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Covert operation

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Covert operations are military or political activities that are not only clandestine (undertaken in a manner that disguises the identity of the perpetrators) but also covert, i.e. denied by the governments that undertake them.

They are employed in situations where openly operating against a target would jeopardize the operation's success. In the case of enemies, there may be issues regarding military strength, treaties, laws, moral principles, or aversion to negative media attention. Operations may be directed at allies and friends to secure their support or to influence their policy against an enemy. Covert operations differ from espionage by attempting to influence events in another country rather than gathering information about it.

The best-known organizations specializing in covert operations today are the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense (The Pentagon) of the United States, but covert operations have been employed by many national and sub-national governments and other organizations for centuries, with or without a formal intelligence agency. They are an established and often controversial component of foreign policy throughout the world. The equivalent Soviet terminology would be "active measures".

Law enforcement agencies also use covert operations to infiltrate suspected criminal organizations.

Contents

[edit] Forms of covert operations

Covert action takes many different forms reflecting the diverse circumstances in which it is used. There are paramilitary operations, in which a state trains, supports, or advises a military force in another country. There is political subversion, in which a state supports or advises a political group in another country or directs propaganda at its population. In disinformation operations, a government provides forged documents to another government to turn that government against an enemy. Some of the most controversional covert actions are those directed against individuals, such as kidnappings, assassinations, and coups d'état.

A common tactic in covert operations is to establish a front business or organization through which agents can operate unrecognized. Air America, the CIA-owned airline that supplied Hmong fighters in Laos during the Second Indochina War, is an example of such a front organization.

[edit] Examples of covert operations

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  • "Studies and Observation Group" (1964-1972)

A campaign against North Vietnam conducted by the Pentagon's Special Operations Group under the cover name "Studies and Observation Group" from 1964 to 1972, said to be the largest and most complex covert operation since World War II and involving the dispatch of spies, psychological warfare, manipulation of North Vietnamese POWs and kidnapping, dirty tricks, commando raids, and operations on the Ho Chi Minh trail <ref>Shultz, Richard H., Jr. The Secret War against Hanoi: Kennedy's and Johnson's Use of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam. HarperCollins, 1999. ISBN 0-06-019454-5</ref>.

The assassination (by Mossad) of Palestinians who organized the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Operation COINTELPRO, the FBI's program to infiltrate and disrupt domestic left-leaning political groups during the Cold War.

  • Iran Contra (1980's)

Iran Contra affair in Nicaragua ( also known as Irangate). CIA, McFarlane and Poindexter aid the National Security Council in raising private and foreign funds..military arms are sold to the Contras for two main incentives : to aid the contras against the Sandanista governnent in Nicaragua, to use those proceeds to fund for the exchange of the 66 hostages from the United States Embassy in Iran, to hinder the advancement of communism

  • Military Intelligence Group infiltrates Quaker Group, Others (Current)

On December 13, 2005 MSNBC reported on the infiltration of a Quaker sponsored counter-recruitment group, The Truth Project, by elements of US Military Intelligence. According to several reports by Lisa Myers, Douglas Pasternak, Rich Gardella and the NBC Investigative Unit, "A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a 'threat' and one of more than 1,500 'suspicious incidents' across the country over a recent 10-month period." MSNBC's coverage also included a pdf showing a spreadsheet (html link) of protest activities of various groups of American citizens who oppose Bush administration policies.

Richard Hersh, a member of The Truth Project, gave testimony to the House Judiciary Democratic membership briefing January 20, 2006, about his experience of this domestic spying. In his statement, Hersh said the purpose of his group "is to help educate high school students and their parents about military service and to give them enough accurate information to make informed choices about critical decisions."

   
Covert operation
 The Quakers welcomed us into their church, because they believed our intent was non-violent and was in keeping with their deeply-felt beliefs of teaching peace and understanding. They knew our purpose was solely to exercise our First Amendment Rights to assemble peacefully, speak freely, and worship as we choose.

We had no idea until one year later that the unfamiliar faces in the church had been sent by the President ’s Department of Defense to spy on us; NBC News investigators showed us that agents of the 902nd Military Intelligence Group from Fort Meade, MD, where the National Security Agency is headquartered, infiltrated the Quaker Meeting House, and then filed a report designating us a CREDIBLE THREAT. The president’s agents DID NOT come to worship alongside us, to help us plan our educational program, or to protect us.

And it wasn ’t just us. Shortly after NBC aired its report, churches and other groups began sharing their experiences of infiltration and intimidation with us. Saint Maurice’s Catholic Church in Dania, the Unitarian Universalists, the Fort Lauderdale Friends, members of Pax Christi in West Palm Beach, environmental groups, and many others.

Agents rummaged through trash, attacked and snooped into email, hacked web sites, and listened in on phone conversations. Indeed, address books and activist meeting lists have disappeared.
   
Covert operation

[edit] Representations of covert operations in popular culture

Covert operations have often been the subject of popular novels, films, TV series, comics, etc.

[edit] Anime/Video Games

[edit] Literature

See Spy fiction.

[edit] Film

See Spy film.

[edit] Television

[edit] See also

[edit] References

1. Shultz, Richard H., Jr. The Secret War against Hanoi: Kennedy's and Johnson's Use of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam. HarperCollins, 1999. ISBN 0-06-019454-5.


[edit] External links

Delgado, Arturo, Counterfeit Reich: Hitler's Secret Swindle, 2005 ISBN: 1-4241-0389-4de:Verdeckte Operation

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