Bush signs new rules, roles for spy agencies

[Indiana_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Bush approved an order Wednesday that rewrites the rules governing spying by U.S. intelligence agencies, both in the United States and abroad, and strengthens the authority of the national intelligence director, according to a U.S. official and government documents.

Executive Order 12333, which lays out the responsibilities of each of the 16 agencies, maintains the decades-old prohibitions on assassination and using unwitting human subjects for scientific experiments, according to a power point briefing given to Congress that was reviewed by The Associated Press. The CIA notoriously tested LSD on human subjects in the 1950s, which was revealed by a Senate investigation in 1977.

The new order gives the national intelligence director, a position created in 2005, new authority over any intelligence information collected that pertains to more than one agency — an attempt to force greater information exchange among agencies traditionally reluctant to share their most prized intelligence. The order directs the attorney general to develop guidelines to allow agencies access to information held by other agencies. That could potentially include the sharing of sensitive information about Americans.

The order has been under revision for more than a year, an attempt to update a nearly 30-year-old presidential order to reflect organizational changes made in the intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It was carried on in secret in the midst of pitched national debate about the appropriate balance between civil liberties and security, spurred by the president's warrantless wiretapping program.

The briefing charts assert that the new order maintains or improves civil liberties protections for Americans.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/intelligence_rules

[jobycom]

1. The first rule of the Bush Administration is, you don't talk about the Bush Administration.

[Truth4Justice]

3. If that is true we are doomed. nt

[jobycom]

7. People break rules all the time.

[gateley]

2. They MUST be new rules, I don't think they had any before. nt

[comtec]

4. You know why it's 12333 right?

its cuz he can't count higher than 3, so he just puts 1's, 2's, and 3's at the end to make it look important ;)
OK it's a cheap, stupid shot, it's early and I haven't had coffee yet :)

[Snazzy]

5. changes CIA role significantly

"The order, which has not yet been publicly released, is expected to cut into one of the CIA's traditional roles. The CIA has for 50 years set the policy and largely called the shots on relationships between U.S. intelligence agencies and their foreign counterparts. According to the briefing charts, the national intelligence director will now set the rules for engaging with foreign intelligence and security services. The CIA will now just "coordinate implementation," according to the briefing charts."

Recall that the Rummy/Cheney plan was to pull the CIA out of being lead for intel. Think this will essentially complete the plan, giving the executive and the mil a way to more easily override or bypass CIA when the mood strikes. A big fuck you to the CIA (and their relationships with other powers).

[moondust]

6. Another dangerous mistake.

Bushco is totally clueless and incompetent with regard to U.S. intelligence as clearly demonstrated in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, etc. They should not be allowed to touch anything related to U.S. intelligence gathering as they are certain to screw it up even worse than it already is.