Let’s put this in the idiot WH column. “Secret, Clandestine.” Yes let’s tell everyone that our brave men and women who are being asked to step up and do these “secret acts” are coming your way. Treason. That is what the New York Times has done. Oh, so Obama needed to reveal he is “on the job.” And of course, their weapons will have to be “on amber”–as disclosed yesterday, forces cannot have a chambered bullet when out on patrol
“The Defense Department can’t be caught flat-footed,” said one Pentagon official with knowledge of General Petraeus’s order. And what about our CIA? Why are we throwing them under the bus? Why are we using our military?
The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.
While the Bush administration had approved some clandestine military activities far from designated war zones, the new order is intended to make such efforts more systematic and long term, officials said. Its goals are to build networks that could “penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy” Al Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as to “prepare the environment” for future attacks by American or local military forces, the document said. The order, however, does not appear to authorize offensive strikes in any specific countries. More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/world/25military.html?ref=todayspaper