Oversight of United States covert operations

At the beginning of the Cold War, it was not inevitable that covert operations would become the dominion of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=102–104}} The National Security Act of 1947 did not explicitly authorize the CIA to conduct covert operations, although Section 102(d)(5) was sufficiently vague to permit abuse.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA35 35]}}{{cite web|last=Houston|first=Lawrence R.|editor=Office of the Historian|editor-link=Office of the Historian|title=CIA Authority to Perform Propaganda and Commando Type Functions|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d241|website=history.state.gov|language=en|date=25 September 1947}} At the very first meetings of the NSC in late 1947, the perceived necessity to "stem the flow of communism" in Western Europe—particularly Italy—by overt and covert "psychological warfare" forced the issue.{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=102–104}} The actual responsibility for these operations was a hot potato, and when it was decided that the State Department would be in charge, Secretary of State George Marshall sharply opposed it, fearing it would tarnish the international credibility of his department. The upshot was that responsibility for covert operations was passed on to the CIA; this was codified in a NSC policy paper called NSC{{nbsp}}4-A,{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 4-A – National Security Council Directive to Director of Central Intelligence Hillenkoetter|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d257|website=history.state.gov}} approved in December 1947.{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=102–104}} NSC{{nbsp}}4-A provided the authorization for the intervention of the CIA in the Italian elections of April 1948.{{cite book|last=Mitrovich|first=Gregory|title=Undermining the Kremlin: America's Strategy to Subvert the Soviet Bloc, 1947–1956|date=2000|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=0801437113|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=w6TVdT-q7vcC&pg=PA17 17]}}

A draft{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 4-A – Draft Directive to Director of Central Intelligence Hillenkoetter|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d253|website=history.state.gov}} of NSC{{nbsp}}4-A envisioned the creation of a NSC-designated "panel" to approve operations. The executive secretary of the NSC, Sidney Souers, recommended that the panel be composed of representatives from the departments of State, Army, Navy and Air Force, as well an "observer" representative from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=Memorandum From the Executive Secretary (Souers) to the National Security Council|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d255|website=history.state.gov|date=16 December 1947}} This provision was dropped in the final version, which simply stated that the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) "is charged with ensuring that [covert] psychological operations are consistent with U.S. foreign policy and overt foreign information activities, and that appropriate agencies of the U.S. Government, ..., are kept informed of such operations which will directly affect them."

According to the Church Committee, throughout the period June 1948 to March 1955, "NSC directives provided for consultation with representatives of State and Defense". But "these representatives had no approval function. There was no formal procedure or committee to consider and approve projects."{{cite web|author=Church Committee|author-link=Church Committee|title=Final Report, Book I|date=26 April 1976|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd|page=[https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd#page/n59/mode/2up 49]}}

The arrangement in NSC{{nbsp}}4-A did not please the influential director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff (S/P), George F. Kennan.{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=108–109}} Under his leadership, a S/P paper titled "The inauguration of organized political warfare"{{cite web|title=The inauguration of organized political warfare.|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d269|website=history.state.gov|language=en|date=4 May 1948}} was circulated in the NSC in early May 1948, which said that "there are two major types of political warfare—one overt and the other covert. Both, from their basic nature, should be directed and coordinated by the Department of State." Yet Kennan wanted to have his cake and eat it too: the paper made it clear that the State Department should not be formally associated with the conduct of covert operations.{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=108–109}} Then the Joint Chiefs of Staff entered the fray by guarding its prerogatives, particularly in wartime, especially in theatres of war.{{sfn|Lilly|1951|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/THEDEVELOPMENTOFAMERICANPSYCHOLOGICALOPERATIONS1945-1951BYEDWARDPLILLYRDP86B00269R000900020001-9#page/n43/mode/2up 45–47]}} As a result of the controversy spurred by Kennan, NSC{{nbsp}}4-A was replaced by NSC{{nbsp}}10/2,{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 10/2 – National Security Council Directive on Office of Special Projects|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945-50Intel/d292|website=history.state.gov}} approved by President Harry Truman on 18 June 1948, creating the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). Kennan was still not satisfied and continued to press for State control, hoping that his choice for OPC director, Frank Wisner, would be loyal to the State Department—he was not.{{sfn|Corke|2006|pages=111–112}}

