Covert Operations and Covert War

1988 Church of the Brethren Statement

The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference sees with alarm and deep concern the extensive use of covert operations and covert war by the United States government. The expanding, pervasive use of covert activities in recent years has made them primary instruments of our foreign policy. They have created both international and domestic crises; they are our national scandal, our world mine, our ethos cancer. The Annual Conference feels impelled to voice our conviction of the disaster in covert activities, to bear witness to our faith that affirms openness and integrity and reconciliation.

The growth in covert activities has come at a time of growing militarization of United States foreign policy, when development assistance is intermingled with military assistance. These activities are manifest primarily in “Third World” countries. Often the covert operations are targeted against “communism”; they are a form of anti-communism that seeks to “roll back” communism.

Definition

Covert operations are actions taken against an enemy, or perceived enemy, or intervention in a situation, planned and executed in secret, for which the government intends to deny responsibility. Covert operations are both military and non-military. They have involved assassination of foreign officials, overturning of governments, destruction of property and institutions, subversion of elections, disinformation campaigns, manipulation of foreign organizations—such as labor unions—illegal weapons sales, commerce in drugs, lying to Congress and the public. While this is a description of what has happened, the official description of what is intended, covered in National Security Council Directive 10/2, is quite similar:

Such operations shall include any covert activities related to: propaganda; economic warfare; preventive direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition, and evacuation measures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance movements, guerrillas, and refugee liberation groups and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the free world.

Covert operations, when extended in time and intensity, as in Central America, become covert war. General Jimmy Doolittle, in reviewing covert operations for President Eisenhower, said, “There are no rules in such a game. Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply . . . We must . . . learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies by more-clever . . . and more-effective methods than those used against us.”

Current law authorizes the President to conduct covert operations, with prior notice being given to the Intelligence Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, except that the President may wait until the operation has been launched, but then must inform Congress in “timely fashion.” The Congressional committees also review the annual budget of the Central Intelligence Agency, the agency most identified with covert operations.

Covert operations are as old as human history. But, in our nation, it has been fewer than fifty years that covert operations have been in place as a recognized, accepted, and institutionalized government function during both war and peace. This brief history begins with World War II intelligence operations of the Office of Strategic Services. That agency is the direct lineal ancestor of the Central Intelligence Agency. A part of the legacy inherited from the Office of Strategic Services was a fateful combination of secret intelligence and special operations in one organization.

Background

In 1947, at the recommendation of President Harry S Truman, a National Security Act became law. It established a National Security Council to advise the President on defense and foreign affairs. One provision of this law was the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Agency was given responsibility for intelligence gathering and reporting and making recommendations and “performing such other functions and duties related to the intelligence affecting the national security as the National Security Council may from time to time direct.” It is this last provision which is generally cited as the legal authority for the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct secret warfare. No mention of covert operations is made in this legislation and the legislative history of the Act is clear that Congress was not intending covert warfare. Years later, after the Cuban Bay of Pigs covert action, President Truman was reminded that he, as President, had established the Central Intelligence Agency. “I think it was a mistake,” he responded. “And if I’d known what was going to happen, I never would have done it.”

Covert warfare became institutionalized during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and has been utilized by every Administration since that time. It has not been challenged by either major political party; in fact, the 1980 Republican platform pledged “to improve U.S. intelligence capabilities for . . . covert action . . . .”

In the last 40 years, the United States has waged covert warfare around the world, but largely in Third World countries, especially in situations of revolution. It has generally been justified by citing a communist threat or the possibility of a communist threat. In several documented instances, government officials used a cover of a communist threat when they knew that no communist threat existed. Covert operations have been conducted in these countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Nicaragua, North Korea, South Korea, Syria, Thailand, Vietnam, and Zaire. Actions may have taken place in other countries. The New York Times reported in 1976 that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities in early 1976 “found that the CIA has conducted some 900 major or sensitive covert action projects plus several thousand smaller projects since 1961.” Knowledgeable observers of the Central Intelligence Agency speculate that as many as fifty covert operations are now taking place.

Funding for the Central Intelligence Agency is not identified in the federal budget but is hidden in line items of various agencies. Marcus Raskin of the Institute for Policy Studies estimates the current spending level of the Central Intelligence Agency at more than $6 billion annually, with personnel numbering in excess of 20,000.

While covert activity has become a standard practice for the United States, it has not been absent from the affairs of other nations. We are aware of covert operations by Chile, China, France, Israel, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Other nations have been identified in news reports as being suspected of covert operations.

