UPDATE: Officials confirm to AP secret CIA program involved targeted assassinations
Monday afternoon, the Associated Press published a story based on unnamed official sources, backing up other reports that the CIA program in dispute involved targeting Qaeda leaders for assassination.
"A secret intelligence program canceled by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June was meant to find and then capture or kill al-Qaida leaders at close range rather than target them with air strikes that risked civilian casualties, government officials with knowledge of the operation said Monday," the AP reports.
The AP adds, "The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program, said the spy agency's program never got off the ground. Panetta canceled the effort on June 23 after learning of its existence, its failure to yield results, and the fact that Congress had been unaware of the program since its inception in 2001, according to one official with direct knowledge of the plan."
A report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that the CIA program that director Leon Panetta ended last month was a never-fully-functional plan to kill Al Qaeda leaders is drawing questions and criticism in the blogosphere.
"There must be something more" than a partially implemented plan to kill Al Qaeda leaders, writes a blogger at Emptywheel. "Aside from the near ubiquitous drone strikes, which seem to be fully acknowledged and non-controversial, there have been enough personal strikes against al Qaeda figures that appear likely to have been assassinations, that for all intents and purposes, it appears we are assassinating al Qaeda figures."
The blogger cites a New Yorker article written by Seymour Hersh in which the investigative journalist describes a blurring of lines of responsibility between military special operations and CIA activities. Because the Bush administration considered all these sorts of activities to be part of the "war on terror," it may have decided not to tell Congress about the CIA program because, to the Bush administration, it fell under the rubric of war, which is the President's arena, and -- unlike CIA activities -- not subject to Congressional oversight.
Emptywheel concludes that the program, as it was described in the WSJ article, could not have been the source of all the controversy. Congress already knows, for example, of a Bush-era plan to destabilize Iran's religious government, and that has drawn very little criticism and attention. So how could a far more innocuous program aimed at Al Qaeda generate so much more controversy?
The Washington Times reported Monday morning that an unnamed "intelligence official" claimed the controversial program that Panetta ended last month had to do with "special access programs," which are "intelligence activities that are so secret that even officers with the highest intelligence clearances do not know about them, and their access is reserved for only the most senior officials and officers directly working on the activities."
It's not clear what sort of "access" special access programs are about, though the term suggests wiretapping or other surveillance activities.
The article also states that both former CIA Director George Tenet and former Vice-President Dick Cheney knew about the program, and both agreed to keep it a secret from Congress.
On the Hullabaloo blog, Digby writes:
[T]he assassination squad story is actually looking like a real possibility. Even [Republican Michigan House Rep.] Pete Hoekstra now admits that it was something that would only have been approved in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 (which reinforces the fact that we were being led at the time by a bunch of pants wetting panic artists) which only raises the question of why it was kept going, even in the planning stages, until this year.
Since [the secret program] wasn't operational after eight years ... I have to wonder if it wasn't some kind of kooky plan to kill from space or some shit. Why else would Pete Hoekstra say it was something that could only be hatched in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and wouldn't pass muster today?
ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The controversy over claims the CIA lied to Congress by withholding information about a counter-terrorism program centers around an "attempt" by the agency to seize and kill Al Qaeda leaders in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
According to the story, the CIA program that agency director Leon Panetta learned of last month, and then disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee, was "an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives."
The Journal cites unnamed "current and former government officials" who reportedly said the program had never become fully operational before Panetta ordered it shut down last month.
Cryptically, the paper states: "Republicans on the panel say that the CIA effort didn't advance to a point where Congress clearly should have been notified." No explanation is given as to why only Republicans on the committee would have been privy to this information.
The paper also states:
In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. It isn't clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.
Last week, Democrat members of the House Intelligence Committee released a letter stating that Panetta informed them the CIA had kept a program concealed from Congress for some six or seven years. That spawned a flurry of speculation as to what the program may have been, including questions about whether it was, in effect, a "secret CIA army" that assassinated individuals abroad and was run directly by then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
The controversy grew this past Saturday when the New York Times reported that Cheney may have directly given the order to keep the program concealed from Congress -- a violation of the National Security Act, if proven true.
The Journal's report implies the program may have never become fully functional, but questions still remain about the specific details of the program, whether Cheney ran it directly, and whether he ordered the CIA to keep it from Congress.