NSC{{nbsp}}10/2 was the first presidential document which specified a mechanism to approve and manage covert operations, and also the first in which the term "covert operations" was defined.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA40 40–41]}} NSC{{nbsp}}10/2 charged the DCI with "Ensuring, through designated representatives of the Secretary of State and of the Secretary of Defense, that covert operations are planned and conducted in a manner consistent with US foreign and military policies and with overt activities." The representatives to this "10/2 Panel", also known as the "OPC Consultants",{{sfn|Gustafson|2012|page=149}} were Kennan for State (1948–1950) and Joseph McNarney for Defense (1948–1949).{{sfn|Karalekas|1976|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/finalreportofsel04unit#page/34/mode/2up 34–35]}} The panel, which met about once a week, was supplanted from January 1950 on by the regular attendance of a representative from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.{{sfn|Lilly|1951|page=[https://archive.org/stream/THEDEVELOPMENTOFAMERICANPSYCHOLOGICALOPERATIONS1945-1951BYEDWARDPLILLYRDP86B00269R000900020001-9#page/n87/mode/2up 89]}} According to Anne Karalekas, a Church Committee staffer, it did not constrain the OPC:

{{Quote|[The 10/2 Panel was] not an approval body, and there was no formal mechanism whereby individual projects had to be brought before [it] for discussion. Because it was assumed that covert action would be exceptional, strict provisions for specific project authorization were not considered necessary. With minimal supervision from State and Defense and with a shared agreement on the nature of the OPC mission, individuals in OPC could take the initiative in conceiving and implementing projects.{{sfn|Karalekas|1976|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/finalreportofsel04unit#page/34/mode/2up 34–35]}}}}

In the first half of its existence, OPC was not really under CIA's control. In the words of Edward P. Lilly, DCI Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, "although authorized by NSC-10/2 to supervise OPC, had allowed OPC to go its own way." OPC was brought under CIA control in October 1950, when Walter Bedell Smith became DCI.{{sfn|Lilly|1951|page=[https://archive.org/stream/THEDEVELOPMENTOFAMERICANPSYCHOLOGICALOPERATIONS1945-1951BYEDWARDPLILLYRDP86B00269R000900020001-9#page/n89/mode/1up 90]}} OPC was merged on 1 August 1952 with the CIA branch responsible for espionage, the Office of Special Operations (OSO), to form the Directorate of Plans (DDP).

Truman swelled the bureaucracy on 4 April 1951 when he established the Psychological Strategy Board (PSB). DCI Smith, seeking more high-level policy guidance, wanted the PSB "to replace the 10/2 Panel as approval body";{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA81 81]}} this proposal was adopted by the NSC.{{sfn|Karalekas|1976|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/finalreportofsel04unit#page/34/mode/2up 34–35]}} NSC{{nbsp}}10/5{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 10/5 – SCOPE AND PACE OF COVERT OPERATIONS|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d90|website=history.state.gov}} tried to specify the purpose of the PSB. The 10/2{{nbsp}}Panel, which continued to function,{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Raymond B.|author-link=Raymond B. Allen|title=Procedure for Handling 10/5 Matters in PSB|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d104|website=history.state.gov|language=en|date=20 February 1952}} was replaced in February 1952 by an enlarged 10/5{{nbsp}}Panel, which also included PSB staff.{{cite web|first=C. Tracy|last=Barnes|author-link=Tracy Barnes|title=BRIEFING TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRATEGY BOARD ON SOME 10/5 PROBLEMS|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d108|website=history.state.gov|language=en|date=7 May 1952}} According to an internal CIA review from 1967, the 10/5{{nbsp}}Panel "functioned much as the 10/2 Panel had, but the resulting procedures proved cumbersome and potentially insecure."{{cite web|author=CIA|author-link=CIA|title=Secret appendix C to the Katzenbach Committee's report – COORDINATION AND POLICY APPROVAL OF COVERT OPERATIONS|date=23 February 1967|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v33/d263}}

