CIA pulls top spy from Pakistan amid threats
gimmesometruth27
St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
interesting news in the war on turr out of Pakistan...
i have no issue at all if this station chief were to stand trial for killing civilians with unmanned drones...maybe we might learn something for once if he were convicted...
CIA pulls top spy from Pakistan amid threats
Lawsuit over drone attacks blew Islamabad station chief's cover, U.S. officials say
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40718015/ns ... -security/
WASHINGTON — The CIA has pulled its top spy out of Pakistan after terrorists threatened to kill him, current and former U.S. officials said, an unusual move for the U.S. and a complication on the front lines of the fight against al-Qaida.
The CIA station chief was in transit Thursday after a Pakistani lawsuit earlier this month accused him by name of killing civilians in missile strikes. Msnbc.com and The Associated Press are not publishing the station chief's name because he remains undercover and his name is classified.
CIA airstrikes from unmanned aircraft have killed terrorist leaders but have led to accusations in Pakistan that the strikes kill innocent people. The U.S. does not acknowledge the missile strikes, but there have been more than 100 such attacks this year — more than double the amount in 2009.
The lawsuit blew the American spy's cover, leading to threats against him and forcing the U.S. to call him home, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
CIA officials' concerns for the station chief's safety led to the decision to bring him home, U.S. officials said.
"Our station chiefs routinely encounter major risk as they work to keep America safe, and they've been targeted by terrorists in the past. They are courageous in the face of danger, and their security is obviously a top priority for the CIA, especially when there's an imminent threat," Jennifer Youngblood, a CIA spokeswoman, told NBC News.
A U.S. intelligence official, who spoke to NBC on the condition his name not be used, said the terrorist threats against the CIA official in Pakistan "were of such a serious nature that it would be imprudent not to act."
Some American officials suspect that the officer’s cover was deliberately blown by Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, The New York Times reported. It may have been in retaliation for a civil lawsuit filed in New York last month implicating the Pakistani agency's chief in the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008, the U.S. officials told the Times.
The Pakistani lawsuit also named CIA Director Leon Panetta and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
'A victory'
The station chief's name has been published by local media covering the lawsuit and demonstrations related to it. Demonstrators in the heart of the capital have carried placards bearing the officer's name and urging him to leave the country.
Shahzad Akbar, the lawyer bringing the case, said he got the name from local journalists. He said he named the man because he wanted to sue a CIA operative living within the jurisdiction of the Islamabad court.
Speaking to the Press Trust of India news agency, Akbar described the station chief's recall as "a victory ... as they (the U.S.) are killing Pakistanis."
"We will also approach the U.S. courts to seek compensation for the killing of innocent people and to stop these drone strikes," Akbar added.
A Pakistani intelligence officer said the country's intelligence service, the ISI, knew the identity of the station chief, but had "no clue" how his name was leaked.
The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because his agency, like many around the world, does not allow its operatives to be named in the media.
The CIA's work is unusually difficult in Pakistan, one of the United States' most important and at times frustrating counterterrorism allies.
The station chief in Islamabad operates as a secret general in the U.S. war against terrorism. He runs the Predator drone program targeting terrorists, handles some of the CIA's most urgent and sensitive tips and collaborates closely with Pakistan's ISI, one of the most important relationships in the spy world.
Almost a year ago seven CIA officers and contractors were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan. Six other agency officers were wounded in the attack, one of the deadliest in CIA history.
It's rare for a CIA station chief to see his cover blown. In 1999, an Israeli newspaper revealed the identity of the station chief in Tel Aviv. In 2001, an Argentine newspaper printed a picture of the Buenos Aires station chief and details about him. In both instances, the station chiefs were recalled to the U.S.
i have no issue at all if this station chief were to stand trial for killing civilians with unmanned drones...maybe we might learn something for once if he were convicted...
CIA pulls top spy from Pakistan amid threats
Lawsuit over drone attacks blew Islamabad station chief's cover, U.S. officials say
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40718015/ns ... -security/
WASHINGTON — The CIA has pulled its top spy out of Pakistan after terrorists threatened to kill him, current and former U.S. officials said, an unusual move for the U.S. and a complication on the front lines of the fight against al-Qaida.
The CIA station chief was in transit Thursday after a Pakistani lawsuit earlier this month accused him by name of killing civilians in missile strikes. Msnbc.com and The Associated Press are not publishing the station chief's name because he remains undercover and his name is classified.
CIA airstrikes from unmanned aircraft have killed terrorist leaders but have led to accusations in Pakistan that the strikes kill innocent people. The U.S. does not acknowledge the missile strikes, but there have been more than 100 such attacks this year — more than double the amount in 2009.
The lawsuit blew the American spy's cover, leading to threats against him and forcing the U.S. to call him home, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
CIA officials' concerns for the station chief's safety led to the decision to bring him home, U.S. officials said.
"Our station chiefs routinely encounter major risk as they work to keep America safe, and they've been targeted by terrorists in the past. They are courageous in the face of danger, and their security is obviously a top priority for the CIA, especially when there's an imminent threat," Jennifer Youngblood, a CIA spokeswoman, told NBC News.
