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Pentagon weighs cutting most of its support to CIA's counterterrorism missions

Luis Martinez
ABC News
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 03:16 UTC
Chris Miller
© Defense .gov/APActing Defense Secretary Chris Miller
In a surprising move, the Pentagon has told the Central Intelligence Agency that it is weighing an end to the majority of the military support it provides to the agency's counterterrorism missions, according to a former senior administration intelligence official.

It is unclear how the decision would impact the spy agency's worldwide counterterrorism missions that often rely on the U.S. military for logistical support and personnel.

Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller sent a letter to CIA Director Gina Haspel outlining the decision, according to the former official, who characterized the action as both surprising and unprecedented.

The CIA's Special Activities Center carries out covert operations and has its own paramilitary force that carries out counterterrorism operations. While they act as an independent force, they often rely on the military for transportation and logistical support. Sometimes that means that military personnel end up being detailed to support the CIA's counterterrorism operations.

Defense One was first to report that the Pentagon was reviewing its support to the CIA. The online defense news outlet cited multiple officials as saying the intent behind the move is to see if Defense Department personnel "detailed" to the CIA should be diverted from counterterrorism missions and toward missions related to competition with Russia and China.

A Defense Department spokesman indicated that the possible shift away from supporting the CIA's counterterrorism missions was in line with the National Defense Strategy that pushes the military's focus away from the regional wars in the Middle East towards near-peer competitors like Russia and China.

Comment: In review of the DOD support to the CIA, some see it as necessary, others as cutting vital funding:
In the final six weeks of President Trump's administration, political appointees at the Pentagon are reviewing the Pentagon's support to the CIA. Critics see a potentially dangerous effort to yank critical Defense Department support to agency efforts in terrorism hotspots across the globe.

The review is the pet project of Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Ezra Cohen-Watnick, one of several top-level political appointees assigned to acting roles in the Pentagon in the wake of Trump's Election Day [assumed] loss. Several of those officials, including Cohen-Watnick, are seen as Trump loyalists.

Some former officials fiercely question the utility of what they see as an effort to curtail the Defense Department's counterterrorism support to the agency.
"I think it's fair for the DOD to say, 'I'd like some of our detailees to be involved in these higher-level missions' — and they are — but it's going to be very few, because there's very few involved in those missions anyway. If they go, 'We don't want to help you with the CT missions' — well, somebody has to do it.

"It's basically going to ask the CIA to carry the burden for two-and-a-half months and pull the rug out from under them at the same time," said the former official. "If they start dying in Afghanistan, this is going to be a big deal."
No decisions have yet been made, and some officials say that view is alarmist.

But rumors surrounding the review have burned through the Pentagon in a moment of profound upheaval in the E-Ring. At least some counterterrorism officials feared at one point — incorrectly — that the authorization for the counterterrorism detail program would not be renewed as normal this month, hinting at the degree of anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the murky initiative.

That three-year authorization has since been signed, but the broader review of Defense Department support to the agency is ongoing.


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X

Schiff refuses to disclose why he withheld details of Swalwell's relationship with a Chinese spy from Intel Committee

Jordan Davidson
The Federalist
Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Swalwell, Fang,Schiff
© Denver Gazette/Fox News/AP/Andrew Harnik/KJNEric Swalwell • Christina Fang • Adam Schiff
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff did not respond to The Federalist's questions about Intelligence Committee member and California Rep. Eric Swalwell's position on the committee in light of recent news revealing Swalwell's connections with a suspected Chinese spy.

When asked whether Swalwell's position on the House Intelligence Committee would be tainted or compromised by his relationship with Christine Fang, a suspected spy for communist China, Swalwell's office did not reply as of press time. According to a new report by Axios, Fang leveraged her position and connections in California's Bay Area for years to gather intelligence on Democrat politicians and government officials.

Schiff's office also did not respond when asked if he previously knew about Swalwell's involvement with Fang or if he was briefed about Swalwell's relationship with Fang.
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Laptop

After four years stonewalling, the FBI finally admits it is holding Seth Rich's laptop

Larry Johnson
Gateway Pundit
Wed, 09 Dec 2020 02:34 UTC
Seth Rich
© unknownSeth Rich
A stunning development on the legal front that directly impacts the so-called conspiracy theory that the death of Seth Rich was something more than routine street crime. The FBI now admits it has Seth Rich's laptop. This information has just been posted on Lawflog.com courtesy of Ty Clevenger.

