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"Cheney's Assassination Ring"

Oliver

Penultimate Amazing
Oliver
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
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I have no opinion regarding the allegations yet, but since we will probably hear a lot more about it ...

Mr. Seymour Hersh claimed that the "Joint Special Operations Command" is/was secretly conducting assassinations around the world:

HERSH: It‘s a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. [...] they reported directly to the Cheney office. They do not report to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or to Mr. Gates, the secretary of defense. [...] Congress has no oversight of it. It‘s an executive assassination wing essentially, and it‘s been going on and on and on.

And just today in “The Times,” there was a story saying that its leader, a three-star admiral named McRaven ordered a stop to certain activities because there were so many collateral deaths. [...] They‘ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That‘s been going on, well, in the name of all of us. [Source]
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Olbermann reporting about the issue:

 
1. Wow, if true I hope people will go to jail for good, no pardons or coverups.

2. It seems Hersh is waiting "a year or two" until his book is ready when he'll reveal more? If so he's a complete jerk.

3. "McRaven"? I don't know if I can take the allegations seriously if that's supposed to be the name of the boss.

4. Giving a few names of targets of the program would go a long way to giving the report credibility.
 
Dragoonster said:
3. "McRaven"? I don't know if I can take the allegations seriously if that's supposed to be the name of the boss.
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In fairness, the part about there being a Joint Special Operations Command and it being led by Vice Admiral McRaven is true.

It was actually a bit of a controversy when McRaven was appointed commander of the JSOC, since it had typically been an Army-led command (but being Joint, an officer from any service could command it).

As for the rest... well, I wouldn't be surprised if they do go into countries and take people out. The question is how you define "assassination." When we killed Al-Zarqawi in Iraq, was that an assassination? Would killing Osama bin Laden be an assassination?

It will depend on who is on this alleged list of targets as to whether they are conducting "assassinations" or not.

The problem I have with that report is that it reads like (though doesn't state outright) the revelation of the JSOC's very existence is some sort of big story. It isn't. The JSOC has been around for quite a while -- nearly 30 years, in fact -- and its overall role in the org structure of USSOCOM has been public for most of that time.

If Hersh has some specifics about their operations it might be interesting, but otherwise... what's the story?
 
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ARubberChickenWithAPulley said:
If Hersh has some specifics about their operations it might be interesting, but otherwise... what's the story?
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Apparently Hersh has his undies in a knot because President Ford signed an executive order against political assasinations. However, Hersh has not established that any of these were political assasinations. Taking out an al Qaeda honcho in a safe area of Pakistan hardly constitutes a "political assasination".

If there's been Predator strikes in other parts of the world taking part in political assasinations which caused collateral damage no one seems to know about it for some reason.
 
Too bad that the people who did this will probably never have to answer for what they did
 
My main objection is to the fact that the unit was only answerable to a sociopath, and not monitored by any agency which might have to deal with the results of an operation gone sour.
 
leftysergeant said:
My main objection is to the fact that the unit was only answerable to a sociopath, and not monitored by any agency which might have to deal with the results of an operation gone sour.
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The lack of oversight certainly raises the probability of abuse
 
So Sy "I can't fudge what I write but I can fudge what I say" Hersh is making charges in speeches that he's unwilling to back up in print again?
 
Hersh has done some good reporting, but there seems to be little doubt his Left Wing Political views cause him to play fast and loose with the evidence a lot.
 
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