Some people argue the case for covert operations by citing the obvious or the alleged involvement of other nations. Generally, “because others do it” has not been persuasive in determining the right and moral course for the United States. At the time of our founding, unjust practices by other nations became the very reason to take steps to prevent some practice in our own nation.

The Church Of The Brethren And Covert War

The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in considering covert operations and covert war is informed by its heritage and teaching, which has declared that all war is sin. Our understanding of the life and the teaching of Christ, as revealed in the New Testament, led our Annual Conference to state in 1785 that we should not “submit to the higher powers so as to make ourselves their instruments to shed human blood.” In 1918, at our Annual Conference, we stated that “we believe that war or any participation in war is wrong and incompatible with the spirit, example, and teachings of Jesus Christ.” Again in 1934, Annual Conference resolved that “all war is sin. We, therefore, cannot encourage, engage in, or willingly profit from armed conflict at home, or abroad. We cannot, in the event of war, accept military service or support the military machine in any capacity.” Statements on war have been made by our Annual Conference in 1948, 1957, 1968, and 1970. The convictions revealed in these various statements have their basis in such teachings of Jesus Christ as the following:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (Luke 6:27,28).

“So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets” (Matt. 7:12).

“Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). (1970 Annual Conference Statement of the Church of the Brethren on War)

The Church of the Brethren believes that covert operations and covert war, as forms of war, are sin and contrary to the will of God. Beyond that, covert operations and covert war embody characteristics that make them more diabolical than conventional war. Theirs is an insidious and delusive legacy to the body politic, an inheritance in which “(our) lies have led (us) astray” (Amos 2:4), in which both the parents’ and the children’s “teeth are set on edge” (Jer. 31:29), and in which justice and peace lie “as a lamb that is led to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7). We set forth the following characteristics of covert warfare that are most offensive and bear the most danger to us as people of faith and as citizens.

1. Covert operations and covert war violate the Constitution of the United States.

The Brethren take very seriously Paul’s admonition to be subject to the governing authority. We do so “not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience” (See Romans 13:1-7) We affirm obedience to law, except when the law is contrary to what God requires.

In our own national context, the Constitution is the authority by which we are to govern ourselves. Elected officials are bound to support and defend the Constitution; citizens look to the Constitution as a measure of just governance.

Constitutional violations occur in at least three areas:

(a) Covert operations and covert war violate Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives to the Congress the authority to declare war. Covert activities are a waging of war, without declaring war, and are done without the consideration or the consent of the Congress. Our experience has been that covert operations are often conducted without even having the knowledge or consent of the President. Moreover, such operations lead to war without the Congress or the public having an opportunity to weigh the costs of such warfare.

The matter of the right authority has been of crucial importance within the history of the Christian faith. While the Brethren have understood all war to be unjust, the majority of Christians have subscribed to a “just war” theory that prescribes certain criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just and acceptable for participation by a Christian. One of those criteria has been that the war must be declared by the proper authority. With covert war, the war is waged without having been declared or acknowledged. A covert war, therefore, cannot be a “just war” (that is, it is illegitimate and wrong) in terms of the only widely held tradition in church history that has provided a conditional justification for war.

(b) Covert operations and covert war violate Article II, Section 9, of the Constitution, which reads in part, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of Appropriations made by Law, and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.” Funds used by the Central Intelligence Agency are never published; there is no public accounting. Our experience has been that government officials have even developed funds for covert operations through illegal sales of munitions and the sale of drugs. These are not appropriated by Congress and are completely without the oversight of Congress.

(c) Covert operations and covert war violate Article VI of the Constitution, which states, “All Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” Our nation has friendship treaties and normal diplomatic relations with nations against whom covert operations have been directed. We are signatory to the United Nations Charter, which precludes such actions as covert warfare.

Our elected officials, including the President and the Congress, regularly violate the Constitution in these ways, despite their pledge under oath to support and defend the Constitution.

2. Covert operations and covert war rely upon the darkness of secrecy rather than the light of openness.

The Church of the Brethren has responded to that Light which shines in the darkness (John 1:5). And the Brethren understand that judgment:

“…the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19,20).

The Brethren have rejected membership in secret societies, believing that the Christian’s word and activity should be open to the world. Secrecy is in contrast to the way Jesus Christ lived and worked. Said Jesus, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together; I have said nothing secretly” (John 18:20).

In the darkness of secrecy there is no accountability to elected officials; there is no accountability to the public. In this section we are not referring to the secrecy required in personnel matters or that is a part of normal group planning or diplomatic negotiation. The secrecy we fault is that which is used to cover actions that are illegal or improper—the intent of the secrecy is a crucial matter in determining its legitimacy.

