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Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:33:58 PM EST
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Does anyone else get an ominous feeling from reading this article about Bush's creation of a new spy agency? After deciphering the sci-fi jargon, it sounds downright creepy.

President George W Bush has approved the creation of a national clandestine service within the Central Intelligence Agency to oversee all US espionage operations, the government said on Thursday.

CIA Director Porter Goss has been named the Manager of National Human Intelligence. John Negroponte is in charge and has been named the Director of Human Intelligence.

A new domestic recruitment effort should be underway shortly:

The CIA has traditionally been the main US agency conducting espionage. But the defence intelligence agency has been pushing to expand its "human intelligence" arm, and is seeking rule changes that would make it easier for it to recruit US citizens and emigres as intelligence sources.

Here's more on the new agency and recruitment effort.

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    Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency | 17 comments (17 topical)
    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dusty on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    It sickens me to know that the paranoid right are always looking for ways to undermine people, governments and continents..

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#2)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    Now if they could only get the trains to run on time

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    Of course, they'll have sweeping powers and a mandate to preemptively take down politicians who subvert federal elections, fabricate intelligence, and lie to justify wars of agression, right? Right?

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#4)
    by DonS on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    I think they'll be quite interested in lefty bloggers and even a commenter or two.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    The news24 article stated:
    Human intelligence is bureaucratic jargon for espionage and covert operations.
    That's misleading, at best. The articles are ambiguous, probably intentionally. It's been well known for many years (actually a few decades) that human intelligence has been a major weakness of U.S. intelligence agencies. This sounds like centralizing responsibility for human intelligence and expanding U.S. human intelligence capabilities. This is a good thing, at least if you're opposed to things like terrorism. The articles leave open the possibility, intentionally I suspect, that this is about creating an organization similar to Britain's MI-5. But that would be "domestic intelligence", not "human intelligence". The phrase "human intelligence" has a fairly specific meaning (more specific than "espionage" or "covert operations" - both of which can be done without "human intelligence"). Improving human intelligence capabilities is a good thing, if it's actually done well.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#6)
    by SeeEmDee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    'National' as in 'domestic'? As in engaging in the very kind of domestic spying that the CIA is supposedly abjured from doing? When the National Security Act of 1947 (creating both the CIA and NSA) was first proposed, this kind of thing was warned about. Now it's finally here. And if you think it won't be used against American citizens, then you should lay off the alcohol for a while and let the brain cells grow back some, because you can bet it already has been.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:59 PM EST
    We posted at the same time, I suspect, but
    'National' as in 'domestic'?
    I doubt it. 'National' probably actually means 'central', but, yes, it is ambiguous.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#8)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    Improving human intelligence capabilities is a good thing, if it's actually done well.
    If the last five years haven't taught you that "if it's actually done well" is a phrase never to be uttered when it comes to a Cheney Administration endeavor...

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    So doesn't this vein of traditional lefty suspicion toward the Agency sit rather uneasily, cheek-by-jowl (at least in my bookmarks) next to things like ReddHedd's hagiographic encomium to the CIA, complete with dewy-eyed poetic sequences, all in service of showing what a dire crime the Plame leak was? I mean, I think that outing Plame was a serious crime, and highly revealing of the real motives and methods of this administration. But mein gott, you'd think ReddHedd had never heard of some of the things the people on the CIA's wall of martyrs were engaged in. Can we say "Central American Death Squads"? Helping the Contras with their little cocaine trafficking operation? Illegal assassination missions in Laos and Cambodia back in the day? Possible involvement of "rogue elements" in certain events that took place in Dallas in 1964? And yeah, this comment would be more appropriate on ReddHedd's thread, but I did post along the same lines there, as did a few others to little effect. The tide of swelling emotion toward that dear, dear Agency surged on unabated. It just does bug me that there seems to be a severe disconnect between threads like this one and threads like that one. Is there a realistic perspective somewhere in between? Secret agents and agencies are a necessity, and therefore outing Plame was bad, but they are also, I firmly believe, inherently undemocratic. Be nice if we could somehow keep both those perspectives in view at the same time....

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#10)
    by LorettaNall on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    Manager of National Human Intelligence
    Straight from the pages of Orwell

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#11)
    by Darryl Pearce on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    ...yeah, but they're our "rough men willing to do violence" on our behalf. I'm sure they have rough men willing to do violence on their behalf. We here because they're there Because we here because they're there. They're there because we're here Because they're there because we're here.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    1963. Can I type? Sheesh.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    1984?

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    dusty: It sickens me to know that the paranoid right are always looking for ways to undermine people, governments and continents.. They're not paranoid, dusty. We really are after them.
    Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son" Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on" God say, "No." Abe say, "What?" God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin' you better run."


    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#15)
    by The Heretik on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:00 PM EST
    One of the more interesting things about the head of this new National Clandestine Agency is that we will never know who it is because that person is and will remain an undercover officer. More on this at SPOOK SPEAK

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:01 PM EST
    The head of the agency will be named 'Jose.' These clowns laugh their arses off at the RUDE details of their treason.

    Re: Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency (none / 0) (#17)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:01 PM EST
    John Negroponte is in charge
    Oh yeah it looks like Mr. Deathsquad is gonna get some domestically operating hit squads organized. Lovely.

    Bush Creates New 'Big Brother' Agency | 17 comments (17 topical)