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Trending on WION | CIA bloopers expose floundering in abiding with precepts of the organization

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US, created in 1947, has completed 75 years, with several notable achievements and some terrible failures that earned it bouquets of ridicule.&nbsp;

The agency’s emblem sets out the paradigms it aims to follow: the eagle representing alertness and strength, and the 16-point compass star for the convergence of intelligence data from around the world, but quite a few of its bloopers exposed how it floundered in abiding with the precepts. &nbsp;

The agency prospered during the Cold War so much that its actions often proved to be scandalous as it appropriated unbridled power and had no accountability due to the nature of its operations. Some of its blunders would leave readers bemused today for the sheer idiosyncrasies and frivolity of ideas, and had even then resulted in raucous criticism.&nbsp;

CIA has worked in enabling regime changes, assassinations and coups, from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky had said, “It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently,” and the Central ‘Intelligence’ Agency seems to have taken it rather too seriously.

THE FIDEL CASTRO FIXATION&nbsp;

The most ridiculous of all CIA operations turned out to be the bizarre methods it repeatedly kept devising to snuff out the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Ernesto Che Guevara.&nbsp;

It is said that the CIA made 638 attempts to kill Castro, but failed every time and its ludicrous strategies became a laughing point. So much so that even Castro cracked a joke once on being offered a Galápagos turtle as a present and politely declined it on learning that it was likely to live only 100 years. “That’s the problem with pets. You get attached to them and then they die on you,” he famously said.&nbsp;

Its outlandish plots to kill Castro included exploding cigars, poisoned pens and booby-trapped seashells among others.&nbsp;

The assassination attempts, from 1959 to 2001, transcended eight presidencies, starting from the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration to Bill Clinton’s, but CIA’s ‘try and try, until you succeed’ dictum never paid off. &nbsp;

A 1967 report revealed that since Castro was fond of cigars, CIA came up with the idea of lacing one with explosives so that it would blow his face off after a few puffs, and then another of spiking it with botulinum, a toxin that attacks nerves, causes respiratory distress, muscle paralysis and leads to death. It recruited a double agent, gave him a box of Castro’s favourite cigars laced with the toxin, but it never worked, as it was conjectured that he had a tobacco-taster who took the first few drags to ensure his safety. And then Castro quit smoking!&nbsp;

Castro, also a keen scuba diver, loved to pick colourful seashells, which gave CIA brains the idea to place brightly painted seashells rigged with explosives at his favourite diving spots and wait for him to pick the molluscs and be doomed with a boom underwater. Even this didn’t work out, so then they devised a custom-made diving-suit infected with a deadly fungus. &nbsp;

When the indefatigable CIA learnt that Castro was an ice cream lover, it hatched a plan to place poison pills in his cone through a worker at his pet joint. The vial containing the poison was hidden in the freezer, but at the crucial moment, it could not be dislodged — it was frozen stuck!&nbsp;

The CIA roped in Castro’s former lover as a hitwoman and gave her poison pills, which she hid in her cold-cream jar, but they melted as did the chances of forcing them into Castro’s mouth while he slept.&nbsp;

Castro noticed her unusual behaviour and questioned her, and she admitted to the bid on his life. He allegedly handed her his pistol to finish the job, but she could not and they ended up making love —another CIA plot ending on a gratifying note for its bête noire.&nbsp;

Another CIA conspiracy was to use a superfine poisoned hypodermic needle concealed in a pen and the victim would not even notice the prick, but the Cuban official roped in for the job did not think much of the device and said the CIA should come up with something more sophisticated.&nbsp;

At times it seemed the CIA was more interested in bumping off the Cuban leader than protecting their own: the man given the pen-syringe was dispatched on his ‘mission’ on Nov. 22, 1963, the very day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. &nbsp;

Even American underworld figures from the mafia – still smarting at being kicked out of Cuba by Castro – were approached to carry out a hit. One would-be sniper was caught by security men at the University of Havana and a grenade attack at a baseball game was also foiled. &nbsp;

