Posted on 03/14/2010 8:57:30 PM PDT by Saije
Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants, according to military officials and businessmen in Afghanistan and the United States.
The official, Michael D. Furlong, hired contractors from private security companies that employed former C.I.A. and Special Forces operatives. The contractors, in turn, gathered intelligence on the whereabouts of suspected militants and the location of insurgent camps, and the information was then sent to military units and intelligence officials for possible lethal action in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the officials said.
While it has been widely reported that the C.I.A. and the military are attacking operatives of Al Qaeda and others through unmanned, remote-controlled drone strikes, some American officials say they became troubled that Mr. Furlong seemed to be running an off-the-books spy operation. The officials say they are not sure who condoned and supervised his work.
It is generally considered illegal for the military to hire contractors to act as covert spies. Officials said Mr. Furlong’s secret network might have been improperly financed by diverting money from a program designed to merely gather information about the region.***
Officials say Mr. Furlong’s operation seems to have been shut down, and he is now is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Defense Department for a number of possible offenses, including contract fraud.
Even in a region of the world known for intrigue, Mr. Furlong’s story stands out. At times, his operation featured a mysterious American company run by retired Special Operations officers and an iconic C.I.A. figure who had a role in some of the agency’s most famous episodes, including the Iran-Contra affair.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Way to go NYTs for once again warning our enemies of our actions.
While we are at it, the job of a newspaper is to gather and report the facts. Maybe the Times should take a shot at that. After it fails financially and is taken over by competent management,
Congressman Billybob
If only it were true. The more NYTs “reporters” that get skinned alive or mutilated to death, the better IMO. Traitor rats, one and all.
Had to look 3 times to make it sure it didn’t say “mutants”.
Time for bed.
What Democrat publication but the pathetic New York Times could print the above sentence with a straight face?
"It is generally considered illegal..."??
LMBO! What does that mean?
LEAKING AMERICAN SECRETS IN THE PAST
bookmark for later.
This was SOP in former wars.
I guess the best way to win a war today is to announce your intentions in the press and give the enemy time to vanish?? Maybe give them 30 days written notice?? DUH
Yes, rbosque, treason is alive and well at the New York Slimes. Looks like little commie Pinch Sulzberger is finally getting to aid America’s enemies in a big way since he was a little shit traitor re Vietnam.
In fact, some of the NYT’s correspondence in Vietnam when I was a journalist there were viewed as the enemy and their stories were almost all negative about the US and the So. Vietnamese efforts to stop communism.
Check out Ralph Blumenthal’s story about a small hamlet in the Mekong Delta (he interviewed the blacksmith; I interviewed his wife), appeared in November, 1970 sometime about Nov. 10th or so. Other journalists also interviewed the wife and his reporting was the only negative one about positive developments in that region.
Craig Whitney was another suspect journalist. Joe Treaster was trusted but he was betrayed by his editors back in NYC.
Check out old issues of Accuracy In Media’s “AIM Bulletin” for some of these stories.
Never trust the NYT when you are at war. They have “your back” with a knife in it.
Bao Chi’, Nam, 1970.
Billybob, you need to return to Congress so you can reinforce that comment. It seems like many today have forgotten that basic tenet of military life and instead concentrate on the politically correct social engineering aspects.
Oh joy. Pictures and everything. When will this liberal rag be called to account?
They need to send a couple drones around to the NYT building...
On the face of it, I support the guy wanting to kill terrorists by any means necessary. Apparently it’s illegal for the US government to hire contractors for intelligence gathering, probably due to the Geneva Conventions, which we should back out of because how many of those signatories we went to war with actually followed them?
Didn’t a bunch of media outlets learn about a SEAL operation, and then waited at their designated beach landing to try to do an impromptu interview?
Dunno if you’d mind being pulled into this, but it’s something I possibly read about.
Militants? Look no further than the NY Slimes.
darn, I miss the olden days ;-)
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