Black operation explained

A black operation or black ops is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it is secret and it is not attributable to the organization carrying it out.^[1]

A single such activity may be called a black bag operation; that term is primarily used for covert or clandestine surreptitious entries into structures to obtain information for human intelligence operations.^[2] Such operations have been carried out by the FBI,^[3] CIA,^[4] KGB, Mossad, MI6, MI5, ASIS, COMANF, DGSE, AISE, CNI, MSS, R&AW, DGFI, ROK UDU, SVR, FSB, Kuwait 25th Commando Brigade, ISI and the intelligence services of other states.

The main difference between a black operation and one that is merely secret is that a black operation involves a significant degree of deception, to conceal who is behind it or to make it appear that some other entity is responsible (e.g. false flag operations).^{[5] [6]}

Etymology

Black may be used as a generic term for any government activity that is hidden or secret. For example, in the United States, some activities by military and intelligence agencies are funded by a classified "black budget", of which the details, and sometimes even the total, are hidden from the public and from most congressional oversight.^{[7] [8]}

Reported examples

• The Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior was sunk by French secret services.
• In May 2007, ABC News, and later The Daily Telegraph, reported that United States president George W. Bush had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to undertake "black operations" in Iran in order to promote regime change as well as to sabotage Iran's nuclear program.^{[9] [10]} ABC News was subsequently criticized for reporting the secret operation, with 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney saying he was "shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action in Iran", but ABC said the CIA and the George W. Bush administration knew of their plans to publish the information and raised no objections.^[11]
• In June the same year, the CIA declassified secret records—part of a collection of highly guarded documents called the "Family Jewels"—detailing illegal domestic surveillance, assassination plots, kidnapping, and other "black" operations undertaken by the CIA from the 1950s to the early 1970s. CIA Director General Michael Hayden explained why he released the documents, saying that they provided a "glimpse of a very different time and a very different agency".^[12]

See also

• Black reconnaissance

Notes and References

1. Book: Smith, W. Thomas Jr.. Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency. 2003. Facts on File, Inc.. New York. 0-8160-4666-2. 31.
2. News: Tallinn government surveillance cameras reveal black bag operation. December 16, 2008. Intelnews. 3 December 2012.
3. News: FBI to Boost 'Black Bag' Search Ops. Rood. Justin. June 15, 2007. ABC News. 3 December 2012.
4. Web site: The CIA Code Thief Who Came in from the Cold. matthewald.com. 3 December 2012.
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=zDRQAAAAYAAJ&q=clandestine+%22black+operation%22 Popular Electronics, Volume 6, Issue 2–6
6. Djang, Chu, From Loss to Renewal: A Tale of Life Experience at Ninety, Authors Choice Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 54. "(A black operation was) an operation in which the sources of propaganda were disguised or misrepresented in one way or another so as not to be attributed to the people who really engineered it."
7. News: Dirty Secrets Of The "Black Budget". February 27, 2006. Business Week. June 12, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111231103203/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_09/c3973050.htm. December 31, 2011. mdy-all.
8. Pentagon's Black Budget Tops $56 Billion. Shachtman. Noah. February 1, 2010. Wired. June 12, 2012.
9. News: Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran. Ross. Brian. Esposito, Richard. May 22, 2007. ABC News. June 7, 2012.
10. News: Bush sanctions 'black ops' against Iran. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552784/Bush-sanctions-black-ops-against-Iran.html . January 12, 2022 . subscription . live. Shipman. Tim. May 27, 2007. The Daily Telegraph. June 7, 2012.
11. News: ABC News Comes Under Fire For Iran Report . Montopoli . Brian . May 23, 2007 . CBS News . January 26, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110218002320/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500486_162-2842625-500486.html . February 18, 2011 .
12. News: CIA to release cold war 'black files'. Tisdall . Simon. June 22, 2007. The Guardian. June 7, 2012.