Larry Johnson: "SPY VS. SPY" U.S. Style

By Andrew Cochran

Larry Johnson is on travel and asked me to post the following:

An untold story behind the recent capture in Pakistan of a man alleged to be a senior Al Qaeda operative is the split that exists between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense over who is and is not a High Value Target. Simply stated, the CIA has one list and the Department of Defense has a separate list. While there are certain associates of Bin Laden on both lists, the lists diverge. This is one more symptom of a far deeper problem--no single organization or entity is in charge of the hunt for Bin Laden and his cronies. As has been publically reported, the Special Operations Command was designated as the supported commander in the Global War on Terrorism. This is military speak that means SOCOM is in charge of hunting down groups of Islamic extremists that engage in terrorism. While SOCOM has representatives of the CIA and the FBI assigned to its headquarters this does not mean that SOCOM is in charge of CIA and FBI operations in this area. In fact, both the CIA and the FBI, while making enormous strides in sharing information and trying to coordinate with each other, continue to pursue independent operations to locate and apprehend or kill Al Qaeda operatives and other radical Islamic jihadists.

One major sorepoint concerns whether or not US military intelligence operatives under SOCOM's authority can conduct reconnaissance and intelligence operations in a foreign country without the permission and knowledge of the US Ambassador and the CIA's Chief of Station. Traditionally US military intelligence operatives, such as the "Army of Northern Virginia", were required to have such permission before undertaking operations. Now this matter is being heatedly debated within the Washington policy community, with State and the CIA blocking efforts to allow unilateral deployments.

This dispute goes to the heart of the search for the remnants of Al Qaeda. With no single agency or department in charge there is no coordinated search for the men responsible for the 9-11 attacks. Until someone at the White House wakes up and insists that this be a priority, the President will have to be content with rare announcements that an Al Qaeda operative of questionable value was apprenhended with the help or our erstwhile Pakistani allies.

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