In 2000, about 90kg of high explosives were placed under the podium where Castro was due to speak during his visit to Panama, but his personal security team found it during checking.&nbsp;

The CIA also came up with non-fatal plans to discredit Castro by spraying an LSD aerosol near him during a broadcast which would lead to national humiliation as he freaked out on air. Then it planned to dust Castro’s shoes with thallium salts which would make his beard fall out while delivering a speech abroad. The trip was cancelled, and even this opportunity was lost.&nbsp;

The infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, in which the CIA trained, armed and funded 1400 exiled Cubans to attack Castro did not last days and John F Kennedy had to stop all air support and concede the embarrassing loss.&nbsp;

Castro, who is said to have used doubles and moved around the country constantly, survived all the assassination attempts, without even getting a scratch, and died of natural causes in 2016, at the ripe age of 90, finally giving respite to CIA.&nbsp;

OPERATION SHAKTI

Yet another colossal failure was on May 11, 1998, when under Operation Shakti, India detonated five underground atomic bombs and CIA was caught sleeping and stunned by how it was outsmarted by a third world nation. &nbsp;

India walked into the nuclear club with swag and the alert ‘eagle’ didn’t have a clue despite the billion-dollar satellites up in sky keeping a watch and much-bragged-about human intelligence.&nbsp; 
Relying on plain common sense, the Indian scientists only worked during the nights to evade the satellite detections, used camouflage to perfection, besides code words like White House for underground shafts. &nbsp;

"It is apparent that the Indians went to some lengths to conceal their activities and intentions," the ruffled CIA said later to explain the failure. &nbsp;

MK-ULTRA PROGRAMME: CIA'S QUEST FOR MIND CONTROL &nbsp;

During early Cold War, the CIA came to conclusion that Communists had discovered a drug or technique that allowed them to control human minds, and it began its own secret programme, called MK-ULTRA, the details of which read like a dystopian science fiction novel as it searched for mind control drugs and ways.&nbsp;

It drugged US and Canadian citizens with LSD and other psychoactive chemicals without their consent and subjected some to psychological torture ranging from electroshock to high doses of LSD.&nbsp; 
The illegal, unethical and dangerous programme ran from 1953 to 1964 and in 1973 CIA director ordered all related files to be destroyed.&nbsp;

9/11 TERROR ATTACK

The 9/11 attack is deemed the biggest failure of US intel agencies. The CIA failed to add to the ‘watch list’ two suspected al-Qaeda militants Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar it had been tracking since they attended a terrorist meeting in Malaysia on January 5, 2000. The error enabled them to enter US under their real names, rent apartment under real names, obtain driver’s licences, open bank accounts, purchase a car, and take flight lessons at a local school.&nbsp;

The commission appointed to probe the September 11 attacks revealed several glaring oversights and lapses in its report, including by the CIA.&nbsp;

WIKILEAKS VAULT 7&nbsp;

The CIA’s hacking team had started making cutting-edge cyber weapons to steal secrets from foreign governments but failed to monitor who had access to its information.&nbsp;

Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who stole data from the Pentagon and State Department, and the former contractor Edward Snowden, who took information from the National Security Agency, exposed the secrets. &nbsp;

In March 2017, WikiLeaks published some of the CIA’s most valuable hacking tools, which it called Vault 7, revealing how the agency could break into foreign computer networks, or activate the camera or microphone on devices to eavesdrop on adversaries.&nbsp;

The rattled CIA then plotted to kill or kidnap WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, but has not succeeded so far.&nbsp;

POLITICISATION OF INTELLIGENCE&nbsp;

The information of a stock of “weapons of mass destruction” in the possession of Saddam Hussein’s regime collected by CIA was used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq. The intel inputs were subsequently found baseless and critics condemned it as ‘politicisation’ of intelligence. &nbsp;

OTHER BLOOPERS

In 1990, US intel agencies were aware that Saddam Hussein was making unusual movements of armoured forces in his country, but didn't know and did nothing till he invaded Kuwait. &nbsp;

