Word: cheneyism
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Distancing the agency from a project with Cheney's fingerprints was politically astute. "As a good politician, Panetta probably knew that [Cheney's involvement] was precisely the reason we should get nervous about it," says Paul Pillar, a former deputy director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center...
...several former CIA officers and intelligence experts contacted by TIME found that explanation problematic. For one thing, they say, the mere fact that the program apparently merited Cheney's close attention should have been a red flag. "Even if the program was dormant, the top officials would have known about Cheney's instructions, and they should have told Panetta right away," says a former operations expert...
...plotted since 2001 to find and kill al-Qaeda leaders abroad. Two former CIA officials tell TIME there's another, somewhat less dramatic, possibility: a plan to conduct domestic surveillance. Spying on Americans is outside the CIA's purview and would be highly controversial - good enough reason for Cheney to want it kept under wraps. (Check out the seven clues to understanding Dick Cheney...
Another retired senior official put it more bluntly: "[Given Cheney's interest,] I don't know why the program was not on the new director's desk within his first two weeks on the job." Both former officials asked not to be named. The second official also questioned the argument that the program was not important enough for Panetta's immediate attention. "The speed of Panetta's actions when he was informed tells me that the program was pretty important," he says. (See the top 10 Secret Service code names...
...what he needs to know and when. "You have officials one or two rungs down who have to decide what the boss needs to see first and what can wait," he says. Though not shocked that Panetta wasn't told until June 23, Pillar adds, "In retrospect, the [Cheney] angle ought to be sufficient grounds for someone to think, This does deserve the boss's attention...