While covert activity is often defended as necessary for reasons of security and military success, our experience has been that operations have often been covert to avoid public debate, to avoid Congressional determination. In fact, the secrecy practiced is often not from the enemy, but from our own people, including those in our government who are excluded from the secret information. Nations that are partners or victims in the covert operations certainly know what is happening and know the nation that is responsible. Secrecy serves then only to keep our own citizens in ignorance and to avoid the possibility of being held accountable.

When the affairs of government, including war, are conducted in secret, there is little basis on which citizens can assess the performance of persons in office, in order to be an informed electorate or informed petitioners of government.

Covert, by its very nature, is contrary to accountable. The Annual Conference believes that in our relations to other nations, when the deeds are not evil, they need not be secret. As citizens, our greatest protection against the misuse of public trust in public office is exposure.

3. Covert operations and covert war are destroyers of truth.

Veracity has been an important element in the values of the Church of the Brethren. The Brethren have even counseled members against taking an oath, following the admonition of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, which advises against oath-taking, and concludes, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matt. 5:37). It has been said of the Brethren that their word is as good as their bond. While the Brethren have not always achieved that high level of integrity, it is an indication of what they have valued.

The Brethren believe that truth is important not only in personal affairs but also in the affairs of government.

Covert operations and covert war are based upon lies. The National Security Council directive that defines the secret wars stipulates that they be “so planned and executed that any U.S. Government responsibility for them is not evident to unauthorized persons and that if uncovered the U.S. Government can plausibly disclaim any responsibility for them.” The phrase that finds everyday usage in government is “plausible deniability.”

Covert war is the breeding ground of falsehood, beginning with others in government who must be misled, because they are considered unsafe, spreading to enemies, to allies, and finally to citizens on whose behalf the war theoretically is waged.

When it is the policy of government to lie, when it is the understood practice of government officials to distort the truth, the basis for public trust is destroyed, the possibilities for democratic functioning are seriously lessened. Of what value are Presidential statements, of what value are testimonies of government officials, when it is known that the prescribed practice is to lie? The Annual Conference believes a new respect for truth and integrity could come in this nation by the ending of all covert warfare.

4. Covert operations and covert war are destructive to international accord.

The Church of the Brethren has lived with the vision of Isaiah for the peoples of the world.

“… they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4).

The Brethren have supported the formation and functioning of the United Nations and the World Court. The Brethren have sought international order, in which violence, terror, and war are not used as instruments of dispute. The Brethren understand peace as something more than merely the silence of guns and bombs; it is also the presence of justice, the practice of mutuality, and the process of reconciliation.

Covert warfare has been waged against nations with whom we have “normal” diplomatic relations. It has been waged in violation of treaty obligations which are ours. Not only is covert warfare destructive to relations with a target nation, our experience has been that other, often allied, nations become snared in the operations, and suffer from our secret warfare.

The United States took the lead in forming the United Nations. The Charter of that international body is based upon the principle that the preservation of peace and the protection of national security is a matter for multilateral decision. The Charter mandates that members shall “settle international disputes by peaceful means.”

The United States has been a dominant force in the Organization of American States. The Charter of the Organization of American States, to which we are signatory, states that “no State, or group of States has the right to intervene in any way, directly or indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State.”

In violation of our national pledges, we have waged covert warfare. In violation of our national pledges, we have insisted upon unilateral decisions on security. Allen Dulles, once head of the Central Intelligence Agency, put it bluntly but accurately for our practice, “We ourselves must determine when and how to act, hopefully with the support of other leading Free World countries who may be in a position to help, keeping in mind the requirements of our own national security.”

The Brethren seek a world order with respect for self-determination by nations, mutuality in considering national interests and security, and adherence to treaty obligations by all parties. We believe the United States government can make a contribution to world order and accord by ending all forms of covert operations.

5. Covert operations and covert war are destructive to our own national security.

The Brethren do not think of security in terms of nuclear weapons, or “star wars” defense systems, or the terrorism of covert operations. For the Christian, security is in God the Creator, as told by the Psalmist:

He will not let your foot be moved,

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade

on your right hand.

The sun shall not smite you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and for evermore.

(Psa. 121:3-8)

That does not mean that we are safe from all danger, that we are secure from all alien, violent threats. The experience of those who have trusted in God as security—Jesus of Nazareth, whom we serve as Lord; John Kline; Mahatma Gandhi; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Oscar Romero—does not suggest that a commitment to non-violence is personal insurance against violence. Still, those who choose the way of violence are also without assurances of safety. Violence breeds violence; covert operations make the world less, rather than more safe. Between the options of violence and non-violence, the Brethren are convinced that the way of non-violence offers the greater security.

