Posted on 02/01/2005 3:29:18 PM PST by neverdem
Obscure provision cuts reliance on CIA
WASHINGTON Congress has given the Pentagon important new authority to fight terrorism by authorizing Special Operations forces for the first time to spend money to pay informers and recruit foreign paramilitary soldiers.
The new authority, which would also let Special Operations forces purchase equipment or other items from the foreigners, is spelled out in a single paragraph of an 800-page defense authorization bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in October.
It was requested by the Pentagon and the commander of Special Operations forces as part of a broader effort to make the military less reliant on the Central Intelligence Agency, according to congressional and Defense Department officials.
A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said the new authority was necessary to avoid a repetition of problems encountered in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. During that conflict, Special Operations troops had to wait for the CIA to pay informers and could not always count on timely support, the Pentagon concluded.
"This is an important authority that we've been seeking for some time," Whitman said.
The new law authorizes the secretary of defense to spend as much as $25 million a year through 2007 "to provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups or individuals" who help Special Operations missions to combat terrorism. It also specifies that Congress is not providing authorization for the Pentagon to conduct covert action, which has customarily been undertaken by the CIA and requires explicit presidential authority.
Senior military officials and a retired army intelligence officer said the money could be used for purposes as diverse as buying a truck for an urgent mission or paying cash to irregular allies, like the Northern Alliance in the Afghan war against the Taliban.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
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..........Hurry,....get in line for free money and food stamps too.....
illegals to get first (top of the pyramid)
non-citizens next.....
Americans need not apply....?
/sarcasm?
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