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F14 Pilot WASHINGTON Dozens of CIA informants inside Iran were executed or impris oned in the late 1980s or early 1990s after their secret communications with the agency were uncovered by the government, according to former CI A officials who discussed the episode after aspects of it were disclosed during a recent congressional hearing. As many as 50 Iranian citizens on the CIA's payroll were "rolled up" in t he failed operation, according to the former officials, who described th e events as a major setback in spying on a regime that remains one of th e most difficult targets for US intelligence. The disclosures underscore the stakes confronting the CIA and its informa nts at a time when the United States is under pressure to produce better intelligence on Iran and especially its nuclear activities. The Bush ad ministration has indicated that preventing Iran from obtaining an atomic weapon will be a priority of the president's second term. Like Iraq before the US invasion in 2003, Iran is regarded as a "denied " territory by US intelligence, meaning the CIA has no official statio n inside the country and is largely dependent on recruiting sources outs ide the Islamic Republic's borders. Details of the setback were first outlined by former Pentagon advisor Ric hard N Perle on Feb. During a hearing on security threats, Perle was critical of US i ntelligence capabilities and cited the crackdown on American sources in Iran as an example of the failures that have beset US espionage in the Middle East. Perle referred to the "terrible setback that we suffered in Iran a few ye ars ago when in a display of unbelievable, careless management we put pr essure on agents operating in Iran to report with greater frequency and didn't provide improved communications."
MeekOneGOP He also complained that CIA leaders have not been held accountable and no ted that the official who had been in charge of the exposed Iran operati on was later promoted. Perle declined to name the individual, but other sources said it was Step hen Richter, who was appointed head of the agency's near east division i n 1994. He has since retired and could not be reached for comment. September 21, 1999 COMPANY OF SPIES: A new DO leadership team has come together under Pavitt , 53, a former operations officer and National Security Council official , and his new deputy, Associate Deputy Director for Operations Hugh Turn er, 56, a legendary DO operator who won the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart as a Green Beret in Vietnam. Directly below Turner in the clandestine service's chain of command are B arry G Royden, 61, associate deputy director in charge of counterintell igence, and John F Nelson, 47, associate deputy director for resources, plans and policy. Royden assumed the CIA's top counterintelligence post after serving as ch ief of the Latin America Division. Nelson filled a newly created associa te deputy director's post after serving as CIA Director George J Tenet' s chief of staff, chief financial officer at the National Reconnaissance Office and a budget analyst on the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Replacing Turner as director of the technology management group within th e directorate is Stephen W Richter, 57, former chief of the Near East D ivision. While Pavitt, Turner, Nelson and Royden have all spent their careers most ly in the shadows, the preferred state for directorate officials, Richte r last year earned the wrath of Richard Perle, an assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan administration, who publicly demanded Richter 's ouster for allegedly botching a series of covert actions aimed at top pling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "Stephen Richter has an unbroken record of failure," Perle said in a spee ch last October at the American Enterprise Institute. should be removed on grounds of incom petence and a lack of the fundamental qualifications to hold that positi on." A CIA official responded that, far from removing Richter, the agency awar ded him its Distinguished Intelligence Medal just last week. In five yea rs running the Near East Division, the official said, Richter sharpened "its focus on key issues, was a forceful advocate for more resources, an d put unprecedented emphasis on language training."
View Replies To: dixiechick2000 I believe this is a muffled reference to the stupidity of Senator Leahy o f Vermont, who was kicked off the Intelligence Committee for getting a b unch of our agents killed by his ill-advised release of information to t he New York Times- - - who promptly printed it.
View Replies To: PhilDragoo Clintoon's CIA is exposed in your reply: ""Stephen Richter has an unbroken record of failure," Perle said in a spe ech last October at the American Enterprise Institute. should be removed on grounds of inco mpetence and a lack of the fundamental qualifications to hold that posit ion." "A CIA official responded that, far from removing Richter, the agency awa rded him its Distinguished Intelligence Medal just last week. In five ye ars running the Near East Division, the official said, Richter sharpened "its focus on key issues, was a forceful advocate for more resources, a nd put unprecedented emphasis on language training."
Perle is probably referring to Richter's bungling of our Iran assets afte r Richter went into a panic when India conducted three surprise nuclear tests at its Pokhran nuclear test-site on 5/11/98. Those tests included a fission-device, a low-yield device, and a thermonuclear device. so much data traffic floods the airwaves that our In tel cell there got caught; And the LA Times shows absolute gall by blaiming this 1998 event on the R epublican Presidents of 1984 and 1988 instead of on the Administration t hat had been in power for 6 years by that time.
Southack There was only need of an Iran operation because Carter betrayed the Shah and paved the way for Khomenei. Carter's DCI Turner fired 820 case officers October 31, 1977, a blow from which the agency has never recovered. Robert Baer, See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terror, Crown, 2002.
View Replies To: Southack If CIA Operatives were killed in Iran in the late 1980's it indicates a s erious and long term promblem with the CIA not being able to protect the ir agents.
The CIA *has* lots of terminal, almost-certainly fatal problems, but the only "1980's" figures are editorial comments from the LA Times, not from their source (Perle).
View Replies To: PhilDragoo I am not going to defend Carter but I am objective enough realize that ad ministrations of both parties have screwed up and we have to fix a broke n system. is in the Whi te House and do not hold them accountable I am afraid our CIA assists an d our own security will be at risk.
View Replies To: Southack Agreed and The LA Times as well as us should be objective and understand that CIA guys killed in the 1980's are just as dead as the CIA guys kill ed in the 1990's.
View Replies To: Southack Just as the 1990's the 1980's were not free of intelligence failures and terrorist attacks. Perhaps, no administration will not suffer such failu res but he big picture is that Intelligence must work all of the time.
View Replies To: F14 Pilot And CIA told president Carter that Iran is not any where near an ISLAMIC revolution. Goss has caused much loud squawking in the chicken coop.
And we should never choose any immoral ("socially liberal") Republican no minee for a presidential election (in which case, someone like Hillary C linton could win).
View Replies To: PhilDragoo "Goss has caused much loud squawking in the chicken coop." The more sqawking in the henhouse and scattering of undesirables fr om it, the sooner we'll have spooks who're fit for duty.
When the coup of the Iranian Air Force failed in July 1980, the regime ex ecuted and killed as many as they could! The Shah's last prime minister and CIA was behind the coup to overthrow t he Mullahs but it failed and resulted in death of 9000 Iranian serviceme n loyal to the Shah and the USA.
View Replies To: F14 Pilot This purge didn't happen to start about the time Maddy Albright blabbed a bout them l...
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