According to John Prados, the CIA cut the PSB out of the loop, establishing instead an internal mechanism for approval of operations.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA80 80–82]}} In 1953, DCI Smith said that the PSB was "incompetent

and its work irrelevant".{{sfn|Gustafson|2012|page=155}}

"As the Truman administration ended", writes the Office of the Historian,

{{Quote|CIA was near the peak of its independence and authority in the field of covert action. Although CIA continued to seek and receive advice on specific projects from the NSC, the PSB, and the departmental representatives originally delegated to advise OPC, no group or officer outside of the DCI and the President himself had authority to order, approve, manage, or curtail operations.}}

The Eisenhower administration took office on 20 January 1953. When Eisenhower replaced the PSB with the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB) on 2 September 1953, he also did away with the 10/5{{nbsp}}Panel, reverting to "a smaller group identical to the former 10/2{{nbsp}}Panel, without OCB staff participation." On 15 March 1954, Eisenhower approved NSC{{nbsp}}5412,{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 5412 – NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON COVERT OPERATIONS|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d171|website=history.state.gov}} which required CIA to consult with OCB. Although Eisenhower would later congratulate the CIA with its success in deposing Guatemala's democratically elected President, Jacobo Árbenz, he was privately irked by CIA's unauthorized bombing of SS Springfjord. According to Prados, that incident "convinced Eisenhower of the need for more rigorous control over covert action".{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA148 148], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA121 121] (quoted)}}

The arrangement in NSC{{nbsp}}5412 suffered the same problem as the 10/5{{nbsp}}Panel; OCB "included more officials than ought to be concerned with secret war."{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA150 150]}} So on 12 March 1955, Eisenhower approved NSC{{nbsp}}5412/1,{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 5412/1 – Covert Operations|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d212|website=history.state.gov}} creating a more senior Planning Coordination Group (PCG) within OCB. Significantly, the directive explicitly charged PCG with approving covert operations.{{cite web|author=Church Committee|author-link=Church Committee|title=Final Report, Book I|date=26 April 1976|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd#page/n61/mode/2up 50–51]}} The PCG proved to be a failure; its chairman, Nelson Rockefeller, recommended the abolishment of PCG before year's end.{{cite web|last1=Rockefeller|first1=Nelson|authorlink1=Nelson Rockefeller|title=Report of the Planning Coordination Group|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d246|language=en|date=14 December 1955|work=Planning Coordinating Group}} According to Prados, the problem was that CIA had not been forthcoming with details, latching on to a mention of "need-to-know" in NSC{{nbsp}}5412/1. The next directive would solve this by creating a committee "so high-powered there could be no question" of its need to know.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA150 150]}}

NSC{{nbsp}}5412/2{{cite web|author=FRUS|author-link=Foreign Relations of the United States (book series)|title=NSC 5412/2 – Covert Operations|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950-55Intel/d250|website=history.state.gov}} was approved by Eisenhower on 28 December 1955, a directive which remained in force for 15 years. Paragraph 7 specified the new oversight mechanism:

{{Quote|Except as the President otherwise directs, designated representatives of the Secretary of State and of the Secretary of Defense of the rank of Assistant Secretary or above, and a representative of the President designated for this purpose, shall hereafter be advised in advance of major covert programs initiated by CIA under this policy or as otherwise directed, and shall be the normal channel for giving policy approval for such programs as well as for securing coordination of support therefor among the Departments of State and Defense and the CIA.}}

The resulting body became known as the 5412 Committee or, from 1957, the Special Group.{{sfn|Jackson|1973|page=[https://archive.org/stream/HistoryOfAllenWelshDullesAsCIADirectorVolumeIIICovertActivities#page/n165/mode/2up 162]}}{{refn|group=note|It had many similar designations. For example: Special Group 5412, 5412 Group and Special NSC 5412/2 Group.}} It was the first time a "designated representative" of the President was included in the process; Eisenhower used his National Security Advisors for this purpose.{{sfn|Jackson|1973|page=[https://archive.org/stream/HistoryOfAllenWelshDullesAsCIADirectorVolumeIIICovertActivities#page/n81/mode/2up 78]}} The DCI was an ex officio member.{{cite book|last1=Daugherty|first1=William|title=Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0813123348|page=[https://archive.org/details/executivesecrets00daug_0/page/136 136]|language=en}} In 1957, Eisenhower made the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a member as well.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA182 182]}} In practice the membership of the Special Group varied on an ad hoc basis.{{sfn|Karalekas|1976|page=[https://archive.org/stream/finalreportofsel04unit#page/50/mode/2up 51]}}{{cite web|title=Note on U.S. Covert Actions|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v12/actionsstatement|website=history.state.gov|language=en}}

