Of all the The President's appointments that have puzzled and disturbed some 2008 supporters like myself who believe they were promised a serious change from Bushco (see Geithner, Summers, Salazar, Holder) his appointment of Republican David Petraeus to head the CIA probably tops the list.
Ymmv of course.
Common Dreams had this header this morning:
CIA's Petraeus Tells White House: 'We Want More Drones'
SNIP
Not content with the size of the current fleet and tired of asking to "borrow" from the Pentagon, CIA chief and former US Army General David Petraeus has requested more armed Predator drones in order to broaden the spy agency's targeted killing program that now operates in several countries across the world.
CIA Director David H. Petraeus, center, urged in a proposal that the White House approve a significant expansion of the CIA’s fleet of armed drones, a move that would accelerate the spy service’s transformation into a paramilitary force, U.S. officials said. (Heidi Vogt/AP)
This, according to a report by the Washington Post, which says Petraeus wants at least 10 more drones for the CIA, an increase of 30 percent, and says that fulfillment of that request, would have "broad implications for counterterrorism policy and whether the CIA gradually returns to being an organization focused mainly on gathering intelligence, or remains a central player in the targeted killing of terrorism suspects abroad."
Timing and the Election
Some will surely ask, 'Why could this report not wait until after the election? Wonder how this made its way to the press?'
Oh great, some will surely say, this will add to the wedge issue of the Obama Administration's expansion of covert use of deadly force, including drones, which has been conducted, critics decry, often without having the approval and oversight of Congress.
Who knows, and though it is moot now, there were rumors that Director Petraeus was being considered a Romney VP choice. When asked he said he had no plans to run for public office.
The CIA and the 1%
While researching this post was interested to see the following release on the CIA site that Director Petraeus along with his wife attended opening of NYSE earlier this year.
CIA.gov
Director Petraeus Rings the NYSE Opening Bell To Commemorate the CIA’s 65th Birthday
September 19, 2012
On Tuesday, September 18, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David H. Petraeus, accompanied by his wife Holly Petraeus, rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to commemorate the CIA’s 65th Anniversary. Director Petraeus was joined at the ceremony by the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department Raymond Kelly, the Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department Salvatore Cassano, and NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer.
In remarks made at a reception before ringing the bell, Director Petraeus said, “It is a true privilege to be here to ring the opening bell on behalf of the outstanding men and women with whom I am privileged to serve at the Central Intelligence Agency, on this, the 65th birthday of the CIA.”
Director Petraeus praised the New York City Police and Fire Departments and extolled the NYSE, which he pointed out has “long been a symbol of America’s financial might, competitive drive, and entrepreneurial spirit.” Director Petraeus added that the NYSE’s reopening less than a week after 9/11 demonstrated “that terrorist attacks would not hold us back or break our spirit.”
FWIW, my view of the NY police department after seeing how
Occupy Wall Street is treated differs from the Director's. Beyond that, I have opposed use violent covert use of the CIA to promote US interests, especially when they turned out to be narrow corporate interests.
If you are not up on CIA ties formal and informal ties (before Petraeus) advising moneymaking activities of huge corporations and hedge funds read this the startling article that I missed in 2010.
CIA moonlights in corporate world
Here's a snippet
But the close ties between active-duty and retired CIA officers at one consulting company show the degree to which CIA-style intelligence gathering techniques have been employed by hedge funds and financial institutions in the global economy.
The firm is called Business Intelligence Advisors, and it is based in Boston. BIA was founded and is staffed by a number of retired CIA officers, and it specializes in the arcane field of “deception detection.” BIA’s clients have included Goldman Sachs and the enormous hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, according to spokesmen for both firms.
BIA has employed active-duty CIA officers in the past, although BIA president Cheryl Cook said that has “not been the case with BIA for some time.”
But the ties between BIA and the intelligence world run deep. The name itself was chosen as a play off CIA. And the presence of so many former CIA personnel on the payroll at BIA causes confusion as to whether the intelligence firm is actually an extension of the agency itself. As a result, BIA places a disclaimer in some of its corporate materials to clarify that it is not, in fact, controlled by Langley.
BIA’s clients can put the company on a retainer for as much as $400,000 to $800,000 a year. And in return, they receive access to a variety of services, from deception detection to other programs that feature the CIA intelligence techniques.
Opposition to Further Militarization of the CIA
Back in 2011 former CIA Agent and activist Ray McGovern warned that appointing David Petraeus to the CIA would result in the expansion of war-like actions on the part of our government.
Democracy Now!
