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Eclipse Group was a private intelligence agency run by former
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
officer Duane "Dewy" Clarridge, who was also the founding director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center. Until May 2010, Eclipse Group received funding from the
US Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...
; it then relied on private donors. As of 2011, its operations include obtaining
information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...
related to the
politics of Afghanistan Afghanistan is a theocracy, theocratic emirate with a Totalitarianism, totalitarian regime ruled by the Taliban, a political and miliant Islamism, Islamist movement adhere the Deobandi jihadism, Deobandi jihadist ideology with Pashtunwali influen ...
and the AfPak region. Clarridge operated the Eclipse Group "from poolside at his home near
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. /sup> According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', the Eclipse Group "fielded operatives in the mountains of
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and the desert badlands of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
." /sup> Clarridge and the Eclipse Group "sought to discredit Ahmed Wali Karzai, the
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
power broker who has long been on the C.I.A. payroll, and planned to set spies on his half brother, the Afghan president,
Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...
, in hopes of collecting beard trimmings or other
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
samples that might prove Mr. Clarridge's suspicions that the Afghan leader was a
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
addict." /sup> In November 2011, the Eclipse Group partnered with Blue Mountain in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
before parting the following spring over unknown problems with contracts in Tripoli. In addition to these efforts, Clarridge's "dispatches—an amalgam of fact, rumor, analysis and uncorroborated reports—have been sent to military officials who, until last spring 010at least, found some credible enough to be used in planning strikes against militants in Afghanistan. They are also fed to conservative commentators, including Oliver L. North, a compatriot from the Iran-contra days and now a
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
analyst, and Brad Thor, an author of military thrillers and a frequent guest of
Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...
." /sup>


See also

*
Intelligence assessment Intelligence assessment, is a specific phase of the intelligence cycle which oversees the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on wide ranges of available overt and cover ...
* Human intelligence (espionage)


References

Companies based in San Diego Private intelligence agencies {{US-org-stub