http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,578464,00.html

CIA given licence to kill 
'Gloves are off' as agency gets carte blanche and extra $1bn

Matthew Engel in Washington
Monday October 22, 2001
The Guardian

President Bush has formally ordered the CIA to destroy Osama bin Laden and
his network and conduct "the most sweeping and lethal covert action" since
the agency was founded in 1947, it was reported yesterday. 

The investigative reporter Bob Woodward said in yesterday's Washington Post
that the agency had been given an extra $1bn (£700m), mainly to fund the new
operations.

"The gloves are off," according to an anonymous official quoted by Woodward.
"The president has given the agency the green light to do whatever is
necessary. Lethal operations that were unthinkable pre-September 11 are now
under way." A direct attack on Bin Laden is presumed to be included - if
anyone can find him.

The CIA has been barred from conducting political assassinations since 1976,
when its history of attempted murders of foreign leaders (mostly bungled, as
demonstrated by the longevity of Fidel Castro) was revealed to widespread
Congressional and public derision.

The ban remains government policy, but the current situation is thought to
be exempted because it is considered wartime and the US can invoke its right
of self-defence. The special forces operations in Afghanistan appear to be
closely tied in to the agency's new orders.

Intelligence officers have long chafed against not only the restrictions but
also the anomalies thrown up by the instruction, which allowed bombing raids
that might kill innocent civilians but prevented forces from targeting the
one person who might be plotting against the country.

Although September 11 is widely held to represent a major failure by the
CIA, there has been no hint of recrimination from President Bush. He has
gone out of his way to express confidence in the organisation, which is
protected by the president's high personal regard for its director, George
Tenet.

Despite being appointed by Bill Clinton, Mr Tenet is extremely close to the
inner circle of Bush officials directing the war and has been a regular
visitor to both the White House and the presidential weekend retreat at Camp
David.

According to Woodward, the president's new instruction puts far more money,
military might and top-level political support behind the clandestine
aspects of the war on Bin Laden and al-Qaida than existed before.

Further details are sketchy, but he also claims that the CIA and FBI are
interrogating "a top Bin Laden lieutenant", who has provided details about
the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen last year and the thwarted attempts to
launch an attack on the US during the millennium celebrations.

Woodward also discloses the existence of the CIA's daily tool for assessing
the next likely attack on the US: the "threat matrix". This is an
ever-changing list provided for senior officials of possible targets in
America and overseas, listing up to 100 a day. The vast majority of fears
have proved groundless, but new possibilities keep taking their place on the
matrix. 

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