CIA Money In Afghanistan (Update May 2, 2013)

Feeding The Hand That Bites -- Fred Kaplan, Slate

Corruption is a huge problem for the U.S. in Afghanistan. So why is the CIA funding it?

And so it turns out, the war in Afghanistan has been an even bigger mug’s game than we imagined. The latest blow comes from a story by Matthew Rosenberg in the April 28 New York Times, reporting that, for the past decade, the CIA has been dropping off bags of cash—now totaling tens of millions of dollars—at the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who in turn has passed it around to his cronies and favored warlords.

This is a very big deal, much more than most scandals about secret payoffs and bribes. It suggests that, in a crucial way, the war was a sham from the get-go, that the conditions for success would never—could never—be fulfilled, and that our own actions helped ensure our failure.

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More News On The CIA "Slush Fund" For Afghan President Karzai

CIA: Buying peace in Afghanistan? -- Al Jazeera
White House mum on bags of cash for Karzai -- Politico
CIA cash To Afghanistan -- Bloomberg Businessweek
CIA cash wrecks Afghan president's image -- Global Post/AFP
Karzai Responds to 'Bags of CIA Money' Allegations -- Voice of America
Afghan President Says CIA Cash Payments Were Small And Legit -- NPR
Afghan confirms the US has made payments to his national security team for a decade -- Washington Post/AP
Hamid Karzai confirms CIA payments to Afghan government -- The Telegraph
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan -- New York Times
CIA gave tens of millions of dollars to Afghan president in suitcases and sacks ‘for access to Karzai’s inner circle’ -- Daily Mail
Millions in CIA 'ghost money' paid to Afghan president's office: New York Times -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
CIA gave millions in cash to Karzai -- The Australian
Afghan president confirms receiving CIA cash -- Global Post/AFP
CIA-funded corruption: Top Afghan officials on secret US payroll – report -- RT
The CIA Gave Karzai Bags Full of Cash for Over a Decade -- The Atlantic
CIA 'ghost money': Millions in bribe money paid by U.S. to Afghanistan leaders -- Examiner
Report: CIA cash to Afghans hasn't always gained desired results -- UPI
How the CIA’s Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War -- Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room
CIA “Ghost Money” to Afghan Regime Yields Phantom Returns -- Michael Tennant, The New American
Do bags of cash ever help the CIA get what it wants? -- Elias Groll, Passport/Foreign Policy
A Brief History of CIA "Ghost Money" -- Asawin Suebsaeng, Mother Jones
Secret Cash To Afghan Leader: Corruption Or Just Foreign Aid? -- Sean Carberry, NPR
CIA hasn’t learned much from mistakes -- Elias Groll, Herald Online/Foreign Policy

My Comment: This story is now a few days old .... but my blood still boils over when I read it.

CIA Money In Afghanistan (Updated)

CIA And MI6 Ghost Money May Fuel Afghan Corruption, Say Diplomats -- The Guardian

Failure of peace initiatives raises questions over whether British eagerness for political settlement may have been exploited

The CIA and MI6 have regularly given large cash payments to Hamid Karzai's office with the aim of maintaining access to the Afghan leader and his top allies and officials, but the attempt to buy influence has largely failed and may have backfired, former diplomats and policy analysts say.

The Guardian understands that the payments by British intelligence were on a smaller scale than the CIA's handouts, reported in the New York Times to have been in the tens of millions, and much of the British money has gone towards attempts to finance peace initiatives, which have so far proved abortive.

Read more ....