The Journal writes:
Republicans on the [House Intelligence] panel say that the CIA effort didn't advance to a point where Congress clearly should have been notified.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the agency "has not commented on the substance of the effort." He added that "a candid dialogue with Congress is very important to this director and this agency."
The official noted that Congress had long been briefed on the [presidential finding ordering the CIA to hunt and kill Al Qaeda agents], and that the CIA effort wasn't so much a program as "many ideas suggested over the course of years." It hadn't come close to fruition, he added.
-- Daniel Tencer
Well... that could have saved us a lot of trouble. There are way too many crybabies in this country. Sometimes you need to say screw the bleeding hearts and just take care of business. I'm sure it gets done behind closed doors more than we know, but I think we could use a little more of it.
If there is a grain of truth in this I will be suprised. Why would it be a secret that we are trying to kill the enemy.
Ripped from the WSJ In 2001, the CIA also examined the subject of targeted assassinations of al Qaeda leaders, according to three former intelligence officials. It appears that those discussions tapered off within six months. (It isn't clear whether they were an early part of the CIA initiative that Mr. Panetta stopped.)
Sounds like a disclaimer to me.
This is a wee bit of a stretch for me to believe.
Now, we're all supposed to say, "oh - we were going after Al Qaeda, so that makes it all OK."
It's all BS. If it were true, then why didn't we do it?
Where is Bin Laden?
And PLEASE don't tell me the Democrats blocked them. That, too would be BS.
This is pure fiction, at best - and the one thing we already know these people are very good at - is LYING.
Hey numbers bum - What will you say when they come after you?
That's the inevitable result when things like this are kept secret.
yeah numbers guy that makes a lot of sense. the cia chose not to inform congress about a program to assassinate al qaeda members after 911. didn't we invade afganistan to kill bin laden? did you think the cia was in afghanistan to play paddycakes with the locals? this story smells and sometimes the moron apologists in this country beg to have some sense smacked into them.
Exactly this sounds like more gop bullshit, since it was announced by Clinton (who originally ordered the Presidential Initiative to assassinate bin laden), iirc.
What a load of steaming horse shit. Osama Bin Laden, aka Tim Osman, was a CIA operative. His family is very close to the Bush family. Al CIAda is a bogus boogie man network. If you want to find the terrorists, look for Dick Cheney and his neocon cohorts who pulled off 911 and blamed it on OBL and Al CIAda. God damn I get tired of this perpetual bullshit media. We need a real revolution in this country. We need some fucking honesty in government and this can't happen with the current batch of leaders on either side of the aisle. Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich are two exceptions. The rest are owned. Fuck the lying bastards!
This is true BS. Everyone knows Dubya famously called for Bin Laden, "dead or alive.... there's an old sign out west....etc." and the vast majority of us know that the CIA will execute those deemed potent enemies of the United States and its interest.
This is a weak attempt at a white wash.
What's wrong with blowing Obama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri to smithereens? The US caught Saddam and put him on trial. The Iraqi's convicted him and hung his bloodthirsty, anti-American and anti-Israeli ass. Why shouldn't the US catch and snuff the other authors of the worst attack against US citizens in the history of country? God Bless America, our Home Sweet Home, Praise Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior.
Sounds to me like there is a "damage control" effort taking place now.
Since when is it legal to just kill people you don't like without a trail? Israel started all of this with the helicopter/guided missile assassinations of various Hamas and other named enemies. I thought it completely illegal and against all international law to authorize a death sentence without a trail -- and never mind the frequent killing of innocent bystanders.
Our country is governed by criminals, don't you care? When will the average American wake up to how our country is being run and for whose benefit?
With such outright mock-propaganda they appear to have either given up, or think they're fooling somebody.
It's an admission that they were previously NOT going after the Al Qaeida "leaders" ... since they were listed in "the Database", the list of terrorists that could deliver various Pearl Harbor style events.
We need to break their spell...
I suggest we disband them until the truth commission can go forward...
Let's be sure to include 9/11 on that.
Well, of course it would take seven or eight years for the CIA to get up to speed on how to kill Al Qaeda leaders.
And for sure they wouldn't want Congress to know that's what they wanted to do.
The real story here is, who leaked the "secret" to Rupert Murdoch?
The one who has the most to gain from this dull and boring disclosure, of course, is Dick Cheney.