President Obama is expected to announce a major shuffling of his national security team today. Under his plan, CIA Director Leon Panetta will move to the Pentagon to replace the retiring Robert Gates. Gen. David Petraeus will become the new head of the CIA. U.S. Marine General John Allen will be nominated to become the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, a position currently held by Petraeus. And Ryan Crocker will be nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Leon Panetta has headed the CIA for the past two years and has led a massive escalation of the use of unarmed drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many analysts say the nomination of David Petraeus to head the CIA will further increase the militarization of the spy agency. We speak with Ray McGovern, former senior CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. [includes rush transcript]
It can be argued that McGovern's prediction has indeed proven to be the case. However, much remains secret to both the public and to an extent those in Congress whose responsibility it is to oversee the Agency.
Moreover, journalists who want to report on this continue to find it very difficult because of secrecy and the Administration's move to stifle leaks. For an excellent discussion see:
NYTimes
The Public Editor
Questions on Drones, Unanswered Still
By MARGARET SULLIVAN
Published: October 13, 2012
Two recent studies have come out calling in to question CIA policies and actions, especially the alleged extra-judicial killing of innocent civilians including children. Sullivan provides links to those studies and provides an interesting critique of media reporting and the challenges faced in providing a full picture of these actions.
(See also The Big Chill: How Obama Is Operating in Unprecedented Secrecy -- While Attacking the Secret-Tellers Posted: 10/17/2012 11:05 am )
Drones Questions in Presidential Debate on Foreign Policy?
Perhaps next week this covert use of drones will be brought up in a question in the last Presidential debate. The likelihood of that coming up will perhaps be increased if one watches the final debate via Expanding the Debates on Democracy Now! which will show both the Rep and Dem candidates AND interject third party candidates answers during the same broadcast.
Support of Drone Use
Public support for the use of drones has polled high, though critics say that the press has provided only the Adminstration's figures.
Others here at dkos are all in with the drone program given that our Democratic Party President Barack Obama being in charge of this.
But one has to wonder how we all will feel if Romney wins?
What Would It Be Like To Have Romney/Ryan In Control Of Drone Killings?
My stomach turns at the thought that if Romney and Ryan win they will be in charge of this terrible power. The argument is made that President Obama has opened Pandora's Box with his expansion of this executive power. If the reports are confirmed that the majority of killings have been 'collateral damage' aka killing of non-combatant civilians then surely we will be less secure than we were before? Imagine if Mexico were conducting a similar covert war here. What would be the reaction?
More Central Intelligence Agency Oversight Needed?
For a quick review on the history of oversight I went to Wiki and found this interesting entry:
Intelligence Committee investigation
On July 17, 2009, the House Intelligence Committee said it was launching a formal investigation into the secret program.[168] Representative Silvestre Reyes announced the probe will look into "whether there was any past decision or direction to withhold information from the committee".
"Is giving your kid a test in school an inhibition on his free learning?" Holt said. "Sure, there are some people who are happy to let intelligence agencies go about their business unexamined. But I think most people when they think about it will say that you will get better intelligence if the intelligence agencies don't operate in an unexamined fashion."
Rush Holt, Chairman, House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, Committee on Appropriations[169]
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D, IL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who called for the investigation, stated that the investigation was intended to address CIA failures to inform Congress fully or accurately about four issues: C.I.A. involvement in the downing of a missionary plane mistaken for a narcotics flight in Peru in 2001, and two "matters that remain classified", as well as the rumored-assassinations question. In addition, the inquiry is likely to look at the Bush administration's program of eavesdropping without warrants and its detention and interrogation program.[170] U.S. Intelligence Chief Dennis Blair testified before the House Intelligence Committee on February 3, 2010 that the U.S. intelligence community is prepared to kill U.S. citizens if they threaten other Americans or the United States.[171] The American Civil Liberties Union has said this policy is "particularly troubling" because U.S. citizens "retain their constitutional right to due process even when abroad." The ACLU also "expressed serious concern about the lack of public information about the policy and the potential for abuse of unchecked executive power."[172]
I want to encourage all who are not familiar with the history of controversial CIA covert actions and the difficulty of overseeing them to go read the whole
entry.
Veterans Working To Change the Policy
SNIP
Credit:http://www.democrats.com/...
Veterans For Peace is calling for the grounding of Predator and Reaper Drones and for General Atomics to stop manufacturing them. Other members of VFP are currently traveling from the United States to Pakistan as part of a delegation organized by Code Pink to visit one area where U.S. drone strikes have become frequent. VFP is part of a coalition organizing an online petition in support of banning weaponized drones.
Their online petition is
here.
###
I am hoping that such actions on the parts of citizen's groups like the VFP, coupled with the Stanford and Columbia reports, that the President will signal that he will at least move to more transparency and oversight of CIA's controversial use of drones.