Pentagon denies news report of new spy unit
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon acknowledged Sunday that it is trying to improve its network of spies abroad but denied a published report that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had reinterpreted U.S. law to create an espionage unit under his control.
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said it was "accurate and should not be surprising" that the Pentagon would try to improve its human spying capability, an area that the 9/11 Commission concluded was inadequate.
As part of that effort, he said, the Defense Intelligence Agency "has been taking steps to be more focused and task-oriented for the global war on terror." DiRita said the Defense Department "remains in regular consultation" with congressional committees, the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
DiRita denied that Rumsfeld controls a secret group of spies. "There is no unit that is directly reportable to the Secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in TheWashington Post," he said in a statement. "Further, the Department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article."
The Post said a new spy unit is called the Strategic Support Branch. In a written order quoted by the newspaper, Rumsfeld expresses frustration after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks over the Pentagon's "near total dependence on CIA" for human intelligence.
The Post said the organization was designed to operate without detection and under Rumsfeld's direct control. It has operated for two years in deploying small teams of caseworkers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists to work alongside special operations forces, the newspaper said.
The newspaper said the unit was established "using 'reprogrammed' funds without explicit congressional authority or appropriation."
Under U.S. law, Pentagon intelligence missions are subject to less rigorous congressional oversight than similar operations carried out by the CIA.
Rumsfeld fought for months against an intelligence overhaul bill passed by Congress late last year that leaves intact the CIA's control over human intelligence and which puts 15 U.S. intelligence agencies under a newly created national intelligence director. The Defense secretary dropped his objections only after House Republican leaders inserted language that was seen as preserving the Pentagon's autonomy.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CBS' Face the Nation that he knew nothing of such a Pentagon unit and expected his panel to hold hearings about it. He said that he "would doubt" the unit was illegal.
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