House May Probe CIA al-Qaida Hit Program

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 06:17:21 PM EST
Tags: CIA hit program (all tags)

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It turns out the classified CIA program that Leon Pannetta disclosed last week which had been ordered kept from Congress by Dick Cheney had to do with hit squads on al-Qaida.

Today's news is the House is laying groundwork for hearings.

The House Intelligence Committee has asked the CIA to provide documents about the now-canceled program to kill al-Qaida leaders, congressional officials said Tuesday. The agency spent at least $1 million on the eight-year program before it was terminated last month, one congressional official said. Intelligence officials say the operation never progressed beyond a planning stage.

The C.I.A. says it will cooperate with the House. [More...]

The House Intelligence Committee will try to establish how much was spent on the effort, whether any training was conducted, and whether there was any officials traveled in associated with the program, a committee official said. Those factors would determine whether the program had progressed enough to warrant congressional notification, the official said.

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House May Probe CIA al-Qaida Hit Program | 7 comments (7 topical)

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The news here (2.00 / 0) (#2)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 08:09:12 AM EST

is that Obama's head of the CIA has stopped a program aimed at killing and capturing al Qaeda operatives. It will be interesting to see that explained on the five o'clock news to the American public.

You mean (5.00 / 0) (#3)
by lilburro on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 08:22:53 AM EST

"Al-Qaeda operatives" like the ones in Guantanamo?

The obvious goal of our military is to find, capture and/or kill Al Qaeda operatives on the battlefield. Why we need the CIA to go around secretly murdering people of unknown identity, I don't know.

I don't see how this will be particularly hard to explain.


: Did you forget? (none / 0) (#6)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 05:35:26 PM EST

The problem is that the enemy involved will probably not be on the battlefield since this is an unconventional war.
And your straw horsey assumes that the ones killed/captured won't be identified as al Qaeda operatives. That is be you assume that over time we haven't gotten much better at the task of identification.
As for Gitmo, a sizable number of those released have returned to attack us. I would argue that perhaps our screening has been too loose in the wrong direction.

Maybe this tips the balance (none / 0) (#1)
by MKS on Tue Jul 14, 2009 at 06:24:27 PM EST

toward a full scale investigation on torture as well....

Well, one thing is for sure (none / 0) (#5)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 05:26:49 PM EST

if they don't try and do it nothing will be accomplished.

Perhaps Obama's CIA main dude can explain why we shouldn't try.... or more frightening, why we didn't try.

heh (none / 0) (#8)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 07:14:21 PM EST

Reading problems?

one congressional official said. Intelligence officials say the operation never progressed beyond a planning stage.

If all we did was plan then why is the Left in a huff over it? Because we spent a million dollars? Gosh, that won't take your Messiah and wife to NYC for dinner.

You mean all those reports about AQ leaders in various positions getting killed were fake back a few years ago, because we didn't try?

So, what is your point besides playing the reframe trick? The killing of those had nothing to with this plan.

Again. This just another political move by an AG that has several things in his past of a questionable nature.

And yes, Chicago politics say that the big boss let's the underlings do the dirty work.


: I would never declare victory (none / 0) (#10)
by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 08:40:05 PM EST

over doing something that takes so little effort.
Besides you always surrender using 300 or so words that have nothing to do with the subject.
ROFL