Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The CIA’s Global Response Staff Emerges From The Shadows

CIA’s Global Response Staff Emerging From Shadows After Incidents In Libya And Pakistan -- Washington Post

The rapid collapse of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya exposed the vulnerabilities of State Department facilities overseas. But the CIA’s ability to fend off a second attack that same night provided a glimpse of a key element in the agency’s defensive arsenal: a secret security force created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Two of the Americans killed in Libya were members of the CIA’s Global Response Staff, an innocuously named organization that has recruited hundreds of former U.S. Special Forces operatives to serve as armed guards for the agency’s spies.

The GRS, as it is known, is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is very dangerous work .... and in today's world absolutely essential. The fact that the contractors employed to do this work are sometimes not covered by insurance and other benefits is something that is surprising and maybe should be changed .... especially in view of the work that they do. On a side note .... Blackwater was criticized for doing this type of work (and more) when it was in business .... considering how incredibly dangerous that "business" was/is .... and that the CIA's GRS teams are facing the same problems .... maybe a more thorough discussion and debate is warranted on what role should contractors and their companies play when it comes to doing this type of work.

No comments:

Post a Comment