More News On Afghan President Karzai Receiving Millions In CIA Money

CIA: Buying peace in Afghanistan? -- Al Jazeera
White House mum on bags of cash for Karzai -- Politico
CIA cash To Afghanistan -- Bloomberg Businessweek
CIA cash wrecks Afghan president's image -- Global Post/AFP
Karzai Responds to 'Bags of CIA Money' Allegations -- Voice of America
Afghan President Says CIA Cash Payments Were Small And Legit -- NPR
Afghan confirms the US has made payments to his national security team for a decade -- Washington Post/AP
Hamid Karzai confirms CIA payments to Afghan government -- The Telegraph
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan -- New York Times
CIA gave tens of millions of dollars to Afghan president in suitcases and sacks ‘for access to Karzai’s inner circle’ -- Daily Mail
Millions in CIA 'ghost money' paid to Afghan president's office: New York Times -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
CIA gave millions in cash to Karzai -- The Australian
Afghan president confirms receiving CIA cash -- Global Post/AFP
CIA-funded corruption: Top Afghan officials on secret US payroll – report -- RT
The CIA Gave Karzai Bags Full of Cash for Over a Decade -- The Atlantic
CIA 'ghost money': Millions in bribe money paid by U.S. to Afghanistan leaders -- Examiner
Report: CIA cash to Afghans hasn't always gained desired results -- UPI
How the CIA’s Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War -- Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room
CIA “Ghost Money” to Afghan Regime Yields Phantom Returns -- Michael Tennant, The New American
Do bags of cash ever help the CIA get what it wants? -- Elias Groll, Passport/Foreign Policy
A Brief History of CIA "Ghost Money" -- Asawin Suebsaeng, Mother Jones

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Has Acknowledged That His Office Received Money From The CIA

Barack Obama pictured with President Karzai. it has been revealed that tens of millions of dollars has been given to Afghan officials by C.I.A. Reuters

Karzai Confirms Receiving CIA Cash -- Wall Street Journal

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Monday acknowledged that his office has been receiving money from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency over the past 10 years, dismissing the monthly cash payments as a "small amount."

Mr. Karzai addressed the issue after the New York Times reported on Sunday that the CIA has made tens of millions of dollars in secret payments, often cash packed in shopping bags, as it sought to maintain influence over Afghanistan's mercurial leader.

"Yes, the office of the national security has been receiving support from the United States for the past 10 years," Mr. Karzai told reporters at a news briefing in Helsinki, Finland, responding to a question whether he has received CIA cash. "Monthly. Not a big amount. A small amount which has been used for various purposes."

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More News On Afghan President Hamid Karzai Acknowledging That His Office Has Received Money From The CIA

Afghan confirms the US has made payments to his national security team for a decade -- Washington Post/AP
Hamid Karzai confirms CIA payments to Afghan government -- The Telegraph
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan -- New York Times
CIA gave tens of millions of dollars to Afghan president in suitcases and sacks ‘for access to Karzai’s inner circle’ -- Daily Mail
Millions in CIA 'ghost money' paid to Afghan president's office: New York Times -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
CIA gave millions in cash to Karzai -- The Australian
Afghan president confirms receiving CIA cash -- Global Post/AFP
CIA-funded corruption: Top Afghan officials on secret US payroll – report -- RT
The CIA Gave Karzai Bags Full of Cash for Over a Decade -- The Atlantic
CIA 'ghost money': Millions in bribe money paid by U.S. to Afghanistan leaders -- Examiner
Report: CIA cash to Afghans hasn't always gained desired results -- UPI
How the CIA’s Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War -- Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room

Few Details Released On Sunday's Gun Battle In The CIA's Kabul Offices

Few Details Known About Fatal Shooting Inside Kabul CIA Offices -- McClatchy News

KABUL, Afghanistan — One American was killed and another wounded when an Afghan employee of the U.S. Embassy opened fire Sunday night inside the CIA's office here, the embassy confirmed Monday.

What prompted the shooting remained a mystery, however, with U.S. officials providing no details, and even the Taliban not commenting on the attack, a notable omission in a country where the insurgency generally is quick to claim any assault on American interests.

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More News On Sunday's Gun Battle In The CIA's Kabul Offices

Afghan employee kills U.S. citizen at Kabul CIA base -- Reuters
Afghan Insider Kills American CIA Worker -- Wall Street Journal
CIA employee ID'd as victim in Kabul shooting -- CBS/AP
Afghan employee at CIA office in Kabul shoots American dead and wounds another -- Daily Mail
CIA base attacked in Kabul; 1 American killed -- L.A. Times

Another CIA Intelligence Failure

'Systemic Failures' Led To Attack, CIA Says -- Washington Post

The CIA was cautioned last year that a self-proclaimed al-Qaeda turncoat might be luring the agency into an ambush, a warning that came weeks before the man killed seven agency operatives in a suicide attack in Afghanistan, an internal investigation has found.