This is propaganda. There just has to be more to the story. It makes no bloody sense that a program that fits perfectly with the story line our government is open about, which is hunting down and killing Al Qaeda leaders, no? Why would Cheney need to keep THAT a secret?
Ok christofanaticrepubes let me explain it homeschool simple for you.
Of course it is ok for us to hunt and kill our enemies.
It is just that we have rules that we must follow while planning and implementing these plans. Cheney/Bush and the other leaders of your kind dont believe they should have to do that. They are wrong.
The only USA people that are scared out of their wits are "you" republiCONS.
All it takes is a group of ragtag middle easterners for you to crap your pants and run crying to mama.
Terrorists have been around since the beginning of civilization. They will be here forever in some form or another.
We should fight them but not give up our values due to repube fear mongering.
Now all of us moderates and liberals should hug a poor scared repube daily to help them overcome their fears...........
I agree that this is just more GOP B.S. passed along by the Murdoch owned WSJ..
The idea that it was a secret that the Bush administration ordered hits on suspected al Qaeda members anywhere in the world is ludicrous...which must mean that this is a red herring meant to divert attention away from the real Bush administration program.
Wasn't it in 2002 that we first heard of a combined NSA/DOD hit on an al Qaeda suspect? This guy, traveling on a Yemeni road, was blown away by a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone aircraft (operated by DOD, possibly by CIA?), reportedly after his cell phone was traced through triangulation (NSA's signal intelligence). Sounds like this was operational to me.
If this happened once, then it's bound to have happened again, whenever and wherever someone identified as being in al Qaeda occurred.
But what if this worldwide al Qaeda-tracking program was expanded? What if it was deployed inside the United States, with cell phone triangulation (through complicit telecom companies) being used by the Bush administration to keep track of any American citizen place on the Bush administration's retro-Nixonian "enemies list"? An "enemies list" that grew to over 8 million U.S. citizens being listed, with 1 million of these U.S. citizens being placed on the Bush administration's "No Fly" list, because they were judged to be a threat to national security or airplanes?
I have a hard time believing that there are over 8 million al Qaeda operatives or sympathizers in America. So who else was placed on this list and for what reason? Is this information what Bush administration officials are still trying to hide, and why the telecom companies were given retroactive immunity?
The DHS's "fusion centers" scattered around the U.S. probably have computers keeping track 24/7 of the cell phone locations of targeted U.S. citizens, with the theory being that cell phone owners don't often stray far from their cell phones. Thus, in case of a national emergency (or martial law) being declared by whomever is in the White House, these people could be easily located and picked up by local law enforcement, no warrant, no reason given.
But there's more. What if this super-secret Bush administration spying program, touted as being solely for counter-terrorism purposes, was expanded far beyond counter-terrorism to encompass whatever pet projects were favored by top officials in the Bush administration? Like former Attorney General John Ashcroft going after prostitutes, pornographers, drug dealers, gang members, or whomever? Or maybe former recess-appointed U.N. ambassador John Bolton wanting more NSA intercepts of anyone deemed a threat to the Bush administration's agenda, political opponents or whomever? Or Dick Cheney wanting a huge data-base created, along with location information, of everyone not "with" them, and therefore deemed to be "against" them?
This criminal behaviour by Bush administration officials runs deep. You can bet on it.
One thing seems perfectly clear after 8 years of this crap, George Bush and Dick Cheney had no intention of killing OBL or taking down AQ, they made the perfect shiny-object/boogey-man.
Numbers Guy
A closed "mind" like yours trumps stupidity . If they wanted to "get" Bin Laden, destroying the poppy crop could have cut their money off AND going into Afghanistan and NOT Iraq, AND capturing him when the Pakistani's had him AND paying attention to what was handed down from the Clinton Administration---these all things the CIA should have or be doing. Running these "shadow" cabals with torture with "dick-the-paranoid-fuck" maybe your cup of tea, but it got us nowhere. AND "who" took the 12 billion bucks that was on pallets that could be seen from satelites? Hmmm, maybe the same "cabal" that have those three "missing" missiles.
Go get a job as deputy sheriff in Mayberry.
R. Krueger
You dumb fuck. I suppose you sat out on a beach and "saw" those airplanes coming from "Iraq" to New York? The jack-asses came from Saudi Arabia. We invaded a country and killed the leader, very convenient. They also "outed" a CIA agent and put people at risk--that's fucking treason, you idiot. Here's a "scripture" for you, it comes from Assinine 3:16. Those that bury thou head in sand, leaves thy other orifice open for "Dick."
