Posted on 06/03/2002 5:53:26 PM PDT by LibWhacker
WASHINGTON (AP) - The CIA has created a paramilitary unit to deal specifically with terrorists overseas, U.S. officials said Monday.
The unit ``is taking the fight to terrorists in sanctuaries such as Afghanistan,'' one official said, declining to identify what other countries it is operating in.
The official said the unit is drawing personnel from the CIA's existing paramilitary force, which is a part of the agency's Special Activities Division, which conducts covert operations. Johnny ``Mike'' Spann, the CIA officer killed in November in Afghanistan, was a member of that force.
The size of the new unit is classified. The operatives work under the command of the CIA's counterterrorism center, where intelligence, military and law enforcement officials coordinate activities.
The CIA's existing paramilitary force, like the Army's Green Berets, trains and supplies weapons and support to local dissident groups and friendly governments. They are capable of more direct action as well, including close-quarters combat and breaking into secure buildings to steal information.
Unlike the Green Berets, these officers can operate without uniform or identification as officers of the U.S. government. If any are caught or killed, the government can plausibly deny their use. Unlike most military special operations forces, there are women among the CIA's paramilitary ranks.
In recent decades, the paramilitary force has seen heavy use in Central America, Angola and Afghanistan. In Nicaragua, they mined the harbors and armed the Contra rebels during the Reagan administration. In Afghanistan, they helped the mujahedeen fight the Soviet invasion. During the Vietnam War, they ran ``Air America'' - the CIA's covert effort in Laos.
The unit can only be put into action under secret authorization by the U.S. president. Certain top congressional officials also must be informed.
If any are caught or killed, the government can plausibly deny their use.Not any more, you masters of covert operations.
For people who have not travelled out of the United States, you are CIA before you are naything else.
Not precisely. Because of his Jewish religion and Israeli citizenship, Pearle was more directly suspected, rightly or wrongly, of being a Mossad asset, possibly also cooperating on some matters in which the CIA and Mossad interests coincided.
Much like the arrangement with Wolf Blitzer.
First time I heard that theory. Can you elaborate?
Apparently not just the size is classified, but even the very name of the unit too. I'm with the poster who hoped to live long enough to read about it when it's declassified.
It seems to have taken off with Tenet. Used to be the CIA never said ANYTHING. No press conferences. EVERY question, even something so slight as "You like orange juice?" was answered with: "The CIA neither affirms nor denies that any of its agents enjoy orange juice."
Then came a "new openness." I remember seeing a TIME magazine report on Tenet, years ago. Had photos taken INSIDE the CIA building (never saw that before). Tenet said he liked dribbling a B-ball down CIA halls, checking in on his officiers. He wanted to be a buddy to his troops, a guy they could hang with.
Also saw lots of CIA personal on C-SPAN over the years, and press conferences. Never saw that before either.
CIA used to be cloaked in secrecy, to the point of seeming paranoia. Now, it's warmy & cuddly, eager to share with the public, concerned about providing daycare for its female officers.
Well, that's my impression.
As opposed to the paramilitary units that are dispatched to deal with anybody who lives in rural areas and meets a "militia" profile.
Really?
That's news to me!
[I wasn't aware a president had been involved in the appointment of tenet -- I'd thought that only a lying, thieving, mass-murdering, serial-raping, gangster-bastard, traitor had been involved]
A quote from another thread.
"Later he will write his sister Jennifer that on the second day, 10 social security numbers were read off and told to fall out of formation, McVeigh's among them. He writes that they are told they are the 10 best of the 400 men there in training in test scores and physical abilities. He writes that they would be involved in carrying out special missions to help government agencies, including international missions; among them is the CIA. He writes that they would be paid "government assassins"."
Today's New York Times publishes excerpts from a letter Timothy McVeigh wrote to his sister Jennifer on October 20, 1993. In that letter, McVeigh confided that he was stunned by what happened in 1991, when he arrived at Fort Bragg, North Carolina after being accepted for elite Special Forces training:
Out of a group of 400, one day in formation, 10 Social Security numbers were called out (no names) and told to leave formation. Mine was one. The 10 of us were told that out of the select group of 400, we had scored highest on certain tests. We had been selected because of our intelligence, physical make-up, and physical abilities. We were to feel special, part of a hand-picked group...We were all asked to volunteer to do some work for the government on the domestic, as well as the international front...1./We would be helping the CIA fly drugs into the United States to fund many covert Operations, and 2./ Military "consultants" were to work hand-in-hand with civilian police agencies to "quiet" anyone who was deemed a "security risk."...We would be government-paid assassins....gives you new insight on things like Waco, etc.--they were murdered by hit men.***
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