Spy games: Pentagon to set up Defense Clandestine Service to focus on North Korea, Iran, China and regions in Africa

Stokely Baksh 1 Comment Nation, World Africa, Al-Qaida in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Central Intelligence Agency, China, Defense Clandestine Service, Defense Department, Defense Intelligence Agency, Iran, Libya, Mali, Nigera, nuclear weapons, Pentagon, Somalia, terrorism

17 photos

Don’t sound the alarm buttons just yet over the shake up at the Pentagon. This week, a senior defense official said that a reorganization was coming to the Defense Intelligence Agency with the creation of the Defense Clandestine Service. The new service will expand the agency’s espionage operation beyond war zones and step up its engagement in human intelligence — an arena dominated for years by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Matthew Hay Brown, The Baltimore Sun’s military affairs reporter, writes “that the officers — some military, some civilian — will work alongside CIA counterparts in places such as Africa, where al-Qaida has grown more active, and Asia, where Chinese military expansion and North Korean and Iranian weapons ambitions are drawing increasing U.S. concern.”

Here’s a look at some hotspots that the Pentagon’s new spy agency will likely keep an eye on. We’ll continue to look at intelligence and military trends in upcoming posts on The Darkroom.
More →