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| Terror Networks | |||
| CIA hired Blackwater to kill Qaeda figures: report | |||
| 2009-08-21 | |||
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2004 hired contractors from the private security firm Blackwater as part of a secret program to track and assassinate senior al-Qaeda members, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Blackwater helped with planning, training and surveillance in a program on which the CIA spent several million dollars without capturing or killing any militants, the newspaper reported, quoting former and current American officials.
The North Carolina-based contractor, which recently changed its name to Xe Services, was enmeshed in controversy in Iraq in 2007 when Blackwater employees hired to guard U.S. diplomats were accused of using excessive force in a Baghdad shooting in which 17 Iraqi civilians were killed. The CIA's use of an outside company for a covert program prompted the intelligence agency's director, Leon Panetta, to inform Congress in June that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the Times said.
The State Department cut ties with Blackwater following ongoing allegations of abuse in Iraq. Blackwater had been given "operational responsibility" for the targeting program, according to the Washington Post, which noted the covert effort was canceled before any missions were conducted. Before the program was cut, however, the private security firm had already been awarded "millions of dollars for training and weaponry," according to the Post. "Outsourcing gave the agency more protection in case something went wrong," said an unnamed intelligence official close to program, quoted by daily.
Panetta told members of Congress that Cheney ordered the agency not to share details of the program with legislators, according to Senate Intelligence Committee head Dianne Feinstein, who in July described the program as being "outside the law." Blackwater protected U.S. government personnel in Iraq since the 2003 invasion and has had around 1,000 staff in the violence-wracked country, making it among the largest security firms operating there. The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee is investigating why lawmakers were never informed about the program, the report said. | |||
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Makes sense. If you have utterly no expertise inhouse for what needs to be done, you have to hire out for it. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2009-08-21 20:30 |
| #7 While not briefing Congress is a violation of law, so is revealing covert agents(like ACLU lawyers at Gitmo) and leaking secret locations of their bases(NYT's). Aiding the enemy is also treason. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-08-21 14:10 |
| #6 The only appropriate question is how many did they get? |
| Posted by: Ulolusing Poodle2849 2009-08-21 12:23 |
| #5 Wahahahaha. Did you lecture at the farm Angleton? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-21 10:00 |
| #4 In an Embassy overseas there will be a senior CIA Officer assigned to oversee and manage CIA operations within that particular country. He may have a Staff but it is likely he is simply a Liaison to the Ambassador to keep him informed at his discretion of CIA activities in that country. In practice the CIA Officer will not be a Field Officer he will be primarily a politician and his job is to keep the Ambassador informed"just enough" to keep the Embassy "informed" and out of trouble. Field Officers dont go near the Embassy. They have very quiet contact( and a plausible Cover which they maintain "plausibly") with the CIA Liaison Officer who handles the politicians and approves or disapproves of CIA ops in the country. Nobody knows any more than he "needs" to know to do his job. This is sometimes difficult, but necessary. Trust is not a good feature in a CIA personality. Smile a lot and dont trust anybody. You are not a gentleman you just act like you are. You get results or you get lost. You get away with it and cover up the mess using your hat. You stick it to someone else, that's your job. And you move fast enough not to get any on your shirt. And some people are expendable. The farther down the food chain you go the more expendable you are. The trick is to go up the food chain. There are never enough CIA to do all the work. You arrange for the work to be "outsourced" as much as possible. The locals or hired professionals with specialties get these jobs. You queer people as a matter of routine. You are always looking for fools. Your job is looking for information and vulnerabilities are how you find the buttons to push. You have lots of "friends" who dont really know you ,but think they do. You use your friends, and get new ones when the old ones wear out. You develop good acting skills and lie a lot. It doesnt bother you at all. You stay away from giving your real name and make a practice of being as un-noticed as the wallpaper in the toilet. It was him, not me. And stay away from anything with your pants down. I know its asking a lot. Pay me. |
| Posted by: Angleton9 2009-08-21 08:27 |
| #3 More detail from NYT |
| Posted by: tipper 2009-08-21 07:04 |
| #2 Testing--updating my computer gave me a new nym. One report I heard was that bounty hunters were legally contracted to hunt down wanted terrorists. I assume putting out a reward to hunt them down was the intent of the State Department offering $$$ in the first place--don't know why the NYT's and Feinstein think this is an illegal and diabolical plot of CIA. Could this be the millions Blackwater was awarded, rightfully if so? |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-08-21 00:24 |
| #1 Whether you do it one-on-one, by drone-zap or MOAB them en masse, I really don't care. Just do it. And faster, please. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2009-08-21 00:13 |