Pentagon Operating Secret Spy Branch - McCain to question at hearings

[TacticalPeek]

Pentagon Operating Secret Spy Branch - Report
Sun Jan 23, 2005 03:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker said on Sunday his U.S. Senate committee would look into a reported move by the Pentagon to reinterpret U.S. law to give Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld broad authority over spy operations abroad.

Responding to the report in The Washington Post on Sunday, Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain, an Arizona Republican, told CBS's "Face the Nation" program he would raise the question at hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Post, citing Pentagon documents and interviews with participants, reported that Rumsfeld had created a unit called the Strategic Support Branch to end "near total dependence" on the CIA for human intelligence.

The unit, which has been operating for two years, deploys teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists with special operations forces, The Post said. The department contended the defense intelligence missions were subject to fewer legal constraints, the newspaper added.

Defense Department spokesman Lawrence DiRita, however, said there was "no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in The Washington Post article."

more
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7402480

[TygrBright]

1. Ummmmmmmm, yeh....

>>"no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in The Washington Post article."<<

...And the guys who broke into Watergate in 1972 were just a bunch of misguided Cuban expats.


...And Bill Clinton did not have sex with that woman.


Gosh, it all depends on what the definition of "is" is, doesn't it?

credulously,
Bright

[MADem]

2. No unit that is "directly reportable"...yeah, sure!

That means they have some General parked over at one of the three initial branches who has addu status. Doesn't mean shit, really. The unit "belongs" to the three initial branch, the general does the day to day management, and he tells all to Donald, while Donald or one of his minions tells the General how to tweak the unit.

Hmmm. OK, you have to wonder....cui bono????

Is this McCain's effort to set himself up as a strong, independent voice for change and reform? How long has he been sitting on this information? When did he learn it? Why did he campaign with weecowboy, looking miserable, constipated and trapped?

Will Rumsfeld be out the door, to be replaced by McCain?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

3. This has been...

... predicted for a few years now. Why do you think they made the CIA such a scapegoat for 9-11? TIA and Poindexter were the early warning flags of this impending event.

[Cocoa]

4. McCain seemed less than committed

in fact, I suspect he was lying when he said he didn't know about this.

[Massachusetts]

5. Peek A Boo!