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125 
Cetttr/uL  intelligence  Agency 
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Distribution; 
Orig  -  Mr.  Belln    w/act  (ZRl^IFLE) 
1  -  OGC        wo/att 
1  -  IG  wo/att 
1  -  ER  wo/att 
1  -  Knoche  Chrono     wo/att 
i  -  Knoche  Comm  Corrcspdv 
*^f  -  Belin  Oral  Request  File 
w/aU 
Office  of  The  Directok 
25  April  1975 
'°/a  Mr.   David  W.   Belin 
Executive  Director 
Commission  on  CIA  Activities 
Within  the  United  States 
Dear  Mr.   Belin: 
In  last  week's  discussions  between  you 
and  Mr.   McCcne,  you  asked  for  a  compendium 
on  Project  ZRRIFLE. 
It  is  attached.  We  consider  the  paper  to 
be  especially  sensitive. 
Faithfully  yours, 
E.   II.-  Knoche 
Assistant  to  the  Director
ZRRIFLE 
The  "executive  action  capability"  that  the  Agency  was  asked  to 
develop  apparently  assumed  an  existing  cryptonym,  ZRRIFLE.  The  four 
ZRP.IFLE  files,  the  only  ones  we  have  been  able  to  locate,  deal  in  the 
main  v.ith  the  activities  of  a  clandestine  asset  in  Europe,  QJWIM,  who 
was  responsible  for  spotting  and  assessing  individuals  whom  the  Agency* 
could  use  According 
to  statements  made  to  the  Inspector  General  in  1967  by  a  senior  CIA 
officer,  who  was  the  Qiief  of     in  1961  and  later  became  intimately 
involved  in  the  "executive  action  capability,"  he  had  planned  to  use 
QJV.'IM  as  part  of  this  capability  but  never  did.  There  are  a  few  references 
•in  the  files  that  might  be  construed  as  a  connection  v.ith  this  activity, 
but  they  are  so  cryptic  that,  without  additional  information  it  would  be 
difficult  to  tie  them  together.  Otherwise,  the  files  deal  only  with 
assignments  for  QiivI.V  in  cable  traffic  and  dispatches,  administrative  and 
financial  records,  and  name  traces/personality  sketches. 
* 
There  is  no  evidence  in  the  files  to  refute  the  statemeot  of  tJJVr'IN's 
case  officer  that  he  had  never  been  used  as  part  of  the  "executive  action 
capability."  It  seems  quite  clear  from  the  files  th3t  QJl'.TN  was  primarily 
involved  in  spotting  and  assessing  foreigners  for  use  by  the  Agency. 
The  first  mention  of  the  ZRRIFLE  cryptonym  appears  in  a  24  May  1961 
memo  frcrn  the  Chief.      to  the  Cable  Secretariat  and  states  that  "two 
copies  of  all-  traffic  bearing  the  ZRRIFLE  indicator  are  to  be  delivered 
in  a  sealed  envelope  directly  to  Chief,     "  No  other  distribution  was 
to  be  made  without  his  specific  approval.  The  last  paragraph  states  that 
the  above  was  personally  approved  by  the  DDP. 
ii*. 
The  files  also  contain  a  handwritten,  undated  memo  stating  that 
'the  purpose  of  Project  ZRRIFLE  is  to  spot,  develop,  and  use  agent  assets 
for 
  QJKIN  is  under 
written  contract  as  a  principal  agent,  with  the  primary  task  of  spotting 
agent  candidates   " 
It  appears  that  the  Chief,     decided  to  conceal  the  "executive 
action  capability"  under  the  ZRRIFLE  cryptonpi  when  he  was  assigned  res- 
ponsibility for  developing  this  activity.  Further,  the  virtual  absence 
of  a:y  written  material  on  this  subject  suggests  that  activities  dealing 
with  the  "executive  action  capability"  were  not  intended  to  be  committed 
to  '..Tit  inc..