http://www.historycommons.org The Center for Grassroots Oversight aims to provide the public with a means to collaborate on investigations at the grassroots level. en-us http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a080509MahsudDrone#a080509MahsudDrone http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a080509MahsudDrone#a080509MahsudDrone A CIA-controlled Predator drone assassinates Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud in the hamlet of Zanghara, South Waziristan, using two Hellfire missiles. Prior to the attack, officials at CIA headquarters watched a live video feed from the drone showing Mahsud reclining on the rooftop of his father-in-law's house with his wife and his uncle, a medic; at one point, the images showed that Mahsud, who suffers from diabetes and a kidney ailment, was receiving an intravenous drip. After the attack, all that remains of him is a detached torso. Eleven others die: his wife, his father-in-law, his mother-in-law, a lieutenant, and seven bodyguards. According to a CNN report, the strike was authorized by President Obama. Pakistan's Interior Minister A. Rehman Malik will later see the footage and comment: "It was a perfect picture. We used to see James Bond movies where he talked into his shoe or his watch. We thought it was a fairy tale. But this was fact!" According to reporter Jane Mayer: "It appears to have taken 16 missile strikes, and 14 months, before the CIA succeeded in killing [Mahsud]. During this hunt, between 207 and 321 additional people were killed, depending on which news accounts you rely upon." KJF 2010-02-07T21:03:12-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a062309CIADroneMilitants#a062309CIADroneMilitants http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a062309CIADroneMilitants#a062309CIADroneMilitants A strike by a CIA-controlled Predator drone near the town of Makeen in South Warizistan, Pakistan, kills between two and six people. According to reporter Jane Mayer, the men are "unidentified militants." Makeen is home to Baitullah Mahsud, a key Pakistan Taliban leader. CIA drones will also attack the funeral for these men later in the day, killing dozens . KJF 2010-02-07T21:01:42-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a040109MahsudDeputyDroneMiss#a040109MahsudDeputyDroneMiss http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a040109MahsudDeputyDroneMiss#a040109MahsudDeputyDroneMiss A CIA drone attacks a target in Pakistan that the agency believes is Hakimullah Mehsud, a lieutenant of Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud. However, it kills 10 to 12 of his followers instead. KJF 2010-02-07T20:48:56-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a012309DroneFourArabsPakistan#a012309DroneFourArabsPakistan http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a012309DroneFourArabsPakistan#a012309DroneFourArabsPakistan A CIA-controlled Predator drone assassinates four Arabs in Pakistan. New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer will later comment that the men are "all likely affiliated with al-Qaeda." KJF 2010-02-07T20:44:07-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a091405RicherGoss#a091405RicherGoss http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a091405RicherGoss#a091405RicherGoss Rob Richer, the deputy head of the CIA's directorate of operations, meets with CIA Director Porter Goss to explain the reasons for his recently announced resignation . Reportedly, the central problem is that Richer wants to reform and expand operations conducted by the agency's clandestine service, while reducing the side of the agency that conducts analysis, some of which would pass over to the director of national intelligence. In the private session, Richer is "blunt" about Goss's leadership, according to sources the Washington Post will say are close to both men. He also advises Goss to, according to the Post, "communicate a vision for the agency and demonstrate leadership that senior career officials could rally behind." An official will say: "Rob laid at his doorstep, in a collegial way, that Goss is out of touch. ... It fell on deaf ears." Richer apparently leaves the meeting angry, telling others he is disappointed with Goss's response to his ideas. KJF 2010-02-07T20:40:01-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a090205RicherImOff#a090205RicherImOff http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a090205RicherImOff#a090205RicherImOff Rob Richer, the second-ranking official in the CIA's directorate of operations (DO), announces his retirement from the agency at a meeting of senior DO officials. The apparent reason for his departure is that he lacks confidence in the agency's leadership, and is not getting his way in the debate over how to improve human intelligence in the wake of the establishment of the position of director of national intelligence. According to an account in the Washington Post, Richer complains that he and his boss have been frustrated by CIA Director Porter Goss and his staff in their efforts to implement certain measures. Richer had been in his position for less than a year. A few days later, Goss sends what the Post calls "an unusual worldwide message" to all CIA employees praising Richer for his nearly 35 years of service. The Post will comment that this "only fuel[s] the belief among some former intelligence officials that Richer's resignation reflects ongoing problems at the agency." KJF 2010-02-07T20:39:13-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0205BlackBlackwater#a0205BlackBlackwater http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a0205BlackBlackwater#a0205BlackBlackwater Cofer Black, former chief of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, joins Blackwater. He becomes the company's vice chairman. KJF 2010-02-07T20:36:30-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a02BlackwaterCIAContract#a02BlackwaterCIAContract http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a02BlackwaterCIAContract#a02BlackwaterCIAContract Blackwater wins a no-bid contract worth $5.4 million from the CIA. The nature of the contract is unknown, but it is reportedly obtained after Blackwater head Eric Prince telephones the CIA's Executive Director A. B. "Buzzy" Krongard. KJF 2010-02-07T20:35:50-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a99RicherAmman#a99RicherAmman http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a99RicherAmman#a99RicherAmman The CIA appoints Rob Richer as chief of its station in Amman, Jordan. Richer develops what Harper's journalist Ken Silverstein will call an "extraordinarily close relationship" with Jordan's King Abdullah. According to Silverstein, the king always remains on good terms with the CIA, which is his principal point of contact with the US in preference to the US ambassador. KJF 2010-02-07T20:34:50-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a74BlackJoinsCIA#a74BlackJoinsCIA http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a74BlackJoinsCIA#a74BlackJoinsCIA Cofer Black joins the CIA. He will go on to be the chief of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center when the 9/11 attacks occur. KJF 2010-02-07T20:33:43-08:00