The warning from a Jordanian intelligence officer was never passed along, one of a chain of lapses that ultimately allowed a double agent to penetrate the base, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Tuesday. Panetta provided an overview of the agency's still-classified report, which he said points to multiple failures but stops short of recommending disciplinary measures against any individuals.

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More News On The Suicide Bomber Who Killed 7 CIA Agents

C.I.A. Was Warned About Man Who Bombed Afghan Base, Inquiry Finds -- New York Times
Bomber who killed seven at CIA base 'was not vetted' -- BBC
CIA admits errors led to Afghanistan bombing -- Financial Times
CIA acknowledges "missteps" led to officers' deaths -- Reuters
CIA finds security lapse led to Afghan suicide attack that killed 7 agents -- Sify News
CIA Releases Report on Deadly Afghanistan Bombing -- Washingtonian
CIA Was Warned About Khost Base Bomber, Inquiry Finds -- Huffington Post
CIA Didn’t Vet Double-Crossing Suicide Bomber -- The Danger Room
No Disciplinary Action In Deaths Of 7 CIA Workers -- NPR/AP

More Coverage On Al Qaeda's Decapitation Strike Against The CIA In Afghanistan

Stratfor: “The Khost Attack And The Intelligence War Challenge” -- Fabius Maximus

This Stratfor articles discusses a critical component of our occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan: intelligence. At the end are links to other posts about this subject.

As usual, Stratfor gives an authorative analysis on the several dimensions of this topic. But the authors “bury the lede”, putting their most disturbing conclusions deep in the article:

The United States cannot hope to reach any satisfactory solution in Afghanistan unless it can win the intelligence war. But the damage done to the CIA in this attack cannot be overestimated. At least one of the agency’s top analysts on al Qaeda was killed. In an intelligence war, this is the equivalent of sinking an aircraft carrier in a naval war. The United States can’t afford this kind of loss. There will now be endless reviews, shifts in personnel and re-evaluations. In the meantime, the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan will be attempting to exploit the opportunity presented by this disruption.

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My Comment: Another must read post from FM.

How The CIA Was Infiltrated by An Al Qaeda Double Agent

In Afghanistan Attack, CIA Fell Victim To Series Of Miscalculations About Informant -- Washington Post

AMMAN, JORDAN -- He was an ambitious young doctor from a large family who had a foreign wife and two children -- details that officers of Jordan's intelligence service viewed as exploitable vulnerabilities, not biography.

Early last year, the General Intelligence Department picked up Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi after his pseudonymous postings on extremist Web sites had become increasingly strident. During three days of questioning, GID officers threatened to have Balawi jailed and end his medical career, and they hinted they could cause problems for his family, according to a former U.S. official and a Jordanian official, both of whom have knowledge of Balawi's detention.

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My Comment: A sobering review of how the CIA and Jordanian intelligence failed in this case. But unlike other operations that have failed, these mistakes resulted in the deaths of a number of CIA personnel and the disruption of key CIA operations in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

Fallout From The Killing Of CIA Officials In A Bombing Attack Continues

Double agent Al-Balawi's data reviewed -- Washington Times

Double agent Al-Balawi's data reviewed.

U.S. agencies are conducting a review of intelligence supplied by an al Qaeda double agent, including a list of senior al Qaeda and Taliban operatives reported killed in the drone strikes since January 2009.

The review is examining whether the double agent, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, supplied false information about U.S. successes amid valid data used to establish his credibility, U.S. officials said.

