INTELLIGENCE: The CIA: Time to Come In From the Cold

Question: "Under what international law do we have a right to attempt to destabilize the constitutionally elected government of another country?"

Answer: "l am not going to pass judgment on whether it is permitted or authorized under international law. It is a recognized fact that historically as well as presently, such actions are taken in the best interest of the countries involved."

That blunt response by President Gerald Ford at his press conference last week was either remarkably careless or remarkably candid. It left the troubling impression, which the Administration afterward did nothing to dispel, that the U.S. feels...