The Washington Post is reporting today that the CIA assassination hit squad plan, supposedly the thing that Cheney had forbidden them to report to the Congressional Intel committees, was about to become operational for the first time. That's what compelled the planners to tell new CIA Director Leon Panetta about it, and he responded by immediately canceling the program and reporting it to the Intel Committees.
This latest information is the missing piece that makes the scenario plausible. But I'm still not entirely convinced. Some say, well of course we've had assassination plots by the CIA before. What's new about this? So I'm still wondering if there's something else.
Anyway, if we can really believe this, then perhaps the lack of reporting to congress is not as bad as it seemed at first. The argument is that they were not required to inform as long as it was only in the planning stage, but that they would report before they put it into practice.
I would argue this back: they say they've worked on it off and on for 8 years, trying to work out all the impediments. So, how much money and manpower time have they wasted on a program that congress would not approve? And they probably knew they wouldn't, given that Cheney ordered them not to tell.
Ralph
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