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C.I.A. Sought Blackwater’s Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists
NYTimes ^ | 8/19/2009 | MARK MAZZETTI

Posted on 08/19/2009 8:31:17 PM PDT by james500

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.’s director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting in June to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.

It is unclear whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to actually capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance in the program. American spy agencies have in recent years outsourced some highly controversial work, including the interrogation of prisoners. But government officials said that bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations.

Officials said the C.I.A. did not have a formal contract with Blackwater for this program but instead had individual agreements with top company officials, including the founder, Erik D. Prince, a politically connected former member of the Navy Seals and the heir to a family fortune. Blackwater’s work on the program actually ended years before Mr. Panetta took over the agency, after senior C.I.A. officials themselves questioned the wisdom of using outsiders in a targeted killing program.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: blackwater; cia

1 posted on 08/19/2009 8:31:18 PM PDT by james500
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To: james500

CIA = US Postal Service

Blackwater = Fed Ex and UPS


2 posted on 08/19/2009 8:38:43 PM PDT by Frantzie (Lou Dobbs - American Hero! Bill O'Reilly = Liar)
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To: james500

Well, who else would they contract to kill terrorists? New York Times reporters?


3 posted on 08/19/2009 8:45:47 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Frantzie

LOL! Splendid analogy.


4 posted on 08/19/2009 8:46:10 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or, are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: Vigilanteman

It sounds to me it might have worked. We should keep that one on the shelf. All’s fair in love and war.


5 posted on 08/19/2009 8:55:44 PM PDT by Salvavida (Restoring the U.S.A. starts with filling the empty pew at a local Bible-believing church.)
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To: Cicero

> Well, who else would they contract to kill terrorists? New York Times reporters?

If the NYT reporters could rig themselves up with explosive belts, it might work. They have probably already got direct trusted access to the terrorists, whenever they want.


6 posted on 08/19/2009 9:01:28 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: james500
"The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials".

Yeah, so?

When you need a specialist, call a pro.

7 posted on 08/19/2009 9:10:13 PM PDT by Mariner
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To: james500

Sounds like a plan. A good plan.

Meanwhile, Barry Sotero, please release your actual birth certificate & Passport records — not to mention the records of the various universities that you attended ...


8 posted on 08/19/2009 9:21:32 PM PDT by dodger
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To: dodger

“Sounds like a plan. A good plan.”

It appears not to have gotten far. I suspect Department of Defense had a hand in that.


9 posted on 08/19/2009 9:25:30 PM PDT by james500
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To: james500
Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq....

I can't figure out how it's controversial to be aggressive while fighting a war. But somehow it has gotten that way.

10 posted on 08/19/2009 9:42:27 PM PDT by squidly
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To: dodger
"Meanwhile, Barry Sotero, please release your actual birth certificate & Passport records — not to mention the records of the various universities that you attended ..."


11 posted on 08/20/2009 3:29:00 AM PDT by chuck_the_tv_out (click my name)
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To: james500

And the point is ????

This is the best way to take out the bad guys. Hire someone to do it.


12 posted on 08/20/2009 4:51:09 AM PDT by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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To: DieHard the Hunter
If the NYT reporters could rig themselves up with explosive belts, it might work. They have probably already got direct trusted access to the terrorists, whenever they want. I think that's an excellent idea. Put explosive belts on Mo Dowd and Frank Rich and Bob Herbert and Co. That we, we nail the terrorists and Pinch Sulzberger saves a ton of money on salaries and benefits. Also, he'd get some great stories out of it. Maybe turn the whole operation around.
13 posted on 08/20/2009 7:58:54 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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