| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Suicide Bombing Devastates Critical Hub for CIA Activities |
| 2010-01-01 |
| WASHINGTON--Wednesday's attack on a U.S. compound in Afghanistan devastated what has been a hub of counterterrorism and intelligence operations for the spy agency. Seven Central Intelligence Agency officers and contractors were killed and six more wounded in the suicide bomb attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday, the second-largest single-day loss for the spy agency in its history. Among the casualties was the agency's base chief, former intelligence officials said. There had been only four publicly acknowledged CIA fatalities in Afghanistan prior to this attack. Several former intelligence officials described the attack in Afghanistan as "devastating" to the agency. A number of the officers killed had been counterterrorism operatives since before the 9/11 attacks. The loss of seven officers is significant for a relatively small agency whose workforce is estimated to be 10,000 or more, but it's all the more damaging because those lost represented so much collective experience. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 Pakistan is not on ally. They're on the other side. True, lex. But as long as they insist they are, we can take advantage of the fact...all those dead on both sides of the border from Predator strikes, and the movement of Taliban leadership to the cities -- where they turn their ire on the local citizenry -- testifies to how well the CIA have taken advantage of the small openings they've been given. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-01-01 15:50 |
| #6 Pakistan is not on ally. They're on the other side. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-01-01 12:03 |
| #5 May be a pair of (somewhat singed) stones available on that plane in Detroit. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-01-01 12:00 |
| #4 "Bambi has the stones" Maybe Michelle will let him borrow hers.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-01-01 10:35 |
| #3 Haqqani/ISI Operation If so, two can play that game, John, assuming Bambi has the stones. |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2010-01-01 10:29 |
| #2 Haqqani/ISI Operation |
| Posted by: john frum 2010-01-01 07:54 |
| #1 I can't help thinking: maybe now "less-nuanced" (people who learned the truth of Churchill's observation) will take over the job. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-01-01 01:25 |