In 2003, CIA kidnapped Khaled El-Masri, a German and Lebanese citizen, mistaking him for a dreaded terrorist with the same name. He was flown to Afghanistan, where he was routinely interrogated, beaten, strip-searched, sodomised, and subjected to other cruel forms of inhumane treatment and torture. It took the smart detectives of the premier agency full four months to draw the conclusion that they had in fact picked up the wrong man. The CIA finally admitted his arrest was a mistake and released him. So much luck to the agency for bringing smiles on our faces, even as we wish it continues its stupendous endeavours, aborts terror attacks in time and saves lives as it has been scrupulously doing over the years.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

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The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US, created in 1947, has completed 75 years, with several notable achievements and some terrible failures that earned it bouquets of ridicule.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US, created in 1947, has completed 75 years, with several notable achievements and some terrible failures that earned it bouquets of ridicule. The agency’s emblem sets out the paradigms it aims to follow: the eagle representing alertness and strength, and the 16-point compass star for the convergence of intelligence data from around the world, but quite a few of its bloopers exposed how it floundered in abiding with the precepts. The agency prospered during the Cold War so much that its actions often proved to be scandalous as it appropriated unbridled power and had no accountability due to the nature of its operations. Some of its blunders would leave readers bemused today for the sheer idiosyncrasies and frivolity of ideas, and had even then resulted in raucous criticism. CIA has worked in enabling regime changes, assassinations and coups, from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Fyodor Dostoyevsky had said, “It takes something more than intelligence to act intelligently,” and the Central ‘Intelligence’ Agency seems to have taken it rather too seriously. THE FIDEL CASTRO FIXATION The most ridiculous of all CIA operations turned out to be the bizarre methods it repeatedly kept devising to snuff out the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Ernesto Che Guevara. It is said that the CIA made 638 attempts to kill Castro, but failed every time and its ludicrous strategies became a laughing point. So much so that even Castro cracked a joke once on being offered a Galápagos turtle as a present and politely declined it on learning that it was likely to live only 100 years. “That’s the problem with pets. You get attached to them and then they die on you,” he famously said. Its outlandish plots to kill Castro included exploding cigars, poisoned pens and booby-trapped seashells among others. The assassination attempts, from 1959 to 2001, transcended eight presidencies, starting from the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration to Bill Clinton’s, but CIA’s ‘try and try, until you succeed’ dictum never paid off. A 1967 report revealed that since Castro was fond of cigars, CIA came up with the idea of lacing one with explosives so that it would blow his face off after a few puffs, and then another of spiking it with botulinum, a toxin that attacks nerves, causes respiratory distress, muscle paralysis and leads to death. It recruited a double agent, gave him a box of Castro’s favourite cigars laced with the toxin, but it never worked, as it was conjectured that he had a tobacco-taster who took the first few drags to ensure his safety. And then Castro quit smoking! Castro, also a keen scuba diver, loved to pick colourful seashells, which gave CIA brains the idea to place brightly painted seashells rigged with explosives at his favourite diving spots and wait for him to pick the molluscs and be doomed with a boom underwater. Even this didn’t work out, so then they devised a custom-made diving-suit infected with a deadly fungus. When the indefatigable CIA learnt that Castro was an ice cream lover, it hatched a plan to place poison pills in his cone through a worker at his pet joint. The vial containing the poison was hidden in the freezer, but at the crucial moment, it could not be dislodged — it was frozen stuck! The CIA roped in Castro’s former lover as a hitwoman and gave her poison pills, which she hid in her cold-cream jar, but they melted as did the chances of forcing them into Castro’s mouth while he slept. Castro noticed her unusual behaviour and questioned her, and she admitted to the bid on his life. He allegedly handed her his pistol to finish the job, but she could not and they ended up making love —another CIA plot ending on a gratifying note for its bête noire. Another CIA conspiracy was to use a superfine poisoned hypodermic needle concealed in a pen and the victim would not even notice the prick, but the Cuban official roped in for the job did not think much of the device and said the CIA should come up with something more sophisticated. At times it seemed the CIA was more interested in bumping off the Cuban leader than protecting their own: the man given the pen-syringe was dispatched on his ‘mission’ on Nov. 22, 1963, the very day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Even American underworld figures from the mafia – still smarting at being