There's been a sudden flood of information about secret programs linked to the CIA and to Busg administration, especially vice president Dick Cheney. Indeed, the stories overlapped in a way that seemed to confuse the 24/7 news cycle with too much information. Specifically, we learned at the same time that the Bush White House had circumvented the normal channels -- using John Yoo as its point man -- to get the OK for a spying program that became known as the President's Surveillance Program, the details of which are largely unknown. Then we learned that the CIA had also been hiding from Congress information about a reported assassination squad that would target al-Qaeda leaders around the globe.
Over the last day or two, it's been the hit squad that's been getting the headlines. But you have wonder...why all the fuss about a plan to kill al-Qaeda leaders? Why would the Bush administration have thought there'd be such negative reaction from Congress, which was rubber-stamping everything with the word "terror" attached to it after 9/11, that it felt the need to essentially break the law by keeping it secret. As the New York Times correctly points out, we already have such a program that is widely known and has been supported by the Bush and the Obama administrations, but it involved firing missiles from unmanned drones rather than teams of trained CIA killers. Although clearly there were massive logistical and political issues (can you imagine the uproar in Saudi Arabia, which would be a logical staging area?), which is why the program never got off the ground, the idea was not on its face illegal; the much-discussed mid-1970s assassination ban by then-President Gerald Ford only covers foreign leaders, not terror suspects.
David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo is thinking what others are thinking, that something still isn't adding up:
So regardless of how you might feel about targeted assassinations, it's not at all clear why this particular program would be so radioactive -- compared to what the U.S. was, and still is, doing more or less openly -- that (1) Cheney would demand the CIA not brief Congress about it for eight years; (2) Panetta would cancel it immediately upon learning of it; and (3) Democrats would howl quite so loudly when finally informed.
And here's an expert who agrees:
Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief, told TPMmuckraker that because we've been in a state of war against al Qaeda since just after September 11, there would have been no need for a secret CIA program that received special legal authorization.
He later adds:
As for what the program did involve, Cannistraro suggested that it involved Americans as targets, and that it went beyond surveillance, but declined to elaborate. He added that, though Cheney may have directly ordered the CIA to keep Congress in the dark, the veep wasn't acting alone. "The approval was from the president," said Cannistraro.
Look, the CIA is supposed to be very good at misinformation campaigns -- that's why we pay them the big bucks. And I can't help but wonder if that's not what's happening here ("The Cheney Deception," sounds like a Ludlum novel, doesn't it?). The programs that would have caused the greatest uproar among Congress and the American people would have involved domestic operations (which the CIA is supposed to be banned from carrying out) that would have entailed spying on U.S. citizens, or worse. Perhaps it's related to this President's Surveillance Program, perhaps not. I do think that the idea of a hit squad reporting to Cheney is a shiny metal object that can easily distract our ADD-addled media.
I also still think most Americans want the truth of what happened during the Bush years, whether that comes by means of a Truth Commission or criminal prosecutions or both. Some say that truth would undermine ongoing national security efforts, other say that looking backward would hurt Obama politically. Those arguments ignore the reality on the ground, that something resembling the truth is dribbling out, but wrapped in misleading packages. Getting the actual truth out there in one fell swoop would actually be the best way for America to move forward.
Bush/Cheney kept us safe since 9/11. Now Obama and the Democrats are dismantling everything that was put in place to keep Al Qaeda on the run for 8 years. If we get hit again (I sure hope we don't), I hope all those who are screaming for "truth commission" and "war crimes trial" will be the first in line to admit that Bush/Cheney had the right idea all along.— J 2 The B- It could have also involved targeted assassinations of Heads of State that [allegedly] provided support to al-Qaeda or it could have taken a page from the KGB's handbook and involved immediate family members on whom there were no direct connections, only family connections, to terrorism. I think that it is also possible that many of these disclosures are coming from the CIA itself that was never happy with the extent that the VP's office interfered in their work post-9/11. I'm with you, though, in getting the truth out in a systematic manner rather than this drip, drip drip thing. But either way, the truth will out in the end.— GreyHippie
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Just a final point about this. Congress was never briefed because THE PLAN WAS NEVER PUT INTO PLACE. from the Wash Post... "there was no requirement to brief lawmakers on a program that had not been implemented. "When it goes operational, then you brief them," one of the former officials said. " So, it was discussed, but never implemented. So what is the problem? Congress needs to be i on every back and forth discussion about what the CIA might or might not do?? Seems like a smokescreen from the Dems since every one of their big ticket items is either a failure or is dead in the water (Stimulus (fail), cap and trade (dead), socialized medicine dead)).— J 2 The B
- We have and still have probable cause to go after those who would do us harm and that is the way it works legally. We don't have to wait for someone to do us harm and we can stop it before it morphs into something far serious. A SWAT team would break inot a person's house because he bragged of having a cache of automatic weapons - that in itself is probable cause supported by a search warrant and the reason is to protect the rest of the neighborhood.— James
- gphilly: the running for the most incompetent, immoral, and inadequate leader of our time is not over. Supreme leader Obama is taking the outside lane and pulling ahead! - all in just 6 months on the job. Also agree 100% with bryanc - Bunchy needs to move on and write about todays topics but I guess he can't find anything positive with the current admin.— RowingMan
- Pelosi should be removed from office for lying— Dr. Michael
"Bush/Cheney kept us safe since 9/11." . . . . . They've got nothing on Kim Jung-il or Castro. Heck, Castro stopped the CIA at the Bay of Pigs, and there hasn't been an attack on his island since. What's your point?- Comment removed.
- "So, it was discussed, but never implemented. So what is the problem?" Here we go with the hair splitting, "depends on the meaning of is is" rationales. The program was implemented if it planned and trained; it may not have been fully operational but it had begun. The CIA felt it had, its current Director felt it had and members of Congress from both parties felt it had. Reports are that it wasn't disclosed to the Congressional oversight people, as required by law, for one reason and one reason only: VP Cheney ordered that it not be.— GreyHippie
- Comrade, what kind of life makes you come here and torture yourself everyday?
Will, what if the "truth" tells you what you don't want to hear. I mean, you have no hard evidence of wrongdoing, yet continue an Ahab-like crusade with this whole issue. So the lack of evidence hasn't deterred you, so why would a "truth" that is contrary to your point of view.— jmc- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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