According to the N.Y. Times, Blackwater operatives carried out secret C.I.A. ops in Iraq from 2004-06 against people suspected of being insurgents.
Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.'s most sensitive activities -- clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.
The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency between 2004 and 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called "snatch and grab" operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said.
What is coming to light is a secret and close tie between the Agency and Blackwater on many levels, none of which was openly disclosed until recently. But what stands out with the recent disclosures is the pull that Blackwater had with driving the C.I.A. missions themselves.
Let me repeat that: a private security contractor had decision-making power when it came to missions carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency.
A former senior C.I.A. official said that Blackwater’s role expanded in 2005 as the Iraqi insurgency intensified. Fearful of the death or capture of one of its officers, the agency banned officers from leaving the Green Zone in Baghdad without security escorts, the official said.
That gave Blackwater greater influence over C.I.A. clandestine operations, since company personnel helped decide the safest way to conduct the missions.
*emphasis mine
I would imagine that a Congressional review has to be forthcoming, particularly from the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, chaired by Representative Rush D. Holt (D-NJ), who is mentioned in the article. Along with seven other Democrats holding the majority of that panel, let's hope that they dig further into this secret marriage that most likely has broken countless laws and further derailed the Constitution to no end.