Blackwater inherits CIA job of using drones to kill al-Qaeda leaders

[1776Forever]

Just ran across this - Came from Sydney Australia newspaper article. Did anyone hear about this on the MSM here in the US? I sure didn't. Has it been canceled as the article goes on to say or not?:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/blackwater-inherits-cia-job-of-using-drones-to-kill-alqaeda-leaders-20090821-etta.html

Blackwater inherits CIA job of using drones to kill al-Qaeda leaders
August 22, 2009

FROM a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington's most vital counter-terrorism program: the use of drones to kill al-Qaeda's leaders, Government officials and current and former employees say.

The division's operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company's contractors load Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said.

Revelations of the company's role in the drone program and a CIA decision in 2004 to hire contractors from Blackwater USA for a now-defunct covert assassination program are part of a broader constellation of connections between the agency and the criticised security firm.

The 2004 contract cemented what was then a burgeoning relationship with Blackwater, with departing senior CIA officials later taking high-level positions within the company.

The revolving door helped fuel a backlash against what many came to regard as an overuse of outside companies, many of which made millions of dollars after filling their staffs with former CIA employees.

''I have believed for a long time that the intelligence community is over-reliant on contractors to carry out its work,'' Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said. ''This is especially a problem when contractors are used to carry out activities that are inherently governmental.''

Jeffrey Smith, a former general counsel at the CIA, said: ''The use of force has been traditionally thought of as inherently governmental. The use of a contractor actually employing lethal force is clearly troublesome, but I'm not sure it's necessarily illegal.''........

Any operation to capture or kill militants in connection with the secret program to locate and assassinate al-Qaeda operatives would have had to have been approved by the CIA director and presented to the White House before it was carried out, the officials said. The agency's current director, Leon Panetta, cancelled the program and notified Congress of its existence in an emergency meeting in June.

The extent of Blackwater's business dealings with the CIA has largely been hidden, but its public contract with the State Department to provide private security to US diplomats in Iraq has generated controversy. The company lost the job in Iraq this year, after Blackwater guards were involved in shootings in 2007 that left 17 Iraqis dead.

............

I sure would like an investigation into this! Anyone with me? Sen. John Kerry has asked for firing of Blackwater/Xe! Why haven't we heard more on that either?

:banghead:

[Frustratedlady]

1. I don't understand this, either.

I watched a segment on the drones and al-Qaeda the other night, but I sure don't remember Blackwater/Xe being mentioned. It showed one of the operators "stalking" an al-Qaeda member(s) and waiting for verification before firing.

Surely, our military can handle this type of operation. Why are we hiring contractors?

[1776Forever]

2. I agree - it isn't just this instance it is the recruiting of not only Military but ex-CIA members.

I knew about the ex-Military but the ex-CIA members is scary to me. What kind of "secrets" are being given to this publicly owned company? I think this really needs to be looked into and I am very glad the new Obama picked CIA leadership has evidently stopped this but what else is going on with Xe?