Guest guest Posted June 30, 2005 Report Share Posted June 30, 2005 S Thu, 30 Jun 2005 13:49:46 -0700 (PDT) Has Bush authorized secret police? Blogged by Brad on 6/30/2005 @ 12:56pm PT... http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001506.htm White House Announces Formation of Domestic Secret Police Attorney General: 'Nothing at all to worry about...These aren't the droids you're looking for...' The BBC, of course, not the American Media, got the headline right ... Bush sets up domestic spy service John Negroponte will oversee the FBI changes US President George W... The BBC, of course, not the American Media, got the headline right... Bush sets up domestic spy service John Negroponte will oversee the FBI changes US President George W Bush has ordered the creation of a domestic intelligence service within the FBI, as part of a package of 70 new security measures. The White House says it is enacting the measures to fight international terrorist groups and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, back over here across the pond, the AP typically downplays any concerns of a new " secret police " under the control of the White House. Their fawning lede for the same story seems to laud Bush for his latest actions: President Bush, embracing nearly all the recommendations of a White House commission, said Wednesday that he was creating a national security service at the FBI to specialize in intelligence as part of a shake-up of the disparate U.S. spy agencies. Washington Post, however, in a Page 1 story (refreshingly), seems to mostly get it. Even though it takes a graf or two before they get to the troubling part: President Bush ordered another shake-up of the nation's intelligence services yesterday, forming new national security divisions within both the FBI and the Justice Department and, for the first time, putting a broad swath of the FBI under the authority of the nation's spy chief. .... Civil liberties advocates immediately criticized the changes at the FBI, arguing that they represent a radical step toward the creation of a secret police force in the United States. Many Justice prosecutors and FBI agents had also fiercely opposed the changes but were overruled by Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, officials said. .... " Spies and cops play different roles and operate under different rules for a reason, " said Timothy Edgar, national security counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. " The FBI is effectively being taken over by a spymaster who reports directly to the White House. . . . It's alarming that the same person who oversees foreign spying will now oversee domestic spying, too. " Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III played down such concerns. Although Bush's memo gives Negroponte's office authority over the FBI's intelligence program, they said, he will not exercise authority over traditional criminal investigations conducted by the bureau. " They're not going to be directing law enforcement, " Gonzales said at a news conference. " Every law enforcement official within the FBI is going to remain under the supervision and authority of the FBI director and, ultimately, the attorney general. " Ah, well, as long as a good man and torturer like Alberto Gonzales has given his seal of approval and will be watching carefully over matters, we suppose there's nothing at all to worry about here. Phew... Leave it to those America hating liberals at the ACLU to waste our time alarming us about such matters. It's not as if they were right at all concerning torture at Gitmo! Haven't you heard? Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said the prisoners are feasting like kings, and Rush says Gitmo is a vacation paradise! " First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me. " - Martin Niemoeller Bush sets up domestic spy service President Bush ® meets intelligence chiefs John Negroponte (third from right at table) will oversee the FBI changes US President George W Bush has ordered the creation of a domestic intelligence service within the FBI, as part of a package of 70 new security measures. The White House says it is enacting the measures to fight international terrorist groups and prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The authorities will also be given the power to seize the property of people deemed to be helping the spread of WMD. An independent commission recommended the measures earlier this year. The new measures form part of Mr Bush's overhaul of US intelligence agencies, aimed at bolstering the fight against terrorism and weapons proliferation. FBI overhaul The FBI is to be re-organised, and will include another new intelligence body called the National Security Service. A stronger, more vibrant intelligence community produces better intelligence products upon which good decisions can be made Frances Townsend White House homeland security adviser It will assume responsibility for intelligence work within the US, and combine the Justice Department's intelligence, counter-terrorism and espionage units. Correspondents say the measure is designed to help dissolve the barriers between the FBI and the CIA. John Negroponte, who was given the new job of US director of national intelligence in April, will be charged with putting the changes into effect. Other measures include: * An executive order allowing US authorities to seize the assets of any person or any company thought to be aiding the spread of WMD, targeting specifically eight companies including two from North Korea, one from Iran and one from Syria * The establishment of a national counter-proliferation centre, to centralise US efforts to stop the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons * Giving control of all overseas human intelligence operations to the CIA * Seeking the creation of a new assistant attorney general position to centralise responsibility for intelligence and national security at the Justice Department. 'Win for the people' The Silverman-Robb Commission handed its report to Mr Bush in March. The commission found that US intelligence on Iraq's WMD had been wrong, and it recommended to the president 74 ways in which the US intelligence effort could be improved. The FBI will not get ahead of the terrorist threat if it doesn't have a fully dedicated intelligence service, and now it will Jane Harman Democrat Representative Mr Bush has now accepted 70 of those recommendations. White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend said the new measures were a " win for the American people " . " A stronger, more vibrant intelligence community produces better intelligence products upon which good decisions can be made, " she said. Democrats gave a cautious welcome to the measures. " The FBI will not get ahead of the terrorist threat if it doesn't have a fully dedicated intelligence service, and now it will, " California Representative Jane Harman told CNN. " But this will require a massive culture change within the FBI, because the guns and badges and the mind-set of the FBI don't totally fit with the challenges of countering terrorism. " The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says Americans have long resisted the growth of domestic intelligence agencies, believing they pose a threat to civil liberties. But Mr Bush can ill-afford politically to see another intelligence failure like that in Iraq on his watch, he says. