NYT: Blackwater tied to CIA death plot
August 20th, 2009 . by TexasFredNYT: Blackwater tied to CIA death plot
WASHINGTON - 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 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 new C.I.A. director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting 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 capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance. 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.
Full Story Here:
NYT: Blackwater tied to CIA death plot
“The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not capture or kill any terrorist suspects.” That we have been TOLD about…
Let me make one thing very clear, no one at the CIA or Blackwater is going to look at you and say, “Sure, we captured old so-and-so and we killed 3 of his top aids too…”
It just doesn’t work that way. The overly sensitive and incredibly PC among us don’t believe in political kidnapping, taking terrorists prisoner, and/or killing, ie: assassinating them. We have LAWS against that sort of thing you know. Why would the Agency, or any Blackwater operator knowingly expose himself to a war crimes or murder charge?
It has also drawn controversy. Blackwater employees hired to guard American diplomats in Iraq were accused of using excessive force on several occasions, including shootings in downtown Baghdad in 2007 in which 17 civilians were killed. Iraqi officials have since refused to renew the company’s operating license.
Excessive force huh?
Let me point something else out for those less than well informed individuals that have no idea what fighting an insurgency in a place like Iraq is all about. Do ANY of you know the difference between an Enemy Combatant and a civilian? In a theater like Iraq or Afghanistan? Anyone??
Once the shooting stops and the smoke clears, a CIVILIAN is the one that managed to hide his AK-47 before anyone else. That’s it, the only difference. 10 seconds prior he was killing everything in front of him, but he laid that weapon DOWN before you got a round in him, so, YOU are wrong, YOU are now guilty of killing a civilian and YOU are a WAR CRIMINAL. Too bad, so sad. Leavenworth here I come!
Here’s another little truth that needs to be spoken also. Today’s Rules of Engagement and the Geneva Convention have outlived their usefulness. They apply to doing battle with an enemy that is connected to a UNIFORMED army. The insurgencies of Islam are NOT an ARMY in the sense we are used to fighting, or that the Rules of Engagement and Geneva Convention were put in place to govern. We are fighting an organized rabble, nothing more. And as I pointed out previously, a civilian is a moot point in a firefight in the current scenario of COMBAT action in the world today.
And let me ask the readers one more question. How many American diplomats were killed while under the protection of Blackwater?
The answer would be NONE. Blackwater never lost a client that they were contracted to protect. Now I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty good statistic. The Secret Service can’t boast of that fact. So, again I ask, excessive force?
Do the LIVE diplomats feel that they were kept alive by excessive force or good protection? If they lived to tell the tale, and if truth be told, I am betting there are many diplomats that are thanking God for Blackwater.
The C.I.A. this summer conducted an internal review of the assassination program that recently was presented to the White House and the Congressional intelligence committees. The officials said that the review stated that Mr. Panetta’s predecessors did not believe that they needed to tell Congress because the program was not far enough developed.
As said previously, not developed to the point of being public knowledge, or used and acknowledged.
One official familiar with the matter said that Mr. Panetta did not tell lawmakers that he believed that the C.I.A. had broken the law by withholding details about the program from Congress. Rather, the official said, Mr. Panetta said he believed that the program had moved beyond a planning stage and deserved Congressional scrutiny.
“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.�?
There’s some folks that don’t want to be caught without a seat when the music stops. Maybe they don’t still have the old Get Out of Jail card, if such a thing were to exist that is. Personally, I think Panetta is covering HIS ass. And that’s understandable. You don’t want to go to jail for a mistake your predecessor may have made. But in MY opinion, Panetta can’t find his ass with both hands and a Garmin GPS unit. So, he’s going into duck and cover mode, and taking any and every little thing he can find to the Senate, and Obama. He IS, after all, Obama’s man at CIA.
An executive order signed by President Gerald R. Ford in 1976 barred the C.I.A. from carrying out assassinations, a direct response to revelations that the C.I.A. had initiated assassination plots against Fidel Castro of Cuba and other foreign politicians.
Maybe it’s time to take that particular order out of the play book. We can NEVER defeat radical Islam, and the insurgents that carry on their WAR, not if we continue to play by the rules.
