CIA gets 'new leeway' for covert ops vs. bin Laden
Sunday October 21
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush has given the CIA "new leeway" to do whatever is necessary in covert operations to destroy Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, a U.S. official said on Sunday.
In a presidential order called a "finding," Bush spelled out what activities the CIA can and cannot undertake in covert operations targeting bin Laden and al Qaeda, whom the United States blames for the Sept. 11 attack on New York and Washington that killed nearly 5,400 people.
The order allows the CIA to do "what is necessary to bring down al Qaeda and its leadership," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "It's pretty broad-ranging."
"These things all contain rules and regulations -- what you can do, how you can do it, who you can enlist," the official added. "This one grants new leeway. There are fewer obstacles to taking down al Qaeda's leadership."
The Washington Post, quoting unnamed officials, reported on Sunday that the order instructed the CIA to attack bin Laden's communications, security apparatus and infrastructure and focus lethal covert action on newly identified vulnerabilities.
The United States since Oct. 7 has been bombing Afghanistan to target al Qaeda and the ruling Taliban for sheltering bin Laden.
Special forces troops parachuted into southern Afghanistan in a night raid to penetrate one of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's compounds near Kandahar.
The CIA and the military have also been directed to increase coordination in the effort and Bush added more than $1 billion to the spy agency's budget for the fight against terrorism, the U.S. official said.
The CIA's budget is a fraction of what intelligence experts estimate is $30 billion a year funding for the whole intelligence community. The intelligence budget is classified.
The president must authorize covert operations. The CIA has had presidential approval since 1998, first issued by President Bill Clinton, to conduct covert operations targeting bin Laden, who U.S. officials believe masterminded the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that year, government sources told Reuters last month.
While the order allowed the covert operation to contribute to bin Laden's death, that does not mean the CIA would actually kill him, but the spy agency could prompt others to carry out a lethal attack, sources said.
Clinton last month said his administration had authorized the arrest and, if necessary, the killing of bin Laden but lacked sufficient information to carry it out.
THREAT MATRIX
Since the attacks on America, the CIA has also compiled daily a document called the "Threat Matrix," listing all threats against U.S. interests and prominent non-American targets overseas, which appear to have some credibility.
The document, distributed to senior officials, has contained roughly 50 to "well over" 100 threats on any given day, the U.S. official said.
It lists the type of threat, the source of the information and any actions that might be taken against it, and is "shared widely with law enforcement and other appropriate agencies," the official said.
The Washington Post said the document has listed threatened bombings, hijackings and other attacks on shopping complexes, cities, large gathering sites and embassies.
The matrix led the FBI to issue an alert on Oct. 11 that there may be additional terror attacks within the United States and against U.S. interests abroad within several days.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat and former vice presidential candidate, said he was "absolutely comfortable" with the power given to the CIA.
"In this case, absolutely, our forces ought to have the power and the authority of the president of the United States to strike at bin Laden and the small group around him directly," he told NBC's "Meet the Press."
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