CIA vs DIA

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Ending CIA's control over international espionage

Click here for related article [Washington Post]


The Washington Post has provided a look at DIA's "New" Clandestine Service, "recently created" by Lieutenant General Mike Flynn.

DIA Director: LTG Mike Flynn                    [DOD Image]

We are delighted with Mike's creativity as he follows in the pattern of claiming credit for the initiative and work of others.

General Flynn has claimed credit for creating the DOD Clandestine Service; but it did  need to be revitalized, even if he wants to claim credit for "creating" it.  It was originally created in 1984, while he was still a Captain - and ineligible to participate in it.




Now, we are thrilled to death to see DIA displace CIA -- again -- in conducting Military Intelligence espionage!  But, there are those of us who recall building this organization way back in 1984, obtaining DOD and Congressional authorizations, and full funding by 1985, and coordinating its full functions within DIA to deploy clandestine operatives world-wide. 


History of DIA's Clandestine Service:

After creating an authorization document [Plan Green] to conduct Clandestine operations in Latin America [created under the US Southern Command] - and approved by the CJCS, SecDef and Congress, we worked closely with key officials within the Pentagon [Assistant Secretary of the Army Bill Clark [son of General Mark Clark], Chairman of the JCS General John Vessey] and Senators Barry Goldwater [R] and Helms [R], we gained authorization to operate globally.

Starting in September 1984, we were up and running in early 1985 with full funding, an authorizing DOD operational regulation, and personnel assets acquired from the best and the brightest Armed Services Case Officers -- trained, and experienced through decades of Service operations.

CIA didn't see this one coming      [CIA Map]

Our targets were those countries which were regarded as potential threats to the US; our focus was on the Third World, since we anticipated the collapse of the Soviet Union and calculated that the US Military would be engaged in battles/wars with Third World entities as "potential adversaries" -- to include insurgencies, narcotics cartels, and terrorist organizations.

Unlike the CIA's Directorate of Operations [DO] -- burdened with former cops [DEA, ATF, highway patrol, street cops, military cops] and focused almost solely on penetrating the KGB, our military officers were fluent in the languages of the countries to which they were assigned, many had graduate degrees in regional Foreign Area Studies [history, economics, political science, etc.], and many had even attended civilian or military schools in the countries to which they were assigned. 

Among our other successes was the penetration of Drug Cartels, gun running operations, and nascent terrorist operations.  As an added bonus, our Case Officers all came with background and experience in the Combat and Combat Support Arms -- unlike CIA Case Officers whose military experience consisted of a few weeks of basic military weapons handling at "The Farm"  [not even the equivalent of Marine Boot Camp] -- usually portrayed by the Media/Hollywood as special operations and Kung Fu training [but, really? not so much].

DCI Tenet's Legacy                   [ABC]

The program was curtailed under President Clinton whose sycophant generals and incompetent DCI [George Tenet] decided that the US military need not spend such sums to create these military spies -- particularly since they competed for CIA's glory. So, all the work we did to build this organization atrophied; and, only a few months into George Bush's new term as President, he was greeted by the greatest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor.

But, let's take a look at DIA's "new" Clandestine Service [DCS] which, according to the Post, "...reflects the Administration's affinity for 'espionage' and 'covert action' over conventional force." 

[Somehow, we're a bit uncomfortable with Mr Obama's involvement with/access to the details of espionage and covert operations -- given his eagerness to award to the Media both Methods and Sources (as he did after the Osama bin Laden action.  Will he share operational details with his pal, President Morsi, or the king of Saudi Arabia?].  He is, after all, the President; but we recall he has friends and advisors who are declared Communists, anarchists, and others linked to al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood - and ISIS.

What DCS is not authorized to do:

1) Covert Operations:  Drone strikes, political sabotage, or arming militants.
    [Currently, these are carried out by contractors or special operations elements -- under the
      supervision of CIA officers]
2) Lethal strikes or " ... other operations outside the public view."
3) Executive Action:  Assassination of foreign leaders.

[No change in the charter there; Clandestine Services, as defined, perform espionage while appearing to be engaged in other matters.  Covert operations [supposedly invisible and untraceable] are not to be confused with Clandestine operations.]

