CIA Will Not Control Afghan War: US Commanders
US commanders have sought to quash reports of plans to turn the Afghan war over to US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) control after 2014, according to newswire The Associated Press (AP).
“There are absolutely no plans right now to put special operations under Title 50 in Afghanistan now that I am aware of,” overall special operations commander Admiral McRaven told the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, US, on Wednesday, referring to the legal authority under which the CIA operates.
AP reported last week that Pentagon officials were considering whether to put elite US special forces under CIA control. In this way, the US could say there were no special forces on the ground in Afghanistan because once Navy Seals, Rangers, and other elite units are assigned to the CIA, even temporarily, they are considered spies.