Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain

The Washington Post ^ | January 23, 2005 | Barton Gellman

[Eagle9]

New Espionage Branch Delving Into CIA Territory

The Pentagon, expanding into the CIA's historic bailiwick, has created a new espionage arm and is reinterpreting U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld broad authority over clandestine operations abroad, according to interviews with participants and documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The previously undisclosed organization, called the Strategic Support Branch, arose from Rumsfeld's written order to end his "near total dependence on CIA" for what is known as human intelligence. Designed to operate without detection and under the defense secretary's direct control, the Strategic Support Branch deploys small teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists alongside newly empowered special operations forces.

Military and civilian participants said in interviews that the new unit has been operating in secret for two years -- in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places they declined to name. According to an early planning memorandum to Rumsfeld from Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the focus of the intelligence initiative is on "emerging target countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia, Philippines and Georgia." Myers and his staff declined to be interviewed.

[Eagle9]

Excerpt --

According to written guidelines made available to The Post, the Defense Department has decided that it will coordinate its human intelligence missions with the CIA but will not, as in the past, await consent. It also reserves the right to bypass the agency's Langley headquarters, consulting CIA officers in the field instead. The Pentagon will deem a mission "coordinated" after giving 72 hours' notice to the CIA.

Four people with firsthand knowledge said defense personnel have already begun operating under "non-official cover" overseas, using false names and nationalities. Those missions, and others contemplated in the Pentagon, skirt the line between clandestine and covert operations. Under U.S. law, "clandestine" refers to actions that are meant to be undetected, and "covert" refers to those for which the U.S. government denies its responsibility. Covert action is subject to stricter legal requirements, including a written "finding" of necessity by the president and prompt notification of senior leaders of both parties in the House and Senate.

O'Connell, asked whether the Pentagon foresees greater involvement in covert action, said "that remains to be determined." He added: "A better answer yet might be, depends upon the situation. But no one I know of is raising their hand and saying at DOD, 'We want control of covert operations.' "

One scenario in which Pentagon operatives might play a role, O'Connell said, is this: "A hostile country close to our borders suddenly changes leadership. . . . We would want to make sure the successor is not hostile."

[MJY1288]

Considering the job the CIA has done in the past ten years, I think Rummy was wise to do this.

[shibumi]

WAY TO GO!!!

Instead of putting a leash on Rummy, it looks like his boss is going to let him have the tools to do his job!

Personal Opinion: The CIA has for too long been infested with career bureaucrats and special interest leftys to be reliable in wartime. We need a fresh intel arm, at least until Porter Goss gets a chance to clean things up.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #1

If a Chavez clone is after Mexico's presidency, these ultra-spooks will probably get him first.

I am sure that other important target countries are not purposely mentioned in the article. How about both Koreas?

[ikka]

Action and reaction: CIA shows it is not up to snuff, allows publishing of "Imperial Hubris" etc. ... reaction: CIA is cut out of the action ... I sense "strategery"

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Pro-Bush]

the new unit has been operating in secret for two years -- in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places they declined to name.

Awesome!

[SuziQ]

Frankly, it doesn't bother me one bit. I'd trust Donald Rumsfield with the security of this country over most of the CIA working today.

[risk]

bump

[Lancey Howard]

Those missions, and others contemplated in the Pentagon, skirt the line between clandestine and covert operations. Under U.S. law, "clandestine" refers to actions that are meant to be undetected, and "covert" refers to those for which the U.S. government denies its responsibility. Covert action is subject to stricter legal requirements, including.... prompt notification of senior leaders of both parties in the House and Senate.

Okay. Got it.
Rumsfeld doesn't want to have to notify scumbags like "Leaky" Leahy and other Democrats about secret missions. Sounds like a smart idea to me.

[risk]

Hillary and Levin, among others.

[Eagle9]

Known as "special mission units," Brown's elite forces are not acknowledged publicly. They include two squadrons of an Army unit popularly known as Delta Force, another Army squadron -- formerly code-named Gray Fox -- that specializes in close-in electronic surveillance, an Air Force human intelligence unit and the Navy unit popularly known as SEAL Team Six.

This a fairly long article. You should be able to click the The Washington Post source link and read the printer version in it's entirety, without registering.

BugMeNot can be used for most web sites that require registration.

[Rockingham]

This is good, even essential. Until the Carter administration in the 1970's, the CIA and the military both had extensive covert intelligence capabilities and commonly worked together and competed to good effect. Reagan rebuilt that system to a small degree, but the Iran-Contra scandal, fierce opposition from the Left and the media, and the end of the Cold War marked another era of weakening in US human intelligence and covert action capability. Most of what remained was under the CIA and was so politically restricted and risk adverse that its effectiveness was deeply impaired and inadequate to the dangers building in the world. For a bureaucracy -- and especially a smug bunch of liberals like the CIA -- duty and national interest are poor motivators. The Pentagon will mostly do a good job, and competition from them will do far more to inspire the CIA to better effort and results than anything else imaginable.

[GodfearingTexan]

the cia's been asking for this. left-leaning east coast elites and "diversity" in your recruiting emphasis doesnt win wars.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Agreed...Rumsfeld is a man to be trusted!

CIA and State Dept are not to be trusted .....yet!

[Route101]

Good!...the more midnight clandestine operations abroad the better. Top secret..nobody asks questions...nobody talks and nobody is concerned about the enemies civil rights!

[dennisw]

It's about time. The CIA is stuffed full of academic types who are incapable of direct action against foreign threats.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And there is this:

***********************************

Unholy Alliance
by David Horowitz
Regnery Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 089526076X
Hardcover - 256 pages (September 2004)

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the “Great Satan” with America’s radical Islamic enemies. This Left, which once made common cause with Communists, has now joined forces with radical Islam in attacking America’s defenses at home and its policies abroad. From their positions of influence in the university and media culture, leftists have defined America as the “root cause” of the attacks against it. In a remarkable exploration of the “Mind of the Left,” Horowitz traces the evolution of American radicalism from its Communist past to its “anti-war” present. He then shows how this Left was able to turn the Democratic Party presidential campaign around and reshape its views on the War on Terror.

Horowitz’s Unholy Alliance, writes John Haynes, the noted historian of American Communism, “is an insightful, brilliant examination of the mental world of the radical left. Horowitz shows how today’s radicals, unwilling to reflect on the internal flaws that destroyed Marxism-Leninism from within, have embraced an all-consuming nihilism in its place. This has led them to a hatred of American institutions and a solidarity with Islamic terrorists that makes the radical left more properly regarded as dangerous than loony.”

Unholy Alliance is an eye-opening book that should unsettle conventional assumptions and reveals why intellectuals and political leaders who applaud Michael Moore are no laughing matter. As Harvey Klehr, author of Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, writes, “The world Communist movement may be moribund, but its habits of mind and ideological fantasies have not disappeared. This is a fascinating and depressing account.”

Price: $19.01 - Click here to order:

[GretchenM]

Sounds like Rummy, per usual, found a way around a giant obstruction.

[Barlowmaker]

The CIA is too diseased to treat. It needs to be removed.

The 5th Column types are too entrenched there. The CIA is going away IMO.