Defense Intelligence Agency: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|U.S. DoD combat support agency}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name    = Defense Intelligence Agency

==History==

Acting on the recommendations of the Joint Study Group, Defense Secretary [[Robert S. McNamara]] advised the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (JCS) of his decision to establish the DIA in February 1961. He ordered them to develop a plan that would integrate all the military intelligence of the DoD, a move that met strong resistance from the service intelligence units, whose commanders viewed DIA as undesirable encroachment on their turf. Despite this resistance, during the spring and summer of 1961, as [[Cold War]] tensions flared over the [[Berlin Wall]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] Lieutenant General [[Joseph Carroll (DIA)|Joseph Carroll]] took the lead in planning and organizing this new agency. The JCS published Directive 5105.21, "Defense Intelligence Agency" on August 1, and DIA began operations with a handful of employees in borrowed office space on October 1, 1961.<ref name="DIA History" />

[[File:Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters.JPEG|thumb|left|In the 1980s, DIA moved into the newly built [[Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters]] (seen here in 1988), which now represents only one wing of the sprawling complex.]]

Designated a [[combat support agency]] under the Goldwater–Nichols Act, DIA moved to increase cooperation with the Unified & Specified Commands and to begin developing a body of joint intelligence doctrine. Intelligence support to U.S. allies in the [[Middle East]] intensified as the Iran–Iraq War spilled into the [[Persian Gulf]]. DIA provided significant intelligence support to [[Operation Earnest Will]] while closely monitoring incidents such as the Iraqi rocket attack on the {{USS|Stark}}, the destruction of Iranian oil platforms, and Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti oil tankers. The [[Toyota War|"Toyota War" between Libya and Chad]] and the turmoil in [[Haiti]] added to DIA's heavy production workload, as did unrest in other parts of [[Latin America]], [[Somalia]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Burma]], [[Pakistan]], and the [[Philippines]].<ref name="DIA History" />

== Budget and personnel ==

According to classified documents leaked by [[Edward Snowden]] and published by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 2013, the [[United States intelligence budget#National Intelligence Program|National Intelligence Program]] (NIP) component of the [[United States intelligence budget|overall US intelligence budget]] contained approximately $4.4 billion/year for the General Defense Intelligence Program (GDIP), which is managed by DIA, even as it is not exclusively for the agency's use.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/black-budget-summary-details-us-spy-networks-successes-failures-and-objectives/2013/08/29/7e57bb78-10ab-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html |date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2013 |first=Barton |last=Gellman |author2=Greg Miller |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=U.S. spy network's successes, failures and objectives detailed in 'black budget' summary}}</ref> The numbers exclude the Military Intelligence Component (MIP) of the overall US intelligence budget, which by itself has averaged more than $20 billion per year in the past decade.

=== Alleged torture with drugs, gay porn, and loud music ===

[[File:FBI correspondence regarding DIA personnel in Guantanamo.pdf|thumb|A declassified FBI correspondence alleging DIA misconduct]]

inflict pain."<ref>[[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services]] [http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf "INQUIRY INTO THE TREATMENT OF DETAINEES IN U.S. CUSTODY"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021194943/http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf |date=October 21, 2013 }} November 20, 2008, p 111</ref>

Some of the more lurid revelations of DIA's alleged harsh interrogations came from [[FBI]] officers, who conducted their own screenings of detainees in [[Guantanamo]] along with other agencies. According to one account, the interrogators of what was then DIA's [[Defense Clandestine Service|Defense Humint Service]] (referenced in FBI correspondence as DHS<ref>White, Josh. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022301813.html FBI Interrogators in Cuba Opposed Aggressive Tactics], ''The Washington Post'', February 24, 2006</ref>), forced subjects to watch [[gay porn]], draped them with the [[Flag of Israel|Israeli flag]], and interrogated them in rooms lit by [[strobe light]]s for 16–18 hours, all the while telling prisoners that they were from FBI.<ref name="aclu.org">[[American Civil Liberties Union]] [https://www.aclu.org/files/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DOJFBI003584.pdf Email &#91;parties redacted&#93; re GTMO], 7/31</ref>

DIA's harsh interrogation methods at times paled in comparison to those of some U.S. [[special operations forces]]. In 2004, interrogations by [[Joint Special Operations Command]]'s high-value targets special operations task forces (including [[Task Force 6-26]]) were so heavy-handed and physical with the detainees that two DIA officials complained, as a result of which they were threatened and put under surveillance by abusive military interrogators. The two DIA officials managed to share their accounts of abuse with the agency leadership, prompting DIA Director [[Lowell E. Jacoby|Lowell Jacoby]] to write a memo on this topic to the [[Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence]].<ref>Lewis, Neil. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/politics/07cnd-abus.html?ex=1103462134&ei=1&en=1329389e02672a45&_r=0 "Memos Say 2 Officials Who Saw Prison Abuse Were Threatened"], ''The New York Times'', December 7, 2004</ref>

Since mid-2000s, DIA has come under scrutiny for requesting new powers "to covertly approach and cultivate 'U.S. persons' and even recruit them as informants" without disclosing they are doing so on behalf of the U.S. government.<ref>Michael Isikoff & Mark Hosenball. {{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9602401/site/newsweek/site/newsweek/ |title=Terror Watch: New Domestic Spying for Pentagon? - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com |access-date=2013-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025194945/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9602401/site/newsweek/site/newsweek/ |archive-date=October 25, 2006 |df=mdy-all }} ''[[Newsweek]]'', October 5, 2005</ref> George Peirce, DIA's general counsel, told ''The Washington Post'' that his agency is "not asking for the moon" and that DIA officers "only want to assess their [individual U.S. citizens'] suitability as a source, person to person", while protecting the ID and security of the agency operatives.<ref>Pincus, Walter. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/07/AR2005100701807.html "Request for Domestic Covert Role Is Defended"], ''The Washington Post'', October 8, 2005</ref> The provision allowing DIA to covertly approach U.S. citizens was reportedly removed from the bill at the request of Senator [[Ron Wyden]].<ref>Pincus, Walter. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/26/AR2005112600857.html "Pentagon Expanding Its Domestic Surveillance Activity"] ''The Washington Post'', November 27, 2005</ref> It is unclear if the agency has received any additional powers since but it is known that until at least 2005 and possibly later, DIA's "personnel stationed in major U.S. cities [have been] ... monitoring the movements and activities—through high-tech equipment—of individuals and vehicles"; this occurred parallel to the [[NSA warrantless surveillance (2001–07)|NSA's warrantless surveillance]] that was of similarly dubious legality.<ref>Eggen, Dan. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR2005121600021.html "Bush Authorized Domestic Spying"], ''The Washington Post'', December 16, 2005</ref>

According to the agency, Americans spying for a foreign intelligence service would not be covered under this mechanism and that DIA would coordinate in such cases with the FBI which, unlike any DIA components at the time, is designated a [[law enforcement agency]]. The media showed particular interest in the domestic aspect of DIA's counterintelligence efforts due to the fact that agency's newly created DCHC had absorbed the former [[Counterintelligence Field Activity]], which had become infamous for storing data on American peace activists in the controversial [[TALON (database)|TALON]] database that was eventually shut down.<ref name="Fox News" />