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Colby saw his first espionage service as a member of the OSS during World War II. He operated behind the German lines in France and was part of many dangerous missions, including the blowing up of a German communications centre in Norway, which was achieved after Colby and a team of OSS men parachuted to the site.
Returning to Princeton to study law after the war. Colby then went to work for the CIA. He was station chief in Saigon from 1959 to 1962. He later ran the Phoenix Program which involved resettlement and pacification of Vietnamese villagers. The program was seriously abused by the United States and its South Vietnamese allies, which resulted in over 20,000 civilians being killed, and thousands more illegally imprisoned as suspected Viet Cong supporters. The nightmare of this slaughter haunted Colby throughout his intelligence career. In 1973 Colby was appointed Deputy Director of Operations, a post he assumed after returning from Vietnam. In September 1973, Colby was named Director of the CIA, a post he held until January 1976. During this period, Colby, under pressure to admit CIA "bad secrets" admitted that the agency had interfered in the internal affairs of such countries as Angola in 1975. Colby further turned over top secret information to the Church Commission which compromised the public statements of his predecessor, Richard Helms who was later indicted for perjury.
Another victim of Colbys uncertain handling was James Angleton, long time head of the CIA's counterintelligence department. The dislike and distrust between the two senior CIA officers was such that Angleton left the agency.
This and other arbitrary behaviour earned Colby considerable criticism and undermined the overall effectiveness of the CIA.
More scrutiny was directed on the CIA during Colbys tenure than at any other time. President Gerald Ford prohibited the CIA from involving itself in the assassination of any foreign leader and went on to establish the Rockefeller Commission to further investigate the agency. The commission eventually gave the CIA its tacit approval but confirmed that it was guilty of numerous unlawful acts. Frank Church, who headed the congressional committee also investigating the CIA in 1975, described the agency as "a rogue elephant running amok. Colby retired soon after, to be replaced by Admiral Stansfield Turner. In late April 1996 Colby while canoeing down a Maryland river, apparently drowned. His widow later identified his body on May 6, 1996 |
