The FBI is to be re-organised, and will include another new intelligence body called the National Security Service.Those barriers existed for good reason. I believe it was Harry Truman who said something about the danger of creating an American Gestapo.
It will assume responsibility for intelligence work within the US, and combine the Justice Department's intelligence, counter-terrorism and espionage units.
Correspondents say the measure is designed to help dissolve the barriers between the FBI and the CIA.
Other measures will include "Giving control of all overseas human intelligence operations to the CIA." Looks like the Agency is no longer in the doghouse. Well, maybe this is a good development. Over the past few years, progressives have had to oppose the administration's attempts to make the CIA parrot a predetermined "party line." If the Company has become another Bush team player, progressives can resume their traditional opposition to runaway CIA covert operations.
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Well, I heard a "security expert" - formerly of the FBI if I recall correctly--say on CNN this morning that what will be required in the future is for local police departments to conduct vigilant surveillance operations to detect local, homegrown "terrorists". What we're probably moving to is more intelligence type activities by local police. All you have to do is say the words "Homeland Security grants" and local governments will snap at the opportunity.
My understanding has been that "Giving control of all overseas human intelligence operations to the CIA" actually means confining the CIA to old-fashioned spying and completely eliminating their analysis function -- which has been a consistent thorn in the side of the defense hawks ever since the era of George H.W. Bush's Team B in the middle 70's.
In other words, the aim would be to have the Pentagon alone in a position to decide what the real threats in the world are and recommend what to do about them.
If that's so, then this is in no sense "a good development."
nSS ...?
MMIIXX
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