To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, January 24, 2005
The Old Super Secret Spy Organization Trick
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has put together a new espionage unit to lessen its reliance on the CIA.
Today on FoxNews, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D- CA) was talking about the need for Congressional oversight and an investigation into this spy unit. When asked if there was any concern over who leaked the information, she said there was not. Huh?
Yes, I know there is a need for Congressional oversight. But I also know that there is a need for secrecy, and certain members of Congress have been known to flap their lips for political gain. And, in the world of espionage, lack of secrecy can mean death for our agents. So, she cares that this unit (which may or may not even exist) is out there not being micromanaged by Congress, but she doesn't care that, if this more-than-top-secret unit exists, someone within the Pentagon leaked it to the press. Someone with a high enough security clearance to know about an espionage unit that isn't supposed to exist. And that doesn't bother anyone besides me?
We need, especially in today's world, to have a group of men and women who fly far below the radar, who are not the most savory and upright of citizens, who can get down and dirty with the bad guys and get the job done. Do they need oversight? Yeah, I guess they do. Do they need their existence exposed on the front page of the Washington Post? No. I haven't decided which bothers me more- the leak itself or the fact that an irresponsible journalist put these people's lives in danger for the glory of the byline. Am I bothered by the supposed existence of this spy unit? No, it actually makes me feel pretty good.
I suppose, in a perfect world, all super secret spy stuff would fall under a select Congress committee (stuff like this makes me think that having a few career politicians around isn't such a bad idea, but then that feeling goes away.) This group of Congresscritters would go to the military (and the CIA, for that matter) and say "Don't tell me that we have a super secret group of spies." "We have a super secret group of spies." " I asked you not to tell me that."
But, no. This is the US Congress we're talking about. They're more along the lines of "Zis is Congress. Ve don't do super secret here!"
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.An official in the Pentagon leaked this information to the WaPost, and the story was picked up by news services around the globe, along with the Pentagon's response.
...Pentagon officials said they established the Strategic Support Branch using "reprogrammed" funds, without explicit congressional authority or appropriation. Defense intelligence missions, they said, are subject to less stringent congressional oversight than comparable operations by the CIA.
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." "Further, the department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article," he added in a statement.Honestly, what was the Pentagon supposed to say? "Sorry about that, Chief. We kept missing it by that much. Would you believe there is no super secret spy unit?" "No." "How about half a unit?" "No." "How about 3 guys and a camel?"
Today on FoxNews, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D- CA) was talking about the need for Congressional oversight and an investigation into this spy unit. When asked if there was any concern over who leaked the information, she said there was not. Huh?
Yes, I know there is a need for Congressional oversight. But I also know that there is a need for secrecy, and certain members of Congress have been known to flap their lips for political gain. And, in the world of espionage, lack of secrecy can mean death for our agents. So, she cares that this unit (which may or may not even exist) is out there not being micromanaged by Congress, but she doesn't care that, if this more-than-top-secret unit exists, someone within the Pentagon leaked it to the press. Someone with a high enough security clearance to know about an espionage unit that isn't supposed to exist. And that doesn't bother anyone besides me?
We need, especially in today's world, to have a group of men and women who fly far below the radar, who are not the most savory and upright of citizens, who can get down and dirty with the bad guys and get the job done. Do they need oversight? Yeah, I guess they do. Do they need their existence exposed on the front page of the Washington Post? No. I haven't decided which bothers me more- the leak itself or the fact that an irresponsible journalist put these people's lives in danger for the glory of the byline. Am I bothered by the supposed existence of this spy unit? No, it actually makes me feel pretty good.
I suppose, in a perfect world, all super secret spy stuff would fall under a select Congress committee (stuff like this makes me think that having a few career politicians around isn't such a bad idea, but then that feeling goes away.) This group of Congresscritters would go to the military (and the CIA, for that matter) and say "Don't tell me that we have a super secret group of spies." "We have a super secret group of spies." " I asked you not to tell me that."
But, no. This is the US Congress we're talking about. They're more along the lines of "Zis is Congress. Ve don't do super secret here!"
