The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 32      August 18, 2008

 
White House broadens
powers of spy director
(front page)
 
BY SAM MANUEL  
WASHINGTON—President George Bush approved revisions July 30 to a 1981 executive order that expand the powers of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). White House officials said the amendment brings the original order issued by President Ronald Regan in line with the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act that centralized the 16 U.S. spy agencies under a DNI.

The revisions are part of the latest bipartisan drive to strengthen the ability of the spy agencies to snoop on U.S. citizens and others, and to share information among themselves. It is an important component of the U.S. government’s moves to transform its “intelligence” capabilities in the “global war on terrorism.”

According to a “background briefing” posted on the White House Web site the revisions are also based on findings of the 9/11 Commission established to make recommendations strengthening U.S. spy agencies in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks here and in New York City.

One person quoted in the briefing, who is identified only as a “senior administration official,” said that passage of the new Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is also an important step. That legislation legitimized a warrantless spy program by the Bush administration and granted immunity to communication companies that provide information to the government about calls and e-mails of its clients. Asked during the briefing why the revisions were approved now, the official said, “the President is anxious to institutionalize a number of important tools that he and his successors are going to need to fight and win the war on terrorism.”

The revised order establishes the DNI as the highest intelligence authority and gives the director oversight in many areas, including relations with foreign intelligence, formerly the turf of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In carrying out DNI functions, the director will only be required to “take into account” the views of heads of other agencies, including the CIA.

Much of the blame for U.S. “intelligence flaws” regarding the decision to invade Iraq and the failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were placed at the door of the CIA.

The DNI will determine what intelligence information can be made available to which agencies, regardless of where it came from. This provision makes it easier to distribute information among the spy agencies.

The DNI will also be given a strong say in the appointment and removal of senior intelligence officials throughout the agencies.

White House officials went to great lengths during the briefing to insist that the section of the original order providing protections for the civil liberties and other rights of U.S. citizens have been maintained. It requires the attorney general to approve all procedures regarding the collection of information on U.S. persons, they said.

Critics of the revisions point out that warrantless wiretapping went on under the government’s foreign surveillance programs despite supposed civil liberties protections. The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the revisions saying they seem to authorize intelligence agencies to focus more on domestic spying than before.
 
 
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Canada to send 200 more troops to Afghanistan
Pentagon document projects ‘Long War’
U.S. military napalmed civilians in Korean War  
 
 
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