“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 Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.