CIA Sought Help of Blackwater in Assassinating Jihadists

by bartleby the scrivener |  Apparently the involvement of Blackwater (now Xe Services) -- notably callous about killing civilians --  is one reason CIA Director Leon Panetta decided to put an end to the program.  From The New York Times:

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.

According to one source, Panetta thought the program had moved well beyond the planning stage.

“It’s wrong to think this counterterrorism program was confined to briefing slides or doodles on a cafeteria napkin,” the official said. “It went well beyond that.” (NYT)

Attaturk:

Ah, yes, Blackwater -- the cherry pit on the shite sundae that is the "War on Terror", all part no doubt of an all out -- and profitable -- effort to score some politically convenient points in an election year.

And how'd that work out?

The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

BOO-YAH!

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Comments

[Gary]

OK... We either kill, in war, those 'leaders' or we have someone else kill them... Helloooo... The only thing we should be mad about is that Blackwater wasn;t able or professional enough to do the job!! Geez you people!!!

[Roxanne]

Nice post.