Mr. President:
Herewith the records in our minutes of meetings of the 303 Committee (and its
predecessor group, 5412 Committee) which refer to CIA connection with support for youth and student groups. The
first such reference is 25 February 1959; the last is 3 December 1964.2
Those present at the meetings are noted.
You should know that the basic work of the 303 Committee is to examine new
programs; although, in the period I have been here, I have asked for
reexamination of certain programs when current issues arose.
Attachment
Washington, February 14, 1967.
Chronology of Briefings of 303 Committee on Youth and
Student Activities
a. 25 February 1959 Minutes
“The DCI pointed out to the Group that
there are a number of Agency programs under way which began before the
approval of NSC 5412/2 and thus the
establishment of the Special Group.
[Page 543]
Members present were: Christian Herter,
Gordon Gray, Mr. Irwin,
Allen Dulles, Richard
Bissell
b. 4 March 1959 Minutes
“The DCI showed the Group the summary of
actions approved by it since its inception. Mr.
Dulles repeated what he had said at last week’s
meeting to the effect that this summary represents only the individual
actions taken by the Special Group and that some of them have since been
incorporated in continuing CIA
programs.” (We do have the summary referred to here; it does not include
[less than 1 line of source text not
declassified].)
Members present were: Christian Herter,
Gordon Gray, Mr. Irwin,
Allen Dulles
c. 14 February 1961 Minutes
“Mr. Dulles, assisted by Mr.
Bissell, then summarized for the benefit of the
new members of the Special Group the specific actions taken by the
predecessor group during the past year, and also a list of significant
projects which antedate the beginning of 1960 and which it is planned to
continue. (We do have the list mentioned; [less than 1
line of source text not declassified].)
Members present were: Messrs. McNamara, Gilpatric, Bowles, Bundy, Dulles, Gen. Cabell,
Bissell
d. 24 August 1961 Paper read by the Special Group
reviewing CA Operations
“Youth and Student Organizations. A program
designed to oppose the international communist fronts in the youth and
student field, the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of
Students (IUS). To this end, CIA supports and works through the
International Student Conference, Coordinating Secretariat of National
Unions of Students, U.S. National Student Association, World Assembly of
Youth, Young Adult Council, World University Service and the
International Union of Socialist Youth, to preserve youth movements from
communist leadership and to gain support of youth organizations from
communist leadership and to gain support of youth organizations and
potential political leaders for Western causes.”
Members present at 31 August 1961 meeting were:
General Taylor, Mr.
Johnson, Mr. Dulles,
General Lansdale
e. 12 December 1963 Minutes
“Mr. McCone stated that he
agreed, and in addition to the continuing reviews made inside CIA and with the State Department, he had
[Page 544]
reviewed all of the covert
action programs twice with higher authority. Mr. Alexis Johnson also affirmed that
constant reviewing was being done in the Department of State and that he
was satisfied with the importance and necessity of the covert action
activities currently undertaken by CIA.”
(We have the briefing outline used by the DDP on covert political action
and PM projects. Mr. Meyer covered “all other
covert action” but no outline is available. It is likely that he covered
Youth and Student activities.)
Members present were: Mr. Bundy, Mr.
Johnson, Mr. Gilpatric, and
Mr. McCone. Present from Bureau
of the Budget were Mr. Gordon, Mr.
Staats, Mr. Hansen and Mr.
Amory. Present from CIA were Mr. Helms,
Mr. Meyer, [2 names not
declassified]
f. 30 October 1964 Minutes4
[1 paragraph (15 lines of source text) not
declassified]
Members present were: Mr. Bundy, Ambassador Thompson, Mr. Vance, Mr. McCone and Mr. Meyer
g. 3 December 1964 Minutes
“World Youth Festival—The CIA paper entitled, ‘Program of Covert Counteraction
against the 9th World Youth Festival, Algiers, August 1965,’5 was approved promptly. Mr. McCone noted that the site of this
event would produce more difficulties than those encountered in the
relatively friendlier areas of Helsinki and Vienna. Mr. Bundy observed that he was personally
acquainted with the considerable educative impact on young Americans
participating in this type of confrontation with a Communist
organization, a useful by–product to an important effort.” (The paper
referred to does not detail the instruments available to CIA to carry out the covert action. It
implies the use of democratic youth and student organizations.)
Members present were: Mr. Bundy, Ambassador Thompson, Mr. McNaughton, and Mr. McCone
[Here follow paragraphs d. and e. of Document
134.]