kicked out of Cuba by Castro – were approached to carry out a hit. One would-be sniper was caught by security men at the University of Havana and a grenade attack at a baseball game was also foiled. In 2000, about 90kg of high explosives were placed under the podium where Castro was due to speak during his visit to Panama, but his personal security team found it during checking. The CIA also came up with non-fatal plans to discredit Castro by spraying an LSD aerosol near him during a broadcast which would lead to national humiliation as he freaked out on air. Then it planned to dust Castro’s shoes with thallium salts which would make his beard fall out while delivering a speech abroad. The trip was cancelled, and even this opportunity was lost. The infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, in which the CIA trained, armed and funded 1400 exiled Cubans to attack Castro did not last days and John F Kennedy had to stop all air support and concede the embarrassing loss. Castro, who is said to have used doubles and moved around the country constantly, survived all the assassination attempts, without even getting a scratch, and died of natural causes in 2016, at the ripe age of 90, finally giving respite to CIA. OPERATION SHAKTI Yet another colossal failure was on May 11, 1998, when under Operation Shakti, India detonated five underground atomic bombs and CIA was caught sleeping and stunned by how it was outsmarted by a third world nation. India walked into the nuclear club with swag and the alert ‘eagle’ didn’t have a clue despite the billion-dollar satellites up in sky keeping a watch and much-bragged-about human intelligence. Relying on plain common sense, the Indian scientists only worked during the nights to evade the satellite detections, used camouflage to perfection, besides code words like White House for underground shafts. "It is apparent that the Indians went to some lengths to conceal their activities and intentions," the ruffled CIA said later to explain the failure. MK-ULTRA PROGRAMME: CIA'S QUEST FOR MIND CONTROL During early Cold War, the CIA came to conclusion that Communists had discovered a drug or technique that allowed them to control human minds, and it began its own secret programme, called MK-ULTRA, the details of which read like a dystopian science fiction novel as it searched for mind control drugs and ways. It drugged US and Canadian citizens with LSD and other psychoactive chemicals without their consent and subjected some to psychological torture ranging from electroshock to high doses of LSD. The illegal, unethical and dangerous programme ran from 1953 to 1964 and in 1973 CIA director ordered all related files to be destroyed. 9/11 TERROR ATTACK The 9/11 attack is deemed the biggest failure of US intel agencies. The CIA failed to add to the ‘watch list’ two suspected al-Qaeda militants Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar it had been tracking since they attended a terrorist meeting in Malaysia on January 5, 2000. The error enabled them to enter US under their real names, rent apartment under real names, obtain driver’s licences, open bank accounts, purchase a car, and take flight lessons at a local school. The commission appointed to probe the September 11 attacks revealed several glaring oversights and lapses in its report, including by the CIA. WIKILEAKS VAULT 7 The CIA’s hacking team had started making cutting-edge cyber weapons to steal secrets from foreign governments but failed to monitor who had access to its information. Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who stole data from the Pentagon and State Department, and the former contractor Edward Snowden, who took information from the National Security Agency, exposed the secrets. In March 2017, WikiLeaks published some of the CIA’s most valuable hacking tools, which it called Vault 7, revealing how the agency could break into foreign computer networks, or activate the camera or microphone on devices to eavesdrop on adversaries. The rattled CIA then plotted to kill or kidnap WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, but has not succeeded so far. POLITICISATION OF INTELLIGENCE The information of a stock of “weapons of mass destruction” in the possession of Saddam Hussein’s regime collected by CIA was used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq. The intel inputs were subsequently found baseless and critics condemned it as ‘politicisation’ of intelligence. OTHER BLOOPERS In 1990, US intel agencies were aware that Saddam Hussein was making unusual movements of armoured forces in his country, but didn't know and did nothing till he invaded Kuwait. In 2003, CIA kidnapped Khaled El-Masri, a German and Lebanese citizen, mistaking him for a dreaded terrorist with the same name. He was flown to Afghanistan, where he was routinely interrogated, beaten, strip-searched, sodomised, and subjected to other cruel forms of inhumane treatment and torture. It took the smart detectives of the premier agency full four months to draw the conclusion that they had in fact picked up the wrong man. The CIA finally admitted his arrest was a mistake and released him. So much luck to the agency for bringing smiles on our faces, even as we wish it continues its stupendous endeavours, aborts terror attacks in time and saves lives as it has been scrupulously doing over the years. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