CIA wanted to kill Al-CIAda?
Then how would they justify shoveling more dough to Halliburtion/KBR/Blackwater?
No, Frankenstein needs its Monster to justify turning citizens into prisoners.
But if citizens don't object & resist, well, they deserve it, don't they?
Pay attention to the chess pieces.
This is very important.
Nevermind the man picking your pocket.
Keep your eyes on the plastic.
Don't worry about the man with a knife at your throat.
What matters is the game, not that you are being robbed & bled.
Focus on the chessboard.
Good, good.
More lies, covering up worse lies. The truth is that people like Paul Wellstone and David Kelly were not "al Qaeda", yet they were assassinated by the secret army because they were impediments to Cheney's disasterous war-for-oil plan. What really happened is going to be covered up, cleaned up and replaced with patriotic sounding schemes as history is re-written to benefit the elite.
Wow, got a lot of paranoid conspiracy theorists in here...
They had a plan in 2001 that was supposed to "keep us safe" and they hadn't managed to make it operational by 2009? Yeah, sure. They were just waiting for that shipment of ammo to come in.
10 days after bush was elected according to hersh, he said I want to invade iraq, had who was going to distribute the oil..Make it happen.. We have not heard one word of truth from bush or cheney..We cannot let this ever happen again..
I think it is pretty clear that the controversy is because Cheney wanted to assassinate POLITICAL figures in IRAQ which would violate long standing Law from the Church commission. Notice how totally inconsequential it is to bomb schools and wedding parties. Sparing lives,even innocent lives is not on the agenda in any serious manner. This could be a conspiracy to commit murder. (the crime is the plot, not the act!!) Mafia Dons have done time for less....
"this land is your land, this land is my land, there are laws for them and then there are different laws for me."
George Washington would have been considered a terrorist too.
Although he wasn't funded by the C.I.A. like Osama bin Laden.
this doesn't make sense ... why would anyone want to assassinate any al-Qaeda chiefs if the goal is to protect the US? Wouldn't it make more sense to capture them and interrogate them for latest intel? but then perhaps this simply verifies what some have said that high value interrogations have yielded so very little so as to not be of any consequence that it wouldn't make any difference if they were captured or killed.
Any program that was started to assassinate members of al-Qaeda wouldn't need to be kept so quiet. It was obvious we were going to go after them in any way possible and they knew it.
Knowing Cheney I am willing to be the plan had to do with the removal and/or elimination of US citizens in this country or anywhere else in the world who were associated, or thought to be associated with al Qaeda. That's the kind of plan DICK wouldn't want ANTONE to know about because it breaks Constitutional law and just about every other US law regarding due process and innocent until proven guilty.
Time for a second look at all assassinated ME leaders over the past 8 years.
Benazir Bhutto anyone?
Pat Tillman anyone?
Talk to Russell Tice. Congress would not listen to him, the NSA threatened him, the NSA warned him that no one in Congress had "sufficient clearance" to hear what he might say (huh? "oversight" means what?), and he was specifically refering to "Special Access Programs.
Try to touch base with Russell Tice, Larissa.
fwiw - dcm
Folks,
The secret is that the "plot" to assassinate AlQ leaders was not that. It was either a plan to kill their wives and children or to deploy a nuclear or other unconventional weapon.
The CIA already "assassinates" Taliban leaders every day via predator drones and special operations folks. So how could that be the plot that has congress pissed off? Also why would such a plan never come to fruition after 8 years?
Come on,,,, dick cheney and his collaborators are doing damage control.
Does anyone remember Obama putting Cheney under SS protection? That was last week. Ha ha. The POTUS is putting Cheney under house arrest essentially as he will be under the watch of the SS 24/7!!!!
Payback's a bit*h!
Jimbo
Now you may be getting closer to the truth. I suspect the issue is that they are doing hits on American soil against 'suspects', much the same way they are incarcerating and torturing 'suspects', in many cases innocents.
Hey R. Krueger,
Sounds like you're the blood thirsty one. As always spinning your violent so-called conservative Fox network lies.
And dragging Jesus in your murderous plots?
Do you even know what it is to be a true Christian?
One more tidbit. One of the crimes that Cheney/BushCo is hiding is that they did in fact kidnap , torture and rape both wive and children of prisoners in order to make them talk.
