The Pentagon will send hundreds of
additional spies overseas as part of an ambitious plan to assemble
an espionage network that rivals the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) in size, a newspaper report said on Sunday.
The five-year project is aimed at transforming the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA), which has been dominated in the past
decade by the demands of the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, into
a spy service focused on emerging threats and more closely aligned
with the CIA and elite military commando units, The Washington Post
said in its report.
Once the DIA expansion is complete, it will have 1,600 "collectors" deployed around the world -- something unprecedented for
the agency, said the report.
In addition to military attaches and others who do not work
undercover, more clandestine operatives will be deployed overseas.
They will be trained by the CIA and often work with the U.S. Joint
Special Operations Command, but they will get their spying
assignments from the Department of Defense.
"This is a major adjustment for national security," DIA Director
Michael Flynn said at a recent conference while outlining the
changes.
The sharp increase in DIA undercover operatives is part of a far-
reaching trend: a convergence of the military and intelligence
agencies that has blurred their once-distinct missions, capabilities
and even their leadership ranks, according to the report.
The DIA overhaul, combined with the CIA expansion since the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks, will create a U.S. spy network of
unprecedented size. It reflects the Obama administration's affinity
for espionage and covert action over conventional force, said the
report.
Pentagon officials added that sending more DIA operatives
overseas will shore up intelligence on subjects that the CIA is not
able or willing to pursue.
