by Bartleby the Scrivener | Seymour Hersh spoke back in March of an "executive assassination ring" that reported directly to Cheney, though he seemed to think that the program was actually being implemented. I assume he was talking about the same program that Director Leon Panetta just cancelled and which the CIA says it never got round to implementing(NYT) -- though "some officials" told WaPo that "some elements" were operational, so maybe everybody's right.
The New York Times deadpans:
Following 9-11, see, Bush apparently signed a secret order "authorizing the C.I.A. to capture or kill operatives of Al Qaeda around the world. To be able to kill Osama bin Laden or his top deputies wherever they might be — even in cities or countries far from a war zone — struck top agency officials as an urgent goal, according to people involved in the discussions." (NYT) As one former agent said, that sort of thing works great in the movies. (NYT)
In his turn, Steve Benen deadpans:
WaPo puts the case a little differently.
At any rate, Bush -- and Obama -- found an alternative in the missile strikes with armed Predator drones -- which are working really well, if you don't mind a huge number of civilian deaths. (NYT) The assassination ring, say "current and former officials" would have been more "surgical." (NYT)
About Panetta's cancellation of the program, Bond also said:
Democrats are, of course, extremely annoyed that Congress wasn't sufficiently briefed. The officials who said that some elements of the program were operational said they should have been disclosed because -- in the words of one intelligence official -- they "involved "significant resources and high risk." (WaPo) (Other officials say the program never got beyond the feasibility studies stage.) One counterterrorism official says that everything the CIA did was within "legal guidelines." (WaPo) Yes, we've heard that one before.
But what about Cheney's role in all this? Still unclear.
HuffPost has more on the allegations about Cheney's role here.
More blogger reaction at Memeorandum.
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