Congress Authorized CIA to Develop Secret Al Qaeda Plan, Former Official Says
A secret CIA program to capture or kill Al Qaeda operatives never came close to being operational, an official says.
FOXNews.com
Monday, July 13, 2009
Congress originally authorized the CIA to develop the secret counterterrorism program that is now drawing fierce criticism from House Democrats who say they were kept in the dark all along, a former senior intelligence official told FOX News on Monday.
The program, which sources told FOX News was a plan to capture or kill Al Qaeda operatives, also never came close to being operational, the intelligence official said.
"This was not a program. It never began," the former official said. "The authority was given by Congress to develop this idea. ... There was no need to brief it. It wasn't a reality."
Democrats want an investigation into the program, particularly following reports that former Vice President Dick Cheney was the one who ordered it kept secret.
After CIA Director Leon Panetta told congressional lawmakers that he canceled the program, House Democrats also called on Panetta to retract his statement that the CIA does not mislead Congress. Panetta made that statement after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed the CIA lied to Congress.
The former intelligence official suggested House Democrats made the demand for the sake of providing Pelosi political cover.
"If you notice, Director Panetta briefed both (the Senate and House) intelligence committees on the same day ... about the same issue. Did you hear anyone from the Senate intelligence committee say anything about it?"
The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that the CIA was developing the Al Qaeda program and had spent money for planning and possibly training, acting on a 2001 presidential pronouncement.
The CIA also briefly examined the possibility of targeted assassinations of Al Qaeda leaders in 2001, the Journal reported, though it's not clear whether that was a part of the program Panetta stopped.
Continue reading at The Wall Street Journal
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FOX News' Bret Baier contributed to this report.
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