isherloxi
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| Joined: 12 Sep 2010 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 03:55 PM |
In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.
The spies were paid informants recruited by the CIA for two distinct espionage rings targeting Iran and the Beirut-based Hezbollah organization, considered by the U.S. to be a terror group backed by Iran.
"Espionage is a risky business," a U.S. official briefed on the developments told ABC News, confirming the loss of the unspecified number of spies over the last six months.
"Many risks lead to wins, but some result in occasional setbacks," the official said.
Robert Baer, a former senior CIA officer who worked against Hezbollah while stationed in Beirut in the 1980's, said Hezbollah typically executes individuals suspected of or caught spying.
"If they were genuine spies, spying against Hezbollah, I don't think we'll ever see them again," he said. "These guys are very, very vicious and unforgiving."
Other current and former officials said the discovery of the two U.S. spy rings occurred separately, but amounted to a setback of significant proportions in efforts to track the activities of the Iranian nuclear program and the intentions of Hezbollah against Israel.
"Remember, this group was responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9/11," said a U.S. official. Attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 killed more than 300 people, including almost 260 Americans.
The U.S. official, speaking for the record but without attribution, gave grudging credit to the efforts of Iran and Hezbollah to detect and expose U.S. and Israeli espionage.
"Collecting sensitive information on adversaries who are aggressively trying to uncover spies in their midst will always be fraught with risk," said the U.S. official briefed on the spy ring bust.
But others inside the American intelligence community say sloppy "tradecraft" -- the method of covert operations -- by the CIA is also to blame for the disruption of the vital spy networks.
In Beirut, two Hezbollah double agents pretended to go to work for the CIA. Hezbollah then learned of the restaurant where multiple CIA officers were meeting with several agents, according to the four current and former officials briefed on the case. The CIA used the codeword "PIZZA" when discussing where to meet with the agents, according to U.S. officials. Two former officials describe the location as a Beirut Pizza Hut. A current US official denied that CIA officers met their agents at Pizza Hut.
From there, Hezbollah's internal security arm identified at least a dozen informants, and the identities of several CIA case officers.
Hezbollah then began to "roll up" much of the CIA's network against the terror group, the officials said.
One former senior intelligence official told ABC News that CIA officers ignored warnings that the operation could be compromised by using the same location for meetings with multiple assets.
"We were lazy and the CIA is now flying blind against Hezbollah," the former official said.
CIA Spies Caught in Iran
At about the same time that Hezbollah was identifying the CIA network in Lebanon, Iranian intelligence agents discovered a secret internet communication method used by CIA-paid assets in Iran.
The CIA has yet to determine precisely how many of its assets were compromised in Iran, but the number could be in the dozens, according to one current and one former U.S. intelligence official.
The exposure of the two spy networks was first announced in widely ignored televised statements by Iranian and Hezbollah leaders. U.S. officials tell ABC News that much of what was broadcast was, in fact, true.
Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, announced in June of this year that two high-ranking members of Hezbollah had been exposed as CIA spies, leading U.S. officials to conclude that the entire network inside Hezbollah had been compromised.
In Iran, intelligence minister Heidar Moslehi announced in May that more than 30 U.S. and Israeli spies had been discovered and an Iranian television program, which acts as a front for Iran's government, showed images of internet sites used by the U.S. for secret communication with the spies.
U.S. officials said the Iranian television program showed pictures of people who were not U.S. assets, but the program's video of the websites used by the CIA was accurate.
Some former U.S. intelligence officials say the developments are the result of a lack of professionalism in the U.S. intelligence community.
"We've lost the tradition of espionage," said one former official who still consults for the U.S. intelligence community. "Officers take short cuts and no one is held accountable," he said.
But at the CIA, officials say such risks come with the territory.
"Hezbollah is an extremely complicated enemy," said a U.S. official. "It's a determined terrorist group, a powerful political player, a mighty military and an accomplished intelligence operation, formidable and ruthless. No one underestimates its capabilities."
"If you lose an asset, one source, that's normally a setback in espionage," said Robert Baer, who was considered an expert on Hezbollah.
"But when you lose your entire station, either in Tehran or Beirut, that's a catastrophe, that just shouldn't be. And the only way that ever happens is when you're mishandling sources."
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tkdguy25
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| Joined: 28 Dec 2010 |
| Total Posts: 1371 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 04:24 PM |
| More then likely they want be executed. The majority of time if a spy is caught the country that caught him sends him/her back so in the future one of their spys will be returned if caught. |
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Politivo
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| Joined: 16 Aug 2011 |
| Total Posts: 417 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 04:28 PM |
Hezbollah?
God help those CIA agents. |
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tkdguy25
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| Joined: 28 Dec 2010 |
| Total Posts: 1371 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 04:30 PM |
| Dang I missed that Hezbollah is involved... Sad to say but those CIA agents are probably done for... |
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Twigs180
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| Joined: 10 Mar 2008 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:13 PM |
| Thank you for your service to your country. |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:14 PM |
| I feel bad for those agents. |
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GeckoFPS
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| Joined: 21 Oct 2011 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:40 PM |
| Nationalist much? Just because they are all stealthy like doesn't mean it is propaganda. I'm sure the families of the CIA members saying them being captured is "propaganda." |
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BRC98
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| Joined: 06 Oct 2010 |
| Total Posts: 590 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:41 PM |
| No (insert slang term here), there of course going to be executed. This is the consequences for basically ALL spies...Although, I do agree with Gecko. Something's a bit odd in that. |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:42 PM |
| There is something weird in it however saying that the risk of them dieing is propaganda? |
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GeckoFPS
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| Joined: 21 Oct 2011 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:54 PM |
| Well govt has been known to turn the other cheek when it comes to today's economy. Give govt 1bil and you can do virtually whatever you want |
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GeckoFPS
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| Joined: 21 Oct 2011 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 09:59 PM |
| Then when the SHTF govt goes and starts stealing everyone's money because of their own mistakes. |
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Twigs180
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| Joined: 10 Mar 2008 |
| Total Posts: 18664 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 10:41 PM |
| I believe they were informants, not necessarily spies, but locals who were helping the CIA. |
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JamesBank
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| Joined: 10 Nov 2011 |
| Total Posts: 1502 |
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| 21 Nov 2011 10:46 PM |
| Interesting, Hope there ok. |
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| 22 Nov 2011 12:49 AM |
And yet FBI agents can infiltrate anarchist groups with ease.
Jesus, CIA! Get it together! |
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Asassin37
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| Joined: 30 Aug 2008 |
| Total Posts: 9116 |
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| 22 Nov 2011 01:14 AM |
| The one thing James Bond doesn't teach you about Espionage is that you are usually just shot on the spot if they find you. |
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JamesBank
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| Joined: 10 Nov 2011 |
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Politivo
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| Joined: 16 Aug 2011 |
| Total Posts: 417 |
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| 22 Nov 2011 09:31 AM |
The CIA never confirmed it, of course. Some anonymous US officials confirmed it I'm guessing.
But Reuters is reporting it. |
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