Word: panetta
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...mercenaries for a covert (if ultimately fruitless) program to hunt down and kill al-Qaeda leaders? Despite sensational claims in today's New York Times and Washington Post, the Agency continues to maintain omerta on the secret program, which Director Leon Panetta cancelled in late June. But former CIA hands, including Panetta's predecessor Michael Hayden, are rallying to its defense...
Hayden expressed dismay over the political storm that broke after Panetta briefed Congress about the program, which started under the directorship of George Tenet, was then cancelled and revived again under two subsequent directors. It was "not a very prominent thing when I was director," Hayden said. "When I heard [that Panetta had briefed Congress], I thought, 'What are you talking about? What program is this...
...spokesman George Little tells TIME: Panetta "thought this effort should be briefed to Congress, and he did so. He also knew it hadn't been successful, so he ended it. Neither decision was difficult...
...Hayden's description added to the confusion about how far the program had gone before Panetta cancelled it. Republican members of Congress briefed by Panetta have suggested it was scarcely more than a PowerPoint presentation; others have speculated the director would not have raised the alarm if it had not been operational. CIA spokesman George Little told TIME that the program "was, in fact, much more than a PowerPoint presentation." But that doesn't automatically mean it was fully operational, either...
...Central Intelligence Agency was designed to work in the shadows. But Director Leon Panetta's recent allegations that the Bush Administration conceived a covert program to assassinate al-Qaeda leaders have blindsided even those lawmakers accustomed to its stealthy habits...