On 19 September, 2001 – with the ruins of the World Trade Center and Pentagon still smouldering from the 9/11 attacks – CIA officer Gary Schroen stepped into his boss’s office and received a set of orders: “Capture Bin Laden, kill him, and bring his head back in a box on dry ice”. As forContinue reading “Gary Schroen, the CIA spy sent to get Osama Bin Laden”
Category Archives: Intelligence
Lieutenant General (retd) Javed Iqbal Confessed to Spying
In January 2022, the defense authorities told the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench that Lieutenant General (retd) Javed Iqbal, who was found involved in espionage activities, had confessed to his “guilt” in his judicial confessional statement before an Islamabad first class magistrate. The Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch through the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP)Continue reading “Lieutenant General (retd) Javed Iqbal Confessed to Spying”
Chelsea Manning: ‘I’m Still Bound to Secrecy’
Oct. 8, 2022/ By Chelsea Manning Ms. Manning is an American activist and the author of the forthcoming memoir “README.txt,” from which this essay has been adapted. It is not possible to work in intelligence and not imagine disclosing the many secrets you bear. I can’t pinpoint exactly when the idea first crossed my mind. MaybeContinue reading “Chelsea Manning: ‘I’m Still Bound to Secrecy’”
How the C.I.A. Tracked the Leader of Al Qaeda
The U.S. search for Ayman al-Zawahri had spanned decades. His presence on a balcony at a safe house in Kabul presented an opportunity to strike. By Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt/ Aug. 2, 2022/ NYT Intelligence officers made a crucial discovery this spring after tracking Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, to Kabul, Afghanistan: He likedContinue reading “How the C.I.A. Tracked the Leader of Al Qaeda”
Captured, Killed or Compromised: C.I.A. Admits to Losing Dozens of Informants
Counterintelligence officials said in a top secret cable to all stations and bases around the world that too many of the people it recruits from other countries to spy for the U.S. are being lost. By Julian E. Barnes and Adam Goldman/ Oct. 5, 2021 Top American counterintelligence officials warned every C.I.A. station and base around the worldContinue reading “Captured, Killed or Compromised: C.I.A. Admits to Losing Dozens of Informants”
Love or Spycraft: What Landed an American Teacher in a Cuban Prison?
A secret marriage. A cryptic phone call. And then, a flight to Cuba from which Alina López Miyares never returned. It was months later that her family learned that Ms. López, a dual Cuban and American citizen living in Miami, had gotten entangled in a murky love story steeped in international espionage. Now 62, sheContinue reading “Love or Spycraft: What Landed an American Teacher in a Cuban Prison?”
Was the American Pullout from Afghanistan a Victory for Pakistan?
Pakistan’s military stayed allied to both the Americans and Taliban. But now the country may face intensified extremism at home as a result of a perceived Taliban victory. By Mujib Mashal, Salman Masood and Zia ur-Rehman/ April 15, 2021 Near the peak of the American war in Afghanistan, a former chief of neighboring Pakistan’s military intelligence — an institution alliedContinue reading “Was the American Pullout from Afghanistan a Victory for Pakistan?”
Matiullah Jan’s Kidnapping
In Oct 2020, the Interior Ministry refused to send its representative to the Information Commission to explain why it has refused providing CCTV footage on the kidnapping of journalist Matiullah Jan recently to a citizen who had demanded it under the Right to Information Act of 2017. Earlier, the Interior Ministry had refused to evenContinue reading “Matiullah Jan’s Kidnapping”
Islamabad Refuses to Hand Over Ex-ISI Chief to Bosnia Tribunal
The Hague earlier demanded custody of Lt Gen Javed Nasir for his alleged support to Muslim fighters in the 1990s war. Qaiser Butt | Sept 20, 2011 Pakistan has refused to hand over one of its retired army generals to the International Tribunal of Hague on medical grounds. The tribunal had demanded the custody ofContinue reading “Islamabad Refuses to Hand Over Ex-ISI Chief to Bosnia Tribunal”
What the U.S. Gets Wrong About Iran
By Karim Sadjadpour Mr. Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. Aug. 12, 2022/ NYT Ibn Khaldun, the 14th-century North African scholar, wrote that empires tended not to last beyond three generations. The founders of the first-generation areContinue reading “What the U.S. Gets Wrong About Iran”
CIA Uncensors Memoir of FBI Agent Who Protested Torture of Terrorists
Nine years after the C.I.A. blacked out parts of Ali Soufan’s book, the agency has finally allowed a more complete version of his story to be published. By Charlie Savage and Carol Rosenberg/ Aug. 29, 2020 After a group of Qaeda suspects was captured in September 2002, the CIA flew Ali Soufan, an experienced FBI counterterrorism agent, to AfghanistanContinue reading “CIA Uncensors Memoir of FBI Agent Who Protested Torture of Terrorists”
Modi Forces Indian Spy Agencies to Action
The 2016 arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving commander of Indian navy, proved that Pakistan’s concerns of Indian covert operations in the country were not imaginary. Pakistan is not alone. India, driven by its hegemonistic designs, has been interfering in the internal affairs of all its neighbors since long. HoweverContinue reading “Modi Forces Indian Spy Agencies to Action”
NEVER MIND 