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In a recent closed-door meeting with leaders of the CIA’s counter-terrorism center, a second senior CIA official made it clear that fighting al-Qaeda and other extremist groups remains a priority, but CIA funding and Resources will shift to an increasingly concentrated focus on China.
The CIA drone attack that killed an al-Qaeda leader shows that the fight against terrorism is not an afterthought. But that didn’t change the message delivered by the agency’s deputy director, David Cohen, at that meeting a few weeks ago: The US will continue to go after terrorists, but its top priority is to better understand and counter Beijing. is to
A year after the end of the war in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden and senior national security officials are talking less about counterterrorism and more about the political, economic and military threats posed by China and Russia. increase. A quiet reorientation is taking place within the intelligence community, moving hundreds of officers, including those previously working on terrorism, into China-focused positions.
Last week made it clear that the United States must deal with both simultaneously. Days after Ayman Zawari was killed in Kabul, China held major military drills and threatened to cut off contact with the United States over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
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The United States has long been wary of China’s growing political and economic ambitions. China has attempted to influence foreign elections, launched a campaign of cyber and corporate espionage, and detained millions of Uyghur minorities in camps. Some experts also believe that Beijing will try to seize Taiwan’s autonomous democratic island by force within the next few years.
Intelligence officials say more insights are needed on China, including a failure to definitively identify the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing has been accused of withholding information about the origin of the virus.
And the war in Ukraine highlights the importance of Russia as a target. The US used declassified information to expose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war plans before the invasion and garner diplomatic support for Kyiv.
Proponents of the Biden administration’s approach point to the United States’ ability to track down and kill al-Zawari as evidence of its ability to target Afghan threats from abroad. Critics say the fact that al-Zawari lived in Kabul, apparently under Taliban protection, suggests there is a resurgence of extremist groups that America is ill-prepared to counter.
The change in priorities is backed by many former intelligence officers and lawmakers from both parties who say it is premature. This includes those who have served in Afghanistan and other missions against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Rep. Jason Crowe, a former Army ranger who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said he believed the United States had focused too much on counter-terrorism over the past few years.
Al-Qaeda leader Al-Zawari’s death and questions that need answers
“The far bigger existential threats are Russia and China,” said Crowe, a Democrat from Colorado and a member of the House Intelligence and Armed Services committees. Terrorist groups will not “disrupt the American way of life…just like China can,” he said.
CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorpe said terrorism “remains a very real challenge.”
“Although crises such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and strategic challenges such as those posed by the People’s Republic of China require attention, the CIA actively tracks terrorist threats around the world and works with partners to counter them.
Congress is pressuring the CIA and other intelligence agencies to make China a top priority, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the classified information issue. Imposing resources on China requires cuts in other areas, including counter-terrorism. Specific figures were not available because the intelligence budget is classified.
Lawmakers, in particular, want more information about China’s advanced technological developments. Under President Xi Jinping, China has pledged trillions of dollars in investments in quantum science, artificial intelligence and other technologies that could disrupt future wars and the fabric of the economy.
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As part of the transition, a congressional committee is seeking to better track how intelligence agencies spend money in China, providing more detail on how specific programs contribute to their mission. , said a person familiar with the matter.
Rep. Chris Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and a Utah Republican, said: “That means people, resources, military assets, and diplomacy.”
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The CIA announced last year that it would create two new “mission centers” to centralize and improve intelligence gathering on these issues, one in China and one on emerging technologies. The CIA is also trying to recruit more Chinese speakers and reduce wait times for security clearances to recruit new personnel more quickly.
Within the agency, many staff have learned Chinese and are moving into new China-focused roles, but not all of these jobs require language training.
Officials say operatives are being trained to adapt to new challenges, and many were more quickly transferred to counter-terrorism roles after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It will also help counter Russia and China, the former officer said.
“What has become extraordinary is the analysis and targeting machine,” said Douglas Wise, a former senior CIA officer and deputy director of the Counterterrorism Center.
The CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center, renamed the Counter-Terrorism Mission Center in a 2015 reorganization, has remained a staple since 9/11 for many who believe in its job to keep Americans safe from terrorism. Proud. It was part of an operation to expel the Taliban and find and kill al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.
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And 13 years after the double agent tricked an officer in pursuit of Al-Zawari into blowing himself up and killing seven agency personnel, the CIA killed him in a strike, but no civilian casualties were reported. rice field.
The CIA was also involved in some of the darkest moments of the war on terrorism. It runs a secret “black site” prison that houses terrorism suspects, some of whom were falsely arrested, and used interrogation methods that amounted to torture, a Senate investigation found.CIA An elite Afghan special operations force trained by Afghanistan has also been accused of killing civilians and violating international law.
It has long been debated whether counter-terrorism has taken intelligence agencies too far away from traditional espionage, and whether military special forces should take over some of the CIA’s efforts to target terrorists. rice field.
Marc Polymeropoulos is a former CIA operations officer and former base chief in Afghanistan. He said he supported a greater focus on China and Russia, but added, “There is no reason to reduce what we had to do.”
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“All the CT work we’ve done is the idea that somehow it went wrong. Remember what everyone was feeling on Sept. 12,” he said.
Reorienting agencies to focus more on China and Russia will ultimately take years, Wise said, requiring patience and recognition that agency culture will take time to change. .
“For decades we have been fighting terrorism,” Wise said. “We need to have a reasonable plan to make this adaptation that won’t take long enough for an adversary to exploit the glacial process.”