Blog
Published on August 20, 2009
The specifics are unclear but an article in the New York Times today reports that the CIA turned to Blackwater for help in a secret program designed to assassinate top Al Qaeda operatives.
It reports:
It is unclear whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to actually
capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance
in the program. 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.
It is time for accountability for private security contractors. Human Rights First has mapped out a plan in our blueprint.
