CIA systematic breakdowns in Afghan exploding Jordanian
Image via WikipediaThe CIA was warned that a man who claimed to be al-Qaeda turncoat might be plotting an ambush, weeks before he exploded a hidden bomb inside an agency base in Afghanistan, killing nine people and himself, an internal investigation has found.In effect Panetta is saying the screw up was a team effort. He maybe right. There were definitely some officers who wanted to get too close to the source rather than using intermediaries or cut outs. While it was a loss for the CIA, It was probably a bigger loss for Al Qaeda and their Taliban allies, because since the exploding Jordanian the CIA has been much more aggressive with their Hellfire attacks on the sanctuaries in Pakistan.
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 CIA's secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, 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.
Standard precautious used in dealing with informants - including proper vetting - were relaxed amid an eagerness by CIA officers to meet Humam al-Balawi, a Jordanian physician who promised he could deliver al-Qaeda's No. 2 commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Panetta said.
"There was a systemic breakdown with regard to the kind of judgment and scrutiny that should have been applied here," Panetta said in reviewing the key findings with reporters in the agency's McLean, Va., headquarters.
The CIA director said he had ordered nearly two dozen changes in agency procedures, ranging from tightened security to an enhanced role for counter-intelligence specialists tasked with weeding out double agents. But Panetta said the investigation did not assign blame or recommend discipline to any single individual, concluding instead that the deaths were the result of multiple failures that cut across departments.
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The NY Times story is here.
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