CIA Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones

by James Rizen and Mark Mazzetti | The New York Times, Aug 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees.

The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said.

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Tags: Afghanistan, air base in Jalalabad, assassination program, base in Shamsi (Pakistan), Blackwater/Xe, Central Intelligence Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, Nellis Air Force Base, Pakistan, Senator Dianne Feinstein, U.S drones