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Young · Jan 25, 2005, 12:47 am

What is the SSB?

Strategic Support Branch

What does SSB do?

"provide an intelligence capability for field operation units"

Who does the SSB report to?

SSB reports to Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency

Who Sets SSB Policy?

Stephen Cambone, the Bush administration's undersecretary of defense for intelligence, & one of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's most senior aides.

So to be Clear.......We've got CIA, FBI, NSA, ATF, HSD, & the SSB.

Whats the Pecking order? all i've got is best guess, but......

1- NSA
2- SSB
3- CIA
4- HSD
5- FBI
6- ATF

Remember the Intel reform bill, it passed. So......Bush will pick a National Intel Director (NID) or (DNI) & this man is supposed to have complete control over all Intel Branches.

All or "some" or would it be All "Known"?

I don't see the NSA or SSB answering to anyone.......

The Problem we're having seems to be that the Pentagon (Rumsfeld) doesn't trust the CIA, and thus forms the SSB. Some are calling for the CIA to be disbanded.

So basically, The CIA's Intel is so Valuable to the Pentagon (Rumsfeld) that he went out & formed His own, and a Top Bush team player is calling the shots and their Intel is being used by the Pentagon over that of the CIA. I wonder if Rumfeld just puts the NSA director on Hold? Since the (NID or DNI) bill passed prior to public knowledge of the SSB.....does the SSB have to answer to anyone other than Rumsfeld?

Doesn't it look like Bush is attempting a complete Takeover?

We've got the ATF, CIA, FBI, & Homeland Security, maybe even the NSA......reporting to someone Bush placed in charge. Then we've got Rumsfelds Intel Unit operating under the guidelines set by a top Bush "Team Player"

I think that somehow this Violates the checks & balances Provision that Our Forefathers Fought & Died for......Shall we allow this?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/...tel/index.html

Young · Jan 25, 2005, 01:24 am

McCain Wants Hearings on Pentagon Spy Unit

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145252,00.html

**Pooeypants** · Jan 25, 2005, 03:27 am

I am rather perplexed at the number of different agencies and all the acronyms...

Gorgo · Jan 25, 2005, 06:58 am

Then you have sort of shadowy private corporations and organizations like the NED, and the IRI who do some of the dirty tricks that the CIA is not supposed to do, but which probably does anyway.

**Pooeypants** · Jan 25, 2005, 07:37 am

Btw, what is the point of so many agencies? Why can't it be simpler like in the UK, where you have the MI5 and MI6, the former for national in UK and latter takes care of the international front.

bishop · Jan 25, 2005, 09:00 am

heh, ever hear of how bureaucracy continuously builds upon itself? that's why there are so many - helped by the fact that our government is one of the most corrupt in all the world. if you want to add additional intelligence capabilities, say information warfare, you build a whole new agency rather than add on to an existing department.

Suburbanite · Jan 25, 2005, 01:46 pm

can someone tell me what all the acronyms stand for? CIA and FBI I have for sure. Is ATF the American Task Force? Not sure.

gr8fuldaniel · Jan 25, 2005, 02:49 pm

ATF=alcohol tobacco and firearms

Over 500 acronyms for gov

Scribbler1 · Jan 25, 2005, 07:52 pm

NSA = National Security Agency
HSD = Homeland Security Department

Young · Jan 25, 2005, 09:20 pm

So hey, all my fellow posters........Predict a Pecking order......& maybe speculate as to which agencies the National Intel Director will control, which ones He might Not, and just maybe you can let me know your feelings on Rumsfeld and the pentagon attaining its own Intel Unit....Operated for apparently over a year & now just known to us....but also now known to the World and the Unit's policies being created by

Stephen Cambone

http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2659

Exerupt

"Before he joined the Bush Sr. administration, Cambone worked for SRS Technologies, a defense contractor. SRS recently received a $6 million contract to provide administrative and management support for the Missile Defense Agency."

"While Cambone was directing the two Rumsfeld commissions, he also participated in two national security strategy and military transformation commissions sponsored by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP). The institute's 2001 report, Rationale and Requirements for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control, and PNAC's Rebuilding America's Defenses were blueprints for Rumsfeld's promised "revolution in military affairs." Several other PNAC associates, in addition to Rumsfeld himself, also served on the Rumsfeld commissions, including Paul Wolfowitz, Malcolm Wallop, William Schneider, and James Woolsey. Both the NIPP and PNAC studies seem to have served as blueprints for the defense policies initiated by the administration of George W. Bush with respect to nuclear policy, national security strategy, and military transformation."

http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2659

Scribbler1 · Jan 25, 2005, 09:37 pm

Maybe no "pecking order" at all. It occurs to me that the head agency may well be one we don't even KNOW about.
Since we seem to want to blab so much intel all the time, maybe while all the abovementioned outfits are "leaking" reports there is one that is completely invisible. We (and the rest of the world) focus on the CIA which occupies everyone so the REAL agency goes about its business free from prying eyes.
At least that's what I would do. Use all those other agencies as decoys. The idea that spys work in the open only happens in James Bond movies.

