Pentagon looks to build a deep-cover spy program to confront China: Report
The covert effort would put U.S. operatives undercover as private-sector workers as the Pentagon expands economic warfare tools against China, officials said.
- The Pentagon is planning a deep-cover spying program using nonofficial cover officers to conduct economic warfare against China, according to people familiar with the initiative. Tom Rakusan, a 39-year CIA veteran and adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, is overseeing the planning.
- Roughly 75 percent of all deep-cover CIA officers face retirement by the mid-2020s, according to a covid-era internal report. This attrition-driven gap in traditional agency capacity reportedly prompted the Pentagon to develop its own clandestine human intelligence capabilities.
- Feinberg formed the Economic Defense Unit this year to counter adversaries through economic means, including a $750 million Pentagon investment in a Brazilian rare earth deposit. The EDU remains separate from the new spy initiative.
- Pentagon deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss stated the reported initiative is "built on information that is simply not true." The Defense Department categorically dismissed claims that such a deep-cover program is currently underway.
- In a post-9/11 case in Africa, Joint Special Operations Command-affiliated NOCs were compromised after encountering civilians. This historical incident illustrates extreme dangers inherent in deep-cover work when operatives inadvertently encounter non-intelligence personnel.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Foreign media have reported that the U.S. Department of Defense is pursuing the establishment of a secret intelligence program to conduct operations under disguised as businesspeople or the like, in order to wage an economic war against China. This move suggests an intention to actively utilize intelligence activities to collect information on China's advanced technology and companies as a means of economic warfare, in addition to economic press…
The Pentagon intends to develop a more robust secret spying program than it currently has, designed to wage an economic war against China and other U.S. competitors, according to Washington Post, reports on Thursday EFE.
Media: Pentagon seeks to increase espionage for economic war against China
According to insiders, the Pentagon is planning a new espionage program. Agents are supposed to act as businessmen and spy out economic goals. Officially, the ministry denies the initiative. An analysis.
Clarin
El ComercioThe Pentagon plans a secret spy program to confront China, using undercover agents as entrepreneurs, according to anonymous sources.Tom Rakusan, former CIA, leads the initiative involving military and intelligence experts, still in the planning phase, reports the newspaper.
Under the Cover of Businessmen, Details of an American Spy Plan Targeting China and Other Countries.
The Washington Post revealed a plan for the Pentagon to create a secret spy program targeting China and other competitors in the context of an economic war, through agents working under civilian cover.
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- 36% of the sources lean Left, 36% of the sources lean Right
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