From the New York Times, Mar. 21, 1996

[FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, MAR. 21, 1996]

Journalists Aren't the Only Risky C.I.A. Cover


Washington, March 19, 1996.
Re `No Press Card for Spies' (editorial, March 18).

To The Editor: Do you think it wrong if journalists are used as cover by the Central Intelligence Agency, but all right for others to have integrity and lives put in question?

Members of the clergy and Peace Corps volunteers were also singled out by the Council on Foreign Relations' Intelligence Task Force project director as potential candidates for C.I.A. cover, but you say nothing in their defense.

They and others--for example, human rights monitors and relief workers--work abroad in dangerous areas.

The mere suspicion of association with the C.I.A. will make them as vulnerable as journalists to arrest and questioning and, much worse, will call into question the integrity of the institutions they represent.

Not a few members of the Council on Foreign Relations, myself included, were deeply disturbed by the task force's proposal. Our concern was not just for its impact on journalists.
Roberta Cohen.

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