What Will Be The CIA's Role In Afghanistan If A Deal Is Struck Between The U.S. And The Taliban?

The Hill: Trump administration, military officials at odds over CIA's Afghanistan role: report

The Trump administration and military officials may be in disagreement over the choice to keep C.I.A presence in Afghanistan if troops are pulled from the nation, according to a Monday New York Times report.

The Times reports that some White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the agency’s presence in the nation — a move that some current and former officials have expressed skepticism about.

The C.I.A. and White House did not comment for the story, but the newspaper said it based the report off interviews with a half-dozen of current or former officials briefed on the discussions. The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.

Some officials told the paper they want C.I.A-backed forces in the country as part of a counterterrorism force. They claim it could quell worries that the U.S. will be left with little ability to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghanistan as a base of operations in the U.S. pulls troops, as President Trump suggested will happen last week.

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Update #1: Trump Administration Officials at Odds Over C.I.A.’s Role in Afghanistan (The New York Times)
Update #2: New York Times: Trump administration officials split over future CIA presence in Afghanistan (CNN)

WNU Editor: I am sure the CIA is going to be active in Afghanistan regardless on what happens after a U.S. - Taliban peace deal has been agreed upon.

CIA-Backed Afghan Forces Accused Of Terrorizing The Public And Undermining The War Effort

A member of the 02 strike force in the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar Province.CreditJim Huylebroek for The New York Times

New York Times: C.I.A.’s Afghan Forces Leave a Trail of Abuse and Anger

The fighters hold the line in the war’s toughest spots, but officials say their brutal tactics are terrorizing the public and undermining the U.S. mission.

NADER SHAH KOT, Afghanistan — Razo Khan woke up suddenly to the sight of assault rifles pointed at his face, and demands that he get out of bed and onto the floor.

Within minutes, the armed raiders had separated the men from the women and children. Then the shooting started.

As Mr. Khan was driven away for questioning, he watched his home go up in flames. Within were the bodies of two of his brothers and of his sister-in-law Khanzari, who was shot three times in the head. Villagers who rushed to the home found the burned body of her 3-year-old daughter, Marina, in a corner of a torched bedroom.

The men who raided the family’s home that March night, in the district of Nader Shah Kot, were members of an Afghan strike force trained and overseen by the Central Intelligence Agency in a parallel mission to the United States military’s, but with looser rules of engagement.

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WNU Editor: These CIA forces may be brutal in how they conduct operations, but even the New York Times admits that they are the only ones who are now holding the line against the Taliban and the Islamic State ....

.... At a time when the conventional Afghan military and police forces are being killed in record numbers across the country, the regional forces overseen by the C.I.A. have managed to hold the line against the most brutal militant groups, including the Haqqani wing of the Taliban and also Islamic State loyalists.

CIA To Expand Operations Against The Taliban In Afghanistan

New York Times: A Newly Assertive C.I.A. Expands Its Taliban Hunt in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is expanding its covert operations in Afghanistan, sending small teams of highly experienced officers and contractors alongside Afghan forces to hunt and kill Taliban militants across the country, according to two senior American officials, the latest sign of the agency’s increasingly integral role in President Trump’s counterterrorism strategy.

The assignment marks a shift for the C.I.A. in the country, where it had primarily been focused on defeating Al Qaeda and helping the Afghan intelligence service. The C.I.A. has traditionally been resistant to an open-ended campaign against the Taliban, the primary militant group in Afghanistan, believing it was a waste of the agency’s time and money and would put officers at greater risk as they embark more frequently on missions.

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More News On Reports That The CIA Will Be Expand Operations Against The Taliban In Afghanistan

CIA reportedly expands campaign to hunt, kill Taliban in Afghanistan -- FOX News
Report: CIA Expanding Afghan Mission To Hunt, Kill Taliban -- RFE
In a Shift, CIA Units Now Going After Taliban -- Newser

C.I.A. Deaths Rise in Secret Afghan War

The Memorial Wall is on the north wall of the Original Headquarters Building lobby. This wall of 103 stars stands as a silent, simple memorial to those CIA officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The Memorial Wall was commissioned by the CIA Fine Arts Commission in May 1973 and sculpted by Harold Vogel in July 1974. CIA Memorial Wall

New York Times: A Funeral of 2 Friends: C.I.A. Deaths Rise in Secret Afghan War

The number of C.I.A. deaths in Afghanistan rivals those killed in the Southeast Asia conflicts of nearly a half-century ago.