Then they made sure to photograph & videotape these assaults for use in blackmail purposes as well as to pressure the inmates with.
Imagine being President Obama and finding out that your executive branch has been committing war crimes and other atrocities and that members of your own Political Party were aware of it and said nothing.
The best analogy I can think of is that the United States is a family where the father (Executive Branch) is a child-molester and rapist. The wife (Legislative branch) knows this and goes along as long as she gets her luxury items, fur, nice car etc.. and the kids (the people) think that their father is an honorable policeman who is taking care of homeless children and keeping them safe from bad people.
How do you break the news to the children that their Father is a rapist/murderer and child molester?
How do you even do this when the Mother is also a co-conspirator and the father had her on his side (mostly). If he goes down, she does too.
Who in the CIA and executive is going to dig deep into these crimes when they would be simply accumulating incriminating evidence against themselves and those who are their friends and colleagues?
How can a President have a loyal executive staff and the military when knowledge of the existence of these crimes would require him to betray their deadly secrets?
This is the dilemma that President Obama is facing while angry gays focus on things like overturning DOMA or crying about same sex marriage, fat & lazy Americans clamor for "free" health-care and the greedy bankers come crying seeking trillion dollar bailouts.
All these whining constituencies voted for Bush and the republicans, supported almost every useless war during the last two decades and could not be bothered to pressure their representatives to dismantle the Bush criminal apparatus. I'm talking about democrats here!
The other side, the Republicans fully support torture, rape, murder and mass killings of Muslims and other non-Christians. They would support Bush even if it came out that Bush ordered the rape of children. I know this because I have Republican neighbor -- a nice man, who "supports" the mission to "save" Iraqi Muslims from the Bath party but actually hates real muslims in the Middle east and in our neighborhood. He said he would enlist and give his life for the Iraqi effort because he hates Muslims.
When the toture details seeped out, he said he didn't care and it was okay to torture the "terrorists". When I asked him if it was okay to rape a little child if it would help catch the "terrorists" he said : YES!
This is my neighbor and this is the ugly portrait of the righteous American who wants to cling to his fantasy of free health-care, swashbuckling capitalism,American military domination of all people, lower taxes and more entertainment shows on TV along with the destruction of Arabs, Jewish unbelievers in Israel, and mankind generally, as a prelude to the return of "baby" Jesus! Raping little children for Jesus!
To succeed in any way, President Obama will have to become the nation's psychiatrist. He will have to bring the truth to light so that Americans can get over their delusions of what the Bush years were really like. He will have to grieve us as we all learn the truth that we have been the supporters and followers of child murderers, rapists, torturers and war criminals who promised us a compassionate government but instead drenched the Whitehouse in blood while we were busy merrymaking.
Daniel:
It's Democratic members of congress not Democrat members. That goes for you right wingers too!
What a horrible insane topic. So much potential criminality and depravity!
Good thing we have the hope and change messiah in the White House so he can put an end to this madness. I am so filled with hope that kool aid is spilling out of my nose and ears.
Just watching our messiah put an end to torture, and heal our nation by prosecuting Bush and Cheney was so inspirational!
Observing our messiah de escalate in Afghanistan and avoid a silly criminal Bush-like war with Pakistan made me proud to be a Democrat.
His honest broker approach with Iraq, letting go of their oil and telling the truth about troop levels and mercenaries has brought peace to that troubled land.
His courage and straight talk during the Honduras coup have helped restore power to the people and prevented cruel fascists from regaining control.
His tough stance against criminal banksters and putting a stop to corporate welfare while delivering real health care reform to all Americans may be his finest move.
All hail Obama. Kool aid for everyone!
PS You need to snort the crystals, or break out the needle and the spoon to get the full effect of Obama kool aid.......there you go, ahhhhh. See, this whole Cheney assassination trip is in the past and we are moving forward.......weeeeeeeee!
One might think that the rampant power grab by the Cheney administration following their selection in 2000 sought every means and justification to weaponize space and put us all under the gun. These people are beyond scary...and they still are free!
Bust em like a bad god.
R.Krueger sounds like the infamous uber EuroZionist pig, Fallus Admirer. These uberEuronationals have been raping,looting and murdering for the last 500 years in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, sub Indian continent and Southeast Asia. Now, this same crimial demographic, self inflictions a wound [9/11] to justify further criminality by creating myths, legends and heroes for the easily distracted US populace. The invasion of Iraq is in its 6th year, the invasion of Afghanistan is in its 8th year with almost 1 Trillion spent and a million plus killed as a direct result of the uber Euronationals actions through the armed forces and of course "al-CIAda'..................