According to an email posted at Lawflog.com and sent to attorney Ty Clevenger, the attorney for the FBI now admits that the:
FBI has completed the initial search identifying approximately 50 cross-reference serials, with attachments totaling over 20,000 pages, in which Seth Rich is mentioned. FBI has also located leads that indicate additional potential records that require further searching. . . . FBI is also currently working on getting the files from Seth Rich's personal laptop into a format to be reviewed. As you can imagine, there are thousands of files of many types. The goal right now is to describe, generally, the types of files/personal information contained in this computer.
After more than four years of repeated denials from the FBI that they had searched their files and had no information on Seth Rich, we now know that was a blatant lie. It was David Hardy, a FBI Senior official, who put that denial in writing in September 2017. Hardy was the Section Chief of the Record/Information Dissemination Section ("RIDS"), Information Management Division ("IMD"),1 Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), in Winchester, Virginia.

Comment: The subpoena for it makes for quite interesting reading:



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Take 2

Swalwell scandal isn't about a one-off dalliance with a Chinese spy - Pelosi knows about 'the whole thing'

Allan Miller
100PercentFedUp.com
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Eric Swalwell
© Getty ImagesEric Swalwell, US Representative, CA 15th District
In the days since a bombshell report linked Rep. Eric Swalwell with a suspected Chinese spy, the congressman's record on China has come under scrutiny...but that's not it...THIS COULD GET REAL INTERESTING REAL FAST.

A look at some of the California Democrat's statements and legislative history reveals a mixed bag: at times opposing the Chinese government's practices, but not when President Trump was involved.

"Director Ratcliffe said that China is the greatest threat, which does not match what we have been briefed on privately," Swalwell told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in August, when discussing foreign election interference. While China, Iran, and Russia had all been suspected of trying to impact November's election, Swalwell only focused on Russia, which he recognized as being the "one country that has a preference for Donald Trump."

But it doesn't stop there!

The Swalwell Scandal isn't about a one-off dalliance w/ a Chinese spy.

Comment: Swalwell has proven he is better at running his mouth than his brain. Meanwhile we await with baited breath 'the whole thing'. Maybe it'll be like 'the kraken'?

See also:

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Cell Phone

Chinese money launderer who called James Biden after FBI arrest, was really trying to reach Hunter

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 11:24 UTC
Patrick Ho HunterBiden
© Unknown/KJNPatrick Ho • Hunter Biden
With Politico reporting on Wednesday that Hunter Biden's criminal investigation covers potential money laundering, and CNN's Simon Prokupecz reporting that the feds are looking into a 2017 gift to Hunter from CEFC China Energy Co. founder Ye Jianming - a 2.8-carat diamond, let's revisit a prime example of what one Chinese professor described as 'friends in high places' within the Democratic party.

In November, 2017, Joe Biden's brother James received a surprise call on his cellphone from Patrick Ho, Ye Jianming's lieutenant who was arrested by the FBI (and is now serving a 36-month sentence for bribery and money laundering), according to a December, 2018 report by the New York Times. According to James, the call was meant for Hunter:
James Biden, a financier and brother of the former vice president, was in a hotel lobby in November 2017 when he got a surprise call on his cellphone. The call was from Patrick Ho, Mr. Ye's lieutenant. Mr. Ho, 69, was in trouble.

Federal agents who had monitored CEFC's rise since at least the summer of 2016 had sprung into action, arresting Mr. Ho in New York on allegations that he had bribed African officials in Chad and Uganda. Days later, federal agents showed up at Mr. Ye's luxury apartment building across from Central Park with a subpoena to interview Mr. Ye, said people familiar with the matter.
...
In a brief interview, James Biden said he had been surprised by Mr. Ho's call. He said he believed it had been meant for Hunter Biden, the former vice president's son. James Biden said he had passed on his nephew's contact information.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Conservatives ask 'what about Biden?' after New Yorker breaks story on Sen. Dianne Feinstein's cognitive decline


RT
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 14:22 UTC
FeinsteinBiden
© Reuters/Bill Clark/Kevin LamarqueSenator Dianne Feinstein • Former VP Joe Biden
Dianne Feinstein is the oldest sitting US senator and, according to the New Yorker, is suffering from severe cognitive decline. Online, some pundits wondered why the magazine never examined Joe Biden the same way.

At 87 years old, Dianne Feinsten has represented California in the US Senate since 1992, and was previously the mayor of San Francisco between 1978 and 1988. After a long career in public service, the New Yorker reported on Thursday that her mind simply isn't what it used to be.

According to the magazine, Feinstein's "short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have." Rumors of the California Democrat's decline have been out in the open for some time, backed up by videos of her bumbling through public statements and fueled by the gossip-hungry conservative press. Video footage of a Senate hearing last month, for example, showed Feinstein asking the same question twice of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.



Comment: Perhaps the 'gossip-hungry conservative press' made the same sort of observations as depicted here. Given a partisan motive or not, a person in cognitive decline should not be a decision-maker in America's highest political arena - be it senator or president.


