Faulty Intelligence Almost had America Involved in a War

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26958, 18 December 1948, Page 7

Faulty Intelligence Almost had America Involved in a War

New Zealand Press Association—Copyright

. Rec. 9.30 p.m. NEW YORK, Dec. 16. In a front page story from Washington, the New York World Telegram to-day stated that faulty intelligence reports almost had the United States in a war early last spring, but that the misake was caught in time. The paper said the disclosure was made to-day by the Hoover Commission’s Committee on national security organisation.

The World Telegram adds: “ The committee, headed by Mr Ferdinand Eberstadt, of New York, puts it less bluntly. It says that it has evidence that a mistaken intelligence report prepared by one of the services ‘ 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 ‘had found disturbing inadequacies in the United States intelligence system.’ ”

The World Telegram says 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 tfre situation he may well have asked for the almost complete mobilisation of the country. The New York Times says the defence service which supplied the mistaken intelligence report was tne American Air Force. The Times arMs that the report indicated that the Russians were preparing for military action last spring and the committee quoted this as an example of “disturbing inadequacies” in the United Stales intelligence system. The committee’s own report, which was issued to-night, does not mention the air force or the Russians in describing the incident. The committee described the United States as “ n huge sprawling wasteful land whose thinking about war and peace is somewhat out of date. The National Security Organisation reflects these characteristics. 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 operations of the armed services.”