White House Offers No Comment, or Denial, On Reports Of CIA Support For Libyan Rebels

“Reuters Mark Hosenball reported Wednesday that President Obama has authorized secret CIA support for Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi.”
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When does the government investigaton of Reuters publishing government secrets begin?

Seems a pretty serious breach of “no boots on the ground” to me.

News flash: the CIA is everywhere. No need for a war. The institution is the greatest danger to our country, aside from the religious fanatics, and they do overlap.

So we’re basically outsourcing a ground war in Libya to the rebels with the obvious goal of ousting Qaddafi? What is this, Bay of Pigs? Certainly the sympathies of the US should lie with the Libyan people standing up to this brutal dictator, but giving them weapons is a very slipper slope…
http://www.sunstateactivist.org

Who we support in war is a dart throw, thanks to the ever vigilant CIA.

In case you hadn’t been paying attention, it is generally CIA operatives who are most adamant about resisting this country’s insatiable hunger for myopic foreign policy. Bureaucratic pleasantries usually shelve these concerns before they go public, but I assure you, the CIA is an expert institution with a lot of people who know far more about prudence than our elected officials.

That was in response to your post, James.

Does this mean Panetta will be dropped off of the list to replace Gates?

“As is common practice for this and all Administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters.”
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Been working on this long, Michael?

The “Bay of Llamas” invasion begins when?

“The institution is the greatest danger to our country”

Why would you say a crazy thing like that?

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/head-sh0t/

Sometimes, depending on the country and time frame, we can be found to have supported BOTH sides.
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Good business for the weapons suppliers. Bad news for the troops sent in to fight our old “friends”.

Now… let the anonymous “leaks” begin…

“The Times also reported that British MI6 Intelligence officers and special forces are working in the country.”

Good times.

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/memory-against-forgetting/

Here’s something to think about. David Dayan of Firedoglake wonders if President Obama’s secret order/finding “has anything to do with the Libyan expat resident of Northern Virginia, 10 miles from Langley, showing up in Benghazi to command the rebel army.”

I’d say a ten-mile commute to the office was pretty standard.

The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com

Exiled, I would have to take your word for that as the agency is cloaked in secrecy. What has been shown in the light is that it has been involved in the support of tyrannous dictatorships, and has brought down democratically elected leaders. It may be a necessary evil, but the necessary secrecy is not entirely compatible with a free democratic society.

No surprise. Petraeus gave himself the power to send clandestine ops wherever he wants in the ME, Asia and Africa. From May 2010:
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The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity…
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The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa…
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The always-accommodating NYT allowed this bit of wording to cloud the issue:
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The order, however, does not appear to authorize offensive strikes…
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Sending troops into a nation without its knowledge is an offensive strike, and an act of war.
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But no worries, we simply changed the rules:
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Unlike covert actions undertaken by the C.I.A., such clandestine activity does not require the president’s approval or regular reports to Congress…
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It would have been nice if the author questioned how, if these inserted soldiers don’t have to report to Congress, would we know what they are doing and who they strike..
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/25military.html?_r=1&hp

PS: “nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa” comprise what is known as The Arc of Instability– a Long War term used to describe the areas where we expect to fight multiple small wars simultaneously for the next 50 or so years culminating in a glorious New American Century.

If these soldiers are captured by Gaddafi’s forces and held captive, what do you think the media will urge our President to do?

I stopped being naive about our participation in covert operations way back when the Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in the Eisenhower administration. I was too young to know much about the OSS which preceded the CIA.
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CIA operatives are all over. Sometimes they do evil in our name.
Overthrow of Mosadeg in Iran
Assasination of Diem in Vietnam and Alende in Chile
Arbenz assasinated in Guatamala
Operations in Nicarauga and Cuba.
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That is why they are covert. Other countries spy on us. We have an Israeli spy in our jail at this moment.
You can bet there were and are CIA agents all through the Middle East.
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I don’t consider this boots on the ground but spooks on the loose.

Circling back I realized I wasn’t very clear on something:
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This post is about the CIA going into Libya. I’m saying that this is not surprising as the military can already send covert special ops troops into any country in these regions- at its discretion and without reporting to Congress.