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| Bill would put CIA in charge of all overseas humint including military |
| 2005-06-07 |
| The CIA would be given authority to coordinate all human intelligence activities overseas, including those carried out by Pentagon and FBI personnel, under legislation proposed by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the fiscal 2006 intelligence authorization bill. At a time when the CIA appears to be losing its preeminence in clandestine operations abroad, the House panel suggested language in the bill that it said was designed to clarify roles of the CIA director and the new director of national intelligence (DNI) regarding the collection of human intelligence outside the United States "by any department, agency or element" of the U.S. government. In the past, the CIA has exercised similar authority in most cases, but the House panel decided to try to put that into law as a result of increased overseas operations by many government agencies, and reports that several Pentagon teams had been found operating overseas without the knowledge of CIA officials. Under the House committee proposal, CIA Director Porter J. Goss would develop a process for coordinating clandestine human intelligence activities overseas, but it would be "subject to the approval of the DNI," John D. Negroponte, according to the panel's report, made available yesterday. The House panel also revived a proposal that would limit Negroponte's authority to transfer Pentagon or other intelligence specialists within the intelligence community. Under the current law, Negroponte must provide prompt notice of any transfer only to the appropriate congressional committees. Under the proposal, he could not make such a transfer until he had informed the committees with proper jurisdiction, "and received a response." Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), the ranking minority member on the committee, and other Democrats described the proposal as "a pocket veto" of the DNI's personnel transfer authority in additional views printed in the report. They said they opposed the provision and noted that when the same language was proposed in the Defense Department's fiscal 2006 authorization bill in March, a DNI spokesman opposed it. Harman and the others warned that if the provision is not changed, they will move to strike it when the bill reaches the House floor, "and we believe we will be successful." In another action, the House panel said it made "significant" reductions in "expensive technical collection systems," which congressional sources described as new large satellites. Money saved from redirecting satellite spending was aimed at increasing "human intelligence and analysis," the committee said in its report. well we certainly need the latter, but we also need the former The panel said the intelligence community "has resisted terminating even badly flawed major systems acquisitions," a reference to multibillion-dollar satellites that in the past have been criticized by members of the Senate intelligence committee. The panel report, which keeps classified the overall amount proposed for next year's intelligence activities -- said to be in excess of $41 billion -- does note authorizing $446 million in an account that is to be the "principal source of funding" for Negroponte's new team. The Congressional Budget Office estimates $268 million in costs next year, according to the House panel report. |
| Posted by:too true |
| #14 I can say no more |
| Posted by: Blackford Oakes 2005-06-07 19:25 |
| #13 Right. That explains why TKS is written from Turkey. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-07 19:23 |
| #12 National Reconaissance Office. :) |
| Posted by: Rory B. Bellows 2005-06-07 18:49 |
| #11 CIA and National Review Online? Does Buckley know? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-07 18:22 |
| #10 I very strongly recommend that you read The Silent War by John Piña Craven. He wrote it largely in response to Blind Man's Bluff. The tale of the CIA taking over underwater espionage has a lot more to it. I don't know why my links show up in bold. The Glomar explorer served multiple purposes, some of which Craven only hints at. In many ways I'm reminded of the CIA's subsequent involvement with the NRO and the Space Shuttle. |
| Posted by: Rory B. Bellows 2005-06-07 18:15 |
| #9 3dc, I never thought of it that way -- and now that you mention it, that doesn't sound like a bad idea in the least! Strategic Support Branch, run for it before they get you [and infect you with their political hackery]! (Seriously, read up on them. I'm only citing what was admitted to, and for the love of money Rumsfeld's got the right idea.) |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-06-07 17:55 |
| #8 Why not the other way around? The DIA is so much more accurate and efficient ... Put the DIA in charge of the CIA. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-06-07 16:27 |
| #7 Frank G - Yes it is. Before I went to sleep I read of an incident where a US Sturgeon and a Soviet Echo hit each other and for years each captain was convinced the other had sunk. I'm shocked there weren't shots fired with all the goings on... then again, with so little coming out over the decades there might very well have been a few fights and we haven't heard about it yet. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2005-06-07 15:49 |
| #6 good book though, eh, LOTR? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-06-07 14:52 |
| #5 The CIA can't even do what they were set up to do, much less run the whole show. I suspect there is so much power grapling and tattletale bullsh*t that nobody can make a move. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-06-07 13:01 |
| #4 I'm currently reading Blind Man's Bluff : The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, and last night I got to section that described how the CIA came in and grabbed aspects of the Navy's submarine espionage (specifically the NR-1 sub program). Amazing how things never seem to change. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2005-06-07 12:58 |
| #3 (mode=Darth) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! (/mode) |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-06-07 12:01 |
| #2 Stupid idea. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-06-07 11:59 |
| #1 Another waste of paper and resources. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-06-07 11:56 |