national intelligence estimate (NIE), produced on 23 July 1946,
judging that Josef Stalinhad neither the capabilities nor the desire
for a war with the West and would therefore follow an opportunistic
foreign policy.
By early September 1946, Vandenberg had acquired the right for
the CIG to have its own budget and personnel. He also began a cam-
paign to place the CIG on a firmer legal footing, an aspiration ful-
filled early in his successor’s term by the passage of the National Se-
curity Act of 1947. See alsoHILLENKOETTER, REAR ADMIRAL
ROSCOE.VAN LEW, ELIZABETH L. (1818–1900).Arguably the best Union
spy during the American Civil War, Elizabeth van Lew organized a
spy ring in Richmond, Virginia, known as the Richmond Under-
ground, to work against the Confederacy. She is reputed to have had
superb tradecraft skills, including the protection of her spies, such
that the identities of her agents have never been revealed.VEGA (SYSTEM).See LACROSSE.VEIL (OPERATION).A deception and disinformation covert action
against Libya in the early 1980s, carried out jointly by the Central In-
telligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense(DOD), to
dissuade Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi from engaging in ter-
rorism; bring about a change of leadership; and minimize the possi-
bility of Soviet gains in Libya. VEILcalled for encouraging internal
dissidents to act in order to increase psychological pressure on
Qaddafi. To augment the operation, the DOD conducted unilateral and
joint military exercises designed to deceive, overburden, and “spook”
Libyan defenses. Part of the plan also was the placement of propa-
ganda items in the media that would focus attention on infighting
among Libyan groups jockeying for position against Qaddafi, the gen-
eral plight of Libyan society, speculation about successors to Qaddafi,
and rumors of foreign planning for renewed actions against Qaddafi.VENONA (OPERATION). Project VENONAwas set up secretly in
February 1943 by the U.S. Army Signals Intelligence Corps, prede-
cessor of the Army Security Agency(ASA) and National Security
Agency (NSA). Its mission was to intercept and analyze Soviet212 • VAN LEW, ELIZABETH L.05-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 212