How intelligent is Central Intelligence Agency? CIA’s spotty record of 75 years

After blaming a US-led conspiracy for the change in regime, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has met former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and lobbyist Robin Raphel, according to media reports.

Local media reported that the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wants to create in-roads&nbsp;into the Biden administration to fix its image and relations with Washington.

Following his accusations against American diplomat Donald Lu for conspiring against the then government under Khan, the former cricketer also met the Biden administration's representative Ilhan Omar.

Previously, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Bloom met PTI's senior leader Fawad Chaudhry on September 8 in Islamabad.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/former-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-escapes-plane-crash-party-leaders-refute-media-reports-515081" hreflang="en">PTI chief Imran Khan escapes plane crash; party leaders refute media reports</a>

Officials of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government questioned Khan for taking every available opportunity to pacify and please Americans even though they slam them.

According to Khan, he was ousted due to his good relations and trade with Moscow during the Russia-Ukraine crisis.&nbsp;

Amid reports that she has been caught up in an FBI-led espionage investigation, Raphel’s distinguished career imploded when federal agents found classified documents from her house in Washington.

As a result, she has lost her security clearance and contract although no charges were filed against the 67-year-old retired envoy.

Former US President Bill Clinton had appointed Raphel as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in 1993.

(With inputs from agencies)

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After blaming a US-led conspiracy for the change in regime, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has met former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and lobbyist Robin Raphel, according to media reports.

After blaming a US-led conspiracy for the change in regime, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has met former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and lobbyist Robin Raphel, according to media reports. Local media reported that the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wants to create in-roads into the Biden administration to fix its image and relations with Washington. Following his accusations against American diplomat Donald Lu for conspiring against the then government under Khan, the former cricketer also met the Biden administration's representative Ilhan Omar. Previously, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Bloom met PTI's senior leader Fawad Chaudhry on September 8 in Islamabad. Also read | PTI chief Imran Khan escapes plane crash; party leaders refute media reports Officials of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government questioned Khan for taking every available opportunity to pacify and please Americans even though they slam them. According to Khan, he was ousted due to his good relations and trade with Moscow during the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Amid reports that she has been caught up in an FBI-led espionage investigation, Raphel’s distinguished career imploded when federal agents found classified documents from her house in Washington. As a result, she has lost her security clearance and contract although no charges were filed against the 67-year-old retired envoy. Former US President Bill Clinton had appointed Raphel as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in 1993. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION's live TV here: ×

Imran Khan meets former CIA analyst after accusing US-led conspiracy for his ouster

The intel review of documents at Trump’s estate

One year after ending the war in Afghanistan, the CIA speak less about counterterrorism and more about the political, economic and military threats posed by China. Molly Gambhir tells you all about this pivot by the US spy agency.

WION Fineprint: The CIA is shifting its focus to China amid Taiwan tensions

The United States has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed. He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital Kabul. Zawahiri was the mastermind behind 9/11 attacks and Bin Laden's successor.

Al-Zawahiri killed in counter-terrorism operation carried out by CIA in Kabul

As Ranil Wickremesinghe takes charge as Sri Lanka's new President, the chief of CIA has blamed Lanka's 'dumb bets' on China for the ongoing economic crisis. Palki Sharma brings you a report.