WASHINGTON — On a sweltering day earlier this summer, operatives with the Central Intelligence Agency gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to bury two of their own. Brian Ray Hoke and Nathaniel Patrick Delemarre, elite gunslingers who worked for the C.I.A.’s paramilitary force, were laid to rest after a firefight with Islamic State militants near Jalalabad in Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan.

There had been scant mention of Mr. Hoke’s death in local news reports in Leesburg, Va., his home, and nothing at all about Mr. Delemarre in news accounts in the Florida Panhandle, where his family lives. Their deaths this past October were never acknowledged by the C.I.A., beyond two memorial stars chiseled in a marble wall at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va.

Today there are at least 18 stars on that wall representing the number of C.I.A. personnel killed in Afghanistan — a tally that has not been previously reported, and one that rivals the number of C.I.A. operatives killed in the wars in Vietnam and Laos nearly a half century ago.

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WNU Editor: Sadly .... and this is an easy prediction .... they are going to be more stars on the CIA Memorial Wall in the years to come.

National Security Archive: Pakistani Spies Funded The Taliban To Conduct A 2009 Attack On A CIA Camp In Afghanistan

IBTimes: Pakistan's ISI offered $200,000 to Haqqani Network for 2009 attack on CIA camp in Afghanistan: US cables

Pakistan's intelligence wing Inter-Services Intelligence, commonly referred to as the ISI, is believed to have been involved in the 2009 attack on a CIA camp in Afghanistan, according to recently declassified cables of the United States State Department. Seven Americans and three other people were killed in the attack. This revelation is likely to raise tensions between the two countries.

The cable, published by non-governmental research institute National Security Archive based at the George Washington University, shows that the ISI offered $200,000 to the Haqqani network to carry out the 2009 attack on Camp Chapman. The report highlighted the frequent meetings between Haqqani members and the ISI in Pakistan.

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WNU Editor: The original source for this report is here .... Declassified DIA Cables Show Haqqani Network Revenue Streams (National Security Archive). Not surprising .... U.S. officials are denying/spinning this report .... Cables tie Pakistan to 2009 hit on CIA; official says not so (AP). The above video is a report on the 2009 bombing.

More News On Reports That Pakistan's ISI Funded The Taliban To Conduct A 2009 Attack On A CIA Camp In Afghanistan

Pakistani Spies May Have Funded 2009 Suicide Bombing Targeting CIA Outpost -- Foreign Policy
ISI may have funded deadly 2009 suicide bombing on CIA base in Afghanistan -- Khaama Press
Pakistan's ISI paid $200,000 to Haqqani Network in 2009 to attack CIA camp in Afghanistan -- F.Post
ISI financed 2009 attack on Afghan CIA camp, shows declassified paper -- Zee News
ISI paid Haqqani Network $200,000 for attack on CIA base: US cable -- Hindustan Times
Pakistan's ISI funded deadly attack on CIA camp in Afghanistan: US National Security Archive -- Times of India

Questions About CIA Trained Afghan Forces Implicated In Civilian Killings Are Being Raised

New York Times: Civilian Deaths Raise Questions About C.I.A.-Trained Forces in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — A series of home raids by C.I.A.-trained Afghan counterterrorism forces in the last month resulted in the deaths of at least six innocent civilians, according to Afghan government officials, reviving an issue that has been a chronic source of tension between Afghanistan and the United States.

The deaths happened over the course of three raids in the restive eastern province of Khost, the officials said, including a Nov. 20 episode in which a husband and wife were killed with two American advisers present. The raids were conducted by the Khost Protection Force, one of the regional units known as counterterrorism pursuit teams, set up by the C.I.A. to fight the Taliban, the Haqqani network and Al Qaeda.

The C.I.A. has trained thousands of Afghan forces for such missions — around 3,500 in the Khost Protection Force alone. But from the start, some senior Afghan officials have considered them a problem, accused of human rights abuses and seen as largely unaccountable.

Update #1: CIA-funded Afghan militia accused of killing civilians -- The Telegraph
Update #2: CIA runs shadow war with Afghan militia implicated in civilian killings -- Washington Post

WNU Editor: The focus of this article is on Khost region .... but I suspect that such CIA operations are not only happening in this region, but are probably also being implemented and/or planned for other trouble spots.

Is This The End Of A CIA Station Chief's Career?

Accidental Outing Of CIA Official Could End A Covert Career -- CNN

Washington (CNN) -- A clerical misstep? Failure to double-check a routine process? Whatever the cause, the seemingly accidental outing of the CIA's top intelligence official in Afghanistan could put the life of the spy and any family members in danger.

It also raised the question of whether the official can continue working in Afghanistan after the revelation in a White House media report sent to about 6,000 journalists.

