Blackwater tied to CIA assassination plot

Remember not too long ago when incoming Director of the CIA, Leon Panetta called a special meeting of Congress to brief them on more of the underhanded B.S. that he had found was going on under the Bush Administration? Well, surprise, surprise! At the black heart of the matter once again was North Carolina's very own local mercenaries-for-hire and the Prince of Darkness, Blackwater and Erik Prince.

From the New York Times:

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 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 new C.I.A. director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.

Isn't it seriously time for companies like Blackwater / Xe to be permanently closed? I mean, what the hell is this country doing allowing armed assassin's for hire on the open job market? I realize the Neo-Con's are big free market fans and all, but isn't this just taking that whole concept a good number of steps over the line?

It is unclear whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance. American spy agencies have in recent years outsourced some highly controversial work, including the interrogation of prisoners. But government officials said that bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations.

Officials said that the C.I.A. did not have a formal contract with Blackwater for this program but instead had individual agreements with top company officials, including the founder, Erik D. Prince, a politically connected former member of the Navy Seals and the heir to a family fortune. Blackwater’s work on the program actually ended years before Mr. Panetta took over the agency, after senior C.I.A. officials themselves questioned the wisdom of using outsiders in a targeted killing program.

Nothing formal, you say? Just a hush-hush, handshake deal between the previous fundie administration and the fundie CEO of Blackwater? Bush and Cheney didn't want to take any responsibility for their assassination programs, so in steps their mercenary buddy The Prince to do their bidding. All in the name of God and Country, of course. Well, and serious profit. Goes without saying, right?

If you have time, read the entire article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32484932/ns/politics-the_new_york_times

Then, if you are sufficiently outraged as I am, it's time to get on the phone with your Congressional Representatives and tell them that we seriously want the trash taken out of North Carolina. Starting with Xe.