At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the centre of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives, “snatch and grab” of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by TheNation has found.
The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA Predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.
The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater’s involvement.
He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so “compartmentalized” that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.
The White House did not return calls or email messages seeking comment for this story. Capt John Kirby, the spokesperson for Adm Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told TheNation, “We do not discuss current operations one way or the other, regardless of their nature.”
A defense official, on background, specifically denied that Blackwater performs work on drone strikes or intelligence for JSOC in Pakistan.
“We don’t have any contracts to do that work for us. We don’t contract that kind of work out, period,” the official said. “There has not been, and is not now, contracts between JSOC and that organization for these types of services.”
The previously unreported program, the military intelligence source said, is distinct from the CIA assassination program that the agency’s director, Leon Panetta, announced he had canceled in June 2009. “This is a parallel operation to the CIA,” said the source. “They are two separate beasts.”
