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 | | From: | James A. Chamblee | | Subject: | Rummy's Private Army | | Date: | Sun, 23 Jan 2005 14:15:10 GMT |
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 | A recent Pentagon memo states that recruited agents may include
"notorious figures" whose links to the U.S. government would be
embarrassing if disclosed.
The creation of the espionage branch, the scope of its clandestine
operations and the breadth of Rumsfeld's asserted legal authority have
not been detailed publicly before.
Two longtime members of the House Intelligence Committee, a Democrat
and a Republican, said they knew no details before being interviewed
for this article.
Some Pentagon officials refer to the combined units as the "secret
army of Northern Virginia."
From The Washington Post, 1/23/05:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29414-2005Jan22.html
Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain
New Espionage Branch Delving Into CIA Territory
By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page A01
The Pentagon, expanding into the CIA's historic bailiwick, has created
a new espionage arm and is reinterpreting U.S. law to give Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld broad authority over clandestine
operations abroad, according to interviews with participants and
documents obtained by The Washington Post.
The previously undisclosed organization, called the Strategic Support
Branch, arose from Rumsfeld's written order to end his "near total
dependence on CIA" for what is known as human intelligence.
Designed to operate without detection and under the defense
secretary's direct control, the Strategic Support Branch deploys small
teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical
specialists alongside newly empowered special operations forces.
Military and civilian participants said in interviews that the new
unit has been operating in secret for two years -- in Iraq,
Afghanistan and other places they declined to name.
According to an early planning memorandum to Rumsfeld from Gen.
Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the focus of
the intelligence initiative is on "emerging target countries such as
Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia, Philippines and Georgia."
Myers and his staff declined to be interviewed.
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Harry
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