KABUL, Afghanistan — Meanwhile, a US official in Washington confirmed reports that the CIA is running an all-Afghan paramilitary group that has been hunting Al Qaeda, Taliban, and other militant targets for the agency.
A security professional in Kabul familiar with the operation said the 3,000-strong force was set up in 2002 to capture targets for CIA interrogation. A former US intelligence official said members of the covert Afghan force conduct surveillance and long-range reconnaissance, and some have trained in the United States.
Related: Taliban Terrorists Escape From Texas Military Base
I guess that is why no one is worried. They work for us.
The sources spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity.
The force, called the Counterterrorist Pursuit Team, was described in a new book by Bob Woodward, “Obama’s Wars.’’
--more--"
I did see one clip on CBS where he quotes Petraeus as saying the war will last the rest of our lifetimes and that of our children.
Of course, the AmeriKan empire collapses long before then. The hulking, fetid, bankrupt carcass will be lucky to last another five years at the rate it is going.
Related:
The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Blackening Out Blackwater Assassins
The Boston Globe Bucks Up the CIA
"Al-CIA-Duh" Invades Afghanistan
CIA Assassins Lend a Helping Hand in Afghanistan
CIA Strike Teams Swoop Into Afghanistan
More Assassins Headed to Afghanistan
Petraeus' Private Eyes
What Works for AmeriKa in Afghanistan
Also see: Who Allowed CIA’s 3,000 Mercenaries To Operate In Pakistan?
"NPR Confirms 3,000 Man CIA Army Conducts Operations In Pakistan
As Mark laid out earlier and earlier than that, there's a lot to pick over in Bob Woodward's new book, Obama's Wars. But while most of the article's describing it (NPR doesn't have a copy yet, or at least I haven't seen one) concentrate on the internal battles among the administration, the part that set off alarm bells for me was this paragraph from the Washington Post piece:
The CIA created, controls and pays for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban havens there."
Why didn't my Globe pick-up that aspect of the story?
The CIA created, controls and pays for a clandestine 3,000-man paramilitary army of local Afghans, known as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams. Woodward describes these teams as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban havens there."
Why didn't my Globe pick-up that aspect of the story?
