By now, many of you have probably already heard the revelations about the Pentagon’s new in-house espionage agency, an organization so secret that not even Congress knew about it. Intended to operate without detection and to get around the military’s “near total dependence on the CIA”, the agency has also done a pretty good job of getting around a couple of other pesky obstacles, like appropriations, congressional oversight… the US Constitution.
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.
Ahh… don’t you love the military’s newspeak-like love of language? “Reprogrammed funds.” Which of course translates into “we appropriate money for this, but we secretly spend it on that.”
I suppose then — what with their Orwellian attention to linguistic detail — the Defense Department is perfectly comfortable with the secret name they chose for this secret organization: the Strategic Support Branch.
Yes… it’s the SS! Many people have noted this administration’s fascist tendencies, but they’re not even trying to hide it anymore.
Yeah, I know there’s a “B” in there for “Branch”, but it could have been an “A” for “Agency” or a “G” for “Group” or something like that. You can be sure that when they sat down to name this organization, somebody must have looked at the abbreviation and thought “hmm… SS… some folks might find that a touch disturbing.” They just didn’t care.
Well, at least we can take comfort in the fact that our SS doesn’t operate on domestic soil. (Not that we’d know if it did.)
But whatever its name, these covert covert-operations raise a lot of troubling questions about the administration’s lack of accounta… wait a minute, somebody’s at my door. I’ll be right back….
GREAT ending! If you survive, let us know who’s at the door!
GREAT ending! If you survive, let us know who’s at the door
Or if HorseA suddenly starts re-directing to Unsound.
A little Schutzstaffel Branch never hurt anybody.
Oh wait…
How many Bush Administration Officials does it take to change a light bulb?
None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effort. Why do you hate freedom?
Kids,
No need to get your undies in a bundle. We’ve had something like this since the 60’s. It’s called the Defense Intelligence Agency, is housed in the Pentagon and isn’t an incredibly big secret. Apparently, the SSB is just a more focused subset of the DIA. This is not some wholly new agency just for Rummy’s enjoyment.
(Sorry if this is ends up a repost. Didn’t see the thing about “no more outside links.”)
Kids,
No need to get your undies in a bundle. We’ve had something like this since the 60’s. It is called the Defense Intelligence Agency (www.dia.mil), is housed in the Pentagon and isn’t an incredibly big secret. In fact, the SSB is supposedly just a more focused department of the DIA. It isn’t a wholly new agency for Rummy’s enjoyment.
LOL…SS…very good…
I agree it’s not a new concept, but this admin has forever cemented itself in suspicion/distrust making it impossible for me, at least, to not question what exactly they’re using this SS for.
I’ve not felt this poorly about an admin since the Nixon gang. I don’t trust anything they say or do, and find myself overexamining all aspects of their little clique.
I don’t disagree that a government should probably have a gang of clandestine spooks as a tool. But if one doesn’t trust the intentions of the leaders, having that tool at their disposal gives me the willys.
I miss my country.
G Davis,
You have a point, though I don’t share all of your feelings about this administration.
The fact remains that long before Bush2, Clinton, Bush1 or even Reagan, the CIA and other intelligence agencies have been sorely lacking in HUMINT — human intelligence. Other nations — especially those without our capabilities for tech espionage — have instead relied on tradecraft and to exploit the open US culture — much to our detriment. Meanwhile, the US over-relied on spy tech in the 90’s and let old fashioned (and not easy to learn) human intelligence atrophy.
Ooh, please. Don’t worry – THAT Defense Department has Donald Rumsfeld, not his “granddaughter” Mary “Marummy” Lane who’d kill to have a spy department of her own!
Besides, it’s the SSB. Chill, people. You’re just as bad as some of the right-wing kooks I have to put up w/ for arguing for centrist ideas…
I’m not disagreeing on the concept Mark. In fact, I will even say that Rummy’s idea of revamping the military overall to a more reactive force is not an idea I disagree with.
I’m no military expert, but it makes perfect common sense to use intel to fight our current slate of opponents rather than brute force.
My point is simply that the misuse/abuse of all our resources in this war/occupation in Iraq has led me to doubt the intentions/capabilities of this particular admin. Their penchant for secrecy in all their doings makes me shudder to think how they’re using an even more secretive select group of spooks.
I’ve disagreed with many admins in my lifetime. I’ve distrusted only a couple.
Military intelligence folks have been around since the beginning of WWII. The scariest folks to me are CID–you never know who they are, or when they’re around–they never wear uniforms.
There were lots of administrations we should have not trusted, we just didn’t know it–JFK; LBJ; and Ronnie (his McCarthyism should have kept him from being elected). Nixon was the first that made us realize that we needed to be much more vigilant when it came to our government. People thought the Adam family was to be feared–I’d say it is the Bush dynasty that should make us quake in our combat boots!
And how do you pinkos propose we defend this country? Should we send out a press release every time an Army Ranger is doing recon on an emerging threat? Should we take out a billboard everytime a Navy SEAL surveys a target? If we werent proactive you would bitch and whine that Bush let it all (911) happen again. You cant have it both ways… Hell why dont you all just admit that you hate America and refuse to defend it.
Comment by Angry Voter— 1/25/05 @ 11:49 am
Well said. Especially the “we send out a press release every time an Army Ranger is doing recon on an emerging threat? Should we take out a billboard everytime a Navy SEAL surveys a target? If we werent proactive you would bitch and whine that Bush let it all (911) happen again.”
I have a simple message for our soldiers: YOU GOT OUR BACKS… AND TURNABOUT’S FAIR PLAY!
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Distribution
At exactly 0300 hrs Zulu, C co 1/75 Ranger Rgt will be conducting recon operations on potential threat targets located at grid YB456789123. They will be operating in a small unit of 3 scouts and will be lightly armed. Should any enemies wish to intercept this mission, they are encouraged to do so.
For Further Information contact;
The moveon.org anti-american department
commiebastard@moveon.org
And there we have it. The old reliable “communist” slur along with “anti-american” and “weak” (anti-military) thrown in for good measure.
C’mon AV, get a new playbook. These old insults are getting boring.
what did you expect jcricket? something of value from the likes of angry voter? no chance, you can teach old dogs new tricks, but neocons? that is another story
Look Black Helicopters over Goldys house. Bush is out to get you Goldy.