| CIA hires mercenary 'contractors' to fight in Afghanistan The Associated Press
11/28/2003
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WASHINGTON - The recent deaths of two U.S. paramilitary operatives in Afghanistan opened a small window into one of the CIA's secret methods: using guns-for-hire. The agency has turned more frequently to contractors - often retired Green Berets or Navy SEALs - as it has worked to rapidly expand its covert paramilitary force, boosted by a big increase in funding in the two years since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. William Carlson and Christopher Glenn Mueller were retired military commando soldiers hired by the CIA as contractors to hunt al-Qaida and Taliban fighters near Shkin, in the wilds of eastern Afghanistan. They died Oct. 25 when they were ambushed while taking part in a larger military offensive in the area. It appears they were hired by the CIA during the rapid growth of the agency's covert paramilitary force after the Sept. 11 attacks. They were among an undisclosed number of former special operators hired to augment the CIA's own employees. Johnny (Mike) Spann, the first American killed in combat in Afghanistan, in November 2001, was one such CIA employee. The size of the agency's paramilitary force remains classified. The CIA acknowledged Carlson and Mueller's deaths and their ties to the agency in a statement three days after the shooting. Carlson, 43, and Mueller, 32, "were no strangers to the hardships of service to country," said CIA Director George Tenet. Carlson was retired from army special operations and Mueller from navy special operations. The two "were tracking terrorists operating in the region," the CIA said. But it offered few details about the shooting or the men's activities in Afghanistan. Hiring contractors to boost the paramilitary force gives both the CIA and the individuals who are hired more flexibility, intelligence experts outside the agency said. The operators can accept short-term assignments and then go home to their families when they are finished. On the CIA's part, the current heavy use of contractors is probably a product of the large, one-time cash infusion the agency is receiving from Congress to fight the war on terrorism, said Steven Aftergood, an intelligence expert with the watchdog Federation of American Scientists in Washington. "All indications are that reliance on contractors is growing," Aftergood said. "What do you do if somebody drops hundreds of millions of dollars in your lap? You hire contractors on a short-term basis." "You have no assurance it will be part of your budget next year." The CIA's paramilitary arm, a unit called the Special Operations Group, is called upon when the president authorizes covert action in a secret "finding" that is reported to senior congressional leaders. One such finding, signed by former president Bill Clinton and vastly expanded by President George W. Bush, governs the covert war against the al-Qaida terrorist network. But some analysts wonder whether the activities of CIA contractors are subject to proper oversight from both the CIA and Congress. "It's important for the oversight committees (in the House of Representatives and Senate) to keep track of what the paramilitary people are doing," said CIA expert Loch Johnson, a University of Georgia professor. He worried about the agency turning to contractors, even retired military special operators, "who don't really understand the laws and regulations that govern the CIA." "We've had a long and torturous history trying to make sure covert actions are under strict guidance," Johnson said. Aftergood said while the use of contractors does give the CIA flexibility, "it's not a substitute for a well-conceived and sustained operational plan."
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