"I think they are going to have to pull him out, now that he's been identified publicly," said CNN National Security Analyst Robert Baer, noting the Taliban would likely attempt to assassinate the official. "It will affect his career over the long term, too."

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My Comment: This is not only the end of a career .... but he (or she) is now a target for U.S. enemies. Someone deserves to be fired for this .... but I doubt that it will happen.

White House Tried To Back-Track On Who Is The CIA Station Chief In Afghanistan After Releasing His Name (Updated)

White House Staff Tried To 'Un-Ring The Bell' After Revealing CIA Chief's Identity -- The Guardian

• White House press office unaware it had circulated name
• Washington Post journalist sounded alert after filing report

The White House blew the cover of the top CIA agent in Afghanistan on Sunday, when the person’s name was included on a list given to reporters during a visit to the country by President Barack Obama.

The name was then emailed by the White House press office to a distribution list of more than 6,000 recipients, mostly members of the US media.

The agent in question, listed as chief of station, would be a top manager of CIA activity in Afghanistan, including intelligence collection and a drone-warfare programme under which unmanned aerial vehicles mount cross-border attacks into Pakistan.

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My Comment: Intelligence is not a game of golf where you an take a mulligan .... it is a game of chess where strategy and avoiding stupid moves will ensure your survival .... and not the other way around.

Update: Some have asked and my answer is no .... I am definitely not going to post this CIA's officers name in this blog.

White House Blows The Cover Of The CIA Chief In Afghanistan To Thousands Of Reporters

The lobby of the CIA Headquarters Building in McLean, Virginia (Reuters/Larry Downing)

White House mistakenly identifies CIA chief in Afghanistan -- Washington Post

The CIA’s top officer in Kabul was exposed Saturday by the White House when his name was inadvertently included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in President Obama’s surprise visit with U.S. troops.

The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual, who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country.

The disclosure marked a rare instance in which a CIA officer working overseas had his cover — the secrecy meant to protect his actual identity — pierced by his own government. The only other recent case came under significantly different circumstances, when former CIA operative Valerie Plame was exposed as officials of the George W. Bush administration sought to discredit her husband, a former ambassador and fierce critic of the decision to invade Iraq.

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More News On The White House Blowing The Cover Of The CIA Chief In Afghanistan To Thousands Of Reporters

White House blows cover of CIA chief in Afghanistan -- USA Today
White House accidentally blows the cover of CIA chief in Afghanistan in memo to thousands of reporters -- Daily Mail/AP
White House Mistakenly Reveals CIA Officer's Name -- Voice of America
White House mistakenly reveals name of top CIA officer in Afghanistan -- Haaretz/Reuters
White House accidentally reveals identity of top CIA official in Afghanistan -- The Independent
White House Mistakenly Discloses Afghanistan CIA Chief – Reports -- RIA Novosti
CIA chief in Afghanistan exposed by White House press staff -- RT

My Comment: When Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA employee .... we had non-stop news coverage and condemnation for years. Flash forward to today .... the White House outs the CIA Chief (and putting his life and his family's life truly in danger) .... and the press is giving a pass by calling it a mistake.

CIA's Plan To Withdraw From Afghanistan Raising Concerns In The Pentagon

CIA's Plan To Retrench In Afghanistan Worries U.S. Military -- L.A. Times

The CIA is planning to close its satellite bases in Afghanistan and pull all its personnel back to Kabul by early summer, an unexpectedly abrupt withdrawal that the U.S. military fears will deprive it of vital intelligence while thousands of American troops remain in the country, U.S. officials said.

CIA Director John Brennan informed U.S. military commanders in March that his agency would shutter operations outside Kabul, removing CIA case officers and analysts as well as National Security Agency specialists responsible for intercepting insurgent phone calls and other communications, a rich source of daily intelligence, the officials said.

Pentagon officials warn that the CIA drawdown after 12 years of war is coming just as insurgent attacks are normally at their peak. As a result, the CIA withdrawal has strained relations between the agency and military commanders in Kabul, the officials said.

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Update: CIA, U.S. military at odds over Afghanistan pullback plan -- L.A. Times

Previous Post: CIA Withdrawing From Afghanistan

My Comment: Max Boot's explanation on why the military is concerned with this development is spot on .... Intel and Military Presence Go Hand in Hand -- Max Boot, Commentary

CIA Withdrawing From Afghanistan

Exclusive: CIA Falls Back In Afghanistan -- Kimberly Dozier, Daily Beast

The intelligence agency’s irregular forces have been key to the fight against the Taliban since 2001. Now they’re being withdrawn—just as a bloody fighting season heats up.

