Gates may dismantle Rummy's Spy Organizations

[AnnInLa]

http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0309nj1.htm


Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a plan to curtail the Pentagon's clandestine spying activities, which were expanded by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, after the 9/11 attacks. The undercover work allowed military personnel to collect intelligence about terrorists and to recruit spies in foreign countries independently of the CIA and without much congressional oversight.

Former military and intelligence officials, including those involved in an ongoing and largely informal debate about the military's forays into espionage, said that Gates, a former CIA director, is likely to "roll back" several of Rumsfeld's controversial initiatives. This could include changing the mission of the Pentagon's Strategic Support Branch, an intelligence-gathering unit comprising Special Forces, military linguists, and interrogators that Rumsfeld set up to report directly to him. The unit's teams work in many of the same countries where CIA case officers are trying to recruit spies, and the military and civilian sides have clashed as a result. CIA officers serving abroad have been roiled by what they see as the Pentagon's encroachment on their dominance in the world of human intelligence-gathering.

A former senior intelligence official who knows Gates said that the secretary wants to "dismantle" many of the intelligence programs launched by Rumsfeld and his top lieutenants, Stephen Cambone, the former undersecretary for intelligence, and Douglas Feith, who was Rumsfeld's policy chief. The former official added that the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has also expanded its human spying efforts, could be returned to a more analytical role.

more at link above

[Greeby]

1. He touches those and he can kiss his job goodbye

As if Cheney is going to give up all of Rummy's old covert action groups

[Wapsie B]

3. You got it.

He'll need to stay outta motel rooms and small planes.

[sutz12]

2. Coule this be true?

Did * actually appoint someone who wants to do his job, and maybe knows how?

Who let this guy squeak through?

[Miss Chybil]

4. Good. nt

[napi21]

5. Gates is the first of Shrub's nominees that seems to be GOOD!

Obviously he's a Pub, but so far I've beem pleasantly impressed!

[Sherman A1]

6. I see the difference as being

one of competence over bumbling in a fantasy world. Certainly Gates is a Republican and he will do things with which we disagree, but it at least appears that he has something of an idea as to how to do the job, which is a huge leap forward for this crowd, who are not only liars and thieves, but really bad liars and thieves.

[napi21]

7. You guys on DU will probably hate me for saying this, but

I don't care if Gates is PUB. If he doesthe job honestly and fairly, I will like him. So far, he's not only gotten pissed at the idiots heading Walter Reed, but he's chopped off a few heads and it looks like there's more to come! I cant find fault with that action. Idon't hate Pugs because they're pugs! I hate them because they are incompetent, arrogant, and aren't doing what's best for the Country!

I can agree to disagree with anyone, but I can't accept stupidity from anyone!

[w4rma]

8. I don't have to like him or trust him to know he's doing better than most anyone else Bush wanted to

pick for that position.