Gravitas: CIA chief blames Lanka's 'dumb bets' for crisis

A new book has revealed startling claims linking the CIA to the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Homi J Bhabha. Did US spies assassinate the Indian leadership to derail the country's nuclear programme? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: Did the CIA kill Lal Bahadur Shastri?

To what extent China is responsible for the economic crisis in Sri Lanka? Bill Burns, who is the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), on Wednesday (July 20) blamed the "dumb bets" made by the South Asian nation Sri Lanka on China for the ongoing economic crisis.&nbsp;

In the past few months, Sri Lanka suffered through food and fuel shortages, lengthy blackouts and galloping inflation as the nation ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods.&nbsp;

Now, Burns said that high-debt Chinese investment by Sri Lanka's leaders was one of the major factors that led to the South Asian country's economic collapse. He noted that the Chinese have a lot of weight to throw around and they can make a very appealing case for their investments.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/former-india-pm-lal-bahadur-shastris-family-demands-fresh-probe-into-his-death-499233">Former India pm Lal Bahadur Shastri's family demands fresh probe into his death</a>&nbsp;

As quoted by news agency AFP, Burns told the Aspen Security Forum that all the countries should look at "object lessons of a place like Sri Lanka today - heavily indebted to China - which has made some really dumb bets about their economic future and are suffering pretty catastrophic, both economic and political consequences as a result."&nbsp;

He added, "That, I think, ought to be an object lesson to a lot of other players - not just in the Middle East or South Asia, but around the world - about having your eyes wide open about those kinds of dealings."&nbsp;

Not the just chief of the US intelligence agency, many experts have said that China's debt trap diplomacy has become a major cause of Sri Lanka's unprecedented economic crisis.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eu-asks-countries-to-cut-gas-use-to-tackle-russian-blackmail-499302">EU asks countries to cut gas use to tackle Russian 'blackmail'</a>

China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka and worked closely with former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A report by The Washington Post highlighted that Beijing has been Sri Lanka's biggest creditor.&nbsp;

The credit accounts for some 10 per cent of the country's foreign debt. The communist nation between 2000 and 2020, moreover extended it to close to USD 12 billion in loans to the Sri Lankan government.&nbsp;

Reports have mentioned that in 2017, Sri Lanka was unable to repay a $1.4 billion loan for port construction. It was forced to lease out the facility to a Chinese company for 99 years.&nbsp;

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To what extent China is responsible for the economic crisis in Sri Lanka? Bill Burns, who is the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), on Wednesday (July 20) blamed the "dumb bets" made by the South Asian nation Sri Lanka on China for the ongoing economic crisis.

To what extent China is responsible for the economic crisis in Sri Lanka? Bill Burns, who is the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), on Wednesday (July 20) blamed the "dumb bets" made by the South Asian nation Sri Lanka on China for the ongoing economic crisis. In the past few months, Sri Lanka suffered through food and fuel shortages, lengthy blackouts and galloping inflation as the nation ran out of foreign currency to import vital goods. Now, Burns said that high-debt Chinese investment by Sri Lanka's leaders was one of the major factors that led to the South Asian country's economic collapse. He noted that the Chinese have a lot of weight to throw around and they can make a very appealing case for their investments. ALSO READ | Former India pm Lal Bahadur Shastri's family demands fresh probe into his death As quoted by news agency AFP, Burns told the Aspen Security Forum that all the countries should look at "object lessons of a place like Sri Lanka today - heavily indebted to China - which has made some really dumb bets about their economic future and are suffering pretty catastrophic, both economic and political consequences as a result." He added, "That, I think, ought to be an object lesson to a lot of other players - not just in the Middle East or South Asia, but around the world - about having your eyes wide open about those kinds of dealings." Not the just chief of the US intelligence agency, many experts have said that China's debt trap diplomacy has become a major cause of Sri Lanka's unprecedented economic crisis. ALSO READ | EU asks countries to cut gas use to tackle Russian 'blackmail' China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka and worked closely with former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A report by The Washington Post highlighted that Beijing has been Sri Lanka's biggest creditor. The credit accounts for some 10 per cent of the country's foreign debt. The communist nation between 2000 and 2020, moreover extended it to close to USD 12 billion in loans to the Sri Lankan government. Reports have mentioned that in 2017, Sri Lanka was unable to repay a $1.4 billion loan for port construction. It was forced to lease out the facility to a Chinese company for 99 years. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

