Evening star., 1946-07-10
Second OF Series OF Four Articles
BY CIorke Beech
Associated Press Sfoff Writer


Does the United States plan +,
network of undercover agent.
abroad?
How far is our Government abl,
and willing to go?
1t would be naive to expect direc
answers from the departments con
cerned, but certain facts and atti
tudes can be learned.
IF we are to have a spy system, /
is not going to be in the State De-
partment," says DR.. William L
LANCER. who Is in charge of tha
departments research and intelli
gence.
"Our people are not going to b,
doing any gumshoe work or duckini
around corners. Ambassadors ant
their staffs can't do dirty jobs lik'
that. 1t would compromise thei
position as diplomats"
Military Point Of View.
Intelligence officers in the Army
and Navy have the same point o.
view. Their representatives abroac
are chiefly military and naval at.
taches accredited to American
Embassies and Legations. If theil
activities offended the government.
with which they were working they
would have to be recalled.
Our naval attaches must ge
their information through legit.
innate means" says Commodore
Charles ]. Rend, acting chief o.
naval intelligence. War Depart.
ment intelligence officials feel tn.
same way.
The Central Intelligence Group
the overall intelligence agency
which Works directly under the new
National Intelligence Authority. ha.
no personnel abroad and very little
in Washington. 1t is still in the
organizing stage.
The State, War and Navy De.
partments, however, do have hun.
dreds Of civilian employees in intel
ligence. The departments say they
are mainly specialists, sucn as en-
gineerS, economists and sociologists
retained to make expert analyses
OF intelligence data and to provide
professional guidance to those re-
sponsible for plans and policies.
Little Undercover Work.
The truth seems to be that Uncle
Sam does little if any undercove1
work in foreign countries.
During the war, of course, the
Army, Navy and Office OF Strategic
Services (OSS) carried on extern
sive spying and sabotaging. Usually
they worked with resistance move
ments, such as those In Korea,
China. Burma, the Philippines, the
Southwest Pacific, Africa, YCgo-
slavia, France and the Netherlands.
But such activities have ended
When OSS was dissolved last fall
the State Department took over
its research branch, including about
500 historians, geographers, an
thropologists and other specialists
This is the unit which DR.. LANCER
Is organizing.
The wartime international sleuths
OF OSS. now designated the Strate-
gic Services Unit. have been trans
ferred to the War Department. They
have valuable files and highly
trained personnel, but the unit.
future is uncertain.
Some intelligence experts believ.
that a system of secret agents /.
necessary to supplement the work Of
the attaches, diplomats and ofricia
observers. But they foresee great
difhculty in establishing it.
American Tradition.
Americans are traditionally op-
posed to spying on other countrie.
with which they are at peace. And
nothing could be done without ap.
preparations from Congress.
II that meant explaining the
whole undercover program to several
congressional committees, nothing
secret could be accomplished.
One of1cer recalls that when large
appropriations were sought 70,
atomic bomb research, one commit.
teeman refused to approve the ex-
penditure until he knew just bow
the money would be spent. He hac
to be told a great deal OF the atomic
bomb secret before he could be per-
suaded.
The British seem to have managed
to make their secret service really
secret. One hardly sees it men,
toned in the British press, and the
British Emha sSv Sovs II dooep,t ayar