A U.S. intelligence official, who spoke to NBC on the condition his name not be used, said the terrorist threats against the CIA official in Pakistan "were of such a serious nature that it would be imprudent not to act."
Some American officials suspect that the officer’s cover was deliberately blown by Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, The New York Times reported. It may have been in retaliation for a civil lawsuit filed in New York last month implicating the Pakistani agency's chief in the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008, the U.S. officials told the Times.
The Pakistani lawsuit also named CIA Director Leon Panetta and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
'A victory'
The station chief's name has been published by local media covering the lawsuit and demonstrations related to it. Demonstrators in the heart of the capital have carried placards bearing the officer's name and urging him to leave the country.
Shahzad Akbar, the lawyer bringing the case, said he got the name from local journalists. He said he named the man because he wanted to sue a CIA operative living within the jurisdiction of the Islamabad court.
Speaking to the Press Trust of India news agency, Akbar described the station chief's recall as "a victory ... as they (the U.S.) are killing Pakistanis."
"We will also approach the U.S. courts to seek compensation for the killing of innocent people and to stop these drone strikes," Akbar added.
A Pakistani intelligence officer said the country's intelligence service, the ISI, knew the identity of the station chief, but had "no clue" how his name was leaked.
The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because his agency, like many around the world, does not allow its operatives to be named in the media.
The CIA's work is unusually difficult in Pakistan, one of the United States' most important and at times frustrating counterterrorism allies.
The station chief in Islamabad operates as a secret general in the U.S. war against terrorism. He runs the Predator drone program targeting terrorists, handles some of the CIA's most urgent and sensitive tips and collaborates closely with Pakistan's ISI, one of the most important relationships in the spy world.
Almost a year ago seven CIA officers and contractors were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan. Six other agency officers were wounded in the attack, one of the deadliest in CIA history.
It's rare for a CIA station chief to see his cover blown. In 1999, an Israeli newspaper revealed the identity of the station chief in Tel Aviv. In 2001, an Argentine newspaper printed a picture of the Buenos Aires station chief and details about him. In both instances, the station chiefs were recalled to the U.S.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
The CIA has pulled its station chief from Islamabad, one of America's most important spy posts, after his cover was blown in a legal action brought by victims of US drone strikes in the tribal belt.
The officer, named in Pakistan as Jonathan Banks, left the country yesterday, after a tribesman publicly accused him of being responsible for the death of his brother and son in a CIA drone strike in December 2009. Karim Khan, a journalist from North Waziristan, called for Banks to be charged with murder and executed.
In a rare move, the CIA called Banks home yesterday, citing "security concerns" and saying he had received death threats, Washington officials told Associated Press. Khan's lawyer said he was fleeing the possibility of prosecution.
"This is just diplomatic language they are using. Banks is a liability to the CIA because he's likely to be called to court. They want to save him, and themselves, the embarrassment," said lawyer Shahzad Akbar. Pakistani media reports have claimed that Banks entered the country on a business visa, and therefore does not enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
The recall comes at a sensitive moment for Washington. This week's Afghanistan policy review brought fresh focus on Taliban safe havens in Pakistan's tribal belt. Meanwhile CIA drone attacks – which are co-ordinated from the Islamabad embassy – have reached a new peak. Three drones struck targets in Khyber, a previously untouched tribal agency, on Friday, reportedly killing 24 people and signalling a widening of the CIA covert campaign.
The drones enjoy quiet support from the Pakistani government and military but are intensely unpopular among the wider public. Public anger over civilian casualties has focused on Karim Khan, who first publicised his case with a $500m (£323m) civil law suit that named Banks, CIA director Leon Panetta and the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, as respondents.
Few legal experts expect the case to succeed, but it has renewed uneasiness over drones. There have been over 100 strikes so this year, twice as many as in 2009.
The identity of the CIA station chief is a closely guarded secret in any country. Khan's lawyer said he had obtained Banks's name from one Pakistani journalist and confirmed it with a second. "I asked around, then got an answer after three or four days of searching," he said.
There was also speculation that Banks could have been named by a disgruntled element within Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency. Last month, several senior ISI officials were named in a New York legal action brought by relatives of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
It is unusual for the CIA to recall such a senior spy. Station chiefs were recalled from Israel in 1999 and Argentina in 2001 after being identified in the local media. Today, several US media outlets did not name Banks, citing national security concerns. His identity has been widely reported in Pakistan and India.
Akbar, the lawyer, said the unusual legal action had attracted another 14 families of alleged drone victims from the tribal belt. They intend to bring a class action suit against the CIA in early January, he said.
Pakistani tribesmen from Waziristan protest against US drone attacks, outside parliament in Islamabad. Photograph: T Mughal/EPA
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
either this guy stands trial for breaking the laws of pakistan, or the US trumps pakistani law, proving that it does not care about law, including murder.
it is significant because there are still those that believe the US is fighting injustice around the world, when the opposite is true.
agreed 100%.
everyone knows that US backed laws trump every other countries" laws, right????
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
The picture a few posts up answers that problem succinctly in my opinion. We aren't defending America or "freedom" in these other countries, we're stirring up more shit and perpetuating the Military Industrial Complex.