Black operation
Ablack operationorblack opsis acovertorclandestine operationby agovernment agency,amilitary unitor aparamilitary organization;it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it is secret and it is not attributable to the organization carrying it out.[1]
A single such activity may be called ablack bag operation;[1]that term is primarily used forcovertor clandestine surreptitious entries into structures to obtain information forhuman intelligenceoperations.[2]Such operations have been carried out by theFBI,[3]CIA,[4]KGB,Mossad,MI6,MI5,ASIS,COMANF,DGSE,AISE,CNI,MSS,R&AW,DGFI,ROK UDU,SVR,FSB,Kuwait 25th Commando Brigade,ISIand the intelligence services of other states.[2]
The main difference between a black operation and one that is merely secret is that a black operation involves a significant degree of deception, to conceal who is behind it or to make it appear that some other entity is responsible (e.g.false flag operations).[5][6]
Etymology[edit]
Blackmay be used as a generic term for any government activity that is hidden or secret. For example, in the United States, some activities by military and intelligence agencies are funded by a classified "black budget",of which the details, and sometimes even the total, are hidden from the public and from most congressional oversight.[7][8]
Reported examples[edit]
- TheGreenpeaceboatRainbow Warriorwas sunk by French secret services.
- In May 2007,ABC News,and laterThe Daily Telegraph,reported thatUnited States presidentGeorge W. Bushhad authorized theCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) to undertake "black operations" inIranin order to promoteregime changeas well as to sabotageIran's nuclear program.[9][10]ABC News was subsequently criticized for reporting the secret operation, with2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romneysaying he was "shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action in Iran", but ABC said the CIA and theGeorge W. Bush administrationknew of their plans to publish the information and raised no objections.[11]
- In June the same year, the CIA declassified secret records—part of a collection of highly guarded documents called the "Family Jewels"—detailing illegal domestic surveillance,assassinationplots, kidnapping, and other "black" operations undertaken by the CIA from the 1950s to the early 1970s. CIA Director GeneralMichael Haydenexplained why he released the documents, saying that they provided a "glimpse of a very different time and a very different agency".[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abSmith, W. Thomas Jr. (2003).Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency.New York: Facts on File, Inc. p. 31.ISBN0-8160-4666-2.
- ^ab"Tallinn government surveillance cameras reveal black bag operation".Intelnews.December 16, 2008.RetrievedDecember 3,2012.
- ^Rood, Justin (June 15, 2007)."FBI to Boost 'Black Bag' Search Ops".ABC News.RetrievedDecember 3,2012.
- ^"The CIA Code Thief Who Came in from the Cold".matthewald.RetrievedDecember 3,2012.
- ^Popular Electronics, Volume 6, Issue 2–6.Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., Inc. 1974, p. 267. "There are three classifications into which the intelligence community officially divides clandestine broadcast stations. A black operation is one in which there is a major element of deception."
- ^Djang, Chu,From Loss to Renewal: A Tale of Life Experience at Ninety,Authors Choice Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 54. "(A black operation was) an operation in which the sources of propaganda were disguised or misrepresented in one way or another so as not to be attributed to the people who really engineered it."
- ^"Dirty Secrets Of The" Black Budget "".Business Week.February 27, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon December 31, 2011.RetrievedJune 12,2012.
- ^Shachtman, Noah (February 1, 2010)."Pentagon's Black Budget Tops $56 Billion".Wired.RetrievedJune 12,2012.
- ^Ross, Brian; Esposito, Richard (May 22, 2007)."Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran".ABC News.RetrievedJune 7,2012.
- ^Shipman, Tim (May 27, 2007)."Bush sanctions 'black ops' against Iran".The Daily Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on January 12, 2022.RetrievedJune 7,2012.
- ^Montopoli, Brian (May 23, 2007)."ABC News Comes Under Fire For Iran Report".CBS News.Archived fromthe originalon February 18, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 26,2014.
- ^Tisdall, Simon (June 22, 2007)."CIA to release cold war 'black files'".The Guardian.RetrievedJune 7,2012.
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