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4636117.stm The Bush Approves Spy Agency Changes By Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, June 30, 2005; Page A01 President Bush ordered another shake-up of the nation's intelligence services yesterday, forming new national security divisions within both the FBI and the Justice Department and, for the first time, putting a broad swath of the FBI under the authority of the nation's spy chief. Building on previous changes required by Congress, the reorganization cements the authority of the new director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte, over most of the FBI's $3 billion intelligence budget. It also gives him clear authority to approve the hiring of the FBI's top national security official and, through that official, to communicate with FBI agents and analysts in the field on intelligence matters. The plan represents a particularly sharp rebuke to the historically independent FBI, which has struggled to remake itself into a counterterrorism agency since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has been the target of withering reviews from both inside and outside the government. The moves also mark a victory for the CIA, which has endured its own blistering critiques but has successfully fought off proposals to cede some of its authority to the Pentagon. Civil liberties advocates immediately criticized the changes at the FBI, arguing that they represent a radical step toward the creation of a secret police force in the United States. Many Justice prosecutors and FBI agents had also fiercely opposed the changes but were overruled by Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, officials said. " Spies and cops play different roles and operate under different rules for a reason, " said Timothy Edgar, national security counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. " The FBI is effectively being taken over by a spymaster who reports directly to the White House. . . . It's alarming that the same person who oversees foreign spying will now oversee domestic spying, too. " Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III played down such concerns. Although Bush's memo gives Negroponte's office authority over the FBI's intelligence program, they said, he will not exercise authority over traditional criminal investigations conducted by the bureau. " They're not going to be directing law enforcement, " Gonzales said at a news conference. " Every law enforcement official within the FBI is going to remain under the supervision and authority of the FBI director and, ultimately, the attorney general. " As outlined in a memorandum to senior Cabinet officials, Bush adopted all but four of 74 recommendations made by a special intelligence commission headed by senior appellate judge Laurence H. Silberman and former senator Charles S. Robb (D-Va.). Although originally formed to examine intelligence failures in prewar Iraq, the panel chronicled broader shortcomings in the intelligence community's ability to monitor or prevent threats from terrorists or rogue states. Bush also ordered the creation of a National Counter Proliferation Center, aimed at helping to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups and rogue states. In addition, a separate executive order released yesterday allows the freezing of assets of individuals, groups or companies allegedly involved in weapons proliferation, including eight specific organizations in Iran, North Korea and Syria. The plans announced by the administration yesterday mark the latest in a series of reorganizations, new agencies and other changes that have roiled the government since the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI previously created a Directorate of Intelligence and has expanded the number of agents, analysts and other staff members dedicated to counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Under Bush's memo, the FBI will create a National Security Service by bringing together its counterintelligence, counterterrorism and intelligence divisions under one umbrella. The head of the new service will be hired by the FBI director and the attorney general, but with the " concurrence " of Negroponte, who will fund the FBI's intelligence activities. The memo said that Negroponte, " through the head of the FBI's National Security Service, can effectively communicate with the FBI's field offices, resident agencies and any other personnel in the National Security Service. " Across Pennsylvania Avenue at the Justice Department, Gonzales will also pull together several intelligence and counterterrorism operations to form a new national security division, and Bush will ask Congress to allow the hiring of a new assistant attorney general to run it. Mueller said he views the changes as " the next step in our ability to protect the American public. " " I don't see it as a loss of independence at all, " he said. " I see it as an acknowledgment and a furtherance of the development of the FBI to respond to the threats of today. " At the White House, Townsend said that many of the changes ordered yesterday were outgrowths of the Intelligence Reform Act approved by Congress in December, which created Negroponte's office and called for other changes in the intelligence community. " The agencies did not approach this as a zero-sum game where some won and some lost, " she said. Negroponte's deputy, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, told reporters that the FBI's new service is " something we've not done before as a nation " but also said that Mueller's deputy already sits in with other intelligence agency managers at meetings with the director of national intelligence. The new FBI national security official will be " dual-hatted " and will report to both Mueller and Negroponte, he said. Many details of the new plan remain to be worked out. Bush's order gives Gonzales 60 days to come up with an implementation plan. Many of the dozens of changes recommended by the Silberman-Robb commission dealt with details of intelligence analysis, training and sharing of information. Hayden said that 30 initiatives relating to intelligence analysis, including many commission recommendations, have already been initiated. For the CIA, a new official will oversee human intelligence operations overseas by all agencies, including the FBI and the Pentagon. Townsend said three commission recommendations required further study, including a finding that three agencies should be held accountable for failures on prewar intelligence in Iraq. Another recommendation, which was not identified because it is classified, has not been adopted, she said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062900220.\ html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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