2007年VOA标准英语-CIA Releases 'Family Jewels'

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has declassified¹ hundreds of once-secret documents, detailing some of the agency's activities from the 1950s through the early 1970s. They include a plot to assassinate² Cuban President Fidel Castro. VOA's Robert Raffaele has the story.

The CIA released the documents on its website, in response to a 1992 Freedom of Information Act request.

CIA Director Michael Hayden called the documents a "glimpse of a very different time and a very different agency."

Besides the plot against Mr. Castro, the documents describe domestic spying, opening of private mail and the investigation³ of journalists.

Michael Gelter

CIA employees have nicknamed the documents "the family jewels."  They were compiled in 1973 by then-CIA director James Schlesinger as he sought details about whether and when the CIA might have overstepped its authority.

Many details became known in testimony⁴ before two Congressional committees and one presidential commission investigating alleged⁶ intelligence abuses.

Gary Thomas, Voice of America's National Security Correspondent, says, "I think what it came down to was, a lot of this came down from the White House, it came down from the federal agents that they wanted this stuff done. [U.S. Attorney General] Bobby Kennedy wanted Fidel Castro assassinated⁷."

Thomas says although the official release offers no stunning⁸ revelations, it may spark more debate about frustrations⁹ within the intelligence community. "These investigations¹⁰ of the time led to putting up barriers between the CIA and other agencies, on domestic law enforcement or intelligence cooperation. They [intelligence community] were afraid they would get caught on domestic surveillance.  And this issue has now come back to the fore⁵ because now they're saying, 'Well, those committees actually hurt our domestic surveillance efforts, which might have prevented the 9/11 attacks, had we had a more robust¹¹ domestic surveillance.'  And I think if there is one thing these documents will do, is it might reignite that debate."

Revelations in the 1970s about covert¹² CIA activities directly resulted in the creation of two congressional committees that oversee¹³ U.S. intelligence matters.