Young · Jan 25, 2005, 09:50 pm

Great thought, but don't you think the Democrats & Republicans secretly play a covert game depending on whose in the Whitehouse? Most other Nations have One Leader, and that person is fairly permanent.......So as America Our 8 or 4 years and Switch system, & it being a Twosided Posiibility must create complex advantages.......a few Disadvantages as well.

Scribbler1 · Jan 25, 2005, 10:40 pm

I thought of that but I don't believe it. What I DO believe though, is that there is actually ONE party with two public faces. Each just different enough to force us to pick sides and spend our time arguing about which side is better while the REAL governing is done without our scrutiny.
If the government indeed has a supersecret agency which does the ACTUAL intelligence work, the same scenario applies to government itself.
We watch the CIA while the REAL spooks work.
We watch the Democrats and Republicans while the REAL government operates.

bishop · Jan 25, 2005, 10:43 pm

i don't think there will be a particular pecking order really.. more agencies will simply mean more confusion, more infighting, more inefficiency and more failure. if one or two agencies can't get it right, i can't see how 15 will either.

also, what's going on now has less to do with the agencies' stated purposes and more to do with politics. bush can install the heads of each organization and use them to duplicate "intelligence" which he can then use to sell another war. you figure that when all the different agencies seem to agree, that there's this sense of common agreement and understanding - so they must be right (so goes the logic).

Jan 25, 2005, 12:47 am	#1 (permalink) (top)
Young Hot Lava Location: western NC Posts: 1,088	Rumsfeld's SSB What is the SSB? Strategic Support Branch What does SSB do? "provide an intelligence capability for field operation units" Who does the SSB report to? SSB reports to Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Who Sets SSB Policy? Stephen Cambone, the Bush administration's undersecretary of defense for intelligence, & one of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's most senior aides. So to be Clear.......We've got CIA, FBI, NSA, ATF, HSD, & the SSB. Whats the Pecking order? all i've got is best guess, but...... 1- NSA 2- SSB 3- CIA 4- HSD 5- FBI 6- ATF Remember the Intel reform bill, it passed. So......Bush will pick a National Intel Director (NID) or (DNI) & this man is supposed to have complete control over all Intel Branches. All or "some" or would it be All "Known"? I don't see the NSA or SSB answering to anyone....... The Problem we're having seems to be that the Pentagon (Rumsfeld) doesn't trust the CIA, and thus forms the SSB. Some are calling for the CIA to be disbanded. So basically, The CIA's Intel is so Valuable to the Pentagon (Rumsfeld) that he went out & formed His own, and a Top Bush team player is calling the shots and their Intel is being used by the Pentagon over that of the CIA. I wonder if Rumfeld just puts the NSA director on Hold? Since the (NID or DNI) bill passed prior to public knowledge of the SSB.....does the SSB have to answer to anyone other than Rumsfeld? Doesn't it look like Bush is attempting a complete Takeover? We've got the ATF, CIA, FBI, & Homeland Security, maybe even the NSA......reporting to someone Bush placed in charge. Then we've got Rumsfelds Intel Unit operating under the guidelines set by a top Bush "Team Player" I think that somehow this Violates the checks & balances Provision that Our Forefathers Fought & Died for......Shall we allow this? http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/...tel/index.html Young I guess all we've got Left......are these darned "Internets"

Jan 25, 2005, 01:24 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Young Hot Lava Location: western NC Posts: 1,088	McCain Wants Hearings on Pentagon Spy Unit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145252,00.html Young I guess all we've got Left......are these darned "Internets"

Jan 25, 2005, 03:27 am	#3 (permalink) (top)
Pooeypants Neo Moderator Location: England Posts: 5,549	I am rather perplexed at the number of different agencies and all the acronyms... War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is strength Harness the power of Ingsoc, then you can capture someone killed the year before

Jan 25, 2005, 07:37 am	#5 (permalink) (top)
Pooeypants Neo Moderator Location: England Posts: 5,549	Btw, what is the point of so many agencies? Why can't it be simpler like in the UK, where you have the MI5 and MI6, the former for national in UK and latter takes care of the international front. War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is strength Harness the power of Ingsoc, then you can capture someone killed the year before

Jan 25, 2005, 02:49 pm	#8 (permalink) (top)
gr8fuldaniel Fire the Liars Location: California Posts: 7,090	ATF=alcohol tobacco and firearms Over 500 acronyms for gov ~~ Helpful Linx * Huff Post * WRH * RAW STORY ~~ Last edited by gr8fuldaniel; Jan 25, 2005 at 02:52 pm. Reason: to add 2nd line

Jan 25, 2005, 06:58 am	#4 (permalink) (top)
Gorgo BANNED-Warned multiple times about instigating. User then reported topics multiple times to mess with staff. Posts: 4,412	Then you have sort of shadowy private corporations and organizations like the NED, and the IRI who do some of the dirty tricks that the CIA is not supposed to do, but which probably does anyway.

