BAGHDAD
www.newbootstrade.com, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The CIA enlisted U.S. contractor Blackwater as part of a covert program to hunt and kill senior al-Qaida members, U.S. media reports say.
Quoting current and former government officials, The New York Times said the controversial U.S. private security company helped the CIA with planning, training and surveillance.
The hit squad plan was revealed in June
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When the news broke, CIA director Leon Panetta informed lawmakers and then pulled the plug on the program. The Central Intelligence Agency maintained that no hit missions had been launched and that no militants had either been located or captured, according to the report.
Still, citing senior intelligence officials, the Times reported that in 2004, during the Bush administration, the CIA went as far as hiring Blackwater for an unknown role in the secret program, designed to take out high-value members of al-Qaida.
About 1,000 Blackwater staff members were used to guard U.S. government personnel in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, making it among the largest security companies operating in this country.
Its operations for the U.S. government, however
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Blackwater first drew fire on March 31, 2004, when four employees were killed by an angry mob in Fallujah, then a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold.
The bodies were mutilated and strung from a bridge as images of the incident were broadcast worldwide. The gruesome event fanned a monthlong assault on Fallujah, leaving 36 U.S. soldiers, 200 insurgents and 600 civilians dead.
Earlier this year the Iraqi government cancelled Blackwater's operating license for using excessive force on a number of occasions, including the killing of 17 civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square on Sept. 16
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In an attempt to shed its negative reputation, the U.S. company
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Controversy spawning from the Times report centered on its revelation that while the CIA held no formal contract with Blackwater it retained individual agreements with top executives in the company.
It remains unclear whether the U.S. spy agency planned to use Blackwater contractors to actually capture and kill militants or just assist in the training and surveillance of the program
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In a related report
ugg bailey button, a senior State Department official told The Nation that Blackwater was operating in Iraq under the name "U.S. Training Center" and would continue its armed presence in the country until Sept. 3.
"Authorized personnel under that task order are permitted to continue carrying weapons until that time
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Blackwater's remaining contract for diplomatic security in Iraq is an aviation contract
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The company, whose owner is said to views its role as fighting a Christian crusade to "eliminate" Muslims and Islam globally, is scheduled to be replaced by Triple Canopy for its protective security work in Iraq, The Nation said.
