U.S. Nearly In War Through Faulty Intelligence

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22823, 18 December 1948, Page 5

U.S. Nearly In War Through Faulty Intelligence

(N.Z.P.A. —Reuter—Copyright.) (11 a.m.) NEW YORK, Dee. 16. The World Telegram, in a frontpage story from Washington, yesterday stated that faulty intelligence reports almost had the United States in a wai early last spring, but the mistake was caught in time.

The paper said the disclosure was made by the Hoover Commission’s committee of the national security organisation.

The World Telegram adds: “The committee, headed by Mr. Ferdinand Eberstadt, of New York, puts it less bluntly'. “It says it has evidence that a mistaken intelligence report prepared by one of the service 'in the spring of 1948 stimulated recommendations which, if followed, might well have had serious consequences,’ but that the central intelligence agency later 'correctly evaluated the available information in good time.’ “The committee said it ‘found disturbing inadequacies in our intelligence system.’ ” “Disturbing Inadequacies.”

The World Telegram says that the mistaken intelligence report was to the effect that an “immediate military move was afoot abroad rather than an intensification of the 'cold' war.”

The newspaper adds that an official source said that if President Truman had accepted this mistaken estimate of the situation he might well have asked for the almost complete mobilisation of the country. The New York Times says that the defence service which supplied the mistaken intelligence report was the American Air Force. The New_ York Times adds that the report indicated the Russians were preparing for military action last spring and the committee quoted this as an example of "disturbing inadequacies” in the United States intelligence system. Thinking Out of Date.

The committee’s own report, which was issued last night, does not mention the Air Force or the Russians in describing the incident and adds “fortunately, in this instance, the central intelligence agency and other intelligence groups correctly evaluated the available information in good time.”

The committee described the United States as a “huge, sprawling, wasteful land, whose thinking about war and peace is somewhat out of date.” “The national security organisation reflects these characteristics,” it added.

“There are deficiencies all along the line, including inadequate liaison between the nation’s military power and its foreign policy, unsatisfactory plans for mobilising the nation’s human and material resources and waste and inconsistency in the operations of the armed services.”