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| CT
MORI DocID: 1451843
i fo Co ’ 5317 Briley Place :
i LC . To. . Washington, D. C. 20016
H : t : 10 January 1972
| | Mr, Lloyd Shearer . .- : .
. v Editor at Large : . :
BN Parade Magazine REE FORE
: *733 Third Avenue )
N New York, New York 10017
: Dear Mr, Shearer: ° : : . ’
= In your issue of January 9th, one of Walter Scott's Personality i .
i . Parade responses stated that CIA "uses political-assassination as a
! weapon" and that Operation Phoenix ''run by the CIA established a new
i high for U. S. political assassinations in Vietnam. " Since I have held
H . .° responsible positions in CIA for many years and was also (during de- .
tached service from CIA) responsible for U. S. support to Operation |
. “Phoenix, 1 believe I am uniquely qualified fo testify (as I have in public
| session under oath to Senate and House Committees) that:
[ . a. CIA does not and has not used political assassination as
J . a weapon.
' b. Operation Phoe ix was run not by the CIA but by the -
Government of Vietnam with the support of the CORDS element,
. of the U. S. Military Assistance Command coeved Vat Vote
iN YY ord han US ogemeion | : Bl
. c.. Operation Phoenix is not a program of assassination. . ‘
CE Members of the Viet Cong apparatus were killed in the course
: ~ of military operations or resisting police arrest. There is a
. . vast difference in kind, not merely degree, between these (even
including occasional -- and few -- abuses) and the Vict Cong's
. conscious campaign of terrorism referred to by Mr. Scott. .
In order to clarify this important question to the millions of con
cerned Americans who might be misled by Mr. Scott's column, I should
appreciate your publishing this letter. :
B - Sincerely, .
. R - Ed
i i ’ " W. E. Colby i
| 00682 .