WASHINGTON – The Washington Post has revealed a collection
of clauses from the US government's top secret $52.6 billion "black
budget," meant to finance the special operations of the intelligence
services, including counterintelligence operations against Israel.
The 178-page budget summary for the National Intelligence
Program, which was obtained by the Washington Post from former intelligence
contractor Edward Snowden, states that US intelligence officials take an active
interest in foes as well as friends. Pakistan is described in detail as an "intractable target," and counterintelligence operations "are strategically focused against (the) priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel."
The Washington Post reported that according to the
government’s top secret budget, US spy agencies have built an
intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain
unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national
security threats.
Although the government has annually released its overall
level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses
those funds or how it performs against the goals set by the president and
Congress, the newspaper said.
In response to inquiries from The Washington Post, Director
of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said the US has made a
"considerable investment in the Intelligence Community since the terror
attacks of 9/11, a time which includes wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab
Spring, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction technology, and
asymmetric threats in such areas as cyber-warfare.
"Our budgets are classified as they could provide
insight for foreign intelligence services to discern our top national
priorities, capabilities and sources and methods that allow us to obtain
information to counter threats," he said.
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