FAS | Intelligence | News | 2008 ||||

Newer News: March 2008

February 2008 Intelligence News

• New White House order bolsters intelligence chief's power by Pamela Hess, Associated Press, February 29. "The White House on Friday gave the national intelligence director some of the powers of an advisory board created in 1976 to serve as the president's watchdog for illegal intelligence activities, a move meant to bolster the role of the intelligence chief in relation to the 16 agencies he oversees."
• Panel witnesses press for GAO audits of intelligence agencies by Chris Strohm, Congress Daily, February 29. "Government and public policy experts Friday said legislation is badly needed that would affirm the right of GAO to audit programs and financial activities of the U.S. intelligence agencies, especially because their scope and complexity have grown enormously since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."
• U.S. Intelligence Agencies Militarizing by Spencer Ackerman, The Washington Independent, February 21. "Without much notice, something strange has happened to the intelligence community during the second term of President George W. Bush. The leaders of the 16-agency, $45 billion-a-year spy apparatus have started wearing stars and gold braid on their shoulders."
• Email Correspondence Between Philip Zelikow and Author Philip Shenon About the 9/11 Commission (2007). "Now that the book is being published, and for the benefit of those interested in the work of the Commission, attached are my records of these detailed exchanges, which were conducted via email."
• Statement by the Former 9/11 Commissioners on Philip Shenon's "The Commission", February 8. "Regrettably, the author is mistaken in his criticism of the role of Executive Director Philip Zelikow. The proper standard for judgment is the quality of report, and there is no basis for the allegations of bias he asserts."
• Letter from Former 9/11 Commissioner Slade Gorton to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 6. "The commission's executive director, Philip Zelikow, was not a White House mole; on the contrary, he was often its bane."
• CIA Monitors YouTube For Intelligence by Thomas Claburn, Information Week, February 6. "U.S. spies are looking increasingly online for intelligence and they've become major consumers of social media."
• Administration Views on the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 2248) (pdf), letter from Attorney General Mukasey and DNI McConnell. "If the President is sent a bill that does not provide the U.S. intelligence agencies the tools they need to protect the nation, the President will veto the bill."