In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

The Economy-Size War
State Department cover. The State Department would never have
approved his subsequent appearance on the other side of the lines,
in Silva Porto, so the CIA had lied to the working group about it.
This sort of deceit was common enough, but they had forgotten to
mention it to me. Unwittingly, I had nearly exposed the lie.
When I was done Frank Wisner, from the office of the undersecretary
of state for political affairs, fixed me with a stare and asked
bluntly what we hoped to accomplish in Angola. Although Frank
was a State Department foreign service officer, his father had been
CIA, rising to the position of chief of the Office of Policy Coordination
which, in 1950, was the original clandestine services. By coincidence
his father's picture hung the wall behind him, the resemblance
clear enough, the father's bald pate exaggerating Frank's own
premature acomia.
Wisner's question presented a good opportunity for me to relinquish
the floor.
"Well, Frank," I said. "Mr. Potts was addressing exactly that
question earlier today. If you don't mind, I would like to defer to
him." I turned to Potts, "Sir?"
Potts sat forward, pleased to regain control of the meeting.
He spoke in bureaucratese, "Our assessment is that we can provide
the wherewithal to prop up the FNLA and UNIT A so they can hold
against the MPLA at least until November eleventh. We can't really
project beyond that date, but if they do go into independence on an
equal footing we should have various options still open. Perhaps a
negotiated settlement could be reached. Perhaps the Soviets and the
MPLA will compromise when they see our determination."
It was as plausible an explanation of a no-win policy as would ever
be given.
An hour later the general nodded and looked at his watch. Others
stirred. It was well after twelve o'clock and Potts was hosting the
ambassadors at lunch in the executive dining room. He reached for
my arm and said, "John, do come with us." Such are the rewards
of a good team player in the CIA.
During September and October, the CIA, with remarkable support
from diverse U.S. government and military offices around the
world, mounted the controversial, economy-size war with singleminded
ruthlessness. The lumbering USAF C-141 jet transports con-