Jan 25, 2005, 09:00 am	#6 (permalink) (top)
bishop moderat-e/o-r Location: boston Posts: 11,184	heh, ever hear of how bureaucracy continuously builds upon itself? that's why there are so many - helped by the fact that our government is one of the most corrupt in all the world. if you want to add additional intelligence capabilities, say information warfare, you build a whole new agency rather than add on to an existing department.

Jan 25, 2005, 01:46 pm	#7 (permalink) (top)
Suburbanite BANNED Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,203	can someone tell me what all the acronyms stand for? CIA and FBI I have for sure. Is ATF the American Task Force? Not sure.

Jan 25, 2005, 07:52 pm	#9 (permalink) (top)
Scribbler1 Skeptical Patriot Posts: 7,746	NSA = National Security Agency HSD = Homeland Security Department

Jan 25, 2005, 09:20 pm	#10 (permalink) (top)
Young Hot Lava Location: western NC Posts: 1,088	So hey, all my fellow posters........Predict a Pecking order......& maybe speculate as to which agencies the National Intel Director will control, which ones He might Not, and just maybe you can let me know your feelings on Rumsfeld and the pentagon attaining its own Intel Unit....Operated for apparently over a year & now just known to us....but also now known to the World and the Unit's policies being created by Stephen Cambone http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2659 Exerupt "Before he joined the Bush Sr. administration, Cambone worked for SRS Technologies, a defense contractor. SRS recently received a $6 million contract to provide administrative and management support for the Missile Defense Agency." "While Cambone was directing the two Rumsfeld commissions, he also participated in two national security strategy and military transformation commissions sponsored by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and the National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP). The institute's 2001 report, Rationale and Requirements for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control, and PNAC's Rebuilding America's Defenses were blueprints for Rumsfeld's promised "revolution in military affairs." Several other PNAC associates, in addition to Rumsfeld himself, also served on the Rumsfeld commissions, including Paul Wolfowitz, Malcolm Wallop, William Schneider, and James Woolsey. Both the NIPP and PNAC studies seem to have served as blueprints for the defense policies initiated by the administration of George W. Bush with respect to nuclear policy, national security strategy, and military transformation." http://antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2659 Young I guess all we've got Left......are these darned "Internets"

Jan 25, 2005, 09:37 pm	#11 (permalink) (top)
Scribbler1 Skeptical Patriot Posts: 7,746	Maybe no "pecking order" at all. It occurs to me that the head agency may well be one we don't even KNOW about. Since we seem to want to blab so much intel all the time, maybe while all the abovementioned outfits are "leaking" reports there is one that is completely invisible. We (and the rest of the world) focus on the CIA which occupies everyone so the REAL agency goes about its business free from prying eyes. At least that's what I would do. Use all those other agencies as decoys. The idea that spys work in the open only happens in James Bond movies.

Jan 25, 2005, 09:50 pm	#12 (permalink) (top)
Young Hot Lava Location: western NC Posts: 1,088	Great thought, but don't you think the Democrats & Republicans secretly play a covert game depending on whose in the Whitehouse? Most other Nations have One Leader, and that person is fairly permanent.......So as America Our 8 or 4 years and Switch system, & it being a Twosided Posiibility must create complex advantages.......a few Disadvantages as well. Young I guess all we've got Left......are these darned "Internets"

Jan 25, 2005, 10:40 pm	#13 (permalink) (top)
Scribbler1 Skeptical Patriot Posts: 7,746	I thought of that but I don't believe it. What I DO believe though, is that there is actually ONE party with two public faces. Each just different enough to force us to pick sides and spend our time arguing about which side is better while the REAL governing is done without our scrutiny. If the government indeed has a supersecret agency which does the ACTUAL intelligence work, the same scenario applies to government itself. We watch the CIA while the REAL spooks work. We watch the Democrats and Republicans while the REAL government operates.

Jan 25, 2005, 10:43 pm	#14 (permalink) (top)
bishop moderat-e/o-r Location: boston Posts: 11,184	i don't think there will be a particular pecking order really.. more agencies will simply mean more confusion, more infighting, more inefficiency and more failure. if one or two agencies can't get it right, i can't see how 15 will either. also, what's going on now has less to do with the agencies' stated purposes and more to do with politics. bush can install the heads of each organization and use them to duplicate "intelligence" which he can then use to sell another war. you figure that when all the different agencies seem to agree, that there's this sense of common agreement and understanding - so they must be right (so goes the logic).