CIA Hired Blackwater to Kill al-Qaida Operatives

The relationship between the US government and Blackwater has always been a murky one - and this most recent revelation probably comes as no surprise to anyone even vaguely familiar with the company. In 2004, the CIA hired Blackwater to help them find and kill key members of al-Qaida. As it turns out, the program never really got off the ground and no al-Qaida operatives were ever killed or injured.

But the problem that the CIA is currently facing stems from the fact that Congress knew nothing of the program and that it is likely there would have been some resistance if they had. The details of the program remain classified, but the New York Times reported on its web site that the program existed and that current CIA director Leon Panetta canceled the program for the final time in June of this year.

The CIA is downplaying any efforts to hide the program from Congress. "Director 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. This was clear and straightforward," CIA spokesman George Little told the AP. "Director Panetta did not tell the (congressional) committees that the agency had misled the Congress or had broken the law. He decided that the time had come to brief Congress on a counterterrorism effort that was, in fact, much more than a PowerPoint presentation."

Blackwater is now known as Xe Services and the company has been at the center of many controversial issues relating to US military and intelligence operations in the War on Terror.