Faster OK for Operations of Special Forces Rejected

Despite mounting criticism about bureaucratic delays and uneven results, Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told lawmakers that he has decided not to streamline the review process for proposed special forces operations in the drug war and other missions.

The current laborious process, which can take up to 12 weeks and imposes significant limits on clandestine intelligence gathering by special military units, has been blamed by critics inside and outside the Pentagon for bogging down anti-drug operations.

During the Panama invasion, the critics contend, the cumbersome review procedure inhibited the gathering of key information and prevented U.S. forces from learning of potentially stiff resistance by Panamanian Defense Forces.

But Powell, responding to mounting concern expressed by the Senate Armed Services Committee about the proposed streamlining, told members of the panel that the methodical oversight process provides protections that he believes are necessary.

“I welcome and encourage the continuing flow of proposals and recommendations from the combatant commanders,” Powell said Wednesday in a letter to Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the committee chairman. But, Powell added: “I carefully considered this proposal and decided not to recommend it to the secretary of defense.”

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told the committee recently that he could not offer assurances that the “streamlining” proposal would be blocked, because he had not been briefed on it. In his letter, Powell said he had informed Cheney that he would not forward the proposal, an indication that Cheney did not dispute Powell’s decision.

Powell’s position lets stand a procedure that requires special operations forces to submit their proposed activities, including covert intelligence-gathering missions, to an often lengthy review by several federal agencies.

The rules, known as the Director of Central Intelligence Directives, require approval of such proposals by officials at the Defense, State and Justice departments, as well as by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House, the CIA and the U.S. ambassador in the affected country.

Senior defense officials responsible for special operations had argued that the review process is too unwieldy and that it would hamper the elite military forces’ ability to act effectively in the nation’s efforts to combat drugs and terrorism.

But lawmakers were fearful that without the review process, rogue operations might be mounted that could inflame international tensions if made public.

Until they received assurances that the proposed streamlining had been blocked, Nunn and Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia, the ranking Republican member of the Senate panel, had threatened to delay or block confirmation of Lt. Gen. Carl Stiner’s promotion to commander of the nation’s special operations forces.

After Powell’s letter, the Senate committee Thursday approved the elevation of Stiner, who directed the U.S. invasion of Panama, to lead the newly created Special Operations Command.

The lawmakers also expressed concern about changes in other procedures designed to ensure oversight of U.S. special operations forces. Some reviews imposed on the forces after abuses were discovered during the Ronald Reagan Administration are being diluted, a congressional source said.

Although expressing disappointment at Powell’s decision, one Pentagon official who had favored the streamlining said that, in some high priority cases, the President or defense secretary could exempt individual operations from the review process.

“The idea is not to make routine a more streamlined process, but that does not preclude the President or defense secretary from saying: ‘This is a different situation, go ahead and do it,’ ” the official said.