Surgical strikes: A CIA specialty?(U.S. Air Force photo/Lt Col Leslie Pratt)
Is The CIA Better Than The Military At Drone Killings? -- Michael Hirsh, National Journal
The White House is supposed to be handing the program over to the Pentagon. Here's why they're dragging their feet.
It's been more than a year since incoming CIA Director John Brennan signaled his intention to shift drone warfare to the Pentagon as soon as possible. Brennan, a career spook, was said to be determined to restore the agency to its roots as an espionage factory, not a paramilitary organization. And President Obama endorsed his plan to hand drone warfare over to the military, according to administration officials.
But a funny thing happened on the way back to cloak-and-dagger. According to intelligence experts and some powerful friends of the CIA on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the agency may simply be much better than the military at killing people in a targeted, precise way—and, above all, at ensuring that the bad guys they're getting are really bad guys. And that distinction has become more important than ever at a time when Obama is intent on moving away from a "permanent war footing" and on restricting targeted killings exclusively to a handful of Qaida-linked senior terrorists.
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My Comment: I suspect that after the announcement was made last year of shifting the CIA out of the drone killing business .... someone found out that the rules of engagement were easier for the CIA than the Pentagon's to be approved .... and why change something that was working.
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