Republicans Anonymous

According to the Washington Post, John McCain plans to investigate Donald Rumsfeld's alleged plans to set up a secret "black ops" organization under the Depart of Defense's control:

"I'm always sorry to read about things in The Washington Post when they affect a committee that I am a member of," McCain said.

The Defense Department apparently also offered up a "non-denial denial." According to The Washington Post:

"There is no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of defense for clandestine operations as is described in the Washington Post," (Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. DiRita) said. In addition, DiRita said, "the Department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article."

At the same time, DiRita said: "It is accurate and should not be surprising that the Department of Defense is attempting to improve its long-standing human intelligence capability."

In other words, the commander of the new Strategic Support Branch doesn't report DIRECTLY to Rumsfeld, he reports to one of Rumsfeld's assistants.

What plans does Rumsfeld have for this outfit?

Assistant Secretary of Defense Thomas O'Connell, who oversees special operations policy, said Rumsfeld has discarded the "hide-bound way of thinking" and "risk-averse mentalities" of previous Pentagon officials under every president since Gerald R. Ford.
...
One scenario in which Pentagon operatives might play a role, O'Connell said, is this: "A hostile country close to our borders suddenly changes leadership. . . . We would want to make sure the successor is not hostile."

Re-enacting the infamous "Bay of Pigs" operation in Cuba seems to fit this definition nicely, as would covert US military backing for the next coup against Venezuela's democratically-elected president. Add this to the proposed "Salvadoran option" for promoting democracy in Iraq via death squads and we arrive at North Korean-style democracy: 100% of surviving voters support our glorious leader!!!

I can't even imagine the blowback from the types of escapades Rummy's band of James Bond wanna-bes are going to get themselves caught doing... but my crystal ball says we get another Arab Oil boycott within 2 years.