Thread: [Watch] CIA Station Chief Outed by Obama Will Now Be Target on Taliban Hit List

[Watch] CIA Station Chief Outed by Obama Will Now Be Target on Taliban Hit List

Posted on 26 May, 2014 by Rick Wells



Once again, the sloppiness of the Obama administration is brought to light. An interaction between a pool reporter travelling with Obama on Air Force One to Afghanistan, the Military on the Ground in Afghanistan, and the Regime staffers has resulted in a serious breach of security.

Not only was the cover blown for the CIA Station Chief, but for those around him as well.
The circumstances surrounding the breach are detailed as originating with a simple request by a pool reporter for the names of those briefing Obama at Bagram Air Force Base. A White House press person went to the military and asked for that list, which was then sent back to the White House, with a note that it was “for the pool” or public distribution.
It was then given to the pool reporter who included the information in his report. That report was then sent back to the White House for review. After reviewing the report, it was approved and released by the White House.
In the discussion one unanswered question being asked is how the name got onto the military list in the first place.
Bob Baer, a former CIA agent comments that he believes the Taliban will definitely now be targeting this individual and that this breach may now have necessitated the removal of the entire unit.
It’s true, loose lips sink ships.




Rick Wells is a conservative author who believes an adherence the U.S. Constitution would solve many of today’s problems. “Like” him on Facebook and “Follow” him on Twitter.


http://gopthedailydose.com/2014/05/2...iban-hit-list/

Obama Administration Exposes Kabul CIA Chief Accidentally, Media Shrugs

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/26/2014 21:04 -0400

Another day, another fumble by the Obama administration (intentional or not). 11 years after former CIA operative Valerie Plame was deliberately exposed by the Bush administration as the US officials tried to apply pressure on her husband, an American diplomat criticizing the US invasion to Iraq; the Obama Administration's press service unwittingly put the real name of the CIA's top spy in Afghanistan on the 'pool report' distributed to over 6,000 journalists. The Washington Post were the first to discover the FUBAR and while the CIA and White House had 'no comment', they warned that the officer and his family could be at risk if the name were published.
As RT reports,

The Obama Administration’s press service unwittingly put the real name of the CIA’s top spy in Afghanistan on the ‘pool report’ distributed among journalists accompanying the American president on a surprise trip to Kabul’s Bagram Airfield base.

The identity of the man dubbed ‘Chief of Station’, the usual address to a CIA local chief, was inadvertently added to a list of 15 US officials supposed to take part in a military briefing with Obama at the base, and emailed it to the White House press pool on Saturday, the Washington Post reported.

The unusual address was observed by Scott Wilson, the Washington Post's White House bureau chief, who informed the White House press officials... The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual.

...

Up to 6,000 journalists, including some for foreign outlets, received the original version of the document, yet the identity of the CIA officer has not been disclosed.

As The Washington Post notes,

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.

...

[we are] withholding the agent's name for security reasons. A US official who asked for the name to be withheld described the station's chief role as "an especially dangerous post".

"An alleged affiliation with CIA would put anyone at the top of the Taliban and al-Qaeda's target list," the official said.

The identities of CIA operatives are among America's most closely-held secrets and the US complained bitterly that leaks by Edward Snowden put its agents at risk.

Not the first time...

In 2003, aides to George W Bush leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA agent, in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of her husband, a former US diplomat who criticised the Iraq war.

The CIA was also forced to pull its station chief out of Islamabad in 2010 after he was publicly named in a lawsuit brought by families of civilians killed in the US drone campaign in Pakistan.

US officials' pleas for his identity to be kept secret appeared to be working on Monday as there was no trace of the name in web news stories or on social media. It was not clear whether the agent would be able to stay in post in Afghanistan or would be withdrawn for security reasons.

We are sure that no matter how easy it is to trace the chain of command for this major misstep that no one could have seen this coming, no one knew it was happening, no one is reponsible, and no one will be held accountable...


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...y-media-shrugs

Drudge Report

UPDATE: TOP CIA AGENT EXPOSED BY WHITE HOUSE



White House staff tried to 'un-ring the bell' after revealing CIA chief's identity

White House press office unaware it had circulated agent's name until alerted by...
The Guardian|By Tom McCarthy

White House staff tried to 'un-ring the bell' after revealing CIA chief's identity

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

Tom McCarthy in New York and agencies
The Guardian, Monday 26 May 2014 13.24 EDT
Jump to comments (311)