Our pet troll, Krueger:
Projection much megaphone?
B52 'loose' nukes, USMilSpec anthrax, 7/7 London bombings, Madrid train bombings, Benazir Bhutto?
DNC & RNC have BOTH sold out the country in order to enrich themselves.
Independents agree on more than we disagree.
Beware the divide and conquer.
Gravel Kucinich Paul Nader
McKinney Ventura too
perotcharts.com
Five veterans
The Fed
AIPAC
9/11
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
That's what I thought! FIRE THE SENATE, THROW THEM IN JAIL WITH CHENEY!!!
isnt it a GOOD thing that we're killing them? I mean, isn't that the idea behind the war on terror? If anything, it looks as if it's going well! This aint no vietnam yet. The minute we lose over 20,000 is when we'll ask ourselves if it's worth it.
I say, kill the bastards!
Rothchild's MK Ultra Victim under Protective Custody
If you haven't heard enough about the evil of the Rothchild's,,this tidbit should change your mind and get them arrested..
I wondered why I woke up in confusion and suffering this morning,,
I took my bath of knowledge,,hmmm
Mental f*cks,,
My parents farm was 365 acres,,,,the people that study satanical might know where this leads...365 days in a year?
My husband said he fell in love with me the day I cracked open a watermelon and gave him the HEART,,
I called the center of a watermelon the HEART,,
There has been many semi's with the word Hart,,,
We rented and the neighbor was HART,,,she shot her husband.
The mental f*cks are killing babies and eating there HEARTS..
I sure hope this International agency of law has kept records....
There is also something to do with the letter J,,
I'm thinking families connected in there satanical cr*p have a family member with a J,,John,Jay,Joshua,etc..I suppose J for Jew,,,
I'm pretty sure the agency that is protecting me now,,was there from the start ,going back to my grandparents and my husbands grandparents,,...1928-1929
Yes, Tillman's tight 3 shot group in the forehead too.
The "not fully operational program" propaganda
Old school;
Read new info on RFK hit & the others...
Must Americans don't care but UK Dr. Kelly was assassinated by the Cheney Squad and Blair helped stop the investigation. These guys got sloppy and Blair had to quickly come in to end it for Bush/Cheney. Many others including our soldiers like Pat Tillman were assassinated while the Military covered it up. The evidence was there and the Military destroyed it. But like most crimes the truth always comes out. We're seeing memo's dated pre 9/11 while Republicans are saying let's forget about the pass. Many Americans choose to forget the testimony of how Cheney directed the CIA as was told in the Libby case. Now we have to face the fact it was the Bush Administration that was responsible for the 9/11 attack and the attackers families were paid with US taxpayers money. The 4000 troops died because we allowed Bush/Cheney to send our men/woman in to an illegal invasion. Yes we allowed the US Treasury Secretary to with direction of the Bush Administration to steal us blind and Goldman Sachs is laughing about it as now their Richer then ever.
kayttt2000 by deception ye shall wage war
Remember it was GW who let OBL go in Tora Bora! And it was better to have a dead hero, Pat Tillman than a hero who was going to come out against BushCheney&Co.
Jackie, very true.
The domestic wiretapping started BEFORE 9/11 too.
No leaks nor whistleblowers desired ~
so when are the trials for TREASON and the ensuing HANGINGS going to happen?
this is goddamned treason, goddamned it! This must not go unpunished, as should Sept. 11, 2001 mass murder by these fuckers who were doing Cheney's bidding for him.
This must be fully aired out, and when it's all over, there should be a lot of grave digging for these miserable son's of bitch's who did this shit and got away with it for all of these years.
This must be ENDED!
[...] the President's arena, and -- unlike CIA activities -- not subject to Congressional oversight. http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/07/rep...s-controversy/ What say you, apologists? __________________ Respond to what I say, not what the fictional [...]
@R. Krueger
Dude, you sound like the most evil bastard on the planet. And to drag Jesus into your rant is pure blasphemy. Hope you get what is coming to you. Seeing that you claim He is Lord and Saviour, you do know what is coming. Better take lots of shorts with you when you die, it'll be REAL HOT!!.
