type='PERSON'>Lewis</ent> is (was)... After all of this happened
|
|
and when the little furor that existed here in official <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent> began
|
|
dying down, <ent type='PERSON'>Victor Lewis</ent> went to <ent type='GPE'>Tel Aviv</ent> for medical treatment. He came into
|
|
the country very quietly but somebody spotted him and grabbed him and said,
|
|
"What are you doing here in <ent type='GPE'>Israel</ent>?'' "Well I'm here for medical treatment,
|
|
'' <ent type='PERSON'>Lewis</ent> said. They said, "What?! You're here in <ent type='GPE'>Israel</ent> for medical
|
|
treatment?'' He said, "Yes.'' They said, "Well whats the problem?'' "I've
|
|
got lumbago, a back problem, and they can't fix it in the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union. but
|
|
there's a great <ent type='NORP'>Jewish</ent> doctor here I knew in the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union and I came to
|
|
see him.'' That sounds like the craziest story you ever wanted to hear. But
|
|
then another individual appeared in <ent type='GPE'>Israel</ent> at the same time and some reporter
|
|
spotted him. He happened to be <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Helms</ent>, then-director of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. He
|
|
asked <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent> what he was doing in <ent type='GPE'>Israel</ent>, and he had some kind of a lame
|
|
excuse which started people wondering whether this was the payoff. <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent>
|
|
acting for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>-LIFE, and the U.S. government, and <ent type='PERSON'>Lewis</ent> acting for
|
|
the <ent type='ORG'>KGB</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>Politburo</ent>, and the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> government. Its really a fascinating
|
|
story. I wrote about briefly in the book and it was very short. You'll find
|
|
it if you look through the book in the section we're talking about.
|
|
Publications and things like that. When I wrote those few paragraphs there
|
|
wasn't much further I could go, because there was a lot of speculation and
|
|
analysis.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Around the time my book came out, <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent> magazine decided that they would do a
|
|
two-page spread in their news section and give it a boost. Suddenly I started
|
|
getting calls from <ent type='PERSON'>Jerry Schecter</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Strobe Talbot</ent> about cutting that part
|
|
out. I said I would not cut it out unless they could look me in the eye and
|
|
say I was wrong. If it wasn't true I would take the book and cut the material
|
|
out. But neither of them chose to do that. Right before the article appeared
|
|
in <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent> I got a call from one of the editors telling me that some people
|
|
wanted to kill the article. I asked why and he said one of the reasons is
|
|
what you had to say about <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent> magazine being involved in the <ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent>
|
|
Remembers book. I asked him, "Thats it?'' I had talked to <ent type='PERSON'>Jerry</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Strobe</ent>
|
|
and this was their backstab. This editor asked me if I could find somebody
|
|
who could trump the people who were trying to have the article killed.
|
|
Somebody who could verify my credentials in telling the story. I said why
|
|
don't you call <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Helms</ent>, who by that time had been eased out of office
|
|
by <ent type='PERSON'>Kissinger</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Nixon</ent>, and was now an ambassador in <ent type='GPE'>Teheran</ent>. So this editor
|
|
called <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent> to verify my credentials (laughing) and <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent> said, "Yeah, he's
|
|
a good guy. He just got pissed off and wanted to change the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>.'' So the
|
|
article ran in <ent type='ORG'>TIME</ent>. I think you're one of the very few people I've explained
|
|
this story to in depth.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>FD: Did this operation have a name?</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: It probably did but I was already out of the agency and I don't
|
|
know what it was. But I do know it was a very sensitive activity and that
|
|
people very high up in <ent type='ORG'>the White House</ent> and State Department who you would
|
|
have thought would have been aware of it were not aware of it. But then
|
|
subsequently they were clearly taken into a room and talked to in discussions
|
|
and were no longer critics and doubters and in fact became defenders of it.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>FD: Let me make sure I am clear about the CIA's motivation...</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><ent type='PERSON'>Marchetti</ent>: The CIA's motivation was that here we have a former <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> premier
|
|
talking out about the events of his career and revealing some pretty
|
|
interesting things about his thinking and the thinking of others. All of
|
|
which shows that the <ent type='NORP'>Soviet</ent> Union is run by a very small little clique. A
|
|
very small <ent type='NORP'>Byzantine</ent>-like clique. There is a strong tendency to stick with
|
|
<ent type='NORP'>Stalinisn</ent> and turn to <ent type='NORP'>Stalinism</ent> but some of the cooler heads, the more
|
|
moderate types, are trying to make changes. Its good stuff from the CIA's
|
|
point of view and from the U.S. government's point of view. This is what
|
|
we're dealing with. This is our primary rival. Look at how they are. And
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Khruschev</ent> had to dictate these things in sec</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X</p>
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<p> Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)</p>
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Rat Head Ratsnatcher 510-524-3649
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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<ent type='PERSON'>realitycheck Poindexter Fortran</ent> 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited <ent type='PERSON'>Mick Freen</ent> 415-583-4102</p>
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