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More News On the CIA Bomber

Report: CIA bomber was to be searched -- UPI
Source: CIA bomber was about to be searched when explosives detonated -- CNN
Expert: CIA missed glaring red flags on double-agent bomber -- CNN
Bomber urged more attacks before striking CIA -- Reuters
Low blow for the CIA -- Mahir Ali, DAWN
A Jihadist's Destiny -- H. D. S. GREENWAY, New York Times opinion

Fallout From Al Qaeda's Bombing Of CIA Base In Afghanistan Continues

CIA Bomber Struck Moments Before Pat-Down Search -- Washington Post

The Jordanian doctor arrived in a red station wagon that came directly from Pakistan and sped through checkpoints at a CIA base in Afghanistan before stopping abruptly at an improvised interrogation center. Outside stood one of the CIA's top experts on al-Qaeda, ready to greet the doctor and hear him describe a way to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, the organization's number two and a man long at the top of U.S. target lists.

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More News On Al Qaeda's Successful Attack Against The CIA In Afghanistan

TV Shows CIA Bomber With Pakistan Taliban -- Wall Street journal
'CIA bomber' video indicates Taliban's reach -- BBC
Video Shows CIA Bomber Calling for Attacks on U.S. -- L.A. Times/AP
Al-Qaeda says CIA attack 'revenge' for drone killings -- AFP

The CIA is Proud to be on the Front Lines Against al-Qaeda - Leon Panetta, Washington Post
CIA Chief Defends Agency after Afghan Attack -- Voice of America
CIA director: suicide bomber was almost searched -- Washington Post
CIA director defends agency against criticism -- AFP

CIA attack 'revenge for Mehsud' -- Al Aljazeera
Eager young recruit, a father to be and man in charge among CIA dead -- Times Online

Commentaries And Analysis

The CIA Double Cross: How Bad a Blow in Afghanistan? -- Time Magazine
The Bomber’s Wife -- Newsweek
Anatomy of a Double-Cross -- Newsweek
Could the CIA have achieved what al-Qaeda did? -- The Telegraph
The Meaning of al Qaeda's Double Agent -- Reuel Marc Gerecht, Wall Street Journal

The CIA Bombing: What Al Qaeda Could Have Done

How Not To Spy, By Your Friends In Al Qaeda -- Obsidian Wings

Mark Mazetti's newest article on the suicide bombing that killed CIA agents in Afghanistan, "U.S. Saw a Path to Qaeda Chiefs Before Bombing, " has this interesting tidbit worth considering:

"Mr. Balawi proved to be one of the oddest double agents in the history of espionage, choosing to kill his American contacts at their first meeting, rather than establish regular communication to glean what the C.I.A. did — and did not — know about Al Qaeda and then report back to the network’s leaders."

That did make me think about what sort of threat AQ really is.

These guys...are idiots. Bear with me a moment.

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My Comment: A different view point and analysis on the bombing of a CIA station (and the killing of 7 CIA officers) in Afghanistan. The comments thread is also an interesting read.

My own personal take on this event .... Al Qaeda makes up for its lack of weapons and firepower with intelligence, recon, and the willingness to sacrifice their own lives. This combination is usually lethal .... as 7 CIA officers found out a few weeks ago.

Suicide Bombing Puts A Rare Face On C.I.A.’s Work

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — In the fall of 2001, as an anguished nation came to grips with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a slender, soft-spoken economics major named Elizabeth Hanson set out to write her senior thesis at Colby College in Maine. Her question was a timely one: How do the world’s three major faith traditions apply economic principles?

Ms. Hanson’s report, “Faithless Heathens: Scriptural Economics of Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” carried a title far more provocative than its contents, said the professor who advised her. But it may have given a hint of her career to come, as an officer for the Central Intelligence Agency specializing in hunting down Islamic extremists.

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My Comment: Our prayers are with the families.

