Well, a whole lot of it goes to duplicative programs in multiple agencies. Turf-guarding and turf-expansion may (in my experience) take at least a third of what taxpayers ante up for their government(s).
Put that together with our wholly inappropriate but growing imperialism, and you have a nasty situation.
The Pentagon will send hundreds of additional spies overseas as part of an ambitious plan to assemble an espionage network that rivals the CIA in size, U.S. officials said.
The project is aimed at transforming the Defense Intelligence Agency, which has been dominated for the past decade by the demands of two wars, into a spy service focused on emerging threats and more closely aligned with the CIA and elite military commando units.
When the expansion is complete, the DIA is expected to have as many as 1,600 “collectors” in positions around the world, an unprecedented total for an agency whose presence abroad numbered in the triple digits in recent years.
The total includes military attachés and others who do not work undercover. But U.S. officials said the growth will be driven over a five-year period by the deployment of a new generation of clandestine operatives. ...WaPo
Don't think this is about clean intellligence gathering. It never is. And because this "intelligence gathering" is coming from the Pentagon, it will get much less civilian oversight. Get that?
The expansion of the agency’s clandestine role is likely to heighten concerns that it will be accompanied by an escalation in lethal strikes and other operations outside public view. Because of differences in legal authorities, the military isn’t subject to the same congressional notification requirements as the CIA, leading to potential oversight gaps. ...WaPo
The whole thing has been put together by Michael Vickers. Yes, you are already familiar with Michael Vickers.
Don't even bother to mention the Geneva Conventions in connection with this move. For almost a decade the Conventions have been officially "quaint." Along with "truth." Only money survives. We've already forgotten about messy democracy and ridiculously naive open government.
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