News you may have missed #815 (analysis edition)
December 7, 2012 1 Comment
By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
►►Should polygraph tests be trusted? US federal polygraph programs have flourished, targeting a growing number of private contractors with more intensely personal questions than ever before. More than 70,000 people are now screened yearly in the US. Yet thousands of people a year could be identified as lying in polygraph screenings when they are not, according to statistical models by the National Academies, which advises the federal government on scientific matters. Under the current system, many of them would have no way to legally challenge polygraphists’ conclusions, especially in the intelligence world.
►►Why the US does not need another law against intelligence leaks. Leonard Downie Jr., vice president at large of The Washington Post, warns that the 2013 Intelligence Authorization Act “would make it a crime for career intelligence officers to provide almost any type of information to the news media, whether the information is classified or not”. He argues that the proposed legislation would “end contacts that often benefit both the government and the public by allowing the exchange of accurate information about vital national security issues and intelligence activities, including abuses requiring attention”.
►►The preventable decline of British defense intelligence. Defense intelligence refers to something rather different from ‘military intelligence’. It takes place at the topmost levels of defense coordination and decision-making and draws together participation from all of the armed services with civilian subject-matter and technical experts and produce consolidated assessments for senior civil servants, ministers and the service chiefs of staff. Philip Davies, director of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies in the United Kingdom, argues that, in Britain, defense and military intelligence remains “something of a poor cousin in the intelligence community, the eternal Peter robbed to pay the Paul of other, seemingly more urgent, defense expenditure and policy priorities”.
intelNews.org 
US Defense Intelligence Agency responds to claims it was asked to spy on protesters
June 8, 2020 by Joseph Fitsanakis Leave a comment
Several government agencies are reportedly involved in monitoring the waves of protests that have reputed throughout the United States in recent weeks, following the death of George Floyd. Floyd, 46, died on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis. His death, which was captured on video by a bystander, has prompted nationwide calls for police accountability and regulation of excessive force by police officers, especially against members of minority groups.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has responded to the demonstrations —some of which have turned violent— with a show of force involving a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies. This is especially true in the nation’s capital, where military personnel have been repeatedly deployed to help police monitor and control the protests. Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News reported that the Trump administration authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on individuals and groups participating in the protests.
Now Yahoo News reports that some DIA employees are wondering whether their agency might follow suit. The DIA operates under the US Department of Defense and collects foreign military intelligence. Like the Central Intelligence Agency, the DIA is prevented by law from spying domestically. However, its personnel can support domestic intelligence efforts, providing they are detailed to a domestic law enforcement agency for specific operations or tasks.
According to Yahoo News’s Jenna McLaughlin, the possibility that DIA personnel might be assigned to domestic intelligence tasks relating to the nationwide protests was discussed last week during an agency-forum. The unclassified forum —called a “virtual town hall” was led last Wednesday by DIA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley. McLaughlin cites “two sources” who were “briefed on what happened during the town hall”. They said that Gen. Ashley was asked by a DIA employee about the agency’s position on domestic intelligence operations. “We have been told that DIA is setting up a task force on ‘unrest’ in our country”, said the employee. “Is this true? Is it legal given intelligence oversight? What options will there be for employees who are morally opposed to such an effort?”
According to McLaughlin, the DIA director responded that the agency’s “core mission is foreign intelligence” and that it is “focused on the foreign nexus”. Gen. Ashley’s words were interpreted to mean that the DIA had been asked to investigate possible interference in the protests by foreign intelligence agencies —possibly in a manner similar to the meddling by Russian spies in the 2016 US elections. He added that the DIA’s Office of the General Counsel had “reviewed the issue to ensure that [the agency] was in compliance with the law”. However, Gen. Ashley did not explain whether the DIA had proceeded to carry out such an investigation.
On Saturday, DIA spokesman James M. Kudla told Yahoo News that the agency had set up “an internal coordination group to respond to increased and appropriate Department requests for information”. However, he added that “the mission of the Defense Intelligence Agency is to provide intelligence on foreign militaries to prevent and win wars”. He went on to say that “any claims that DIA has taken on a domestic mission are false”. The “DIA has not established any task force related to the current domestic situation”, he said.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 08 June 2020 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with civil liberties, domestic intelligence, George Floyd protests, News, Robert Ashley, US Defense Intelligence Agency