In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

Footsoldiers of Foreign Policy
[6')1
demn outside interference and prevail on all parties, including the
Soviet Union and the Chinese, to work for a peaceful solution. President
Senghor of Senegal had just called for United Nations initiatives
to ha1t the fighting. We could respond. And we could establish fair
ties with all three movements and welcome the eventual winner into
the family of nations.
Later I took MacElhinney's arguments to Carl Bantam, unfortunately
catching him in a sour mood. He brushed them aside,
brusquely pointing out that we, CIA case officers, were the footsoldiers
of foreign policy, professionals, paid for our special action
capabilities. It was not our role to analyze policy, only to implement
it. And how was I coming on the memorandum about the airplane?
There was no time for reflection. Cables kept arriving, faster than
I could respond to them, and the front office maintained its clamoring
pressure. By 9:00 P.M. I was wrung out. Nearly everyone was
gone, a lone typewriter clattered far down the hall, an occasional
phone rang. I sat for a while, appreciating the quiet. Carl had gone
to a dinner with friends, leaving me a key to his place. All of the
cables that I could respond to were on their way. No more IMMEDI­
ATE cables could come to Africa Division because Registry was
closed. Those marked NIACT, for "night action," would go to the
twenty-four-hour DDO duty officer, who would call Jim Potts, discuss
the text with him over the telephone, and send out an answer.