https://sputnikglobe.com/20220808/the-china-syndrome-cia-reportedly-shifts-resources-from-counterterrorism-to-concentrate-on-prc-1099390144.html
The China Syndrome: CIA Reportedly Shifts Resources From ‘Counterterrorism’ to Concentrate on PRC
The China Syndrome: CIA Reportedly Shifts Resources From ‘Counterterrorism’ to Concentrate on PRC
Sputnik International
The Central Intelligence Agency launched a China-focused mission center in October. Agency Director William Burns indicated at the time that the CIA would hold... 08.08.2022, Sputnik International
2022-08-08T13:30+0000
2022-08-08T13:30+0000
2022-08-08T13:50+0000
cia
central intelligence agency (cia)
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counterterrorism
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The CIA’s "counterterrorism" mission center is being stripped of money and personnel to redirect the agency’s focus toward the new China mission center, the Associated Press has reported, citing sources said to be familiar with the matter.CIA Deputy Director David Cohen was said to have informed senior officials from the Counterterrorism Center at a meeting held in July that while fighting al-Qaeda* and other extremists would remain a priority, resources would be shifted to the China center in search of ways to better “understand” and “counter” Beijing.Douglas Wise, a former senior CIA officer and deputy director of operations at the Counterterrorism Center, estimated that reorienting the intelligence agency’s resources to focus on China and Russia would take “years” and the recognition that the agency’s “culture” will take time to change.“For decades, we have been doing counterterrorism. We’ve got to have a rational plan to make this adaptation, which doesn’t take so long that our enemies can exploit a glacial process,” Wise said.A CIA spokesperson assured that terrorism “remains a very real challenge” and that the agency would “continue to aggressively track terrorist threats globally and work with partners to counter them” notwithstanding other issues, such as Ukraine, and the “strategic challenges…posed by the People’s Republic of China.”The White House announced last week that the CIA had conducted a successful drone strike over Kabul, Afghanistan on July 30 which killed long-time al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Taliban* administration confirmed that the strike hit a residential building in Kabul. However, the group later reported that it had failed to find al-Zawahiri’s body, and that it had no information about the terror leader’s arrival and stay in the Afghan capital.The CIA announced the formation of a separate China Mission Center in late October, separating the PRC from the purview of the Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific.Mission centers operate as standalone, single issue-focus entities. The creation of the China center brought their total number to 12. Others include the geographic mission centers for Korea, Africa, Europe and Eurasia (which includes Russia), the Near East, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. Issue-focused centers include counterterrorism, counterintelligence, global issues, weapons, and counter-proliferation.The China overhaul comes amid reports of growing consternation inside the US intelligence community about the People’s Republic’s growing counterintelligence prowess, including the systematic dismantling of CIA agent networks beginning in the early 2010s, and the disappearance of at least a dozen of its sources.* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.** A group under United Nations sanctions for terrorist activities.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220728/chinas-xi-tells-biden-he-plays-with-fire-with-taiwan-policy-in-phone-call-1097897925.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220806/afghan-authorities-fail-to-find-body-of-al-qaeda-leader-killed-by-us-in-kabul-spokesman-says-1099327282.html
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cia, central intelligence agency (cia), china, terrorism, counterterrorism
cia, central intelligence agency (cia), china, terrorism, counterterrorism
The China Syndrome: CIA Reportedly Shifts Resources From ‘Counterterrorism’ to Concentrate on PRC
13:30 GMT 08.08.2022 (Updated: 13:50 GMT 08.08.2022) The Central Intelligence Agency launched a China-focused mission center in October. Agency Director William Burns indicated at the time that the CIA would hold “weekly” meetings on the “geopolitical challenge” posed by Beijing going forward.
The CIA’s "counterterrorism" mission center is being stripped of money and personnel to redirect the agency’s focus toward the new China mission center, the Associated Press has
reported, citing sources said to be familiar with the matter.
CIA Deputy Director David Cohen was said to have informed senior officials from the Counterterrorism Center at a meeting held in July that while fighting al-Qaeda* and other extremists would remain a priority, resources would be shifted to the China center in search of ways to better “understand” and “counter” Beijing.
The pivot comes against the background of a broader quiet shift in agency attention away from terrorism following Washington’s humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan last August to focus on “threats” posed by China and Russia, with “hundreds” of agency personnel, including terrorism-related specialists, shuffled to concentrate on the People’s Republic. Not all of the jobs require language retraining, AP’s sources said.
Douglas Wise, a former senior CIA officer and deputy director of operations at the Counterterrorism Center, estimated that reorienting the intelligence agency’s resources to focus on China and Russia would take “years” and the recognition that the agency’s “culture” will take time to change.
“For decades, we have been doing counterterrorism. We’ve got to have a rational plan to make this adaptation, which doesn’t take so long that our enemies can exploit a glacial process,” Wise said.
The AP’s sources said the intelligence agency has faced prodding from Congress to make China the top priority, with lawmakers believed to be particularly concerned about China’s technological advances, including quantum science and artificial intelligence.
A CIA spokesperson assured that terrorism “remains a very real challenge” and that the agency would “continue to aggressively track terrorist threats globally and work with partners to counter them” notwithstanding other issues, such as Ukraine, and the “strategic challenges…posed by the People’s Republic of China.”
The White House announced last week that the CIA had conducted a successful drone strike over Kabul, Afghanistan on July 30 which killed long-time al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Taliban* administration confirmed that the strike hit a residential building in Kabul. However, the group later reported that it had failed to find al-Zawahiri’s body, and that it had no information about the terror leader’s arrival and stay in the Afghan capital.
The CIA announced the formation of a separate China Mission Center in
late October, separating the PRC from the purview of the Mission Center for East Asia and Pacific.
Mission centers operate as standalone, single issue-focus entities. The creation of the China center brought their total number to 12. Others include the geographic mission centers for Korea, Africa, Europe and Eurasia (which includes Russia), the Near East, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. Issue-focused centers include counterterrorism, counterintelligence, global issues, weapons, and counter-proliferation.
The China overhaul comes amid reports of growing consternation inside the US intelligence community about the People’s Republic’s growing counterintelligence prowess, including the
systematic dismantling of CIA agent networks beginning in the early 2010s, and the disappearance of at least a dozen of its sources.
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
** A group under United Nations sanctions for terrorist activities.