Faith in its essence leads to a trust in the ultimate practicality of Christian morality in every realm of God’s creation. For a code of behavior the Christian looks to the teachings of Jesus. In those teachings, the Brethren believe there are societal (including governmental) applications, as well as personal applications. Covert operations and covert war are in direct contradiction to Christian morality.

Applying the teachings of Jesus to international affairs is as much security as can be achieved in our world.

Covert activities are destructive to our security in these ways:

(a) Covert operations and covert war undermine our national character, the strength within the people. Based upon lies, involving government in deception and lies, they encourage dishonesty in personal, commercial and governmental dealings; they are cancerous to the life of the nation.

(b) Covert operations and covert war are destructive to our security, because they threaten the legitimate information gathering function of the government. It is legitimate for a government to seek to learn the intentions and plans of other governments. Covert activities are not a part of the legitimacy. Covert operations are an attempt to surreptitiously manipulate and determine the course of other nations. By combining covert operations with intelligence gathering in one agency, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, there is an impairing of effectiveness in providing information. While trying to control situations by covert operations, that agency will have a vested interest in the information that is provided to policy makers. Indeed, our experience with the Central Intelligence Agency could suggest to us that both in international reputation and in historical record, the Agency has been preoccupied with covert operations rather than accurate, reliable information. The system itself invites corruption and abuse.

(c) Covert operations and covert war are destructive to our security, because they violate international law and democratic principles. The very first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Jay, argued that “it is of high importance to the peace of America that she observe the law of nations.” This pragmatic view, we believe, is still valid. Covert operations violate international law; they are destructive to our peace.

In 1975-76, the Senate Intelligence Committee, under the chairing of Senator Frank Church, conducted a comprehensive investigation of the covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency. It reviewed attempts to assassinate foreign leaders, to overthrow democratically elected governments, to spread disinformation. It studied these operations and how they affected foreign policy and democratic structures. The Committee also looked at the way the Central Intelligence Agency was conducting surveillance on our own citizens. The Committee concluded that the covert operations had not contributed to national security but, rather, had posed a threat to American democracy.

Appended to the Committee’s report was Senator Church’s own conclusion: “Certainly we do not need a regiment of cloak-and-dagger men, earning their campaign ribbons—and, indeed, their promotions—by planning new exploits throughout the world. Theirs is a self-generating enterprise.” Church believed that with covert operations in place and embraced by government, Presidents would feel immense pressure to use them. “I must lay the blame,” he wrote, “in large measure, to the fantasy that it lay within our power to control other countries through the covert manipulation of their affairs. It formed part of a greater illusion that entrapped and enthralled our Presidents—the illusion of American omnipotence.”

Former Senator George McGovern has added his voice to those saying covert warfare has been self-destructive: “As a long-time Senator and member of the Foreign Relations Committee vitally interested in foreign relations, I am convinced that the net result of all these operations, including undeclared wars, has been to weaken the nation.”

An even more denunciatory assessment comes from a career military officer. Retired Admiral Gene LaRocque, Director of the Center for Defense Information, says, “All forms of covert operations by the United States are inimical to our interests. Covert operations are the most corrosive, insidious force in our society today. Covert operations destroy the essence of a free and open democracy. We need to stop institutionalized covert operations in the C.I.A. and elsewhere in government.” In fairness, it needs to be reported that Admiral LaRocque leaves a caveat. “There may be occasions when some action may need to be taken in secret. We have the structures to do that action. When you institutionalize it, you tear apart a free and open society.” The significance of LaRocque’s statement is that even for one whose professional career has been with waging war, he sees an unacceptable cost to our society of institutionalized covert warfare.

A group of former Central Intelligence Agency spies, spy-masters, and analysts have established an organization, Association for Responsible Dissent, to campaign for an end to covert activities by the government.

Despite these judgments from respected national leaders, past and present, we see no movement within the Congress or within the Executive branch of government to end covert warfare.

The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference believes it is in the highest patriotic duty of citizens to change our national policy and to conduct our foreign relations with no resort to covert operations.

A Witness To People Of Faith, The Government, The World

The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference reaffirms the belief and practice of the church in renouncing all war. The Annual Conference is especially concerned at this time about covert war and calls upon other people of faith to renounce covert war and to refuse to participate in it. The Annual Conference calls upon our government and the governments of the world to renounce covert warfare. In such renunciation is the possibility for integrity, improved international relations, and an improvement in our national character.

