CIA complains to CBS on covert-action report

Frank C. Carlucci, deputy director of US central intelligence, has formally objected to a recent CBS Report titled "Return of the CIA" which accused the CIA of reviving the use of covert actions.

In a letter addressed to the new CBS president, Thomas H. Wyman (with a copy sent to the Christian Science Monitor), Mr. Carlucci accused the documentary of "selectively combining 25-year-old facts and footage with current interviews and innuendo . . . to convince the audience that covert action is virtually our only activity. [CBS] Correspondent [Ed] Bradley says the return of covert action and the returns of the CIA are synonymous. This is a distortion which underestimates the intelligence of your audience and does a disservice to our many dedicated people who work in the collection and analysis area."

Monitor TV critic Arthur Unger points out, however, that Mr. Carlucci does not deny that the CIA is involved in covert actions