So Kelly was an al queda operative? Oh, yeah.
That dog won't hunt. Trojan horse. Keep focused on the war crimes.
the answer is a simple one:
they planned on dropping a nuclear bomb to kill the al qaeda leadership.
and despite bush and cheney's evil motivations and breathtaking bravado, they just didn't have the guts to actually do it.
Dear DotMafia,
The had the guts -- Remember Minot.
Just not the competence, maybe.
A program in the works since 2001 that never got off the ground??? YEAH RIGHT.
I agree with the blogger in the story, there must be more to it than a half started plan to assassinate terrorists leaders. They are already being targeted and have been targeted over the years by drones, why so secret with this plan. I will tell you what I think, the reason why Panetta shut this down is because this assassination group was and may have been used to assassinate individuals and targets in countries like Britian, France, Italy etc. etc.. It could have been used or almost used in the US. That may be the reason why they are throwing all this information as a form of disinformation. If they already had intelligence units doing rendition and breaking into embassies overseas etc. etc., how hard would it have been to fly a team into said countries to perform an act or killing.
It 's not so bad to kill the enemy, but what about Political enemies? Many of them die under mysterious circumstances.
This is how you water down a story folks.
2 weeks ago talking about this got you labeled a kook- now suddenly it was just a program that never came to fruition?
Stay with it RAWSTORY!
Who made them judge ,jury and executioner................
It is scary that Cheney had the power to tell the CIA to lie to Congess and got away with it.
We need to have these people subpoenaed and deposed in public hearings in a commission of inquiry AND a Special Prosecutor appointed to control the giving of immunity in exchange for testimony.
Push our Democrats to investigate and Prosecute.
SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding both a
Commission of Inquiry
and a Special Prosecutor.
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
R. Krueger
Fuck you and fuck jesus. I mean it.
lando
"isnt it a GOOD thing that we're killing them?"
No. Killing who? Every mMuslim on the planet? IS that what you have in mind? Because civilians are being killed at a rate of 50 to 1 since Obama took over.
"I mean, isn't that the idea behind the war on terror?"
Again, no. The idea behind what stupid gullible people who get sucked in by that myth don't get is it is to make profit, lots of profit. Nothing more.
"If anything, it looks as if it's going well! This aint no vietnam yet."
Wow, wrong again. no it is not. Do you see an exit strategy? Me neither.
"The minute we lose over 20,000 is when we'll ask ourselves if it's worth it."
U.S. Confirmed Deaths
Reported Deaths: 4323
Confirmed Deaths: 4322
I'd say we're getting there.
An American dies every single day in Iraq alone.
Here are but a few of the wounded:
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/Wounded.aspx
I count them amongst the lost.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks this smells worse than the fish the Wasilly Hillbilly was slinging in recent her photo op.
I get the feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg, which begs the question ... NOW will Holder vigorously pursue an investigation into McFlightsuit and Dickhead and their Cabal of Criminals? While I won't hold my breath, I'm not ruling out all hope ...
Veronica
Tip of the iceberg....
Yeah, there is much more to come. I wouldn't rule out hope neither but I do wonder, should Holder pursue the flakes from the Bush OLC (which I sincerely doubt), would it be an attempt to shut down Garzon's Spanish investigation, the results of which would/will be widely reported in Europe bringing embarrasment and further deterioration of the US' already internationally tarnished image?
If The US takes up an official investigation of the OLC chumps that Spain is going after, then Spain automatically steps aside, as I understand it.
Freddy Krueger:
Sigh. Tsk, tsk. I see you're the kind of 'Christian' that says killing in 'gods' name is okay ... ya know, for a 'god-fearing' Christian, you are awfully ignorant of his 10 commandments, in particular, taking 'gods' name in vain ... perhaps if you weren't so ignorant, you'd know what this commandment means. But, since your a blissfully ignorant bohunk, I'll post each biblical version of the same commandment:
Exodus 20:2–17
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Deuteronomy 5:6–21
11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Division of the Ten Commandments by religion/denomination
Commandment Jewish (Talmudic)
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Anglican, Reformed, and other Christian
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Orthodox
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Catholic, Lutheran
2. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Do you have an inkling as to what the meaning is behind this commandment? I doubt it ...
I'll save you a seat in hell ... burn baby, burn ... LOL
northwestwoods
Good point. If I'm not mistaken, Spain said, at one point, that if the U.S. took up the investigation, it would cease its investigation.