Action of the 1988 Annual Conference

James Baile, the Standing Committee delegate from the district of Missouri presented the recommendation of Standing Committee to the 1988 Annual Conference that it adopt the Statement On Covert Operations And Covert War. The statement was adopted by the delegate body.

Resources

Philip Agee, Inside the Company: CIA Diary, Penguin Books, London, 1975.

Richard J. Barnet, Intervention and Revolution: the United States in the Third World, World Publishing Company, New York, 1968.

Constantine FitzGibbon, Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth Century, Stein and Day, New York, 1977.

Joy Hackel and Daniel Siegel (Eds.), In Contempt of Congress: The Reagan Record on Central America, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C., 1987.

Morton H. Halperin, “The Case Against Covert Action,” The Nation, March 1987.

Phillip Knightly, The Second Oldest Profession, W. W. Norton, New York, 1986.

Jonathan Kwitny, The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA, W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1987.

Ralph McGehee, Deadly Deceits: My 25 Years in the C.I.A., Sheridan Square Publications, New York, 1983.

George McGovern, “We Need a Constitutional Presidency,” Parade Magazine, August 9, 1987.

Merle Miller, Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, Berkeley Publishers, Berkeley, Calif., 1986.

C. I. A.: The Pike Report, Spokesman Books, Nottingham, The United Kingdom, 1977.

John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Operations Since World War II, William Morrow and Company, New York, 1986.

John Ranelagh, The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1986.

William Schneider, “When U.S. Foreign Policy Becomes Covert,” Los Angeles Times, July 12, 1987

Harry Rositzke, The CIA’s Secret Operations: Espionage, Counterespionage, and Covert Action, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, 1977.

R. Harris Smith, OSS, The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1972.

John Stockwell, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story, W.W. Norton, New York, 1978.

Stansfield Turner, Secrecy and Democracy: The CIA in Transition, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1985.

Peter Weiss, “John Jay vs. Ronald Reagan: The Constitution and International Law,” In Progress, Newsletter of the Institute for Policy Studies, July 1987.

Thomas Weyr, Research Recommendations, weekly newsletter of the National Institute of Business Management, July 17, 1987.

Alex Whiting, Covert Operations and the Democratic Process: The Implications of the Iran/Contra Affair, Center for National Security Studies, Washington, D.C., 1987.

Bob Woodward, VEIL: The Secret Wars of the C.I.A., 1981-1987, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1987.

The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Hearings, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1976.

The Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Covert Actions, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1976

The Nation, December 13, 1986.

U.S. News and World Report, December 15, 1986.

U.S. News and World Report, July 20, 1987.

A personal interview with Admiral Gene LaRocque by Leland Wilson on September 8, 1987.

A personal interview with Marcus Raskin by Leland Wilson on September 10, 1987.

Biblical quotations are from the Revised Standard Version.

Advisors

Dale Aukerman, Esther Boleyn, John David Bowman, David Braune, Dale Brown, Kenneth Brown, Doris Cline Egge, James O. Eikenberry, Janice Eller, Terry Hatfield, Robert C. Johansen, Peggy Reiff Miller, Robert W. Neff, Phil Rieman, Donna Forbes Steiner, R. Jan Thompson, Michael Titus, Ralph Watkins, Communication Team Staff, World Ministries Commission Staff.

Reviewers

Susan Benda, Legislative Analyst, American Civil Liberties Union

George Chauncey, Duputy Director, Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Thomas J. Downey, U.S. Representative, Second District, New York

Gretchen Eick, National Director, IMPACT

Delton Franz, Director, Washington Office, Mennonite Central Committee

Alan C. Geyer, Professor, Wesley Theological Seminary

Joseph Hacala, SJ, Director, Washington Office, Jesuit Social Ministries

Morton Halperin, Director, Washington Office, American Civil Liberties Union, and Director, National Security Project

David Johnson, Director of Research, Center for Defense Information

Gene LaRocque, Director, Center for Defense Information

Edward F. Snyder, Executive Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation

Action of the General Board, March, 1988: At its meeting on March 7, 1988 the General Board voted unanimously to pass the statement on Covert Operations and Covert War to the 1988 Annual Conference.

Anita Smith Buckwalter, Chair; Donald E. Miller, General Secretary

Action of the 1988 Annual Conference

James H. Baile, the Standing Committee representative from the district of Missouri presented the recommendation of Standing Committee to the 1988 Annual Conference that is to adopt the Statement On Covert Operations And Covert War. The statement was adopted by the delegate body.