An amazing debacle. Over a dozen agents are feared caught and killed. This doesn’t just happen. A CIA source says in this story that it’s all due to the incredibly great work of Hezbollah and Iran. Yeah, right. The other option is more probable–we screwed things up, or as serious–we have double agents in the CIA itself giving up what sounds like *every* agent we had in the Middle East.
Gee, I wonder what Iran could be up to? /endsarcasm
In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.
The spies were paid informants recruited by the CIA for two distinct espionage rings targeting Iran and the Beirut-based Hezbollah organization, considered by the U.S. to be a terror group backed by Iran.
“Espionage is a risky business,” a U.S. official briefed on the developments told ABC News, confirming the loss of the unspecified number of spies over the last six months.
“Many risks lead to wins, but some result in occasional setbacks,” the official said…”Remember, this group was responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9/11,” said a U.S. official. Attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 killed more than 300 people, including almost 260 Americans.
The U.S. official, speaking for the record but without attribution, gave grudging credit to the efforts of Iran and Hezbollah to detect and expose U.S. and Israeli espionage…
In Iran, intelligence minister Heidar Moslehi announced in May that more than 30 U.S. and Israeli spies had been discovered and an Iranian television program, which acts as a front for Iran’s government, showed images of internet sites used by the U.S. for secret communication with the spies…”If you lose an asset, one source, that’s normally a setback in espionage,” said Robert Baer, who was considered an expert on Hezbollah.
“But when you lose your entire station, either in Tehran or Beirut, that’s a catastrophe, that just shouldn’t be. And the only way that ever happens is when you’re mishandling sources.”
Why hasn’t this been reported by the media? Haven’t heard a peep about this, even on Fox News.
I agree with you Tammy, this sounds like a double agent situation. I think our CIA has been compromised, especially in this PC world. So sad. I pray for these agents and their families.
Wow, this story is bizarre. All our lives, the catch phrase in tv and movies was “neither confirm nor deny”, and yet this story is full of confirmations and even a denial or two for good measure.
“For the record but without attribution”, another strange turn of phrase. Then there’s the open discussion about spy rings, targets, methods, and meeting places?
Seems remarkable to even have such a discussion appear in print outside of a cold war novel, and all the more with anonymous “for the record” cooperation of organizations who never talk openly about such things.
@socalgal… Why did we never hear about this before? maybe the story was suppressed while there was still hope or some secret negotiations were going on.
We have to wonder about every odd diplomatic event in the middle east over the past six months. Why was Hillary visiting whoever she visited that didn’t seem to make sense in the context of all the other stuff going on at the time in the middle east? Why did Israel trade a thousand prisoners for one soldier? Did they really?
Why does this story break now? Why the hat tip to the enemy for busting us? So many things don’t make sense on the surface of it.
No disrespect to affected families hurting for the loss of loved ones who gave the last full measure. I want to believe our guys did everything they could to save all whom they could by all means available to them.
If this bizarre mea culpa is part of that, then let’s hope it was effective and saved lives.
We will probably never know.
And I probably have an overactive imagination.
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I’d love to know what Obama has to say about this. We probably won’t hear a word.
I don’t think Obama cares what fires are left in his wake.
As a former member of the intell community, I’m glad I’m not working under this administration….