Panel Foresees Trouble For Intelligence Agency

The gap between our nation's policymakers and our intelligence network is an important problem facing the American intelligence community, three experts told an audience of 200 last night in Boylston auditorium.

Two former Directors of the CIA, Arthur Schlesinger '50 and Richard Helms, were joined by former Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence William Miller, in the panel discussion called, "Critical Issues Confronting the American Intelligence System."

Harvard's involvement with the CIA has been under scrutiny since it was revealed that government professors Nadav Safran and Samuel P. Huntington gave the CIA censorship rights and agreed not to disclose CIA funding for work they did for the agency. Safran's and Huntington's involvement with the CIA has prompted reviews by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and President Derek C. Bok of Harvard's rules governing professors' relationships with the agency.

The two cases have also engendered discussion about whether professors should conduct research or consultwith the CIA if the agency continues to requirethem to submit to restrictions that many believeare unacceptable in academia.

Last night's panel discussion primarily focusedon national questions involving the CIA. All threeintelligence experts said that the refusal ofelected leaders to listen to the advice of theirintelligence system often leads to failure.

Recent debacles in American intelligenceresulted from "political prejudgements thatprecluded looking at the intelligence that hadbeen collected," Schlesinger said. "It's not thethings you don't know, it's the things you knowthat just ain't so that's the problem," he said.

Helms and Miller said a major problem facingthe CIA is the conflict between an open societyand the needs of the agency for secrecy.

"We have to find a balance between thenecessities of secret intelligence and maintainingan open, democratic society," Miller said.

Helms added, "How would a Russian intelligenceagent feel about his profession if he had toreport the next day to fifty congressionalstaffers?"

The three panelists agreed that the only way tofind a solution to this dilemma is, as Schlesingersaid, "to put your faith in the system to find away." However, Miller predicted that, as nationalsecurity interests grow, the CIA will violatepeople's civil rights more, by methods such aswiretapping.

Helms and Schlesinger also talked about theproblems of covert action. They agreed that covertoperations should take place only when there is adirect threat to the United States and itsinterests, and that these actions must remain"unconnected" to the President.

Although both supported the use of covertoperations, they criticized the ReaganAdministration for its handling of affairs inNicaragua and Afghanistan.

"The purpose of a covert operation isnecessarily limited because the U.S. does not wantto invest its prestige," Schlesinger said. "Butthe administration's exaggeration of theNicaraguan situation has undermined any rationalreason for the contra operation."

Helms pointed to the administration's decisionto supply Stinger anti-aircraft missiled to therebels in Afghanistan to emphasize that supposedlycovert operations were becoming overt.

"Stinger missiles are only found in one place,America," Helms said. Therefore, they directlyindicate the presence of the United States. "Thisis not a very satisfactory way to run therailroad," he said.

The panel members ended their formalpresentations by underlining the importance of theintelligence community. Although "many of theroles of the CIA today do not exactly followRobert's Rules of Order," said Miller, the adviceof the intelligence community "can lead to soundpolicy decisions."

During the question and answer period, Safranasked, "Can you tell us the profile of the type ofperson who ought to be in operations, and have youbeen getting them?"

Schlesinger listed several qualities crucialfor a CIA agent, including having an easy-goingpersonality, an ability to appeal to seniorofficials, and good instincts.

Responding to a follow-up question by Safranabout what member of the fictitious spy genrewould best fit the CIA mold, Schlesinger repiled,"The profile we are looking for is not JamesBond's.