President Barack Obama greets US troops during a his visit to Afghanistan, which led to the CIA's station chief's identification. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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.
The name appeared on a list of attendees requested by White House officials for the president’s visit to Bagram air base to mark Memorial Day, the national day of tribute to fallen service members. The list of 15 people was drawn up by the military, written into a routine press report and sent to Washington. The Obama press office then sent the list, unredacted, to the larger group.
The mistake did not come to light until the reporter who had filed from Afghanistan, the veteran Washington Post correspondent Scott Wilson, looked more closely at what he had sent and noticed the name and title.
“I drew it to their attention before they had noticed what had happened,” Wilson said on Monday, hours after returning from the 33-hour trip overseas.
“I asked the press official that was with us on the trip if they knew that the station chief had been identified in the list. That person said that they did not know that, but that because the list was provided by military, they assumed it was OK. By this time the list was out.
“Soon after, I think that they talked to their bosses, and realised that it was not OK. And they tried to figure out what to do about this, if there was a way to kind of un-ring the bell.”
The name was left off of a subsequent report filed from Bagram.
The White House declined to comment on Monday on the disclosure. It was unclear whether or how the disclosure would affect US intelligence operations in Afghanistan. An internet search for the name turned up no results.
It is extremely rare for a US intelligence operative to be outed by the US government. In 2003, someone inside the George W Bush administration exposed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, a month after her husband, the diplomat Joe Wilson, had publicly questioned the administration’s case for the Iraq war. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former chief of staff to then-vice-president Dick Cheney, was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the case.
Members of the CIA's operations arm, called the National Clandestine Service, are typically given cover identities to protect both them and sources they have recruited abroad. A station chief, who manages all CIA operations in a country, is often a senior officer whose true name is known to the host nation and other intelligence agencies. The term "station chief" is sensitive enough, however, that former officers usually are not allowed to use it in their resumés in connection with specific countries, even after their covers have been lifted.
Because the Afghanistan station chief is known to Afghan officials and lives in a heavily guarded compound, he may be able to continue in his job. In 2010 the CIA station chief in Pakistan, Jonathan Bank, was evacuated after local newspapers published his name in connection with a lawsuit, and he was threatened.

Wilson said time pressure, a high level of activity tied to the president’s visit and the relative inexperience of the military officers involved could have contributed to the mistake.
“My impression is these were very junior people trying to follow an order, that they don't fully understand or get the ramifications of,” he said.
“There were a number of misunderstandings and mistakes, including my own failure to review the list before including it in my email, in my pool report.
“I wish I had, I regret it.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...istan-reporter

Joe the Plumber

An Obama administration official exposed the name of the highest-ranking CIA officer in Kabul Saturday by "accidentally" placing it on a list provided to media outlets. Idiots.




Surprise! Obama Administration Outs Kabul CIA Chief During Obama’s Afghanistan Visit
The Daily Caller



Surprise! Obama Administration Outs Kabul CIA Chief During Obama’s Afghanistan Visit

1:04 AM 05/26/2014
Eric Owens
Education Editor

An unidentified Obama administration official exposed the name of the highest-ranking CIA officer in Kabul on Saturday by accidentally placing it on a list of names provided to a bunch of media outlets.
The list contained the names of several senior U.S. officials who took part in a military briefing during President Barack Obama’s surprise Memorial Day visit to Afghanistan to glad-hand with the troops, reports The Washington Post.
The list candidly described the head of the clandestine service in Kabul as “chief of station.” The CIA specifically uses the title to refer to the top spy stationed in every country around the world.
The unidentified CIA station chief was among 15 senior U.S. officials who gave Obama a military briefing at Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
Other, non-covert officials at the meeting included four-star Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., a Marine who commands all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, and James B. Cunningham, the U.S. Ambassador to the country.
The White House press office included the name of the CIA chief along with the other officials present at the briefing. The press office distributed the list via email to journalists in Afghanistan with Obama on his surprise visit.
The CIA officer’s name became even more widely circulated later when it was included in a “pool report” summarizing the military briefing for media organizations which were not involved in Obama’s Memorial Day foray into Afghanistan.
The pool report went to over 6,000 recipients.
Several member of foreign media were among the recipients of the pool report.
Washington Post White House bureau chief Scott Wilson first noticed the mention of the CIA’s top man in Afghanistan on the pool report. He alerted Obama administration press officials in Afghanistan.
Wilson said White House press staff didn’t care at first. They just blamed military officials for giving them the list. However, when senior White House officials learned about the revelation, they hastily issued an updated list of the individuals at the military briefing. In this second list, the CIA officer’s name was scrubbed.
By that time, the whole fracas had been tweeted (though without the CIA official’s name).
American media organizations are withholding the name of the CIA officer who had his cover completely blown because of a surprise visit by President Obama.
One reason is because Obama administration officials have warned that the lives of the CIA boss and his family members may be at risk if the name becomes even more widely disseminated.
The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 makes it a federal crime for anyone with access to classified information to intentionally expose the identity of individuals who are working in a covert capacity for the United States unless the U.S. government has already revealed the relationship publicly.
As the Post notes, prior to the Obama presidency, the federal government had typically managed to avoid blowing the cover of its spies.
There is precedent, however.
In 2007, a federal judge sentenced Republican Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney, to 30 months of hard time and a fine of $250,000 for leaking the covert identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame Wilson.
Libby was not convicted for intentionally spilling Plame’s identity. Instead, he was convicted for perjury, making false statements to federal investigators, and obstruction of justice.
President George W. Bush later commuted the prison-sentence portion of Libby’s sentence, but left other parts intact.
Libby was later disbarred in both Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Beyond warning journalists not to reveal the name of the CIA chief of station in Afghanistan, Obama’s White House refused to comment on the embarrassing situation.
The CIA also refused to comment and it’s not clear how the huge federal spy apparatus will react. The organization certainly has a large presence in Afghanistan. At the same time, as the Post notes, the station chief is unlikely to be among the spies personally snooping around the war-ravaged country.
In recent years, at least three CIA station chiefs in neighboring Pakistan have had their covers blown.


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Tags: Afghanistan, CIA, Obama, Valerie Plame

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/26/su...#ixzz32q3jTqRf