◆ SpookStack

May 9 , 1961 p)&- i. r c . ' ' t * Ir ' -i ..e I c SUBJECT: Covert Operations Since its establishment I n February 195(., th5 Presi- dent I s Board of Ccnsultants on Foreign Intelligence Ac t i v l t i e s has reviewed on repeated occasions t h e policy set forth i n t h e NSC 5/Cl2 series the mechanism and procedures established t o Implement NSC 5412, the organization and management of NSC 5412 opera;tlons by CIA, and a number of the major programs (such as Indonesia and Cuba) i n i t i a t e d pursuant t o the NSC 5412 series. subject contained i n the files of t h e Pxesident's Board, as well as excerpts from oral and written reports made t o the Presl- dent by the Board, together with a swmary of t h e relevant infor- mation r e l a t i n g t o t h e actions taken by t h e President, t h e National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Aceilcy, on t h e basis of t h e reports and recommendations made t o the President by t h e Board. I There follow excerpts from pertinent rworts on t h e Following constitution of t h e Board i n i956, Panels, consisting of one, two o r three representatives of' the Board, were commissioned t o look Into and report t o the f u l l Board or. vario,us aspects of foreign intelligence a c t i v i t i e s arid of covert opera,tions. Coynel) undertook a review of foreign intelligence and covert a c t i v i t i e s i n France and Italy. Excsrpts from that Panel's re- - In June 1956, one such Panel (consisting of Kennedy and p o r t :to a t i o n s ) the Board ( t o t h e extent t h a t they deal with covert oper- eoiiow: "In France and I t a l y t h e vast majority of CIA'S personnel e f f o r t s and expenditures are devoted t o F covert p o l i t i c a l , psychological and propaganda opera- tions, whereas t h e expenditures for espf-onage and counterespionage are minimal. . . . N e i t h e r I t a l y nor France is being u t i l i z e d by C I A t o any substantial degree as bases f o r positive collection e f f o r t s beyond the boundaries of those countries. To t h e l i m i t e d JX- t e n t t h a t they are being so u t j l i z e d , tfie resulting intelligence return is meager. . e A t least 90% of C I A ' S e-rpenditures i n I t a l y and France are devoted t o covcrt p o l l t i c a l , psychological, and propaganda opera- t i o n s and these expenditures are q u i t s substantjal indeed (particularly i n Italy). For the most part these operations involve I I 1 These operations are HR70-14 APPROVED FOR DATE: FEB 2008 RELEASE