PRODUCER CLAIMS ‘CLEAN VICTORY’ FOR CBS : ‘My sense is that they (Westmoreland’s lawyers) had lost their case and didn’t have an argument to make at the closing (of the trial),’ said Vietnam documentary producer George Crile.

Gen. William C. Westmoreland’s withdrawal of his $120-million libel suit against CBS was hailed Monday as “a clean victory for CBS” by producer George Crile, a former Marine corporal whose Vietnam documentary led to the suit by the retired Army general.

Crile’s comment was in contrast to the conciliatory reaction of CBS’ chief lawyer David Boies, who in an interview earlier Monday with Associated Press Radio in New York declined to call the general’s action a victory for CBS.

“I don’t want to try to characterize it one way or the other,” Boies said. “I think the event speaks for itself.”

Crile said that he didn’t know why--with perhaps only one or two weeks to go before the federal court trial of the case went to the jury--Westmoreland decided to withdraw the suit filed by his lawyers on Sept. 13, 1982.

“I can only surmise, but I certainly have my opinions,” said the producer, whose 90-minute “CBS Reports” documentary, “The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception,” was aired eight months before Westmoreland sued the network.

“My sense is that they (the general’s lawyers) had lost their case and they didn’t really have an argument to make at the closing (of the trial),” added Crile, a co-defendant in the suit along with correspondent Mike Wallace and former CIA analyst Samuel A. Adams.

Dan M. Burt, Westmoreland’s chief lawyer, wasn’t available for comment at press time. But earlier Monday Burt, briefly speaking with reporters in New York before a meeting with the trial judge and CBS attorneys, said:

“The general has wanted one thing from the beginning of the case. He wanted his reputation back. He believes he has that now.”

Westmoreland, commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, contended that the program libeled him by saying that he deliberately underestimated enemy strength in 1967 to show progress in the Vietnam War. CBS said that its program was accurate and fair.

The trial of Westmoreland’s suit had lasted 18 weeks. His case had seemed badly damaged in recent days by the testimony for CBS of two of his former top aides in Vietam, retired Maj. Gen. Joseph A. McChristian and retired Col. Gains B. Hawkins.

Crile, 39, who served as a Marine reservist in 1969-70 but never was in Vietnam during the war, was on the witness stand for 11 days.

Although the better-known Wallace had drawn the lion’s share of pre-trial attention because of his frequent appearances on “60 Minutes,” the testimony of Crile was more important because the latter did the bulk of the work and interviews for “The Uncounted Enemy.”

(Wallace had been scheduled to testify this week, before Westmoreland withdrew his lawsuit.)

Despite persistent, often harsh questioning by Burt, Crile during his testimony refused to budge from his position that the documentary he produced and co-reported was true, and not, as Burt called it in opening arguments last October, “a powerful work of fiction.”

Crile, interviewed by phone Monday morning from his New York apartment, was asked if he wished the case had gone to the 12-member jury for a verdict.

“No, I think this ended as well as it possibly could have,” he said. “I think it was a complete vindication of the broadcast.”

(In a joint statement, CBS and Westmoreland took pains to say that they respect each other. But in a separate statement, CBS, while not specifically claiming victory, said “nothing surfaced” during the trial “that in any way diminishes our conviction that the broadcast was fair and accurate.”)

Crile is a former Harper’s magazine editor who in 1975 edited an article by Adams that became the thesis of CBS’ disputed Vietnam documentary. Crile joined CBS News in 1976, and has co-produced several documentaries, including one on the CIA that won an Emmy award.

In April, 1983, an internal CBS study--prompted by a highly critical TV Guide article--concluded that his Vietnam documentary violated several CBS News guidelines, and that “there was an imbalance in presenting the two sides of the issue” in the program.

However, the study didn’t challenge the program’s premise.

In June, 1983, Crile was suspended with pay for secretly recording phone interviews with various persons--among them former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara--without their knowledge in 1981 when the producer was preparing his Vietnam documentary.

The network said such taping was forbidden by CBS News policy. Crile, who informed CBS of the recordings after Westmoreland’s lawsuit was filed, said he didn’t know such recordings were against network guidelines. His suspension ended last June, CBS says.

Still, there have been questions about Crile’s future at CBS News. The division’s president, Ed Joyce wasn’t available at press time for comment on Crile’s status now that Westmoreland has withdrawn his libel suit.

But Howard Stringer, CBS News executive vice president and executive producer of Crile’s Vietnam documentary when the program was being made, said Monday that he thinks the producer will continue working for the network.

“I’ve no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m assuming that since he (Crile) is in CBS’ employ now, he’ll continue,” Stringer said.

Crile said that as far as he knew, he’d be going back to work with the “CBS Reports” documentary unit. He said that his current contract with CBS News ends in September, “but they (network officials) have been asking me to renegotiate” and stay at CBS.

He was asked if he plans to continue working for the network.

“Yes,” he said.