Office of the Historian

303. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Souers) to Acting Director of Central Intelligence Wright0

Washington, October 11, 1948.

SUBJECT

  • Amendment of Directive to the Director of Central Intelligence re NSC 29

REFERENCE

  • Memo for Executive Secretary, NSC, from Acting Director of Central Intelligence, same subject, dated October 8, 1948 (CIA 22896–a)1

In response to the reference memorandum, the main consideration mentioned in the NSC meeting which prompted the amendment of the [Page 727] original directive on this subject, was the fact that this directive placed an excessive burden on the recently organized Office of Special Projects which was not commensurate with the other more urgent and important projects for which this Office was created. The point was also made that the NSC 29 project was not necessarily an appropriate function of the Office of Special Projects, since many of the activities required by this project might be overt in nature.

The propriety of having the Council tell the Director of Central Intelligence which part of his organization he should use for a given project was discussed. In this connection it was pointed out that, whereas the intelligence organization of CIA was created by statute under the control of the Director of Central Intelligence, the Office of Special Projects, which is not truly an intelligence operation, was created by the NSC itself to operate independently of other components of CIA to the maximum degree consistent with efficiency. Incidentally, this independence of operation of the Office of Special Projects is also recognized more specifically in a “Memorandum of Conversation and Understanding” which the Director of Central Intelligence has initialled.2

The principle that CIA should be represented at NSC meetings when matters pertaining to CIA operations are discussed is recognized by the Council, as indicated by the attendance of the Director of Central Intelligence at all Council meetings when he is in Washington. No provision was made for such representation at the last meeting, since it was not anticipated that CIA operations would be on the agenda for that meeting.

Sidney W. Souers 3
  1. Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 273, Records of the National Security Council, OCB 10/2–10/5. Top Secret.↩
  2. Document 302.↩
  3. Document 298.↩
  4. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