Comment: What others had to say:



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Attention

Raytheon, Yemen and Biden

Michael Arria
Mondoweiss
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:00 UTC
Yemeni homes destroyed
© Hani Mohammed/APYemeni homes destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in Sana'a.
Meet General Lloyd Austin

President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate retired Army general Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary. After retiring from the military in 2016, Austin joined the board of Raytheon. The defense manufacturer has sold billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Saudi coalition that's been pummeling Yemen with bombs for years.

New York Times, earlier this year, reported:
"After the Yemen war began in 2015 and the Obama administration made a hasty decision to back the Saudis, Raytheon booked more than $3 billion in new bomb sales, according to an analysis of available U.S. government records. Intent on pushing the deals through, Raytheon followed the industry playbook: It took advantage of federal loopholes by sending former State Department officials, who were not required to be registered as lobbyists, to press their former colleagues to approve the sales."
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Headphones

In leaked audio, Biden says 'defund the police' being used to 'beat the living hell out of' Democrats

Dominick Mastrangelo
The Hill
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:29 UTC
Sleepy Joe Biden
© donaldjtrump.comJoe Biden

Comment: Damn right it is, and with full justification. Take a look at Portland's latest fiasco. Intelligent Americans want nothing to do with weakening law enforcement.


President-elect Joe Biden privately warned a group of civil rights leaders to curb rhetoric about police reform in America ahead of the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January.

The leaders had been urging Biden to be aggressive in rolling back some of the Trump administration's policies via executive order during his early days in office, including on matters of voting and police misconduct.

They also took issue with Biden's selection of Tom Vilsack as Agriculture secretary instead of choosing a person of color. That prompted Biden to warn the group that such forceful statements could backfire in the Georgia Senate election, which will determine party control of the chamber.

Comment: Sleepy Joe is still coherent enough to realize what tactics are going to damage his case for being accepted a president. Not that it's likely, and he probably knows that, too. But one must keep up appearances.

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Attention

Biden's pick for Pentagon chief further erodes key US norm: Civilian control

Glenn Greenwald
greenwald.substack.com
Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:53 UTC
General Lloyd Austin III Biden Pentagon
© Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty ImagesThen-Commander of US Central Command Gen. Lloyd Austin III conducts a media briefing on Operation Inherent Resolve, the international military effort against (IS) Islamic State group, on October 17, 2014, at the Pentagon (Photo credit should read )
Joe Biden's pick to be the next Secretary of Defense, according to reports on Monday night, is recently retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin, III. The choice of Gen. Austin further erodes the once-sacred American norm that military officials will be barred from exercising control over the Pentagon until substantial time has passed after leaving active-duty military service.

Before Gen. Austin can be confirmed, Biden will need a special waiver from Congress under the National Security Act of 1947. That law, a cornerstone of the post-World War II national security state, provides that "a person who has within ten years been on active duty as a commissioned officer in a Regular component of the armed services shall not be eligible for appointment as Secretary of Defense." Enactment of the law after the war, explained the Congressional Research Service, was imperative to "preserve the principle of civilian control of the military at a time when the United States was departing from its century-and-a-half long tradition of a small standing military." A 2008 law reduced that waiting period to seven years, but Gen. Austin, who retired from the U.S. Army only four years ago, in 2016, still falls well within its prohibition.

Comment: China's Global Times is happy with the pick. Austin is not numbered among the ranks of China hawks:
[P]rovoking China will only bring the US more troubles. Picking Austin as the new secretary of defense signals that the US will to some extent ease tensions with China. We might see the US adjust its entire overseas military strategy.

It can be anticipated that Washington will attach more significance in the Middle East. It will not continue to withdraw its troops from the region. On the contrary, the US may send more soldiers there. That's why Biden is choosing Austin: Because he has deep experience in the Middle East.


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Magnify

US flew two bombers from Louisiana over the Persian Gulf, is joined by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar

Courtney Kube
Yahoo
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:43 UTC
Bomber
© Smith Collection / Getty ImagesB-52H Stratofortress Bomber
The U.S. military flew two B-52H bombers from Louisiana to the Middle East Thursday, part of an ongoing effort to deter Iran from any aggressive actions, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

The bomber mission, which flew through the region but did not drop any bombs, comes as the U.S. military believes there is a heightened chance for Iranian actions or miscalculations, according to a senior U.S. military official with knowledge of the region.

The two B-52H "Stratofortresses" flew from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on a roughly 36-hour mission that took them across Europe, through the northern Red Sea, across Saudi Arabia and into the Persian Gulf for a north to south transit. The mission included a counterclockwise loop around Qatar, all the time staying closer to the western side of the gulf and outside Iranian airspace, according to the senior U.S. military official with knowledge of the region.

Comment: See also:

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