|
Congress to restrict use of Special Ops
Long article, EFL:Congress is set to impose new restrictions on the use of Special Operations Forces that for the first time will require a presidential order before deploying commandos in routine but hidden activities. The restrictions are contained in the classified Senate report accompanying the current version of the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal 2004. The new rules, if contained in the final version of the bill, would add a burden to the militaryâs deployment of Special Operations Forces by requiring the Pentagon to first obtain a presidential "finding," or directive, similar to those required for covert-action intelligence operations. Findings are declarations that the president "finds" a secret activity is in national interest. Have to ask "Mother, may I?". A former special-operations officer said the committee language would redefine traditional military activity as a covert action. "What that means is that things that special ops used to do will now require sending a finding to [Capitol Hill] before doing anything," said the former officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The restrictions are being called the "Cambone understanding" and would replace earlier intelligence report language from 1991 that excluded Special Operations Forces from the legal finding requirements. Currently, so-called traditional military activities, where the U.S. militaryâs role is hidden, do not require a finding by the president. "We want to be able to deploy [special-operations commandos] in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks," said the former special-operations officer. "And this will get us delays. It will make it hard to kill terrorists by turning over deployment decisions to the Senate." Makes you wonder whoâs side the Senate is on. A senior U.S. intelligence official said the new report language undermines the efforts of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George J. Tenet to loosen restrictions on covert action in the war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks. The senior official said the report language was inserted based on misunderstandings that resulted from conversations between Mr. Cambone and several senators, who were not identified. We need to know who these bastards are. Bet I can guess which party they belong to. "This hurts both CIA and [the Department of Defense]," the official said. A spokesman for the Senate Intelligence Committee had no comment. Iâll just bet he doesnât want to talk about it. Covert-action findings are reported to Congress and in many past cases were disclosed to the public by officials opposed to the operations. Guess who. The Senate Intelligence Committeeâs report on the authorization bill, produced in June, says that secret military activities in countries where the role of U.S. forces is known to the public are considered "traditional military activities." However, those same activities when carried out in a nation where the presence of U.S. military forces is kept secret are to be treated as covert actions and require a presidential finding, the report states. The new restrictions are opposed by most U.S. intelligence and defense officials. A senior Pentagon official would not say whether Mr. Rumsfeld would recommend that the president veto the bill if the report language is part of the final legislative package. Veto it, and publicly tar and feather anyone, of either party, who supported it. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17589 |