In late 1956, the newly formed PBCFIA, which had turned a candid eye towards covert operations, took issue with the "very informal" procedures of the Special Group.{{cite web|work=Studies in Intelligence|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|date=Summer 1969|title=The President's Board: 1956–1960, Overseeing the intelligence community|first=Philip K.|last=Edwards|page=126|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp89b00980r000400120002-6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123195406/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp89b00980r000400120002-6|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2017}}{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA160 160–161]}} Consequently, an annexFor the text of the annex: {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/MemoonCovertOperationsbyJPatrickCoynecovops|title=Covert Operations|date=9 May 1961|first=J. Patrick|last=Coyne|work=President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board|pages=[https://archive.org/stream/MemoonCovertOperationsbyJPatrickCoynecovops#page/n13/mode/2up 14–15]}} to NSC{{nbsp}}5412/2 was approved by Eisenhower on 26 March 1957, clarifying project approvals, and for the first time requiring the CIA to circulate "proposal papers" in advance of approval.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA160 160–161]}} The board continued to press for more prominence to the Special Group to keep the CIA from freewheeling. Eisenhower himself saw the proper functioning of the Special Group as crucial to fend off initiatives for meaningful congressional oversight of covert operations.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA180 180–182]. For Eisenhower's views on congressional oversight, see pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA182 182], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA151 151–152]}} On 26 December 1958 Eisenhower asked the Special Group to institute weekly meetings,{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA182 182]}} with the result that "criteria for submission of projects to the Group were, in practice, considerably broadened."{{cite web|author=Church Committee|author-link=Church Committee|title=Final Report, Book I|date=26 April 1976|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd|page=[https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd#page/n63/mode/2up 52]}}

The Special Group fell by the wayside when new administration of John F. Kennedy took office on 20 January 1961; although it remained "in theory intact", in practice it "took a backseat to meetings at which JFK personally presided".{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA241 241]}}{{refn|group=note|Some sources actually claim the Special Group was disbanded at this time.{{cite book|last1=Daugherty|first1=William|title=Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0813123348|pages=[https://archive.org/details/executivesecrets00daug_0/page/151 151ff]|language=en}}{{cite journal|last1=Friedman|first1=Rebecca R.|title=Crisis Management at the Dead Center: The 1960-1961 Presidential Transition and the Bay of Pigs Fiasco|journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly|date=17 March 2011|volume=41|issue=2|page=324|doi=10.1111/j.1741-5705.2011.03856.x|issn=0360-4918}}}} After the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Special Group returned to prominence, and new procedures were set out in July 1961.{{sfn|Jackson|1973|page=[https://archive.org/stream/HistoryOfAllenWelshDullesAsCIADirectorVolumeIIICovertActivities#page/n83/mode/2up 81]}} In the wake of the scandal, DDP Richard M. Bissell Jr. suggested the name and workings of the Special Group be made public to demonstrate to the American people that the CIA was under effective executive oversight; that did not happen.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA241 375]}}

A second Special Group (Augmented) existed from November 1961 to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The only difference was that it was specifically dedicated to managing the Cuban Project which sought to overthrow Fidel Castro's regime, and was headed by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA286 286]}} After the Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of destruction, management of the war against Castro was transferred to discussions in the EXCOMM and NSC proper, before being handed over to an "obscure NSC appendage" known as the Standing Group chaired by National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA313 313]}}

The Special Group was renamed to the 303 Committee on 2 June 1964, in response to the publication of the book The Invisible Government by David Wise and Thomas B. Ross, which made the old name public.{{cite web|author=Church Committee|author-link=Church Committee|title=Final Report, Book I|date=26 April 1976|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd|page=[https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-UM4X5C4pdvn8FqLd#page/n63/mode/2up 53n19]}} A NSC staffer had recommended the new name be "something utterly drab and innocuous" to deflect away attention.{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Jessup|title=Proposed Name Change for Special Group (5412)|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v33/d203|date=19 May 1964|work=National Security Council}} The number refers to the national security directive which effected the change, NSAM{{nbsp}}303.{{cite web|title=NSAM 303|date=2 June 1964|website=discoverlbj.org|url=https://www.discoverlbj.org/item/nsf-nsam303}} Alternatively, the Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency by W. Thomas Smith Jr. claims the name derives from “a room number in the executive office complex in Washington D.C.”