Fallout From The Killing Of CIA Officers In Afghanistan Continues

The CIA Double-Cross: How Bad a Blow in Afghanistan? -- Time Magazine

The reaction to the two terrorist attacks during the last week in December is puzzling. One of the attacks, against a CIA outpost in Afghanistan, succeeded; the other, on an airplane landing in Detroit, failed. The Undiebomber was an amateur who was thwarted, rather neatly, by his fellow passengers on the plane. The Afghanistan operation was quite the opposite — highly sophisticated and devastating, with vast implications for both the war in Afghanistan and future clandestine CIA operations. And yet the Undiebomber has provoked an avalanche of attention in our twittery media — and from Republicans like Dick Cheney who yearn for the return of "enhanced" interrogation techniques. The Afghanistan attack hasn't caused nearly the public fuss, but make no mistake: it has to be a matter of much greater concern to the White House than the Detroit fiasco.

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More News On The CIA Failings In Afghanistan

Al-Qaida Claims CIA Attack Was Revenge -- Voice of America
CIA attack was 'in revenge for al-Qaeda deaths' -- Times Online
CIA suicide bombing 'was revenge for drone attacks' -- The Telegraph
Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for CIA Base Bombing -- ABC News
Suicide attack on CIA agents 'was planned by bin Laden inner circle' -- Times Online
CIA suicide bomber 'worked with bin Laden allies' -- The Telegraph
Report: Al-Qaida CIA bomber was furious over Gaza war -- Haaretz
Bomber's wife says husband did not work for CIA -- Reuters
CIA Bomber Was No Double Agent, Say Jordanians -- Time Magazine
Jordanian Bomber’s Path Remains a Mystery to His Family -- New York Times
2 Blackwater Guards Were Among Dead at Afghan CIA Base -- FOX News
Blackwater staff among those killed in CIA base bombing -- The Australian
Mystery Surrounds Contractors' Role at CIA Base -- ABC News
Suicide Bombing Puts a Rare Face on C.I.A.’s Work -- New York Times
Afghanistan bombing shows perils of CIA counterspying -- Washington Times
In Afghanistan, not-so-smart intelligence -- L.A. Times editorial

Who Was The CIA Bomber? (Photo Of Bomber Included)

An exclusive photo obtained by ABC News shows Humam Khalil Muhammed al Balawi, identified as suicide bomber who killed seven C.I.A. agents and his handler at Forward Operating Base Chapman near Khost city, Afghanistan, on Dec. 30, 2009. (ABC News)

EXCLUSIVE: CIA Suicide Bomber Photo -- ABC News

First photo of Humam al-Balawi, Double Agent Who Killed Seven CIA Operatives in Afghanistan

ABC News has obtained an exclusive photo of suicide bomber Humam Muhammed al-Balawi, the Jordanian double agent who killed seven CIA operatives and his Jordanian handler in Afghanistan on December 30.

Al-Balawi, a 32-year-old Jordanian doctor, had convinced the Americans that his jihadist postings on the web were only part of his cover identity. He lured 13 CIA operatives and his handler to a meeting at Camp Chapman, an American forward operating base in Afghanistan, by saying he had just met with al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri and had information to share.

Read more ....

More News And Information On The CIA Bomber

Mother of 'Jordan bomber' says he was no extremist -- AFP
Suicide bomber's actions 'out of character' says brother -- CNN
Wife says CIA bomber saw US as adversary -- Seattle PI/AP
CIA bomber 'was Jordanian double agent' -- Times Online
Jordan embarrassed as bombing reveals CIA link -- The Guardian
Afghanistan CIA killings a major blow to US and Jordan -- BBC
CIA Bomber Was Best Al-Qaida Informant In Years -- Voice of America
Al-Qaeda’s Counterintelligence: Kill People & Blow Stuff Up -- Washington Independent

Intelligence Failure In Afghanistan

A special operations plane is readied for a mission in Afghanistan. The U.S. may expand the use of teams that combine CIA operatives and special operations soldiers. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press / September 5, 2009)

US Spies In Afghanistan Are Clueless, Says Intelligence Chief -- Times Online

America's deputy chief of military intelligence in Afghanistan has issued a damning indictment of the work of US spy agencies, calling them clueless and out of touch with the Afghan people.