However, if Holder just gives the appearance of investigating, and the investigation dies a slow and painful death, what's to stop Spain from reopening its investigation? Although, I'm hesitant to say that this is the road he would take - it's a shitstorm now, and he knows it. Letting an investigation go by the wayside would be much worse for him and Obama. And, any goodwill Obama has made on the world stage will be for naught - he'll have flushed it down the shitter, and probably put us in a worse position than McFlightsuit has.
Holder can keep silent on this too much longer. Too much has come out, and will continue to come out, and I don't see how he can continue to get around it.
Yes, he is under a lot of pressure to produce some red meat.
But I fear they will toss out a couple of token bones and expect the public to lap it up gratefully. I am entirely skeptical of Holder coming through with anything more than the usual whitewash and at most sacrifice a few grunts once again, which would do more damage than good, IMO.
The media could be counted on to support their dubious actions, if that turns out to be the case.
Numbers Guy:
"Well... that could have saved us a lot of trouble. There are way too many crybabies in this country. Sometimes you need to say screw the bleeding hearts and just take care of business. I'm sure it gets done behind closed doors more than we know, but I think we could use a little more of it."
Yes, sometimes you have to say screw the bleeding hearts. We do need to take care of business
Say, maybe we should have assassinated the State Department employee stationed in Saudi Arabia, that blew the whistle to the official 9/11 Commission on the CIA overruling him, and forcing State to issue visas to some of the "Al Qaeda Hijackers."
Whattya think, Numbers Guy?
Did he interfere with the CIA effort to BRING THE HIJACKERS TO THE USA? Then what? Did the brave, brave supersecret cross-your-heart-hope-to die CIA THEN decide to "assassinate" them?
I might be a "bleeding heart", but you're a BLOODY FOOL.
"The Treadstone Project has actually already been terminated. It was designed primarily as a sort of advanced game program. We'd hoped it might build into a good training platform but, quite honestly, for a strictly theoretical exercise, the cost-benefit ratio was just too high. It's all but decommissioned at this point... "
Numbers Guy
Maybe the CIA should just assassinate Bush and Cheney and save money on a special prosecutor.
Israel-first Krueger;
See how quick Liz is back all over the liar's media doing damage control?
(((goin' a lie a minute)))
60 Minutes sold more CIA propaganda on Sunday about how we are still chasing the [dead] Osama bin Laden!
"We must look forward, put these mistakes behind us and make sure they never happen again. Criminalizing disagreements over policy can only hurt our great nation. I trust my fellow Americans agree there is nothing to be gained from prosecuting those who only had our nation’s best interests at heart. If we must, let’s appoint a blue ribbon commission, with no subpoena power, to study the mistakes made by the previous administration. If the statute of limitations expires while the commission does its work, that is a matter of regret.
As several people said on MSNBC Friday night, though, there’s a new, likely to remain unspoken by our nation’s highest officials, reason there will be no investigation and no prosecutions. No one wants to investigate because everyone knows an investigation will lead to the highest office, implicating W himself. This sounds very reasonable when said aloud by serious-minded talking heads. But only a moment’s reflection gives way to the realization that this is some serious 1984, up is down, black is white almost unbelievable bullshit. The W administration’s crimes must not be investigated because they will uncover W’s crimes."
~ hobospacejunkie
I think this thing may have started at the CIA butt later moved to a Army unit that for all intents and purpose doesn't exist. In the 70s it was located in a remote section at Fort Bragg in NC. These guys are never seen of post and rarely were seen on post. If they were doing something like this very few would know about in NC or DC. CIA operations around Langley are supposed to be oh so secret. The problem is these people who work there have neighbors some of which are in the news business. The news folks around Fayettville, NC. would ever think to write about this.
Clare,
You may be right. I am sure they would have implemented the theory of plausible deniability. It's wirth noting that the media and all the unnamed sources claim the program was not fully implemented but Seymour Hersh says his sources beg to differ. His track record is pretty impeccable.
"Hersh had previously revealed details about JSOC’s assassinations in March during a talk at the University of Minnesota. The group reportedly went to countries across the world, assassinating people suspected of planning anti-American activities."
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/05/17/hersh-details-jsoc-killings/
And also from Alternet:
"Congress has no oversight of it. It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.
"Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. *That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.*
Sounds like much more than just planning stages to me.