- The
Foreign and Military Intelligence, Book 1, "Final Report of the Select Committee
to Study Governmental operations with respect to Intelligence Activities."
United States Senate, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, Report No. 94-755, April 26,
1976, page 49 states: "This directive empowered the secretary of state to
coordinate overseas information activities designed to counter communism. A top
secret annex to NSC-4, NSC-4A, instructed the director of Central Intelligence
to undertake covert psycological activities in persuit of the aims set forth in
NSC-4. The initial authority given the CIA for covert operations under NSC-4A
did not establish formal procedures for either coordinating or approving these
operations. It simply directed the DCI to "undertake covert actions and ensure,
through liasion with State and Defense, that the resulting operations were consistent
with American policy."
- Later NSC-10/1 and NSC-10/2 were
to supersede NSC-4 and NSC-4A and expand the covert abilities even further. The
Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was chartered to carry out an expanded program
of covert activities. NSC-10/1 and NSC-10/2 validated illegal and extra-legal
practices and procedures as being agreeable to the national security leadership.
The reaction was swift. In the eyes of the intelligence community "no holds were
barred". Under NSC-10/1 an Executive Coordination Group, was established to review,
but not approve, covertproject proposals. The ECG was secretlt tasked to coordinate
the alien projects.NSC-10/1 and NSC-10/2 were interpreted to mean that no one
at the top wanted to know anything about it until it was over and successful.
- These actions established a buffer between the President and the information.
It was intended that this buffer serve as a means for the President to deny knowledge
if leaks divulged the true state of affairs. This buffer was used in later years
for the purpose of effectively isolating succeeding Presidents from any knowledge
of the alien presence other than what the Secret Government and the Intelligence
Community wanted them to know. NSC-10/2 established a study panel which met secretly
and was made up of the scientific minds of the day. The study panel was not called
MJ-12. Another secret memo NSC-10/5 further outl-ined the duties of the study
panel. These NSC memos and secret Executive Orders set the stage for the creation
of MJ-12 only four years later. Secretary of State James Forrestal began to object
to the secrecy. He was a very idealistic and religious man who belived that the
public should be told. When he began to talk to leaders of the opposition party
and leaders of the Congress about the alien problem he was asked to resign by
Truman. He expressed his fears to many people and rightfully belive that he was
being watched. This was interpreted by those who were ignorant of the facts as
paranoia. Forrestal later was said to have suffered a mental breakdown and was
admitted to the Bethesda Naval Hospital. In fact it was feared that Forrestal
would begin to talk again and had to be isolated and discredited. Sometime in
the early morning of May 22, 1949 agents of the CIA tied a sheet around his neck,
fastened the other end to a fixture in his room and threw James Forrestal out
of the window. The sheet tore and he plummeted to his death. He became one of
the first victims of the cover-up.
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