In 1988, the LBJ Presidential Library declassified and released a document from the Liberty archive with the “Top Secret—Eyes Only” security caveat (Document #12C sanitized and released 21DEC88 under review case 86–199). This “Memorandum for the Record” dated April 10, 1967 reported a briefing of the “303 Committee” by General Ralph D. Steakley. According to the memo, General Steakley “briefed the committee on a sensitive DOD project known as FRONTLET 615,” which is identified in a handwritten note on the original memorandum as “submarine within U.A.R. waters.” Further Freedom of Information Act requests returned no information on any project called “FRONTLET 615.” https://www.wrmea.org/1997-june-july/anniversary-of-a-30-year-investigation-uss-liberty-periscope-photography-may-finally-reveal-truth.html It is alleged by some survivors of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty and their supporters that “FRONTLET 615” was the codename for either a false flag operation or U.S. naval surveillance of Egypt. https://www.wrmea.org/1997-june-july/anniversary-of-a-30-year-investigation-uss-liberty-periscope-photography-may-finally-reveal-truth.html {{cite web | url=https://thearabdailynews.com/2017/10/28/dod-says-truth-niger-important-uss-liberty/ | title=DOD says truth on Niger more important than USS Liberty | date=28 October 2017 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1997/06/05/survivors-of-uss-liberty-attack-have-uncovered-a-new-twist-to-know-what-is-right-and-not-do-it-is-the-worst-cowardice-according-to-confucius/ | title=Survivors of Uss Liberty Attack Have Uncovered a New Twist to Know What is Right and Not do It is the Worst Cowardice, According to Confucius | date=5 June 1997 }}{{cite web | url=https://americanfreepress.net/top-tier-treason-and-the-uss-liberty/ | title=Top-Tier Treason and the USS Liberty – American Free Press }} The submarines are believed to have been either the USS Amberjack or the USS Andrew Jackson, both of which were either assigned or deployed to the Mediterranean Sea during the time of the attack.

On 17 February 1970, President Richard Nixon approved NSDM{{nbsp}}40,{{cite web |title=National Security Decision Memoranda 40 |url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsdm-nixon/nsdm-40.pdf |website=fas.org}} superseding and revoking NSC{{nbsp}}5412/2, and replacing the 303 Committee with the 40 Committee. Among the few substantive changes introduced by Nixon was the inclusion of Attorney General John N. Mitchell and a requirement to review covert programs annually.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA385 385–387]}} Like earlier, public exposure was the motive for changing the name; National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger explained to Nixon that "In view of recent mention of the 303 Committee in the public media, the directive changes the committee name to coincide with the number assigned to the NSDM itself, which is 40."{{cite web|author=Henry Kissinger|author-link=Henry Kissinger|title=Responsibility for the Conduct, Supervision and Coordination of Covert Action Operations|date=16 February 1970|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/LOC-HAK-513-1-1-9.pdf#page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123214126/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/LOC-HAK-513-1-1-9.pdf#page=3|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2017}}

Nixon and Kissinger, who was charged with overseeing all covert operations on Nixon's behalf,{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA382 382]}}Smith, Jr., W. Thomas. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1Jc9wBsImOIC&pg=PA104 "40 Committee"]. Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2003. (p. 104) {{ISBN|9781438130187}}. kept the 40 Committee out of the loop on almost all the major and sensitive decisions, and the 40 Committee stopped having meetings; in 1972 it only met once.{{sfn|Prados|2006|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA385 385–387]}}

