Posted on 01/23/2005 1:00:01 PM PST by wagglebee
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker said on Sunday his U.S. Senate committee would look into a reported move by the Pentagon to reinterpret U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld broad authority over spy operations abroad.
Responding to the report in The Washington Post on Sunday, Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain, an Arizona Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation" program he would raise the question at hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Post, citing Pentagon documents and interviews with participants, reported that Rumsfeld had created a unit called the Strategic Support Branch to end "near total dependence" on the CIA for human intelligence.
The unit, which has been operating for two years, deploys teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists with special operations forces, The Post said. The department contended the defense intelligence missions were subject to fewer legal constraints, the newspaper added.
Defense Department spokesman Lawrence DiRita, however, said there was "no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in The Washington Post article."
"Further, the department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article," he added in a statement.
McCain said the move was "a product of the frustration with the CIA of a failure to have decent human intelligence."
"Should the Armed Services Committee look at it? Yes. And should we know more about it? Yes. And I'm always sorry to read about things in The Washington Post when they affect a committee that I'm a member of."
The Pentagon statement said the war on terrorism necessitated "a framework by which military forces and traditional human intelligence work more closely together and in greater numbers than they have in the past."
"These actions are being taken within existing statutory authorities to support traditional military operations and any assertion to the contrary is wrong," DiRita said.
A CIA spokesman said the agency had no immediate comment.
The unit has operated in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other undisclosed locations, the newspaper reported. The group's focus, according to an early planning document, was on Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia, Philippines and Georgia, The Post said.
The Strategic Support Branch was established with "reprogrammed" funds and without explicit authority from the U.S. Congress, the newspaper reported, quoting unnamed Pentagon officials.
The CIA has screwed everything up over the past few years, if the Pentagon can do a better job then they should be given the opportunity.
wonderful, more McEgo grandstanding to come.
McCain is himself a prime example of "a failure to have decent human intelligence."
Yep. They're known as the "Green Berets."
Is there anything in that description that doesn't fit an SF mission?
Amazingly stupid McCain.
I will quit the Republican Party if that man is our nominee.
Wow! So DoD is engaging in Military Intelligence activities?!
This is just so...outrageous! [/sarcasm]
Yeah, I missed it.
McCain's chances as a candidate are confined to his success in the primaries. In 2000 many liberal Democrat voters crossed party lines to push for McCain as the Republican candidate.
The primaries in 2008 will be important.
'Return of the OSS' ping
RINO. Not this Same Old Shat, again.
" And I'm always sorry to read about things in The Washington Post when they affect a committee that I'm a member of."
He's sorry because he didn't get the chance to leak to his buddies and undermine the project.
I guess it's been decided to abandon the CIA to political correctness and get the real work done under the defense department.
I guess it's been decided to abandon the CIA to political correctness and get the real work done under the defense department.
The CIA was stripped of its ability during the 90's, they totally missed 9/11 and made Bush look like a fool on the Iraq WMDs (the WMDs were there, the CIA was just to incompetent to keep track of them). Rehnquist decided to "get the job done" and it seems to be working. I remember all of the media BS over Iran-Contra in the 80's, but I thought it was a masterstroke of brilliance. This is the same concept, if something MUST get done, you must find a way to do it.
I could be wrong, but, to me, "secret spy" is redundant.
It was so "secret" that the Washington Post and Reuters were able to write this piece of trash, and of course it all came about by undisclosed sources...
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