The Washington Post Reveals 'Top Secret America'

Atlantic Wire ^ | Max Fisher

[lbryce]

The Washington Post has unveiled its comprehensive, alarming, and much-anticipated report on "Top Secret America." The dedicated site details the billions of dollars in private, for-profit intelligence operations that have emerged since Sept. 11, 2001, which the Post calls our "fourth branch" of government. Led by reporters William Arkin and Pulitzer Prize-winner Dana Priest, the investigation was two years in the making and shook up the vast U.S. intelligence community even before it was released. The "Top Secret America" website includes articles, videos, interactive features, and maps all begging to be explored. But here's the executive summary.

* The Intelligence-Industrial Complex Priest and Arkin write, "This is not exactly President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 'military-industrial complex,' which emerged with the Cold War and centered on building nuclear weapons to deter the Soviet Union. This is a national security enterprise with a more amorphous mission: defeating transnational violent extremists. Much of the information about this mission is classified. That is the reason it is so difficult to gauge the success and identify the problems of Top Secret America, including whether money is being spent wisely. ... the Bush administration and Congress gave agencies more money than they were capable of responsibly spending. ... In all, at least 263 organizations have been created or reorganized as a response to 9/11. Each has required more people, and those people have required more administrative and logistic support. ... With so many more employees, units and organizations, the lines of responsibility began to blur."

* Our Fourth Branch The introductory video states, "In response to 9/11, a fourth branch has emerged. It is protected from public scrutiny by overwhelming secrecy. Americans with top secret clearance."

Link to Washington Post Report
Washington Post Investigation:TOP SECRET AMERICA

[elpadre]

This piece is clearly written with a far-left bias. I have many doubts about it's authenticity

However, that being said, the nature of growth described is in the very DNA of bureaucracies. Give someone a title and he must build a kingdom. Look at the Social Security System, Obamacare, Medicare - look at any of them. They are all bloated with unnecessary people. And, sadly most now have a union to protect them and their jobs and reduction in force is next to impossible.

[AdmSmith]

For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.

That should be reduced to two. 900 000 with TS clearance is ridiculous, they will only spend their time reading reports and participating in meetings.

Merge many agencies and then cut the total budget by 2/3, forbid them to write paper reports, put everything in Intellipedia.

[Salgak]

Well, you figure about half of them, or more, either WEAR the uniform of our Armed Forces, or used to wear one. Right there, it puts the numbers in perspective. . .

[ntmxx]

Seems to be a running theme here with the 4th Branch 5th Columnists, when they need to run cover for their leftist “Friends of Government.” So I will say it again;

Imagine that, the WaPo complaining about the same Homo-Leninists who they covet and cover while participating in the political class status racketeering just to keep their jobs.

That’s rich, Beltway Boys pretending not to be Butt-boys on the Potomac.