How the Bush Admin, said 'No" to a CIA plan to kill al-Zarqawi (who started ISIS) ... in 2002

[Bill USA]

“I remember there were discussions about attacking various camps that we thought bad guys were hanging out in, and I think the one you’re referring to, we made a judgment that, let’s not start the war before we’re ready.”...Colin Powell

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/watch-did-the-u-s-miss-a-chance-to-prevent-isiss-rise/

Faddis, Bakos, and others in the CIA had been keeping an eye on Zarqawi, who after leaving prison had trekked to Afghanistan in an attempt to meet Osama bin Laden. (He was rejected.) When Zarqawi shifted his focus to Iraq in the runup to the American invasion, the CIA marked him as someone who could cause chaos inside the country if the U.S. were to take Saddam Hussein out.

“We literally had guys that were working for us that were inside the camp,” retired CIA operations officer Sam Faddis, who ran a kill/capture team, tells FRONTLINE.

So when the CIA had Zarqawi in their sights, their attack plan was fast-tracked to the White House — but President George W. Bush was told that hitting Zarqawi could cause a problem.

“I remember there were discussions about attacking various camps that we thought bad guys were hanging out in, and I think the one you’re referring to, we made a judgment that, let’s not start the war before we’re ready,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells FRONTLINE.

When word of the decision not to proceed reached CIA headquarters, the agents were stunned.

“Oh, I couldn’t believe it,” Bakos tells FRONTLINE. “We have a prime opportunity to take out a jihadist that we know poses a threat to our allies in addition to American forces once they invade.”

“There was nobody on that team who felt like Washington had made the right decision,” Faddis says.