NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke in television studio, CIA emblem on screen behind him, discusses the CIA actions under investigation. Duke discusses the assassination of Congo leader Patrice Lumumba, image of Lumumba on screen in BG. When the Congo gained its independence amid internal conflict in 1960, the U.S. discussed ways to eliminate Lumumba, later killed by his own people trying to establish a socialist regime. Duke discusses Dominican Republic leader Rafael Trujillo, image of Trujillo reviewing Navy in BG. The U.S. initially supported Trujillo, but when Fidel Castro took over Cuba the U.S. feared a similar revolt in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. supported a rebel group planning to kill Trujillo, who was killed by rebels in 1961. Duke discusses the U.S. encouraging opposition to South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Photo of Diem over Map of South Vietnam in BG. Due to lack of public support in South Vietnam, the U.S. did not believe Diem could effectively wage a war on North Vietnam. In 1963 President Diem and his brother were killed by revolting generals in Saigon.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke reviews the committee’s conclusions on U.S. involvement in the assassination of foreign leaders Patrice Lumumba, Rafael Trujillo, and Ngo Dinh Diem. Photo of Lumumba on screen behind Paul Duke. Rolling text on screen with narration, summary of the committee’s conclusions: “The committee found strong evidence for a plot to assassinate Lumumba. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s strong expression of concern for Lumumba was taken as authority to assassinate Lumumba by Allen Dulles (former Director of Central Intelligence). Instruments for the assassination of Lumumba were delivered to the Congo by the CIA. Evidence permits a reasonable inference that the plot to assassinate Lumumba was authorized by President Eisenhower... Trujillo was assassinated by an opposition group on May 30, 1961. Trujillo was a brutal dictator. Both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations encouraged the overthrow of his regime. Both administrations approved sending arms to the opposition, but no evidence proved that these weapons were used in the assassination. Although there is no evidence that the U.S. instigated an assassination, certain evidence links U.S. officials to assassination plans." Re: South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem: “Diem and his brother were assassinated during a coup by Vietnamese generals on Nov. 2, 1963. Evidence indicates that the U.S. government offered encouragement for a coup, but neither desired or was involved in the assassinations. The assassination of President Diem seems to be a spontaneous action of Vietnamese generals. The is no evidences to give an indication of direct or indirect involvement of the U.S. in Diem’s death.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Charles Mathias (R-MD) comments on the source of authority for assassination plots against foreign leaders, says, “One thing that was asked of every witness involved in these events was, what was the source of his authority? Who order it or authorized it? Without exception every witness stated that he was authorized. When you get to the top of the bureaucratic ladder, the only source of authority would be the White House. This is a very important finding of the committee. This is why I referred to the need for a statutory charter for the intelligence community. There has to be a system of accountability, which insures that the intelligence community works with national policy and leadership. Without that we will be in great trouble in the future.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Walter Huddleston (D-KY) comments on the conclusion of the committee’s report, says, “The conclusion from reading the report is that the CIA was divided by those on the upper and lower level. Both sides had different ideas about what certain things meant and no one inquired to whether they were on the same wave length. We asked a head of the CIA if it ever occurred to him to go to the President and ask if it was really meant that so and so should be assassinated. He said it never occurred to him to present that kind of a question to a chief executive. It seems to me that any person who believes he has an order to carry out on assassination would certainly want to know precisely what he is expected to do. Witnesses said they had the understanding that they were acting with the highest authority. He identified the highest authority as either being the President or the President’s chief adviser, certainly the White House. Yet, you can never pin down what those instructions were.”