Guns for hire

MANIFESTO

The Magnificent Seven, they weren't.

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

It was years ago that I got to the point where nothing the Bushies did surprised me, and an episode like this just strengthens my feeling that XLIII and his cronies were absolutely crazy.