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    "label": "National Security Council Report 17, A Report to the National Security Council by the Executive Secretary on the Internal Security of the United States",
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    "title": "National Security Council Report 17, A Report to the National Security Council by the Executive Secretary on the Internal Security of the United States",
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    "seq": 9,
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    "ocrText": "ASTHL\nCOMMUNISM IS THE GREATEST INTERNAL\nSECURITY THREAT AT THIS TIME\nSince this survey is mainly concerned with certain of the defects in our\ninternal security system and with possible means of eliminating these defects,\nthrough coordinated action on the part of interested agencies, this naturally\nraises a few questions: (1) From what are we as a people making ourselves inter-\nnally secure? (2) Can we establish an effective internal security system unless\nwe completely understand the nature of the hostile forces with which we are con-\nfronted? (3) Is there any one hostile force in the world today of greater threat\nto our very existence than any other hostile force or all others combined? Unless\nthese three legitimate questions are answered this survey obviously will not be\ncomplete.\nIn the light of available evidence the answers to these questions appear\nto be as follows:\n1. As indicated in the beginning of this survey, we as\na people must make our nation and way of life secure inter-\nnally from all hostile actions on the part of individuals,\ngroups and nations. From the very beginning of organize\nliving, of society, there have existed negative elements which\nTRUMAN\nwould tear down and destroy the established order by force\nand violence. Orderly change by the majority is acceptable\nARCHIVES \"NATIONAL SERVICE\" RECORDS AND 3\nand desirable but not the force and violence of a minority.\nEs\n2. We cannot establish an effective internal security\nsystem unless we completely understand the nature of the hos-\ntile forces with which we are confronted. It matters not if\nit is some ancient form of tyranny, shattered Fascism, modern\nbrutality or Communism under the guise of \"new democracy\". To\nunderstand the enemy, his thought, practices and objectives,\nis to be better able to overcome the enemy.\n3. There is a hostile force confronting the United\nStates today which is a far greater threat to our existence\nthan any other threat. This hostile force is Communism.\nWorld-wide Communism is directed at the very heart of Amer-\nican life.\nIn view of this situation, there are set forth hereinafter some summary\nobservations concerning Communism, specifically as Communism is directed against\nthe internal security of the United States. This seems unavoidable for if the\nin-\nternal security system, which this survey seeks to improve, does not successfully\ncope with the Communist threat, then it need not worry about any other threat to\nthe internal security of this nation, because it is not impossible that there will\nbe no nation. It may well become only a part of an anti-democratic, freedomless\nworld-wide Soviet, under the guidance and direction of the mother of all Soviets,\nSoviet Russia. In different ages there have been different threats to the inter-\nnal security of the United States. In this present age the threat is Communism.\nNSC 17\n- 6 -"
}