Planned changes to U.S. Defense Department intelligence efforts would
place new emphasis on dangers to the country from around the world
following a 10-year period in which the data collection initiatives
concentrated largely on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, a
high-level Pentagon insider told the the Los Angeles Times on Monday .
Hundreds of investigative and other officials at the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency are set to transfer to the Defense Clandestine Service, a new office assigned to gather and disseminate data on formidable subjects of scrutiny -- including international extremist groups and the illicit spread of nuclear materials and systems -- in collaboration with CIA officials at U.S. embassies, according to the source.
Areas of significant concern -- such as Iranian and North Korean atomic and missile activities, China's burgeoning armed forces, and African and Middle Eastern regions in which al-Qaeda is operating -- would probably fall among responsibilities given to a portion of incoming intelligence operatives, the Times reported (David Cloud, Los Angeles Times, April 23).
The National Intelligence Director's Office in a 2011 report said the longstanding goal of furnishing information from conflict areas to the armed forces remained the chief emphasis of DIA activities, as opposed to the collection and dispersal of "national" data on international matters and its delivery to other U.S. intelligence and defense offices, the Associated Press on Monday quoted a high-level Pentagon insider as saying.
Still, WMD and extremist hazards around the world are an established focus of Pentagon intelligence specialists, AP reported. Those officials are based predominantly in CIA offices at U.S. embassies and employ covert tactics comparable to their CIA equivalents, according to AP (Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press/Google News, April 23).
It remains uncertain if the new Pentagon office would perform some of the same duties as the CIA's National Clandestine Service or act in a supplementary capacity, one independent expert told the Times.
"I'm not sure what they are supposed to achieve that the CIA doesn't," said Joshua Foust, who served previously as a Middle East specialist for the Pentagon's intelligence arm. "This seems like a territorial thing. 'Hey, the CIA has this, why don't we have it too?'…I'm pretty skeptical that it's necessary or good" .
http://www.nti.org/gsn/
Hundreds of investigative and other officials at the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency are set to transfer to the Defense Clandestine Service, a new office assigned to gather and disseminate data on formidable subjects of scrutiny -- including international extremist groups and the illicit spread of nuclear materials and systems -- in collaboration with CIA officials at U.S. embassies, according to the source.
Areas of significant concern -- such as Iranian and North Korean atomic and missile activities, China's burgeoning armed forces, and African and Middle Eastern regions in which al-Qaeda is operating -- would probably fall among responsibilities given to a portion of incoming intelligence operatives, the Times reported (David Cloud, Los Angeles Times, April 23).
The National Intelligence Director's Office in a 2011 report said the longstanding goal of furnishing information from conflict areas to the armed forces remained the chief emphasis of DIA activities, as opposed to the collection and dispersal of "national" data on international matters and its delivery to other U.S. intelligence and defense offices, the Associated Press on Monday quoted a high-level Pentagon insider as saying.
Still, WMD and extremist hazards around the world are an established focus of Pentagon intelligence specialists, AP reported. Those officials are based predominantly in CIA offices at U.S. embassies and employ covert tactics comparable to their CIA equivalents, according to AP (Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press/Google News, April 23).
It remains uncertain if the new Pentagon office would perform some of the same duties as the CIA's National Clandestine Service or act in a supplementary capacity, one independent expert told the Times.
"I'm not sure what they are supposed to achieve that the CIA doesn't," said Joshua Foust, who served previously as a Middle East specialist for the Pentagon's intelligence arm. "This seems like a territorial thing. 'Hey, the CIA has this, why don't we have it too?'…I'm pretty skeptical that it's necessary or good" .
http://www.nti.org/gsn/