I have long felt that our leaders have lost the will to win. We only allow our troops to fight PC wars. The Bush White House was notorious for micromanagement. Our troops are saddled with Rules of Engagement that get our troops killed. We don’t prosecute our enemies to the fullest. We don’t seek VICTORY. We seek an outcome that will offend the least number of people. That is NOT an outcome I can support.
Wars can’t be fought and won in that fashion. Wars must be fought to a definitive conclusion. Wars must be fought with no other thought in mind besides real, full, total and absolute victory. War is waged to bring full and total annihilation to your enemy. To fight a war otherwise is simply ridiculous and a waste of lives, time and money.
Given the current Commander in Chief, his political correctness, and his obvious fear of ANY confrontation, I am guessing that we won’t be seeing a change in OUR tactics any time soon.
To the boys and girls at Langley, VA. and Moyock, N.C., right about now might be a great time to do that duck and cover thing yourselves.
I’m pretty sure the top layer at Langley already has…
Texas Fred, your answer is a 100% Micky Mantle home run, blew the bleacher lights out, 100% correct.
I thank you!!
Since that was my job description with MACV-SOG, four score and seven years ago, this was the only answer to the 100% elimination of pop-up shooters that immediately pose as innocent boo-hoo non-combatants. Personally, we had to kill(“pacify”) them all and let someone else sort them out.
This was and still is the only way in 2009, to pacify and get our boys back home where they now belong, due entirely to the Socialist position of Obamanure”s presidency and policies.
Kudos to Blackwater, wherever they may be.
retired Capt. 1961-64 MACV-SOG Vietnam 2 tours
I don’t understand why people would be so upset if we went after and killed Al Queda leaders? Didn’t we try to kill enemy leaders during WWII? Didn’t we knowingly shoot a plane out of the sky carrying Admiral Yamamoto? As a nation, we rejoiced at killing the man who was responsible for Pearl Harbor. But, wouldn’t that be considered an assassination too?
It’s a shame the men and women who dedicate themselves for the protection of our nation are hounded like this. There are a lot of American Diplomats alive today because of Blackwater and even some foreign ones too.
Texas Fred, your answer is a 100% Micky Mantle home run, blew the bleacher lights out, 100% correct.
I thank you!!
Since that was my job description with MACV-SOG, two score and seven years ago, this was the only answer to the 100% elimination of pop-up shooters that immediately pose as innocent boo-hoo non-combatants. Personally, we had to kill(“pacify”) them all and let someone else sort them out.
This was and still is the only way in 2009, to pacify and get our boys back home where they now belong, due entirely to the Socialist position of Obamanure”s presidency and policies.
Kudos to Blackwater, wherever they may be.
retired Capt. 1961-64 MACV-SOG Vietnam 2 tours
I have said this before - war is anything BUT politically correct.
You cannot win a fight if you don’t INTEND to fight - and by saddling our troops with ROEs and such, we clearly don’t intend to fight.
About a year before Bush the Younger vacated the Oval Office, I wrote him a letter - telling him that since he had nothing to lose, to go ahead and cut the troops loose, let them do WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED TO DO and get the fight over and done with. Three, four weeks tops - and all the troops could come home, because there wouldn’t be anyone over there left TO fight.
Obviously, I hold a lot of weight with Bush the Younger and that is exactly what he did. NOT.
So, here we are, still “fighting” an enemy that takes advantage of the fact that we have voluntarily tied our own hands by beating us using our own rules.
You know Obummer ain’t gonna do anything that might show he has any cajones under those women’s jeans he wears. Panetta is, like you said, doing the duck and cover and waiting for the firestorm to hit. And you know it’s going to hit - but as usual, it will only take out the ones not prepared and those no longer in their old positions.
Given a little time, I could probably come up with a thought-provoking comment to your post. This will have to do for now.
Gentlemen, what this post, my words, represent, and what the words that YOUR comments represent, are the words of WARRIORS that truly love their nation and loved their jobs in those *younger days*…
Mr. Chuck, on of these days, we’ll sit down over a cup of coffee and compare tales and tell lies… You know they’ll be lies, that way they can’t be used against us…
It’s going to be interesting to see who *gets it* on a post like this and who doesn’t… And you guys *get it*…
Yep…no one is going to admit they captured and killed the enemy….especially when that enemy is NOT in a uniform. You’re right about one thing for sure….a civilian is the person that dropped his gun and you didn’t see him shooting at you just seconds earlier. Kind of reminds me of the definition of a POW….that is a person who was captured after trying to kill you moments before.
