NYT - C.I.A. Sought Blackwater’s Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists
More details have emerged about the CIA plan for targeted killings of Al Qaeda leaders. When the story first broke that the CIA had been failing to brief the required congressmen about the operation on the orders of the Vice President, many were shocked and outraged. As details emerged about what the operation was and that it had not become operational, most of that outrage subsided.
At the time, many who had been inside the affair assured the public that the program had been an on-again-off-again affair that had not gotten far and cost less than $1 million in total. Congressional guidlines require the disclosure of all operations costing more than $25,000 but in addition to that, there are now reports that mercenary outfit Blackwater (now called Xe after a corporate re-branding) were hired to assist with training and surveillance.
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While it does not appear that the CIA was planning to use Blackwater mercenaries as trigger men in targeted killings, the fact that an outside company was involved suggests the project had gotten far past what was suggested earlier. "It’s wrong to think this counter terrorism program was confined to briefing slides or doodles on a cafeteria napkin," an official familiar with the project said, "It went well beyond that."
Some congressional Democrats have suggested that the Bush administration hid a number of programs from congress and are pushing for a deeper look into black programs carried out under the former administration. Republicans have countered that the affair has been blown out of proportion. With these new revelations about the scope of the program, the Democratic congress may well push for greater scrutiny in the coming months.
Still, the program isn't that shocking in the grand scheme of things. Had it been divulged, it would not have attracted much attention. The fact it was not fits in with the culture of unreasonable secrecy cultivated by the Bush White House, especially Cheney's office. A blank void attracts eyes and Bush officials may wish they had kept congress more informed and been more transparent to congressional oversight as relatively minor secrets now have the potential of becoming breaking news as they are uncovered.
In aggregate, however, they are important. Congress maintains oversight on the intelligence community for a reason. For an administration to purposefully circumvent that oversight shows willingness to operate counter to the constitutional checks and balances and demonstrates a potentially dangerous concentration of power.
It's worth looking into, even if the individual stories may not seem to be such a big deal.