On February 18, 1976, 40 committee was replaced by the Operations Advisory Group, in accordance with Executive Order 11905 issued by Gerald Ford. The new group was composed of the President's Assistant for National Security Affairs, the Secretaries of State and Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of Central Intelligence.{{cite web|url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/39313.pdf|title=Proposals for Intelligence Reorganization, 1949–2004|publisher=United States Department of State}}

The following year, on May 13, 1977, President Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 11985 which updated the previous order, and renamed the Operations Advisory Group to the NSC Special Coordination Committee (SCC).{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-11985.htm|title=Executive Order 11985|date=May 13, 1977|publisher=Federation of American Scientists}}

Under the Reagan administration, the Special Coordination Committee was replaced by the National Security Planning Group (NSPG) which included the Vice-President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Assistant for National Security Affairs, and the Director of the CIA.{{cite journal|title=Covert Action and Accountability: Decision-Making for America's Secret Foreign Policy

|author=Loch K. Johnson|journal=International Studies Quarterly|date=March 1989|volume=33|issue=1|pages=81–109|doi=10.2307/2600495|jstor=2600495}} One level below the NSPG was the Policy Coordination Group (PCG), first known as the Crisis Pre-Planning Group (CPPG); one source describes the PCG as the actual successor to the Special Coordination Committee.{{sfn|Prados|2006|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3OCDelYICIsC&pg=PA496 496]}}

In 2002–2003, during the Bush Administration, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith created a special-purpose group encompassing and focusing on all military and intelligence efforts involving Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Near East countries, as well as all activities falling under the rubric of the Global War on Terror. This group has been said to have been responsible for stovepiping selective raw intelligence data, bypassing analysis processes as well as bypassing customary cooperation and coordination with NSA, Mossad, and other intelligence entities in order to shape decisions as to the war with Iraq. Its functions were morphed in the Office of Special Plans, which was subsequently investigated for manipulations of intelligence, unlawful activities, and espionage.{{cite web

|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/30/iraq.alqaida

|title=Al-Qaida and Iraq: how strong is the evidence?

|author=Julian Borger in Washington, Richard Norton-Taylor and Michael Howard

|work=The Guardian

|date=30 January 2003}}

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{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• {{cite book|last=Prados|first=John|author-link=John Prados|title=Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA|url=https://archive.org/details/safefordemocracy00prad|date=2006|publisher=Ivan R. Dee|isbn=9781615780112}}
• {{cite book|first=Anne|last=Karalekas|title=History of the Central Intelligence Agency|date=23 April 1976|work=Church Committee|url=https://archive.org/details/finalreportofsel04unit}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Corke|first1=Sarah-Jane|title=George Kennan and the Inauguration of Political Warfare|journal=Journal of Conflict Studies|date=1 May 2006|volume=26|issue=1|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/view/2171/2571|issn=1715-5673|pages=101–120}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Gustafson|first1=Kristian|title=Early stages in the evolution of covert action governance in the United States, 1951–1961|journal=Public Policy and Administration|date=13 September 2012|volume=28|issue=2|pages=144–160|doi=10.1177/0952076712456233|issn=0952-0767|doi-access=}}
• {{cite web|first=Edward P.|last=Lilly|author-link=Edward P. Lilly|title=The Development of American Psychological Operations, 1945–1951|date=19 December 1951|publisher=Psychological Strategy Board|url=https://archive.org/details/THEDEVELOPMENTOFAMERICANPSYCHOLOGICALOPERATIONS1945-1951BYEDWARDPLILLYRDP86B00269R000900020001-9}}
• {{cite web|title=Allen Welsh Dulles as Director of Central Intelligence, 26 February 1953–29 November 1961, Volume III – Covert Activities|first=Wayne G.|last=Jackson|date=1973|work=Historical Staff, Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfAllenWelshDullesAsCIADirectorVolumeIIICovertActivities}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsc-ike/index.html Eisenhower Administration National Security Documents] at Federation of American Scientists Intelligence Resource Program

Articles

• Kibbe, Jennifer D. [http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/fellows/kibbe20040808.htm "A Loophole for Covert Operations."] Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 8, 2004.
• Prouty, L. Fletcher. [https://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/40Comm.html "The Forty Committee."] Genesis, February 1975.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oversight Of United States Covert Operations}}

Category:Political history of the United States

Category:Classified documents

Category:United States intelligence operations