If I’m not mistaken, enemy combatants not in uniform were executed on the spot by both sides during WWII. It was the uniform that you were wearing that identified you as a combatant and gave you the rights of the Geneva Convention.
your right Bob. It SHOULD be that way but obumbles wants to have it so his muslim brothers are still protected by the GC and even with the miranda rights. These camel bangers know more about the ROE than we give them credit for. They use them against us and OUR young people lose their lives because of our stupid ass politicians rules.
Here’s an idea….have our guys carry those little kits that test for GPR ( gun powder residue ). You have the translator ask them if they have been shooting at you earlier or have fired a gun in the last few minutes….then test them when they say no….if we find the residue….we shoot’em…well maybe arrest then as enemy combatants.
What’s that saying? “Shoot ‘em all, and let God sort it out”? Or, in this case…allah. When it comes to our guys being safe, and the PC crowd feeling righteous…..the PC can bite my hinder! I’m seriously sick of seeing people sitting behind a desk making judgment calls on something they have no business poking their noses. I’m may not ‘get it’ like you guys, but I know who’s side we’re (all levels of administration) suppose to be on…and it ain’t a bunch of sheetheads! PC don’t win wars…..against anybody.
Howdy Fred,
Long time no see/type.
This is the way I see it: Fuck ‘em. Our nation is now in the business of killing terrorist POSs, no matter how much or little anyone likes it. We occasionally (often) use contractors to help with that, in various ways. What’s the big deal? Nothing. The squeamish need to get over it. Another hearty “Fuck You” to the NYT and MSNBC for, once again, aligning against America. This is a non-issue.
Semper Fi to Fred and my fellow Marines.
@extex_cop
the first one, as there buddies will still be watching in the shadows. learn by example. if they still make the same choice then they deserve the punishment they recieve for simple stupidity.
*sighs*
When you absolutely, positively, have to have the job done correctly the first time, and every time call Blackwater…
When I was a young pup I was lucky enough to have served as an Army SF Officer(circa 1967) before going on to other things. Back then members of the 7th SF Gp tracked down and killed Che. Made you proud to be SF. Got rid of one Commie pain in the ass. They even taught assination techniques at the Special Warfare School. Those techniques were also put to good use in Vietnam as they were a tool that was needed to achieve certain objectives. Then Pres Ford changed things and the CIA and the military has been hamstrung since. I didn’t like Ford. We have a situation now where the CIA and Blackwater are being thrown to the political wolves by in my opinion Commies/Marxists in our own govt. Now who I ask you shouldn’t we think of replacing those who are attacking the CIA for trying to protect this Country.
That is PRECISELY why, if you don’t conform to Geneva, if you don’t wear identifiable UNIFORMS as do other civilizations, the gloves should be OFF. ALL threats should be treated as targets. WHAT is wrong with killing targetable threats? NOTHING. There are consequences to actions. Unfortuntely, many Western civilizations continue to fail to understand the terrorist/Islamic/Jihadi/Sharia mindset.
BZ
The wussification of the United States continues. Would you have imagined in September 2001 the US would be prosecuting the CIA for interrogating Muslim terrorists? Obama and Holder are overplaying their weak hands. The only people who CIA prosecution appeals to in this country are the unwashed anti-American liberals. There are fewer every day. Obama cannot hide his failed ideology behind persecuting patriotic Americans who keep us safe!
Angry White Dude
Hello?
Texas Fred?
(tap - tap)
Hello?
Is this thing on?
You there?
BZ
Been gone for 4 days, my daughter had to deliver early, an emergency C-Section Friday, and she’s still in ICU, as is her baby, my new TINY, but loud grandson, Carson Ambrose!! He’s OK, and my daughter is getting better, she has pneumonia and some type of flu… She was one sick kid, still sick, but getting better, in total isolation… Induced coma, but she’s coming out now, and getting better and hopefully, in a few days, she’ll be close to normal…
We just got home an hour ago… I will try to give everyone a more in-depth report tomorrow and as things develop, and I want to thank ALL of you for the prayers, and don’t stop, she’s NOT out of the woods just yet…
The success or failure of a program such as this is almost impossible for the general public to evaluate and that’s the way it should remain.