Newsweek April 2, 2007 Periscope
Pentagon: Taking A Hard Look At CIFA The Pentagon is reviewing the charter of a controversial counterspy agency set up by former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld after 9/11. The Counter-Intelligence Field Activity (CIFA) was supposed to "coordinate" counterintel and antiterrorist reporting by myriad Pentagon spy outfits-including intel divisions maintained by all four military services. But CIFA seemed to overreach. As part of an assignment to collate data about suspicious incidents at U.S. military bases, CIFA also collected info on peace activists and anti-Bush protesters. CIFA's contracting practices came under investigation as part of a corruption inquiry. At one point, more than 90 percent of the people employed at CIFA HQ worked for defense contractors, rather than directly for the government; the Pentagon says the percentage of contract employees at the agency now has been reduced to 60 percent. Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed to NEWSWEEK that investigations of CIFA's dealings with contractors and its handling of info on domestic protesters are continuing. Ryder also acknowledged that a division of new Defense Secretary Robert Gates's office is reviewing the 2002 Defense Department document that constitutes CIFA's charter, and that military services and other defense agencies would be consulted. A senior Defense official, anonymous when discussing sensitive material, said Pentagon intel outfits may use the charter renewal to try to weaken or even break up CIFA. The Pentagon spokesman said only that CIFA "is not seeking to expand its authorities/activities" and that the agency's fate should be decided by the end of this year. - Mark Hosenball ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion MX7 and Flex 2 Build sales & marketing dashboard RIAâs for your business. Upgrade now http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2?sdid=RVJT Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:231347 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