DCS Training:

All technical options are open

Case officers will continue to learn tradecraft at the CIA Farm as they have since the Military and CIA came to terms many years ago following the closure of Fort Holabird in Baltimore.  The Military provides significant staffing for matters military [e.g., learning to fire a weapon, jump out of a perfectly good airplane, etc.] and the CIA's old timers provide training on disguises, counter-surveillance, dead-drops, communications, and convincing potential agents to commit treason and spy against their own country.

Special Operations folks will train the Case Officers of CIA and DIA on self-defense processes as well as in defensive driving [not unlike what you've seen in James Bond movies -- or "The Unit".


CIA Liaison:

In many instances, DIA Case Officers will work directly with CIA Station Chiefs [COS] around the world.  Operations against Military targets will be DIA's purview, while those targeting government or non-military targets will be assigned to CIA officers.

Cooperation:

Returning to yesteryear, it appears that CIA and DIA will share resources, facilities, logistics, cover creations, and analytical support.  We did all this in the 1980s and early 1990s, before George Tenet pulled CIA and DIA apart.  The Democrats' revisionist history is that Donald Rumsfeld was at fault; that story won't fly since Tenet had annulled the CIA - DIA marriage under the Clinton regime and continued to destroy the alliance while he worked for Bush. We were appalled when W failed to replace Tenet upon his Inauguration.

Terminated Tenet - With Prejudice  [nndb]

Rumsfeld was abrasive and arrogant, but it was under his direction that Star Watcher was recreated under the new designator Strategic Support Branch.  This followed Rumsfeld's determination that the CIA, under George Tenet, had reached its nadir operationally and intellectually.  The intelligence failure leading to 9/11, Tenet's assessment that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction [leading to the initiation of the Iraq war], the attack on the USS Cole, the CIA assessment that Iran was developing  nuclear weapons in 2005  -- after it had announced in 2003 that Iran had halted the program; all these failures indicated that the CIA was an agency devoid of intellectual acuity.

Suggesting to Mr Tenet that he find other employment in 2004, Rumsfeld persuaded President Bush to end CIA's reign of terror [and operational incompetence] by creating the Director of National Intelligence [DNI] -- ending the dual hatting of the CIA Director as the Director of Central Intelligence where CIA controlled the operations of all other intelligence agencies. 

Under the DNI, the CIA then became just one of many US intelligence agencies [you'd be amazed at just how many there are].

In his urgency to shift military intelligence operations back to the Pentagon, Rumsfeld erred in attempting to add all facets of intelligence, from espionage, to Special Operations, to Executive Action, all under one organization.

However, eventually it all sorted out with the espionage operations under the direction of Army Reserve Colonel George Waldoup achieving significant success while the Special Operations were relegated to Army General Bryan Brown of SOCOM - melding the experience and skills of Delta Force, Seal Team Six,  and the Gray Fox unit which conducted technical surveillance of targets.

Rumsfeld ended DOD HUMINT subservience to the CIA by announcing that it would coordinate its operations with the CIA, but would no longer require its consent -- a long-time bone of contention between DOD and CIA.  That history included many instances in which CIA took control over operations which the Military had initiated and developed, leaving the Military no participation in either the operation or the information gathered.  That caused a bit of bad blood, particularly when the intelligence collected was critical to Military combat operations.

Political Hack: Damage complete

Unfortunately, today's world of espionage was undercut by Mr Obama's appointment of still another political hack, Leon Panetta to direct the CIA; his incompetence became fairly evident with multiple CIA failures.  Mr Obama shifted Panetta to the Pentagon after appointing General Petraeus to run the CIA. 

At the Pentagon, Panetta was relatively harmless; but Petraeus had his work cut out for him in undoing Panetta's damage.  The CIA politicos worked relentlessly to undercut Petraeus, and succeeded in undermining his credibility by leaking information about his affair to the FBI -- and the Media [following their pattern of destroying Porter Goss - W's appointee].

Bottom Line:  We're not sure who the new CIA Director will be, although we've speculated and made our recommendations.  But, with the reemergence of the DIA Clandestine Service as the equal of CIA, the DNI [Jim Clapper] can now exercise his true role in managing the entire Intelligence Community -- no longer dealing with the CIA as an independent agency.

We wish the DIA Director, Mike Flynn, all the luck in the world.  We trust the new CIA director will be capable, and we hope the new Secretary of Defense won't dismantle Mike Flynn's new organization.