A review of a defense authorization bill by Walter Pincus at The Washington Post revealed that the House Armed Services Committee is supportive of more funding for intelligence programs in the Department of Defense. Numerous, obscure offices are expected to receive bigger budgets, including $100 million more for the Irregular Warfare Support Program, which develops “unconventional, creative, and multi-disciplinary (military, cultural, social, ideological, economic, and legal) approaches to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism.”

 

Also, the Quick Reaction Special Projects in the Rapid Reaction Technology Office is getting an added $10 million, the U.S. Army’s Minerva Initiative, which funds academic research, another $5 million, and the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office another $2.5 million.

 

Then, there is the Obama administration’s penchant for appointing retired generals and career military officers to key national security and diplomatic posts. The White House national security adviser is James Jones, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, and the ambassadors to Afghanistan (Karl Eikenberry) and Saudi Arabia (James Smith) are also former generals.

 

Furthermore, President Barack Obama has chosen two ex-military commanders to serve as director of national intelligence—first, Dennis Blair, and now James Clapper.

 

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is turning to the military, with the expected appointment of a retired general who was responsible for special operations in Afghanistan as the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, according to Truthout.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Military Expands Intelligence Role (by Walter Pincus, Washington Post)

Pentagon Tightens Grip on the Obama Administration and the Intelligence Community (by Melvin Goodman, Truthout)

8 Extremely Little-Known Corners of the U.S. Intelligence Network…and 4 More (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)