more on "new"(?) foreign spying agency? (What was old one doing?!)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <ross () stapleton-gray com>
Date: October 23, 2005 5:43:48 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, Ip Ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] "new"(?) foreign spying agency? (What was old one  
doing?!)


At 01:45 PM 10/23/2005, Jim Warren wrote:

> I thought this was what the CIA was ALREADY supposed to be doing!
> ...
>
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4340318.stm
>
> US setting up new spying agency
>
> The new NCS director will report to CIA chief Porter Goss
> The US has announced the creation of a new intelligence agency led by
> the CIA to co-ordinate all American overseas spying activities.
>
> The National Clandestine Service (NCS) will oversee all human
> espionage operations - meaning spying by people rather than by
> technical means.

From the description, the new service isn't so much a "new spying  
agency," as a newly-elevated role for the CIA Directorate of  
Operations, i.e., under the NCS rubric, it will both continue to do  
what it's been doing, but also have increased oversight of other  
agencies' human intelligence (HUMINT) activities.  Those other  
agencies would include DOD agencies, and the FBI, presumably.

The CIA was never the sole agency responsible for HUMINT, and I  
believe (though Jeffrey Richelson's books on intelligence would be a  
good place to look for something more authoritative) that there're  
going to be issues in deconflicting CIA vs. FBI responsibility for  
things like foreign diplomats, CIA vs. military services in  
recruiting foreign military personnel, etc.

Two issues of interest to us here would be whether or not this new  
NCS provides appropriate means for oversight of *all* HUMINT (e.g.,  
if DOD policymakers decide that "the intel doesn't fit the plan," and  
hunt for sources, like Achmed Chalabi, that support their views, will  
all appropriate parties be informed?  All appropriate parties  
including Congressional committees...); and how so-called "open  
source" intelligence is regarded.  Numerous folks (myself included)  
believe that the Intelligence Community needs to greatly improve its  
awareness and exploitation of "plain old information," both to  
augment and obviate clandestine intelligence.

Ross


----
Ross Stapleton-Gray, Ph.D.
Stapleton-Gray & Associates, Inc.
http://www.stapleton-gray.com
http://www.sortingdoor.com





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