Durbin's Lack of Intelligence

It turns out the New York Times reported "a list of terrorist leaders the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill" on Dec. 15, 2002.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat, has argued there should be an investigation of the CIA's failure to disclose. He told ABC's "This Week," "To have a massive program that is concealed from the leaders in Congress is not only inappropriate, it could be illegal." But the National Security Act requires the CIA to "keep the congressional intelligence committees fully and currently informed of all covert actions" -- not necessarily brainstorming.

The Associated Press reported last week that the House Intelligence Committee is laying the groundwork for a formal investigation. If so, the committee might start by probing how it is that Intelligence Committee members didn't know about a plan that had been reported on the front page of the New York Times.