Major General Michael Flynn described US spies as “ignorant of local economics and landowners, hazy about who the powerbrokers are and how they might be influenced... and disengaged from people in the best position to find answers”.

The bleak assessment of the intelligence community’s role in the eight-year-old war came in a report issued by the Center for New American Security, a US think tank. It comes less than a week after the CIA suffered one of the most damaging blows in its history, when a suicide bomber killed seven of its operatives at Camp Chapman, a high security CIA base near Khost in eastern Afghanistan.

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Update: Intelligence overhaul ordered for Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

My Comment: If U.S. Intelligence agencies have failed in Afghanistan, one will have to question to what extent was their information then used by President Obama to determine the level of commitment to the surge in Afghanistan. For the moment we do not know .... I can only hope that more questions and answers will be forth coming in the next few days.

The Case Of The Seven CIA Officers Killed

A man crosses the CIA logo in the lobby of headquarters in Langley, Va. Getty Images

CIA Blast Blamed on Double Agent -- Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer was a double agent the CIA had recruited to provide intelligence on senior al Qaeda leadership, according to current and former U.S. officials and an Afghan security official.

The officials said the bomber was a Jordanian doctor likely affiliated and working with al Qaeda.

The Afghan security official identified the bomber as Hammam Khalil Abu Mallal al-Balawi, who is also known as Abu Dujana al-Khurasani.

The Pakistani Taliban also claimed that Mr. al-Balawi was the bomber, Arabic-language Web sites reported Monday.

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More News On The Killing Of CIA Officers Last Week In Afghanistan

CIA bomber was a 'Jordanian informant', US media say -- BBC
Suicide attacker at CIA base was Jordanian: report -- AFP
Bomber at C.I.A. Base Had Ties to Jordan Spy Agency -- new York Times
Bomber who killed CIA operatives in Afghanistan was triple agent -- The Guardian
Jordanian with Qaeda ties killed CIA workers: report -- Reuters
CIA Afghanistan suicide bomber 'was Jordanian al-Qaeda double agent' -- The Telegraph
Jordanian informant lured CIA operatives into suicide attack, officials say -- The Washington Post
CIA militia guarding base targeted in suicide attack -- The Scotsman
Remains of CIA Officers Killed in Afghanistan Return to U.S. -- FOX News
Bodies of Slain CIA Agents Returned Home in Private Ceremony -- ABC News

CIA Conducting Complete Review After Taliban Attack Kills 7 Officers -- Complete News Roundup

Suicide Bombing In Afghanistan Devastates Critical Hub For CIA Activities -- Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—Wednesday's attack on a U.S. compound in Afghanistan devastated what has been a hub of counterterrorism and intelligence operations for the spy agency.

Seven Central Intelligence Agency officers and contractors were killed and six more wounded in the suicide bomb attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday, the second-largest single-day loss for the spy agency in its history.

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More News On The Attack Against A CIA Base In Afghanistan

President Obama's Letter to CIA Employees -- ABC News
Pakistan Taliban say they carried out CIA attack -- Washington Post
Reports: Taliban Suicide Bombing Hit CIA Nerve Center -- Voice of America
CIA Base Attacked in Afghanistan Supported Airstrikes Against al-Qaeda, Taliban -- Washington Post
U.S. seeks answers after Afghanistan bombing that killed 7 CIA operatives -- L.A. Times
Taliban infiltrator who killed 7 from CIA wore Afghan uniform -- McClatchy News
Afghanistan Suicide Bomber May Have Been Helped by CIA Informant -- Wall Street Journal
Afghan suicide bomber kills seven CIA agents after attacking base -- Times Online
CIA Takes On Bigger and Riskier Role on Front Lines -- New York Times
The CIA Takes a Big Hit in the Afghan War -- Yahoo News/Time
Attacked CIA base oversees air strikes -- Sydney Morning Herald
Afghan CIA bomber 'was courted as potential informant' -- BBC
CIA suicide bomber was invited on base, report claims -- The Telegraph
Source: CIA Suicide Bomber Invited on Base -- CBS News
CIA deaths will be avenged, official says -- UPI
CIA: Bombing of U.S. base won't daunt us -- Chicago Tribune
Suicide bombing at CIA camp in Afghanistan likely revenge attack by Taliban warlord - a former ally -- New York Daily News
CIA bombing raises question about safety protocols -- Yahoo News/AP
After CIA Deaths, Should Afghans Guard US Bases? -- Sphere
The CIA's Loss, and Ours -- Robert Richer, Washington Post opinion

