Pentagon considers Afghanistan spy ring claim

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The US Defence Department says it may look into an official who allegedly ran a secret spy ring in Afghanistan and Pakistan using its funds.

The New York Times reported that Michael Furlong hired contractors to gather track and kill militants.

A Pentagon spokesman said: "The story... raises numerous unanswered questions that warrant further review by the department."

The paper said it was generally illegal to hire contractors as covert spies.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8568979.stm

[tekisui]

1. knr. I posted an article about this earlier, and it got very little attention.

Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7922910

[dipsydoodle]

3. I've been away for a few days and only just found it.

:hi:

[Solly Mack]

4. I K&R'ed 2 other threads and I just went and K&R'ed yours too

Because the topic can't get too much exposure.

[tekisui]

5. I agree totally, Solly Mack.

Thanks.

[Solly Mack]

6. There was a time when such stories garnered more attention

:(

[No Elephants]

15. When Bush was President?

[Solly Mack]

16. Most certainly then. The DU archives bears that out.

[No Elephants]

17. Team loyalty, I guess. This isn't just a game, though. It's life and death, literally.

[Solly Mack]

18. Yep...it damn sure is....life and death.

as well as an atmosphere where thugs think they can act with impunity...and they think that with good reason, of course.

This isn't some man that went rogue and hoodwinked the DoD...his professional bio (which I posted at the end of the thread) paints a picture of a well connected insider...to psyops, to military intelligence, to the Bush White House.

[Solly Mack]

2. "may" "generally illegal"

Snort

K&R

[bemildred]

7. Well, law is "fungible" you know. nt

[Solly Mack]

9. Exactly what I was thinking at the time.

lol

[leveymg]

8. Reportedly, Furlong is a former AF officer with StratCom contracts, or is that JSOC?

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A New York Times article published late yesterday alleges the existence of a clandestine intelligence network of private contractors, set up by a US Pentagon employee, possibly without supervision or approval by senior US Defense officials. The network, which appears to operate under the cover of an Internet-based research company, is actually used to gather intelligence on the activities and whereabouts of individuals on the CIA’s assassination list, claims the paper. What is more, the network coordinator, retired US Air Force officer Michael D. Furlong, is currently being investigated by the US Department of Defense for fraudulent dealings with private contractors. It is not clear whether these were the same contractors (mostly former CIA and US Special Forces operatives) who were employed in the undercover intelligence network uncovered by The New York Times. The paper says that it is unclear whether Furlong’s activities were authorized or supervised by senior US Defense officials. Nor is it clear if the funds that were used to fund the operation were specifically cleared for that purpose, or whether they were clandestinely diverted from other Pentagon programs by Furlong. There are suspicions that the clandestine program may have been utilized to ensure a presence of non-official-cover (NOC) US Special Forces operatives inside Pakistan, who are not officially connected to the US government. The US Strategic Command, which employs Michael Furlong as a civilian, is so far refusing to allow The New York Times to speak to him. Last November, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill alleged that private mercenary firm Blackwater (recently renamed Xe) is part of a covert US program in Pakistan that includes planned assassinations and kidnappings of Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects.

Also, see:

The Pakistani drone program Jeremy Scahill writes in the nation is really a top-secret Joint Strategic Operation Command (JSOC) program.

The previously unreported program, the military intelligence source said, is distinct from the CIA assassination program that the agency's director, Leon Panetta, announced he had canceled in June 2009. "This is a parallel operation to the CIA," said the source. "They are two separate beasts." The program puts Blackwater at the epicenter of a US military operation within the borders of a nation against which the United States has not declared war--knowledge that could further strain the already tense relations between the United States and Pakistan. In 2006, the United States and Pakistan struck a deal that authorized JSOC to enter Pakistan to hunt Osama bin Laden with the understanding that Pakistan would deny it had given permission. Officially, the United States is not supposed to have any active military operations in the country.

Is this the "parallel program"?

[bemildred]

10. So, basically, "secret police" and "death squads" is what we are talking about here.

Just like in the past. Democracy in name only.

[leveymg]

11. The only question is, do the targets extend within?

[bemildred]

12. There is no question about that either.

J. Edgar Hoover is dead, but his practices live on without him.

[Solly Mack]

13. Here is Furlong's professional bio...in case anyone wants it for research

http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=11344

[Solly Mack]

14. What it doesn't say is...

http://baghdadbulletin.com/pageArticle.php?article_id=77

"Other workers at the network put the problems down to the contractor, Science Applications International Co-operation and the original manager, Mike Furlong, who was fired in mid June.
“Mike Furlong grabbed the contract with SAIC. He had some TV experience but not much. He was doing other stuff on the side so he was running away from meetings. He didn’t establish a professional-running TV station,” one worker said.

Mike Furlong was a colonel in the Special Forces, and has established transmitting and broadcasting in Kosovo and Bosnia.
“He was very experienced” said North, “much more then others. It was just that the task was overwhelming for any individual to do with the resources we had.” "


Science Applications International Corporation is one of the major contractors doing work in the Iraq reconstruction. Journalists Don Barlett and James Steele investigated the little-known corporation for this month's issue of Vanity Fair

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7238049