Privatization ... of assassination

[ysengrin]

"Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants ..." (via the New York Times)

Here's the money quote, though:

"While no legitimate intelligence operations got screwed up, it's generally a bad idea to have freelancers running around a war zone pretending to be James Bond," one American government official said.

Tip of the hat to rm.