C.I.A. Said To Use Outsiders To Put Bombs On Drones

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees.

The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said.

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My Comment: This opens the debate on whether it should be CIA employees working at these bases, or contractors. I can understand the CIA's preference for using contractors, it will insulate them from the politics that are involved in Washington. No one in the CIA will want to be accountable to their political masters if something goes wrong. If problems arise .... it is the contractors fault.

Congress (probably) also finds this relationship ideal. They have a boogeyman to attack .... and not the CIA. This also insulates them from blowback and negative press in the event that something goes wrong. They can properly state that they are doing their oversight function .... but if things go horribly wrong they can blame the contractor and state that they did their job, but someone else screwed up.