Covert operations are military or political activities that are not only clandestine (undertaken in a manner that disguises the identity of the perpetrators) but also covert, i.e. denied by the governments that undertake them.

 

They are employed in situations where openly operating against a target would jeopardize the operation's success. In the case of enemies, there may be issues regarding military strength, treaties, laws, moral principles, or aversion to negative media attention. Operations may be directed at allies and friends to secure their support or to influence their policy against an enemy. Covert operations differ from espionage by attempting to influence events in another country rather than gathering information about it.

 

The best-known organizations specializing in covert operations today are the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense (The Pentagon) of the United States, but covert operations have been employed by many national and sub-national governments and other organizations for centuries, with or without a formal intelligence agency. They are an established and often controversial component of foreign policy throughout the world. The equivalent Soviet terminology would be "active measures".

 

Law enforcement agencies also use covert operations to infiltrate suspected criminal organizations.

Forms of covert operations

 

Covert action takes many different forms reflecting the diverse circumstances in which it is used. There are paramilitary operations, in which a state trains, supports, or advises a military force in another country. There is political subversion, in which a state supports or advises a political group in another country or directs propaganda at its population. In disinformation operations, a government provides forged documents to another government to turn that government against an enemy. Some of the most controversional covert actions are those directed against individuals, such as kidnappings, assassinations, and coups d'état.

 

A common tactic in covert operations is to establish a front business or organization through which agents can operate unrecognized. Air America, the CIA-owned airline that supplied Hmong fighters in Laos during the Second Indochina War, is an example of such a front organization.

Examples of covert operations

 

* "Studies and Observation Group" (1964-1972)

 

A campaign against North Vietnam conducted by the Pentagon's Special Operations Group under the cover name "Studies and Observation Group" from 1964 to 1972, said to be the largest and most complex covert operation since World War II and involving the dispatch of spies, psychological warfare, manipulation of North Vietnamese POWs and kidnapping, dirty tricks, commando raids, and operations on the Ho Chi Minh trail.

 

* Operation Wrath of God

 

The assassination (by Mossad) of the Palestinians who organized the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

 

* COINTELPRO (Late 1960's - Mid 1970's)

 

Operation COINTELPRO, the FBI's program to infiltrate and disrupt domestic left-leaning political groups during the Cold War.

 

* Iran Contra (1980's)

 

Iran Contra affair in Nicaragua ( also known as Iranagate). CIA, McFarlane and Poindexter aid the National Security Council in raising private and foreign funds..military arms are sold to the Contras for two main incentives : to aid the contras against the Sandanista governnent in Nicaragua, to use those proceeds to fund for the exchange of the 66 hostages from the United States Embassy in Iran, to hinder the advancement of communism

 

* Military Intelligence Group infiltrates Quaker Group, Others (Current)

 

On December 13, 2005 MSNBC reported on the infiltration of a Quaker sponsored counter-recruitment group, The Truth Project, by elements of US Military Intelligence. According to several reports by Lisa Myers, Douglas Pasternak, Rich Gardella and the NBC Investigative Unit, "A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a 'threat' and one of more than 1,500 'suspicious incidents' across the country over a recent 10-month period." MSNBC's coverage also included a pdf showing a spreadsheet (html link) of protest activities of various groups of American citizens who oppose Bush administration policies.

 

Richard Hersh, a member of The Truth Project, gave testimony to the House Judiciary Democratic membership briefing January 20, 2006, about his experience of this domestic spying. In his statement, Hersh said the purpose of his group "is to help educate high school students and their parents about military service and to give them enough accurate information to make informed choices about critical decisions."

The term black op is used in two instances. Firstly, it is a "black operation" which is a covert operation. In this context, "black" is a term used in political, military, intelligence, and business circles to refer to activities that are either secret, or of questionable ethics and/or legality. Black Ops missions often fall into the deniability category, where no government will claim responsibility for the action. See also, "false flag" operation.

 

This type of operation is normally used by various secret services to achieve some goals while trying to operate secretly (so the connection between "black operations" and secret agents or even the country of their origin cannot be found).

 

The methods used in black operations are also used in unconventional warfare and include some terrorist-style actions like assassinations, sabotages, supporting of resistance movements, etc.

 

Secondly, it may apply to person(s) who specialise or carry out this type of operation. In this case the term is "black operator" or "black operative".