Hersh sheds some light on the war on terror's special operations task forces, charged with hunting high-value targets like bin Laden, Saddam Hussein or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The task forces get wide latitude from the chain of command in the areas in which they operate -- especially the most clandestine of them, known as Special Access Programs. With a direct channel to the Pentagon, they're often so autonomous that
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage tells Hersh that they in fact undermine the chain of command. Accordingly, Hersh reports that some task forces have obstructed and deceived military investigators attempting to reconstruct their operations: In some cases, the secret operations remained unaccountable. In an April, 2005, memorandum, a C.I.D. officer—his name was redacted—complained to (Criminal Investigation Division) headquarters, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about the impossibility of investigating military members of a Special Access Program suspected of prisoner abuse:
C.I.D. has been unable to thoroughly investigate . . . due to the suspects and witnesses involvement in Special Access Programs (SAP) and/or the security classification of the unit they were assigned to during the offense under investigation. Attempts by Special Agents . . . to be “read on” to these programs has been unsuccessful.
The C.I.D. officer wrote that “fake names were used” by members of the task force; he also told investigators that the unit had a “major computer malfunction which resulted in them losing 70 per cent of their files; therefore, they can’t find the cases we need to review.”
more at:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003453.phphttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/06/25/070625fa_fact_hersh?printable=true
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