Disinformation

http://tinyurl.com/2qwtwy
>
> FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants
>
> B24436 / Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:41:18 / "War on Terror"
> ABC News
> July 25, 2007 1:01 PM
> Justin Rood Reports:
>
> The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit
> thousands of covert informants in the United States as
> part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence
> capabilities.
>
> According to a recent unclassified report to Congress,
> the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets
> about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although
> some may also be expected to aid with criminal
> investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement
> confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to
> requests for comment on this story.
>
> The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive
> from President Bush ordering the bureau to improve its
> counterterrorism efforts by boosting its human
> intelligence capabilities.
>
> The aggressive push for more secret informants appears
> to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence
> and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals
> include expanding its collection and analysis of data
> on U.S. persons, retaining years’ worth of Americans’
> phone records and even increasing so-called “black
> bag” secret entry operations.
> To handle the increase in so-called human sources, the
> FBI also plans to overhaul its database system, so it
> can manage records and verify the accuracy of
> information from “more than 15,000” informants,
> according to the document. While many of the recruited
> informants will apparently be U.S. residents, some
> informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in
> foreign offices, the report indicates.
> The total cost of the effort tops $22 million,
> according to the document.
>
> The bureau has arranged to use elements of CIA
> training to teach FBI agents about “Source Targeting
> and Development,” the report states. The courses will
> train FBI special agents on the “comprehensive
> tradecraft” needed to identify, recruit and manage
> these “confidential human sources.” According to
> January testimony by FBI Deputy Director John S.
> Pistole, the CIA has been working with the bureau on
> the course.
>
> The bureau apparently mulled whether to adopt entire
> training courses from the CIA or from the Defense
> Intelligence Agency (DIA), which like the CIA recruits
> spies overseas. But the FBI ultimately determined “the
> courses offered by those agencies would not meet the
> needs of the FBI’s unique law enforcement.” The FBI
> report said it would also give agents “legal and
> policy” training, noting that its domestic
> intelligence efforts are “constitutionally sensitive.”
>
> “It’s probably a good sign they are not adopting CIA
> recruitment techniques wholesale,” said Steven
> Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, an
> expert on classified programs. U.S. intelligence
> officers abroad can use bribery, extortion, and other
> patently illegal acts to corral sources into working
> for them, Aftergood noted. “You’re not supposed to do
> that in the United States,” he said.