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Covert activities often amount to terrorism, performed in secret, with no/limited accountability. Wikilink to Senate Church Committee hearings. Tags: Reverted Visual edit |
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==US law==
Under US law, the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) must lead covert operations unless the president finds that another agency should do so and informs Congress.<ref name="Executive Secrets 2004, page 25">''Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency'', William J. Daugherty, University of Kentucky Press, 2004, page 25.</ref> The CIA's authority to conduct covert action comes from the [[National Security Act of 1947]].<ref name="Executive Secrets 2004">William J. Daugherty, ''Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency'', University of Kentucky Press, 2004.</ref> President [[Ronald Reagan]] issued [[Executive Order 12333]] titled ''United States Intelligence Activities'' in 1984. This order defined covert action as "special activities", both political and military, that the US Government could legally deny. The CIA was also designated as the sole authority under the 1991 [[Intelligence Authorization Act]] and in [[Title 50 of the United States Code]] Section 413(e).<ref name="Executive Secrets 2004"/><ref>''All Necessary Means: Employing CIA operatives in a Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces'', Colonel Kathryn Stone, Professor Anthony R. Williams (Project Advisor), United States Army War College (USAWC), 7 April 2003, page 7</ref> The CIA must have a "Presidential Finding" issued by the President in order to conduct these activities under the [[Hughes-Ryan Amendment|Hughes-Ryan amendment]] to the 1991 Intelligence Authorization Act.<ref name="Executive Secrets 2004, page 25"/> These findings are then monitored by the oversight committees in both the US Senate and House of Representatives.<ref>Daugherty, 2004, page 28.</ref> As a result of this framework, the CIA "receives more oversight from the Congress than any other agency in the federal government", according to one author.<ref>Daugherty, 2004, page 29.</ref> The [[Special Activities Division]] (SAD) is a division of the CIA's [[Directorate of Operations (CIA)|Directorate of Operations]], responsible for Covert Action and "Special Activities". These special activities include covert political influence and paramilitary operations.
In practice, such covert operations frequently amount to abuse of US power, consitiuting [[Terrorism|state-sponsored terrorism]]. Immoral and grievously unacceptable activities are often carried out under the cloak of secrecy, with limited to no meaningful [[accountability]]. (See also: [[Church Committee|Senate Church Committee hearings]]).
===Impact===
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