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Trump reverses Obama policy, gives back CIA power to launch drone strikes

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T

theignoramus

Member
lock if old
President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration’s policy of limiting the spy agency’s paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon.

The new authority, which hadn’t been previously disclosed, represents a significant departure from a cooperative approach that had become standard practice by the end of former President Barack Obama’s tenure: The CIA used drones and other intelligence resources to locate suspected terrorists and then the military conducted the actual strike. The U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in May 2016 in Pakistan was the best example of that hybrid approach, U.S. officials said.

The Obama administration put the military in charge of pulling the trigger to promote transparency and accountability. The CIA, which operates under covert authorities, wasn’t required to disclose the number of suspected terrorists or civilian bystanders it killed in drone strikes. The Pentagon, however, must publicly report most airstrikes.
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The CIA first used its new authority in late February in a strike on a senior al Qaeda leader in Syria, Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, U.S. officials said. The strike in northern Syria on Mr. Masri, a son-in-law of the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, had been reported, but it wasn’t previously known that the CIA had carried it out under the new authority. U.S. officials are still assessing results of the strike.
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Syria may not be the only place where the CIA is now authorized to conduct drone strikes. Earlier this month, a U.S. drone reportedly targeted two men in a village in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. The Defense Department didn’t acknowledge conducting the operation, as it typically would.
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The Trump administration is also giving the military more authority to conduct operations on its own without first getting a signoff from the Pentagon or the White House.

The new president’s unexpected decision to give the CIA the strike authority created ferment inside the U.S. government within days of his visit, as U.S. military officials scrambled to respond to the new directive, according to the U.S. officials.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-gave-cia-power-to-launch-drone-strikes-1489444374

So in the midst of his public "war of words" with the intelligence community, Trump secretly reboots their covert assassination program. Always look beyond the bluster and public buffoonery coming from his mouth and watch what the hand is doing.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
I call bullshit on this news. Drone strike has always been an active part of Obama admin's strategy, maybe not under the commend of CIA.
 
K

King Tubby

Member
andythinkpad said:
I call bullshit on this news. Drone strike has always been an active part of Obama admin's strategy, maybe not under the commend of CIA.
Click to expand...

Then why call bullshit? This article does not deny that the Obama administration used drone strikes. It is addressing a change in that policy instituted by the Trump administration.
 
S

Siegcram

Member
andythinkpad said:
I call bullshit on this news. Drone strike has always been an active part of Obama admin's strategy, maybe not under the commend of CIA.
Click to expand...
That is the entirety of this news though. Nowhere does it say Obama didn't utilize drone strikes. Quite the opposite, in fact.
 
N

neurosisxeno

Member
Siegcram said:
That is the entirety of this news though. Nowhere does it say Obama didn't utilize drone strikes. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Click to expand...

Trump has ordered more Drone Strikes since taking office than Obama did in a year. So all those people who were critical of Obama's use of the program must be literally shitting themselves to death at what Trump is doing.
 
shira

shira

Member
general.jpg

Is skynet online yet?
 
S

Siegcram

Member
KRod-57 said:
are you suggesting she wasn't a hawk?
Click to expand...
They're suggesting it's not a valid argument for voting Trump instead of her considering he's fellating the military 24/7 and will shovel billions of dollars their way.

The reading comprehension itt is off the charts. Jesus.
 
C

Carn82

Member
I guess this is a way to say "Hey, the CIA fucked up, wasn't me!" when the next sad collateral damage headline hits the news.
 
S

Siegcram

Member
Carn82 said:
I guess this is a way to say "Hey, the CIA fucked up, wasn't me!" when the next sad collateral damage headline hits the news.
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Oh of course. He gets a plausible deniability on estimates of death tolls, due to there not being official Pentagon numbers and he can further destabilize and discredit the IC should some numbers/reports on drone strikes leak. Which they will.
 
T

theignoramus

Member
andythinkpad said:
I call bullshit on this news. Drone strike has always been an active part of Obama admin's strategy, maybe not under the commend of CIA.
Click to expand...
That's the whole point of the article. The CIA, unlike the Pentagon, has little to no public transparency about who it's striking and where. It's a civilian run agency with power to wage a war without public accountability or transparency.
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
It's like he's setting up the left with this.

"Oh wait, so you don't trust the intelligence community with defending our nation but you trust them with fake investigations into my business dealings? Well which is it, do you trust them or not?"

