cannabisnews.com: White House Reviewing Rules Governing CIA





White House Reviewing Rules Governing CIA
Posted by FoM on September 16, 2001 at 13:51:07 PT
Washington
Source: CNN.com
Bush administration officials are reviewing all the rules governing CIA and other intelligence activities abroad, ranging from the ban on assassinations to rules mandating that informants be checked for their criminal and human rights records, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN on Sunday. Powell said the executive order signed in 1976 by President Gerald Ford forbidding assassination "is under review." Critics charge lifting the order would reduce U.S. moral prestige around the world and make U.S. officials from the president down less safe. 
Powell said in many respects it will be "an intelligence war ... and a law enforcement war" against the Al Qaeda organization headed by suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. U.S. President George W. Bush has named bin Laden as the "prime suspect' in Tuesday's hijacking attacks on New York and Washington that left thousands dead or missing. Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill told CNN on Wednesday that the rules on checking informants' pasts before hiring them will likely be abolished by legislation, if the executive branch does not act soon. In a related development Sunday, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he plans to introduce a bill creating an "Office of Counter-terrorism" at the White House with broad power to direct the federal government's efforts to fight terrorism. "We need to have someone who has the ability to establish a national program, allocate resources, and be held accountable for our response against terrorism," said Senate Intelligence Chairman Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida. The new office would have powers to direct counter-terrorism efforts patterned after the powers the Office of Drug Control Policy has to direct anti-drug efforts, according Paul Anderson, the spokesman for the Senate Intelligence Committee. The head of the drug office is often referred to as the "drug czar." Anderson said the new office would have "broad budget authority" to direct counter-terrorism efforts by various agencies, including the FBI and the CIA. Graham said he intends to introduce the legislation as soon as Congress reconvenes on Thursday. Stung by charges in some quarters of a massive intelligence failure, a U.S. intelligence official said "we didn't win this battle, but we will win the war". The official said the public does not realize how many "hundreds, possibly thousands" of lives have been saved by counter-terrorism efforts in recent years. Former CIA operatives say changing the rules on assassinations or recruiting will not help against the key problem: how hard it is to penetrate terrorist cells. However, intelligence officials say more money for additional case officers and with which to pay off informants and agents "could certainly help". House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Porter Goss, R-Florida, told CNN he believes U.S. intelligence has been "underfunded and under-resourced" for a decade. Source: CNN.com (US Web)Published: September 16, 2001Copyright: 2001 Cable News Network, Inc.Contact: cnn.feedback cnn.comWebsite: http://www.cnn.com/Forum: http://community.cnn.com/Related Articles:U.S. Had Capability But Lacked Will http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10919.shtmlWar on Whom? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10913.shtmlThe Roots of Hatred http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10901.shtmlTerrorists Get Cash From Drug Tradehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10912.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by bruce42 on September 17, 2001 at 09:33:06 PT
arrrrrgh!
This is so maddeningly frustrating! The solution is so simple! All the government has to do is wrestle control of the drug market from the black market- with economics and legalization of course, none of this "silly knees bent running about" that the DEA prefers. The only reason there are drug dealers is because the work is profitable- I doubt they do it for their health! And what is this BS about undermining national security?! All the drug dealers want is money!Things could be fixed relatively easlily (comapred to actually eradicating drugs and their use), but the DEA is so corrupt and the congress so well bought that the WoD bucks will keep flowing. As for not having enough resources for the WoD and baby bush's new WoT? Well, the congress seems to think that allocating 40 bill for baby bush's nebulously defined crusade is just peachy keen. 4d and kapt are right, as long as the sheepul are distracted by this tragedy, which even the government didn't see coming (more BS), the congress will have a greasy, dirty, oil-lubed, money grubbing orgy on the hill; passing laws to further deepen their pockets and tighten their totalitarian grip on our rights. It's a sad, sad world we live in.  
