Red Flag Raised Over CIA, Special Forces

[Judi Lynn]

January 17, 2004


THE NATION
Red Flag Raised Over CIA, Special Forces
Collaboration is growing, but an Army officer says it's 'fraught with danger.'



By Greg Miller, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — The increasing collaboration between U.S. special forces units and CIA paramilitary teams is "fraught with danger" because of fundamental differences in the two groups' missions and legal authorities, according to a report published by the U.S. Army War College.

The study points to potential problems with America's growing reliance on CIA and military teams operating together in covert settings. Among them are concerns that members of the armed forces involved in such missions could find themselves considered "unlawful combatants" and deprived of Geneva Convention protections if caught in foreign lands.

The report also raises questions about whether Congress is adequately set up to conduct oversight. (snip/...)

The issue is increasingly significant because the United States is in the midst of a major buildup of the CIA's clandestine service as part of the war on terrorism. At the same time, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has dramatically expanded the Special Operations Command's budget and responsibilities in the war on terrorism. (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-paramil17jan17,1,364776.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
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[leftchick]

1. Didn't Seymor Hersch write about just this type of operation?

I believe it was in December. Hmmmm, need to find the link.

[0007]

3. Check this out

http://www.nwaonline.net/pdfarchive/2002/january/28/RZ%201-28-02%20A2.pdf

[salin]

4. I couldn't link to work. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

6. I tried it again, to see what's going on, and it worked for me

It could be slow today, however, as it took a while for me, and I have a fast connection.

[rfranklin]

2. Who cares what you think?

We're Americans and we don't need no gddamn Geneva
Convention, and we don't need no World Court! We're big and we're bad and if you don't shut up, George Bush will put on his flight suit and come and kick your ass!
He said so!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. Nobody was very concerned about this issue when the Phoenix...

...Operation was in full swing in Vietnam. The CIA managed that particular operation which consisted of teams made up of CIA operatives, U. S. military personnel, and a few South Vietnamese military/intel types.

They were responsible for the assassinations of approximately 40,000 to 60,000 Vietnamese and their families who they believed were cooperating with the Vietcong and/or North Vietnamese regulars. One of their favorite tactics was to silently approach the intended target(s) during the night, kill them, behead them, and leave their heads on poles for the other villagers to find the next morning.

Similar operations have been conducted by the CIA in Central America, South America, the Caribbean (Cuban Task Force/Operation Mongoose), innumerable countries in Africa, throughout Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe in the late 1940s and 1950s.

In short, this is nothing new. Just more propaganda for masses.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Really sad to hear that information, but it's not surprising

I read about psyops operations in the Philippines several years ago, and recognized in your post some similarity to stories I had read about Edward Lansdale.

Here's an example of his covert psyop work:

(snip) "Back in the 1950s, during the rebellion in the Philippines, U.S. Air Force General Edward Lansdale, then head of CIA PsyOps in the islands, used the legend of Philippine vampires to chase the Huk rebels from their various areas of operation. The asuag, or Philippine vampire, struck terror in the hearts of the superstitious population, a fact exploited by the CIA. When a Huk patrol would pass by, the last member of the patrol was silently captured, and then killed. Two holes were punctured in the Huk's neck, and he was hung upside down to drain the blood from his body. The corpse would then be left where it would be found by his comrades - a victim of the vampire." W. Adam Mandelbaum, from: The Psychic Battlefield (snip)

http://www.lkwdpl.org/wildideas/propaganda.html

Lansdale did psyops in VietNam, Israel, and against Cuba.
http://www.statecraft.org/chapter8.html

Mr. Psyops, Lansdale

[demconfive]

9. Yeah, it worked swell, didn't it?

We lost in vietnam, something about "hearts and minds". It did give us a bunch of screwed up vets, though. How about those special-ops wives that got murdered by their husbands.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. This is why Repubs feel they don't need the draft

This is a step toward privatizing the military.