Homeland Security Leader

WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces have used secret authority to conduct previously undisclosed attacks on al-Qaida in Syria and Pakistan since 2004, The New York Times said.

Citing senior U.S. officials, the newspaper said the military operations, usually conducted by Special Operations forces, were authorized under a classified order signed in early 2004 by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and approved by President George W. Bush.

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