and relies on its human sources to collect the kind of information that we use to avoid war, or avoid conflicts, or smooth out international relations to make the United States safer in theory.Īnd so, my reaction was, this is a big deal. I mean, the United States relies on the C.I.A. And if that’s the case, it’s a really big deal. Maybe there is something systemically wrong. My reaction was that this problem was bigger than we understood, that there were real problems with the C.I.A.‘s spycraft. So, Julian, when you saw the cable, what was your reaction? julian barnes astead herndonīut we can tell you the biggest category is those double agents, the people who are in the suspected to be turned category. So we’re not putting out specific numbers for security reasons. Do we know what the proportion of people who are in any of those categories? Have more of them been arrested, have more of them died or have more of them been turned? julian barnes can’t trust that they haven’t been turned. And then there’s a third, more complicated category, and these people are still talking to the United States, but the U.S. It also can mean that the source is executed, as many countries will promptly kill somebody suspected of being a spy for the United States. And losing people can be an informant is arrested, and no longer can talk to the United States because the source is now in a prison overseas. Well, we’re talking about dozens of informants over several years that have been lost to the United States. So what is the scope of that problem? julian barnes
And it wanted it not to just be the sort of standard reminder, but get people’s attention by being very specific about the scope of the problem. was trying to get the attention of its officers, its case officers who run informants, who develop sources, who collect the intelligence the U.S. Is that a fair way to characterize it? julian barnes So it sounds like the C.I.A.‘s version of sending up a flare, saying, we are acknowledging that we are losing our people.
And what was unusual is this is usually the kind of information that’s the most closely held secret. informants being arrested, killed or compromised. And the message was that there is a real problem with C.I.A. officer stationed, they got a copy of this relatively short but pretty explosive cable. sent a worldwide message to all of its stations and bases around the globe. Julian, can you tell me about this secret C.I.A. My colleague, Julian Barnes, on why the failures happened and how the C.I.A. made an explosive admission that the agency has lost dozens of informants to foreign enemies.
How did this happen? Friday, October 8th, 2021 astead herndonįrom The New York Times, I’m Astead Herndon. Admission In a top secret cable, the agency said it had lost dozens of informants.