[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 13, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               STOP THE FREELANCE SPYING AT THE PENTAGON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, a war that is illegitimate with no 
continued justification inevitably will be managed irresponsibly. But 
sometimes the excesses and the incompetence continue to shock me.
  The Pentagon is now investigating a rogue spy operation that 
allegedly used private contractors to carry out attacks on militants 
and paid them inappropriately using a legitimate information-gathering 
program as a cover. It seems a Pentagon official named Michael Furlong 
was hiring private firms to gather intelligence about the whereabouts 
of top insurgents with the goal of hunting them down and killing them.

                              {time}  2000

  And the whole time he was claiming simply to be involved in an above-
board project to give us a better understanding of Afghan society and 
culture.
  The CIA, the United States Government's legitimate intelligence-
gathering agency, felt that its work was undermined by Mr. Furlong's 
freelance shenanigans. And it was the CIA's complaints that finally 
shut Mr. Furlong down and prompted the investigation. You know you've 
gone off the deep end when the CIA thinks your covert operation is 
beyond the pale.
  No one can say for sure who was supervising or approving Mr. 
Furlong's operation, and apparently some of the money he was given 
control over has gone missing.
  Mr. Furlong was something of a cowboy, actually. According to news 
accounts, he liked to brag about having a notorious Iran Contra figure 
on the payroll, and he likened his contractors to fictional movie 
assassins.
  But this isn't a movie, Madam Speaker. It's not like we can all go 
home with a clear conscience after the lights come up and the credits 
roll. There are grave life-and-death consequences to the decisions made 
inside the Pentagon. And while a movie costs us maybe $12, this war in 
Afghanistan is costing us millions every single day.
  It's bad enough that this Congress is repeatedly asked to sign 
another check to pay for a war that is bankrupting our country and 
failing to advance our national security interests. But then we learn 
that the money being authorized, which I have consistently voted 
against, is being used on secret and illegal operations for which there 
is no transparency or accountability. And this is just the latest 
example of private contractors being used to carry out questionable 
wartime activities to get around the rules governing military 
operations.
  It's an encouraging sign, however, that the Pentagon has begun to 
look into Furlong's operation, and this episode has prompted Secretary 
Gates to order a review of all the military's information operations 
programs to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. I'm expecting the 
oversight committee of this body to ask some tough questions. I can't 
imagine how we can debate another supplemental unless we've demanded 
and received answers about Mr. Furlong's spy ring and other possible 
wrongdoing.
  It has to stop, Madam Speaker. It's time to rein in the contractors, 
and it's time to bring our valiant troops home.
  We know there is a better way to fight terrorism and rebuild 
Afghanistan. It's time to turn our approach to national security upside 
down. We need a smarter strategy. We need to show American compassion, 
not American aggression.
  We need a humanitarian surge, not a military surge. Instead of 
troops, we need to send aid workers and other civilian experts. That is 
the best counterterrorism approach of all. That is what will give 
Afghan people hope for a better life. That is what will build a durable 
peace.

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