“Without discussing or confirming any specific action, [CIA] operations are, of course, designed from the very start to be lawful and are subject to close oversight within our government,“ CIA spokeswoman Paula Weiss told the Daily Report Friday. She was responding to the newly released report by Philip Alston, the UN’s point man on extrajudicial executions, which was highly critical of CIA Predator and Reaper drone attacks on suspected terrorists in Pakistan. “Those are facts,” Weiss added, “the accountability is real, and so is the fidelity to American policy.” (For more on the controversy, see Friday’s column, with an entry on Alston’s claims that “targeted killings” undermine international law and can lack accountability if abused.)
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…