Turf Wars, Gates & the Pentagon's Secret Squirrels

The departure of Rumsfeld and the nomination of former CIA Director Gates to run the Department of Defense has some very interesting implications for the current intel turf wars between the Pentagon and the Agency.  As an old CIA hand, Gates is believed to disapprove of the DoD's foray into covert--or, as DoD calls them, clandestine--activities. 

Whether Gates successfully dismantles--or even attempts to dismantle--Cambone and Boykin's spy unit will not only be an indicator of his power, but also of Cheney's.  The espionage unit might have been Rumfeld's baby, but Cheney is undoubtedly the godfather. 

Many observers believe the Rumsfeld resignation signaled the end of Cheney's dominance of foreign policy, but in Seymour Hersh's  latest excellent New Yorker article, "THE NEXT ACT: Is a damaged Administration less likely to attack Iran, or more?", Hersh is not so ready to count Cheney out.

Buried inside Hersh's article this interesting nugget:

Another critical issue for Gates will be the Pentagon’s expanding effort to conduct clandestine and covert intelligence missions overseas. Such activity has traditionally been the C.I.A.’s responsibility, but, as the result of a systematic push by Rumsfeld, military covert actions have been substantially increased. In the past six months, Israel and the United States have also been working together in support of a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran, I was told by a government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership, as “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.” (The Pentagon has established covert relationships with Kurdish, Azeri, and Baluchi tribesmen, and has encouraged their efforts to undermine the regime’s authority in northern and southeastern Iran.) The government consultant said that Israel is giving the Kurdish group “equipment and training.” The group has also been given “a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the U.S.” (An Israeli government spokesman denied that Israel was involved.)

With the units apparently forming a cornerstone to current US covert activities in Iran, they are more difficult to shut down or even downgrade without a major shift in thinking coming from the White House.  My money is on the secret squirrels surviving and thriving while being forced, in theory, to better coordinate with the pros at Langley.

Comments

[Retired]

Interestingly, some of the smarter DoD secret squirrels of late have contracted with the same people that train Agency case officers to help them de-militarize their appearance and demeanor when conducting undisclosed and uncoordinated clandestine "preparation of the battlefield" missions overseas in places like, say, France. Some of the training advice included not wearing military style watches, military footwear, and military or military-inspired clothing (i.e., 5.11 gear), as well as taking off your sunglasses during a torrential rainstorm, even when you are conducting pre-operational surveillance and don't want people to know where your eyes are directed. Growing and grooming non-excentric head and facial hair was also covered, as was the inadvisability of whipping out a balisong in a Paris restaurant to cut your steak and frites.