CIA deaths on the job -- Washington Post

CIA Caught In Dirty And Secretive War Against Al-Qaeda On Afghan Border

Watch CBS News Videos Online

From Times Online:

The deaths of seven CIA agents in Khost province have brought into the limelight the secretive and dirty war being fought by America’s intelligence agencies — and the Taleban and al-Qaeda — in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Forward Operating Base Chapman, and others like it along the border, are the forward edge of American military and intelligence counter-terrorism operations, aimed principally at hunting down senior figures in al-Qaeda and their allies in the Taleban hiding in the lawless tribal belt.

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More News On The CIA's Role In The Afghanistan War

C.I.A. Takes On Expanded Role on Front Lines -- New York Times
Afghan Attack Tremendous Setback for CIA -- CBS News
For CIA, Afghan attack a historic blow -- AFP
CIA agents killed in Afghanistan were in Taliban's backyard -- Christian Science Monitor
Controversial CIA Night Raids Raise Concerns -- Digital News report
CIA Says Afghan Attack Was Their Pearl Harbor -- ABC News
Obama rallies CIA after Afghanistan bomb attack -- BBC News

CIA Officers Slaughtered In Afghanistan (Brief News Recap)

The CIA Takes a Big Hit in the Afghan War -- Time Magazine

The U.S. intelligence community is reeling from one of the worst days in the CIA's history: the death of seven employees in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan on Wednesday. In keeping with its practice, the Agency will not comment on the deaths until it has formally informed the families of those killed. But several former CIA officers tell TIME the deaths will cast a pall over the Agency. "People walking into [CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia] will look at that Memorial Wall in a different way today," one former operations hand. "On a day like this, you want to stop in front of those black stars and bow in silence." There are currently 90 stars on the CIA's Memorial Wall at the Agency's headquarters: each star represents an employee killed in the line of duty. Many of their names remain secret.

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The words and stars carved in the marble facade of the north wall of the foyer of the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va. honor those agency employees killed serving their country. The glass-encased Book of Honor displays the names of those who, in death, now can be revealed.(Christopher Morris/VII / AP Photo)

More News On The Killing Of CIA Officers In Afghanistan

Seven CIA agents killed in Afghan attack -- Sydney Morning Herald
U.S. Revises Khost, Afghanistan Death Toll To Seven -- NPR
CIA Officers Are Killed in Afghan Attack -- Wall Street Journal
CIA probes how bomber penetrated Afghan base -- Reuters

My Comment: Our prayers are with their families tonight.

An Ex-CIA Officer Tells CBS How The CIA And Its Allies Conquered Afghanistan In 2001

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Ex-CIA Operative Comes Out of the Shadows -- CBS News/60 Minutes

Tells 60 Minutes U.S. Needs Partners On The Ground In Pakistan To Take Out Taliban And Al Qaeda.

(CBS) You don't hear from people like Henry Crumpton very often. That's because "Hank," as he's known, spent most of his adult life as a spy for the CIA. Now he has stepped out of the shadows to tell how just after 9/11, at age 44, he masterminded the downfall of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

He did it with just a handful of CIA officers, military special operations teams and an army of Afghan tribal warriors. Crumpton probably knows more about the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban than almost anyone else.

And now that he is out of the CIA, he makes no secret anymore about what he did to defeat them in 2001.

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My Comment: This is a refreshing story .... one that many of my contacts in the U.S., Canada, and Russia (yes Russia) have been telling me (and anyone else who would listen) on what the U.S./NATO and our allies should do in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately .... I am very skeptical that the White House is listening.