Bush’s C.I.A. Hired Blackwater To Be Its Assassination Squad
It’s been a while since we had a new Bush scandal to talk about…
The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.
Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.
The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.’s director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting in June to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.
Blackwater (now Xe), you mean these folks?
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting “illegal” or “unlawful” weapons into the country on Prince’s private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.
The Bush administration sure paid lots of money to some marginal people and we’re going to be paying the price for a long time. In this case, we didn’t even get our money’s worth, though I’m not sure what’s worse – incompetent Christian crusaders getting rich off of taxpayer money or competent ones.
In case you’re still wondering, Iraq is a dangerous place. Does anyone else find it ironic that getting billions of dollars to continue war in Iraq is not controversial at all, but spending billions of dollars to benefit the American people with universal healthcare is controversial?
Tags: Blackwater, Iraq, Worst.President.Ever
This is the thing about BushCo — transferring taxpayer dollars to their friends for the biggest No Show jobs ever made.
the only scandal that I see is the CIA’s inability to find and kill our enemies, eitgher witgh direct hires or subcontractors.
The corruptness of the Bush Admnin was surpassed only by their incompetence. Thank Jesus they are out of power.
Hey Bush is a war criminal and a treasonist for violating the consitution and international rule of law. Now lets get to Barack Obama the hope and change guy. Why is Obama blessing Blackwater goons in Iraq and now in Afganistan continuing their mercenary vile hatred of “all muslims”? Huh! What has Obama done to stop the goons? Why is he permitting these goons to continue to kill, maim, and slaughter innocents in Afganistan. Lets face the real truth. We lost Iraq, and we are creating another Vietnam in Afganistan? The Pentagon and the Military Industrial Complex filled with leftover Bushites are running foreign policy. Where is the left on stopping Obama from escalating that war. We have lost 78 soldiers this month in Afganistan, why is the left silent on “Obamas new war”. We are still spending $lm a day in Iraq, but no money for health care. Man UP Obama.
Hope and change. Mmmmmm.
Killing the enemy is a crime? Al qaeda is the enemy in case you have not read anything but the disastrous economic news from Obama.
By the way Obama has changed nothing on Foreign Policy than Bush except widen a war yet the Liberals are silent.
Incompetence? Obama has a super majority and can’t pass his #1 legislative priority, health care. Folks, as Obama tanks I expect to hear more and more about Bush. The more I hear about Bush I am more certain Obama is a one term nightmare (huge deficts, huge and never ending unemployment, two wars, inept cash for clunkers and rising home foreclosures.)
It seems the President is acting ‘stupidly’.
Mike Protack
Mike Protack, once again missing the point by a mile. We gave millions of dollars to these people and they did nothing.
Protack ….. they took the money and didn’t kill anyone.
Wait. They helped assassinate the economy, no?
My only objection to any of this is that the program was not fully implemented. We should have at least gotten some dead jihadis for our money.
Seems sad that some of you hate our former president and those involved in fighting terrorism more than you hate the terrorists themselves.
Why not crawl out of your comfort zones of brainwashing and read The Rise of the Fourth Reich for the truth about the United States?
The of late bush clique is just one fly speck in the whole sandbox of corrupt pepper that constitues the United States.
Ninety percent of Americans could not handle the truth of that book, and 99% would be left, cantonic/like, with nothing to say.
The one percent who know the truth pull the puppet strings of the other 99%, and those 99% dance on these blogs with words that come from the smoke that has been blown up their derrieres.
And here I thought NAZI and Hitler comparisons were politically out of bounds, Cli.
I guess that is only when the Democrats elect a Demigod, right?
Oh yes, Cli is definitely in the mainstream of liberal thought…
If Bush is a war criminal, then what’s BO…a knowing accomplice now?
cassandra_m-Agree with the money trail to Bush, along with Gore for the sky is falling and Johnson for Vietnam shipping…but what about the money trail to Axelrod with healthcare?
“but what about the money trail to Axelrod with healthcare?”
I’m confused Tom, where does the trail lead to? Explain to me how covering every single American will fill Axelrod’s pocket and fleece the rest of us? I welcome paying more taxes if it nets out that if I get laid off again, my kids and I are covered… Bring on the 40% in taxes…
“Seems sad that some of you hate our former president and those involved in fighting terrorism more than you hate the terrorists themselves.”
-People hate the former president because he didn’t start a war in Iraq because of terrorism, he did it because his daddy didn’t get his way. There were no WMD’s, the war went on forever and everyone is bitching because we’re going to “probably” be in a deficit because we want to offer healthcare to everyone. I didn’t hear you complaining when we were fighting a war that was based on “God telling me it was the right thing to do” bullshit… Fighting terrorism is one thing, one of the reasons were still the “good guys” is because we draw a line in the sand. I thought you indicated before you were a soldier, you should know that. You don’t compromise on your core values because someone else is doing it.
There was a time that I can remember that being a Republican meant you stood for something that was unquestionable and definitively morally upstanding. It appears those days are gone and all the right wants to do is bitch and complain and replace racially derogatory names with Socialist, fascist, Marxist, communist and whatever else you can think of. Take ownership for a what a f-up your last moron was in there. Just for the record, I would’ve considered voting for McCain if he had enough sense not to get a schmuck for a Vice President candidate. If you want to stand up for something, stand up against all the moronic nonsense that your party evokes continuously. If you’re really about the good of the country than stand up and cut the b.s. in the townhalls and come up with a solution to the healthcare agenda aside from doing what has been status quo…
There hasn’t been a true conservative representaion in this country since the early 20th century. They are only conservative by name.
Nice to know that h. declares conservatism dead in the US. 😉