Panetta Terminates CIA’s Secret Al Qaeda Plan

A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill Al Qaeda operatives, according to former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.

The precise nature of the highly classified effort isn’t clear, and the CIA won’t comment on its substance.

According to current and former government officials, the agency spent money on planning and possibly some training. It was acting on a 2001 presidential legal pronouncement, known as a finding, which authorized the CIA to pursue such efforts. The initiative hadn’t become fully operational at the time Panetta ended it.

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Iran Missile Test Claim – Europe Within Range

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed to have sucessfully tested another ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe.

Speaking in the northern Iranian city of Semnan, where the Sajil-2 missile was allegedly test-fired, Mr Ahmadinejad said the blast was a success and “met the predetermined target.”

If its alleged range of almost 2,000 kilometers is true, the missile could reach Athens, southern Italy and the Black Sea coast of new EU members Romania and Bulgaria.

A similar test was carried out in November, while in February Iran launched a domestically-made satellite that prompted France and Great Britain to express their concerns over the missile capabilities of the Islamic state.

Israel, also a nuclear power, said Wednesday’s test should be more of a concern to Europe, since previous missiles tested by Iran could already reach the Jewish state.

With presidential elections scheduled for 12 June, the test could also be read as part of Mr Ahmadinejad’s re-election campaign, as three other contenders have been approved by Iran’s electoral council.

Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini had to cancel at the very last minute a trip to Tehran when he found out that Iranian authorities had organised his meeting with reformist ex-president Mohammed Khatami in Semnan, where the missile was tested, not in the capital as initially agreed.

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Report: CIA Chief Warned Israel Not to Bomb Iran in Secret Visit

The director of the CIA was recently sent on a secret mission to Israel to warn its leaders not to launch a surprise attack on Iran without notifying the U.S. Administration, the Times of London reported on Thursday.

FOX News could not immediately confirm the report.

As Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, prepares to visit Washington, it emerged on Wednesday that Leon Panetta went to Israel two weeks ago. He sought assurances from Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the Defense Minister, that their hawkish new government would not attack Iran without alerting Washington.

Concerns have been rising that Netanyahu could launch a strike on Tehran’s atomic program, in the same way that Israel hit Saddam Hussein’s Osirak reactor in 1981. Israel has been preparing for such an eventuality. It has carried out long-distance maneuvers and is due to hold its largest civil defense drills this summer. The country’s leaders reportedly told Panetta that they did not “intend to surprise the U.S. on Iran.”

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CIA Chief Panetta Provides Economic Intel Brief

Highlighting the potential impact the worldwide economic downturn may have on global security and foreign policy, new CIA Director Leon Panetta said today that the agency is now producing a new daily intelligence document for President Obama and other top officials that focuses on economic issues.

Panetta says the new intelligence product, known as the Economic Intelligence Brief, is intended to make sure that policymakers “aren’t surprised by the implications of the worldwide economic crisis.”

The first brief was presented to the White House this morning, after a request from the Obama administration, Panetta said.

He said the briefs would “cover overseas developments –- economic, political, leadership developments,” as well as “the implications of those developments in terms of the U.S. economy.”

The new intelligence brief is another sign of the Obama administration’s focus on economic issues.

Since his first day in office, Obama has received daily briefings from his economic advisers that take place before the long-standard security briefing focused on the intelligence community’s daily assessment, known as the Presidential Daily Brief.

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