Posted on 12 July 2009 by Mr. Harrington
Or maybe the Agency was just doing its job…
Folks, brand new news has come out regarding the CIA, congress, and al Qaeda operatives.
As you may remember, the Congress is kinda mad at the CIA for not informing them of their operations…
And as you may remember, Obama was going to “leave the door open” to prosecuting Bush administration officials.
Apparently, according to some people inside the CIA–and people inside the Wall Street Journal, the CIA had been researching ways to “to achieve a capacity to carry out something that was directed in the finding,” meaning, assassinate key al Qaeda operatives. Now, as we all know from our Freshman year high school history class, the Ford administration banned assassinations…
The CIA was “acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts.”
Now, does the CIA need to inform the congress every time they plan an operation? No. But, some are saying they should have because they spend money on the project. Some estimates say $1 Million to as much as $50 Million.
I find it difficult to imagine that they spent $50 Million because CIA Director, Leon Panetta, terminated the operation when he found out about it in late June.
Developing…
Read
And, folks, this comes on the heels of Newsweek’s sob story about how Eric Holder must go against his instinct, and the President, and charge Bush administration officials…
Read
Here’s what I think: The CIA needs a certain amount of freedom when it comes to their operation. The Congress does not need to be briefed every time a terrorist pees his pants. Also, it seems as though they were not going to “assassinate” the al Qaeda operatives.
The article reads, “Eventually Mr. Bush issued the finding that authorized the capturing of several top al Qaeda leaders, and allowed officers to kill the targets if capturing proved too dangerous or risky.”
The article reads, “The former official said he had been told that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney didn’t support such an operation. The effort appeared to die out after about six months.”
It also seems to me that the CIA knew what this program entailed…
The article also says, “The official noted that Congress had long been briefed on the finding, 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.”
Read–WSJ
The Congress is trying to implicate Dick “Puppetmaster” Cheney in this whole mess.
CNN contributor and Republican strategist, Mary Matalin, said of Cheney’s alleged involvement in a conspiracy, “Every time they get in trouble . . . they dredge up a Darth Vader story.”
And, apparently, Matalin is married to friend of the Report James Carville. I’m not a betting man, but I’m willing to wager that he thinks just the opposite…
Read–CNN Political Ticker
Read–CNN
Read–Hot Air
UPDATE: July 13, 2009:
Fox News is reporting that the Congress was aware of the operation and also approved it.
Fox News is reporting: “This was not a program. It never began,” the former official said. “The authority was given by Congress to develop this idea. … There was no need to brief it. It wasn’t a reality.”
Read–FoxNews
