intelligence spending news stories on Newser

Karzai's Brother on CIA Payroll: Insiders

Will McCahill — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:43:31 CDT

The brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been on the CIA’s payroll for much of the past 8 years, a time during which he’s boosted his personal power in a large area of southern Afghanistan—and been linked to the opium trade. Ahmed Wali Karzai denies the claim, made...

Iraq Profitable Business for Bush's Ex-Spies

Kevin Spak — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:20:27 CDT

Richard Armitage rarely saw eye-to-eye with the Bush administration on the Iraq war, but these days he may be more sanguine. That’s because Armitage has profited handsomely from his own national security consulting firm, as well stakes in a dozen private defense and intelligence companies that do business with the...

As Recession Looms, Google Looks to Uncle Sam

Kevin Spak — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:27:46 CDT

With an economic meltdown threatening its advertising business, Google is turning to Washington for a second revenue stream, MarketWatch reports. Google’s government contract business is still extremely small, but could become more important soon as the company tries to diversify, according to the division’s chief technologist. “The government is excited...

US Intelligence In Private Hands

Ben Worthen — Thu, 31 May 2007 08:00:00 CDT

Since 9/11, the US government has been upping spending on private intelligence contractors, doling out cash that is often classified and impossible to trace, Salon reports. 70% of all classified intelligence spending goes into private hands, making waste and corruption serious concerns.