Then again I don't know if he's smart enough to even raise that limp argument. It's entirely possible there's an Occam's Razor thing going on here where he's just too lazy/stupid to be assed with intel briefings so he's trying to delegate that responsibility to other people as well.
 
S

Shadybiz

Member
whytemyke said:
It's like he's setting up the left with this.

"Oh wait, so you don't trust the intelligence community with defending our nation but you trust them with fake investigations into my business dealings? Well which is it, do you trust them or not?"

Then again I don't know if he's smart enough to even raise that limp argument. It's entirely possible there's an Occam's Razor thing going on here where he's just too lazy/stupid to be assed with intel briefings so he's trying to delegate that responsibility to other people as well.
Click to expand...

Yep, I wouldn't look into it much more than that...he's not a mastermind.
 
B

Boney

Banned
Are people still gonna cheer and champion the fucking CIA?

These mother fuckers

And don't give me this relativism when Clinton would most likely one up the already egregious Obama war crimes. The choice between bombs and boots as opposed to just bombs isn't a choice.
 
J

JCX

Member
Boney said:
Are people still gonna cheer and champion the fucking CIA?

These mother fuckers
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Nuance is a thing, you know. You can laud people/orgs/parties for good things they do and critique them for bad things they do. It isn't a simple black/white dichotomy.
 
B

Boney

Banned
JCX said:
Nuance is a thing, you know. You can laud people/orgs/parties for good things they do and critique them for bad things they do. It isn't a simple black/white dichotomy.
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I'm not going to give Trump credit for giving an economic shock to oil and gas industry when it means that Enviromental laws are thrown out the window.

And I don't think there's anything praise worthy aspect of this mobster organization.
 
J

JCX

Member
Boney said:
I'm not going to give Trump credit for giving an economic shock to oil and gas industry when it means that Enviromental laws are thrown out the window.

And I don't think there's anything praise worthy aspect of this mobster organization.
Click to expand...

RE: Trump & oil/gas, no I am not happy with him on that either, but if he were to support a policy I agree with (like single-payer healthcare), I wouldn't oppose him on Single Payer just because he's Trump (note: I know there's a snowball chance in hell of that happening, just a hypothetical)

I am no cheerleader for the CIA, but you think they've done nothing to protect the country throughout their entire tenure? I'd hope that's not the case, but I'd need to do more research.
 
H

Host Samurai

Member
This guy is just reveresing everything Obama did for reasons being Obama. What a petty fuck. I can't wait to see his reaction when his #Fuckingwall gets knocked down and when the next president reverses all his bullshit.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
This is approximately 8 million times better than Trump himself having the authority
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
Angry Grimace said:
This is approximately 8 million times better than Trump himself having the authority
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Not really. He still has it. He's just choosing to delegate it.

I mean
The old system was, apparently
cia wants it => asks prez for permission => prez says either yes or no => some strikes happen
new system is
cia wants it => cia got it

he just automated the rubber-stamping. Doubt anyone will deny him a strike if he wants one.
 
B

Blader

Member
President Donald Trump has given the Central Intelligence Agency secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, U.S. officials said, changing the Obama administration's policy of limiting the spy agency's paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon.
Click to expand...

Odd, considering he seems to like Mattis and the military more than Pompeo and the IC.

Coriolanus said:
Not really. He still has it. He's just choosing to delegate it.

I mean
The old system was, apparently
cia wants it => asks prez for permission => prez says either yes or no => some strikes happen
new system is
cia wants it => cia got it

he just automated the rubber-stamping. Doubt anyone will deny him a strike if he wants one.
Click to expand...

Yep. All this really does is validate Trump's own cowardice, so he doesn't have to make the hard calls himself.
 
M

mnannola

Member
CIA: Trump we are looking into your Russian ties

Trump: Oh hey just gave you guys Drone strike capability, we cool now?

CIA: New number, who dis?
 
W

Wanda/Wander

Member
I think it's simple as there is a list of every accomplishment Obama has made during his two terms and Trump's team is just systematically reversing everything Obama has ever done.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
haha even Trump's isolationist BS is a lie

god Trump voters got conned by a shitty used cars salesman lol

mnannola said:
CIA: Trump we are looking into your Russian ties

Trump: Oh hey just gave you guys Drone strike capability, we cool now?

CIA: New number, who dis?
Click to expand...

also i understood this reference.
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
He probably didn't even read the bill before he signed it.

He'll find out what he did the next time he watches TV.
 
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