CIA Signals Continuity With BushErahttps://online.wsj.com/article/SB123560612118376885.html
WASHINGTON -- The Central Intelligence Agency"s newdirectoroutlined spy policies Wednesday, including an aggressivecampaignin Pakistan, that underscored considerable continuity withthe Bushadministration.
CIA Director Leon Panetta, in his first meeting withreporters,said the agency will continue to carry out drone attacksonmilitants in Pakistan. He also said that while CIAinterrogationswill have new limits, President Barack Obama canstill use hiswartime powers to authorize harsher techniques ifnecessary.
Among changes under way at the CIA, the agency is now assemblingadaily Economic Intelligence Brief to monitor the globaleconomicslowdown"s impact on stability. Argentina, Ecuador andVenezuelaare facing "serious problems" that threaten theireconomicstability, Mr. Panetta said.
Mr. Obama moved quickly to set a date for shutting downtheGuantanamo Bay prison and to close the CIA"s detention network,butthe changes to spy operations appear to be on the margins. Themainchange Mr. Panetta has planned, he said, is to establish "aclearset of ground rules" for interrogations and detainee treatmentthatare "in line with our ideals."
Mr. Panetta referred to the Predator-drone strikes in Pakistanas"operational efforts," to avoid discussing them directly. Hesaidthey "are probably the most effective weapon we have to trytodisrupt al Qaeda center now." Mr. Obama and NationalSecurityAdviser James Jones have strongly endorsed their use, hesaid.
The Obama administration has also shown a reluctance tooverturnBush administration views on certain terrorism-relatedlegalmatters. Last week, it backed Bush-era positions that acaseagainst a contractor alleged to have helped with CIArenditionsshouldn"t go forward because it will reveal "statesecrets," andthat detainees in Afghanistan don"t have the center tochallengetheir detention in a U.S. court. Coming cases that willprovideadditional signals include a lawsuit to force the releaseofJustice Department memos on anti-terrorism policies.
On interrogations, Mr. Panetta said he believes the CIA canbeeffective if it limits itself to the 19 techniques the militaryisallowed to use. He said the administration is evaluatingtheeffectiveness of so-called enhanced interrogation tactics suchaswaterboarding and will make recommendations to the presidentonwhat techniques should be allowed. In the interim, only the19techniques will be used.
Mr. Panetta clarified his position on renditions, in which theCIAtransports detainees to another country. "If we render someoneweare obviously going to get assurances from that country" thatthedetainee will be treated humanely, he said. That position is inlinewith the stated position of previous administrations, thoughsomedetainees who were rendered during the Bush administration saytheywere tortured.
Mr. Panetta also said he would focus more spy efforts onemergingterrorist hot spots, like Somalia and Yemen, that couldbecomefuture al Qaeda havens.
Beyond terrorism, Mr. Panetta said the CIA is expandingitsanalysis of economic conditions around the world. Theglobaleconomic crisis, he said, "is affecting the stability of theworld,and as an intelligence agency, we have to pay attentiontothat."
The first daily economic brief to the president put togetherbythe CIA went out Wednesday. Mr. Panetta has tapped his topeconomicanalysts to work on it, though he said he may have tobolster hiseconomic team down the line. Republican lawmakers havevoicedskepticism about intelligence analysts tackling problems,likeeconomic assessments, that aren"t traditionally consideredspywork.
Within the agency, Mr. Panetta said he is looking toraiselinguistic and cultural fluency. Currently, just 13% ofCIAofficers and analysts have foreign-language proficiency, hesaid,adding that his goal is to get the agency on track to reach100%.He said he will work to improve diversity at the agency,raisingthe proportion of minorities in the work force to 30% from22%.
中国日报网环球在线消息：据美国《华尔街日报》网站报道，新上任的美国中央情报局（CIA）局长里昂?帕内塔2月25日在与媒体首次见面会上阐述了新政府的情报政策，除了在羁押和审讯恐怖嫌犯的政策上有所改变外，大体上与布什政府时期的政策一致，包括继续在巴基斯坦打击恐怖活动。
帕内塔表示，此次中情局政策最大的改变是计划针对审讯和对待恐怖嫌犯建立一套清晰明确的基本准则。他认为，将刑讯方式限制在19种以内会使中情局工作更有效。此外，奥巴马作为总统仍拥有在战时授权使用必要的审讯方式的权力。目前美国政府正在就包括“水刑”在内所谓先进的刑讯手法进行评估，并就允许使用哪些手段向总统提出建议。在此期间，中情局只可使用19种刑讯方法。
此前，美国总统奥巴马于22日签署了一道总统令和三道行政命令，计划全面改革美国对待恐怖犯罪嫌疑人的政策体系，包括在一年内关闭关塔那摩监狱、重新评估现行审判恐怖犯罪嫌疑人的制度以及禁止对恐怖犯罪嫌疑人使用酷刑。
继美国情报机构发表年度安全威胁评估报告称全球经济危机在短期内对美国是最大威胁之后，中情局为监控国际经济下滑产生的不稳定影响还建立了每天召开经济情报汇报会议的制度。但也有政治人士质疑中情局在这个领域的评估能力。
帕内塔在谈到在巴基斯坦进行的反恐行动时称，中情局将继续开展在该国的反恐斗争。帕内塔还将“掠夺者”无人战斗机称作是在该地区行动中最有效的武器。
此外，美中情局今后还要将更多的精力投入到新出现的恐怖分子聚集地，比如索马里和也门。
（环球在线：王妮娜）
《变形金刚2》送票！
