54. Letter From Director of Central Intelligence Smith to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Bradley)1
Dear General Bradley:
Herewith as discussed during our conference last Monday (see Annex 1)2 are estimates of the support which is or which may be needed by CIA from the Department of Defense in order to carry out projects which have already been approved or which it is possible may be approved within the near future in accordance with our estimate of present trends of policy. Our estimated requirements are listed under three categories as follow: those already requested under approved projects; those required for the support of approved projects, requests for which will be made within the next thirty days; those required for the support of projects which are still tentative or which are still in the discussion state.
These latter are largely guesswork but the guesswork is educated to the extent that it is based on past experience and on our estimate of future possibilities.
For cross reference, in Annex 2,3 we have indicated the requirements for covert operations by project, listing those which fall within the above three categories.
As I mentioned during Monday’s conference, the responsibilities which are being placed upon us under our Charter and under NSC directives, particularly in the field of planning and execution of guerrilla warfare activities, go beyond our current capabilities and indeed embrace operations of such magnitude that they threaten to absorb the resources of this Agency to a point which might be detrimental to its other responsibilities.
In order to bring these activities into proper focus a statement will be submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff within the next 60 days,4 giving CIA estimate of support required from the Department of Defense [Page 105] in order to meet our dual responsibilities in the field of operations and accordingly to enable it to:
- (1)
- complete the organization of a professional clandestine intelligence service, adequate to meet all peacetime requirements plus an estimate of expansion to meet conditions of general war;
- (2)
- conduct effective covert operations on a global basis under continued conditions of cold war and including guerrilla activities on the mainland of Asia and in Eastern Europe.
The above would require, in my opinion, detailed planning, guidance, and control, participated in by the three Armed services, the Department of State, and probably the Office of Defense Mobilization, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency. This Agency will be glad to participate in discussions directed toward the formation of a staff or syndicate competent to give such guidance and control.
Faithfully,
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Executive Registry, Job 80–B01731R, Box 10. Top Secret.↩
- Attached but not printed.↩
- Not found.↩
- Smith sent a follow-up letter to Bradley on May 4 stating that NSC consideration of his request for a determination of the appropriate scope and pace of CIA operations was pending. He was therefore withholding providing his overall requirements for Department of Defense support until the NSC had made its decision. (Central Intelligence Agency, Executive Registry, Job 95–G00278R, Box 1, Folder 9)↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