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Comment #8 posted by dddd on September 17, 2001 at 05:07:10 PT
By gum,Kap
...You have an excellent way of saying things,,and I'mnot just saying that because you tended to agree with me.you wrote,"But because said policy is proposed at a time when Joe & Josephine Sixpack's senses are reeling,....."...this is exactly what we will see this week!All manner of absurd laws will be snuck in,while the sheepleare sheparded along,and made to focus on the 9/11 tragedy.Anything that happens that is not connected to this event,willbe made trivial,and unimportant......This promises to be a really heavy week.Keep the Faith.....dddd
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on September 17, 2001 at 04:22:47 PT:
I tend to agree with 4D
The infrastructure to deploy the DEA as 'anti-terrorist' agents is already in place. The technology is already been developed. And in the words of one DEA wonk, the chance has just presented itself:from the DEAWatch website:http://members.aol.com/deawatch/daily.htm12 Sep 2001, 14:09 PST, 5th EditionN.M. Gov. Debates Legalizing Drugs with DEA Boss, con't:Instead of screwing around with Gary Johnson Asa should be making public statements equating community drug dealers with terrorists. We all know that a good portion of drug money is going to terrorist organizations. Drug dealers and terrorists are one and the same: they both work to undermind our national security. Somebody should tell Asa to leave the debates to ONDCP and start acting like a law enforcement executive. He is missing a good media opportunity to raise the drug war issue. Terrorists and drug dealers are one and the same... or is it only the flower part of the poppy that Afghanistan ships to the U.S.???Being the grasping, shallow, opportunistic, political slugs they are, they hope to rejuvenate their hopeless cause with even more money under the guise of hunting 'terrorists'. And guess who's going to be the 'terrorists'? You and me and everyone critical of their efforts.The USG has a long history of taking advantage of tragic situations to drum up support for policies that are, often at their first mention, seen by more level headed people for the catastrophes-in-waiting that they eventually become. But because said policy is proposed at a time when Joe & Josephine Sixpack's senses are reeling, when there is a public outcry to 'do something', the policies get passed. And the madness begins anew. The DrugWar got its' start in exactly that way. This would merely be gilding the lilly, here, by empowering those whove already shown their closet contempt for the Constitution to atomize it in the name of 'public safety and security'.
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Comment #6 posted by Rainbow on September 16, 2001 at 20:12:59 PT
small government?
A result of Grahams lawmaking,Larger government,More police More violenceMore pain and sufferingMore deadMore hatredHigher taxesLess education (read dumbing down America)Less socialMore money for rich peopleAnd we will not solve the problem. We will put a band-aid on the sore and it will be transparent at the most.CheersRainbowP.S. I wish you have enough
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Comment #5 posted by dddd on September 16, 2001 at 19:17:03 PT
S_O...
What I'm saying,is that instead of just the WoDs,which alreadyhas alot of the type things in place that can be applied to snoopingfor terrorism,will simply be expanded to anti-terrorism activities...In other words,there will be little difference between the two...dddd
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Comment #4 posted by Silent_Observer on September 16, 2001 at 18:55:53 PT
dddd..the only
reason I tend to disagree is that there simply may not be enough resources to cover both areas.
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Comment #3 posted by dddd on September 16, 2001 at 18:48:04 PT
Terrorism,,Drugs,,,Same thing...
..I'm afraid that's basicly how it will work.The new waron terrorism will not cause a diversion of the WoDs,as somehave suggested,,,,it will instead be a combination of the two...Drug enforcement cops,will now become Drug/terrorism cops.DEA will simply say that they are looking for bombs,or boxcutters to justify any,and all searches....dddd
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Comment #2 posted by OMG on September 16, 2001 at 15:33:02 PT
have a look at THIS
Scroll all the way down to the bottom, there's plenty of info about the current events!
News Room
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Comment #1 posted by Objective on September 16, 2001 at 14:30:34 PT:
Pragmatism (Missing from Republican Dictionaries)
Why not REPLACE the DEA with a counter terrorism agency? We would all save money, and it would deprive foreign terrorists of drug money."The new office would have powers to direct counter-terrorism efforts patterned after the powers the Office of Drug Control Policy has to direct anti-drug efforts"If the counter terrorism office is as successful as the DEA, we're all in serious trouble.
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