Clandestine military teams clash with CIA, allies

[Jcrowley]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-intel18dec18,0,3935943.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Clandestine military teams clash with CIA, allies
By Greg Miller
Times Staff Writer

7:41 PM PST, December 17, 2006

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Special Forces teams sent overseas on secret spying missions have clashed with the CIA and carried out operations in countries that are staunch U.S. allies, prompting a new effort by the agency and the Pentagon to tighten the rules for military units engaged in espionage, according to senior U.S. intelligence and military officials.

The spy missions are part of a highly classified program that officials say has better positioned the United States to track terrorist networks and capture or kill enemy operatives in regions such as the Horn of Africa, where weak governments are unable to respond to emerging threats.

But the initiative has also led to several embarrassing incidents for the United States, including a shootout in Paraguay and the exposure of a sensitive intelligence operation in East Africa, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter. And to date, the Special Forces espionage effort has not led to the capture of a significant terrorism suspect.

Some intelligence officials have complained that Special Forces teams have sometimes launched missions without informing the CIA, duplicating or even jeopardizing existing operations. And they questioned deploying military teams in friendly nations -- including in Europe -- at a time when combat units are in short supply in war zones.

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/latimes183.htm

[Jcrowley]

1. A Glimpse of Army Special Operations Forces

A Glimpse of Army Special Operations Forces

The role of special operations forces in the U.S. military is steadily increasing but relatively little is publicly known about the activities and performance of these specialized units.

A new U.S. Army manual (pdf) fills in some of the gaps in the public record with a description of the structure, capabilities and missions of U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF). The manual has not been approved for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News.

"ARSOF are specially organized, trained, and equipped military forces," it explains. "They conduct SO to achieve military, political, economic, or informational objectives by generally unconventional means in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive areas."

According to the Army, special operations forces can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2006/11/a_glimpse_of_army_special_oper.html

[Nickster]

2. This is Rummy's legacy, he set up the special op teams to circumvent the CIA. Heck I read about all

of this in Sy Hersch's books a long time ago.