KABUL, Afghanistan—The CIA is dismantling its frontline Afghan counterterrorist forces in south and east Afghanistan, leaving a security vacuum that U.S. commanders fear the Taliban and al Qaeda will fill—and leaving the Pakistan border open to a possible deluge of fighters and weapons.

“The CIA has started to end the contracts of some of those militias who were working for them,” said Aimal Faizi, spokesman for outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a longtime critic of the CIA’s Afghan operatives. “Some of them were in very important locations, so we deployed our troops there.”

U.S. and Afghan military commanders tell The Daily Beast that Afghan forces are stretched too thin to replace many of those departing CIA paramilitaries. Thousands more CIA-trained operatives are about to get the boot ahead of what already promises to be a bloody summer fighting season. That could mean spectacular attacks against U.S. and Afghan targets just as the White House is weighing its long-term commitment to Afghanistan. And it could give the now-small al Qaeda movement inside the country more freedom to grow and eventually hatch new plots more than a decade after the invasion meant to wipe out the perpetrators of the Sept. 11th attacks.

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My Comment: Here is an easy prediction .... if you are withdrawing your forces in the middle of a war .... the enemy will only be embolden because they see victory down the horizon. In the case of Afghanistan .... expect the Taliban to move in and fill this void.

The CIA Is Shutting Down It's Afghan Operations

CIA Closing Bases In Afghanistan As It Shifts Focus Amid Military Drawdown -- Washington Post

The CIA has begun closing clandestine bases in Afghanistan, marking the start of a drawdown from a region that transformed the agency from an intelligence service struggling to emerge from the Cold War to a counter­terrorism force with its own prisons, paramilitary teams and armed Predator drones.

The pullback represents a turning point for the CIA as it shifts resources to other trouble spots. The closures were described by U.S officials as preliminary steps in a plan to reduce the number of CIA installations in Afghanistan from a dozen to as few as six over the next two years — a consolidation to coincide with the withdrawal of most U.S. military forces from the country by the end of 2014.

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My Comment: They say that the CIA will still maintain a large footprint in Afghanistan long after the withdrawal .... but they said the same thing about Iraq when US forces left that country in 2011 .... and today the CIA has a minimal presence in that country. Bottom line .... when the military is out so will the CIA .... and what will be left behind will be a shadow of it's former self.

Where Is The CIA's 'Ghost Money' In Afghanistan?

Corker Blocks Afghan War Funds Over CIA 'Ghost Money' Program -- Defcon Hill

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is blocking millions in State Department funds for Afghanistan, until President Obama discloses details abut the CIA's decade-long effort to funnel cash to Afghan leaders, including President Hamid Karzai.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations panel has put a hold on $75 million in government aid to Kabul “until such time as I receive sufficient information" on the CIA program, Corker said Monday.

"The administration’s lack of any response to these requests, its apparent decision to flout the Foreign Relations Committee’s oversight, and its inability or unwillingness to explain such a policy is unacceptable," the Tennessee Republican wrote.

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My Comment: Wow .... someone in the US Senate is actually demanding accountability. My prediction .... Sen. Bob Corker is not going to succeed.

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.

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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

Family Of Fallen CIA Agent Jennifer Matthews Speaks Out

Killer: Humam Khalil al-Balawi was a double agent working for al-Qaeda and the U.S. He was visiting a base in Khost, Afghanistan when he detonated a bomb

Tragedy Of CIA Mother-Of-Three Who Left Her Family For Fatal Afghan Post Because She Was 'Haunted' By 9/11 Mistakes -- Daily Mail

* Jennifer Matthews had left comfortable London job for dangerous role tackling terrorism in Afghanistan
* CIA suggested she had not vetted informant who killed seven officials outside base in 2009
* Matthews had also been blamed for failing to warn FBI about al-Qaeda members ahead of 9/11 attacks
Now husband Gary Anderson hits back at CIA, saying it never trained her for the situation

When CIA official and mother-of-three Jennifer Matthews was killed by a suicide bomber at her Afghan base, fingers were pointed in her direction.

A report into the attack claimed that as the chief of the Khost unit, she had failed to properly vet an informant who had come to speak with officials.

The informant slayed the al-Qaeda specialist and six other CIA operatives by detonating a vest of explosives, the Washington Post reported.

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Previous Post: The Impact Of A Suicide Bombing For A CIA Family

My Comment: When I first heard of this suicide attack, I said to myself that someone "screwed up" big time. After reading the above articles, I am now wondering if the CIA mission as a whole is screwed up .... or just a part of it.

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.