CIA chief Bill Burns says Sri Lanka made 'dumb bets' on heavy Chinese investment

A former employee of the CIA has been convicted for leaking the largest classified data in the agency’s history. A federal jury found him guilty of nine counts, including illegal gathering of national defence information.

Joshua Schulte, who worked as a software engineer in the CIA, was accused of leaking classified data to WikiLeaks in 2016.

During the closing arguments to jurors, Schulte, who chose to defend himself at a New York City retrial, accused the CIA and FBI of making him a scapegoat for the WikiLeaks release.

Schulte claimed he was singled out even though “hundreds of people had access to (the information). … Hundreds of people could have stolen it”, reports AP news agency.

“The government’s case is riddled with reasonable doubt,” he added. “There’s simply no motive here.”

But the prosecutors alleged that the 33-year-old man had the motivation to leak secrets because he was disgruntled with the CIA for ignoring his complaints about the work environment.

So, he tried “to burn to the ground” the very work he had helped the agency to create, they said.

The US District Judge, Jesse M. Furman, found him guilty of all nine counts, including illegally gathering and transmitting national defence information and obstructing a criminal investigation and grand jury proceeding, among other charges.

The judge did not immediately set the sentencing date because Schulte still awaits trial on charges of possessing and transporting child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty.

The case pertains to the ‘Vault 7 leak’ which revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations, and a bid to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices. Before his arrest, Schulte helped to create the hacking tools as a coder at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Schulte has been jailed without bail since 2018. Last year, he complained in court papers that he was a victim of cruel and unusual punishment, awaiting two trials in solitary confinement inside a vermin-infested cell of a jail unit where inmates are treated like “caged animals.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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&nbsp;

A former employee of the CIA has been convicted for leaking the largest classified data in the agency’s history. A federal jury found him guilty of nine counts, including illegal gathering of national defence information.

A former employee of the CIA has been convicted for leaking the largest classified data in the agency’s history. A federal jury found him guilty of nine counts, including illegal gathering of national defence information. Joshua Schulte, who worked as a software engineer in the CIA, was accused of leaking classified data to WikiLeaks in 2016. During the closing arguments to jurors, Schulte, who chose to defend himself at a New York City retrial, accused the CIA and FBI of making him a scapegoat for the WikiLeaks release. Schulte claimed he was singled out even though “hundreds of people had access to (the information). … Hundreds of people could have stolen it”, reports AP news agency. “The government’s case is riddled with reasonable doubt,” he added. “There’s simply no motive here.” But the prosecutors alleged that the 33-year-old man had the motivation to leak secrets because he was disgruntled with the CIA for ignoring his complaints about the work environment. So, he tried “to burn to the ground” the very work he had helped the agency to create, they said. The US District Judge, Jesse M. Furman, found him guilty of all nine counts, including illegally gathering and transmitting national defence information and obstructing a criminal investigation and grand jury proceeding, among other charges. The judge did not immediately set the sentencing date because Schulte still awaits trial on charges of possessing and transporting child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty. The case pertains to the ‘Vault 7 leak’ which revealed how the CIA hacked Apple and Android smartphones in overseas spying operations, and a bid to turn internet-connected televisions into listening devices. Before his arrest, Schulte helped to create the hacking tools as a coder at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Schulte has been jailed without bail since 2018. Last year, he complained in court papers that he was a victim of cruel and unusual punishment, awaiting two trials in solitary confinement inside a vermin-infested cell of a jail unit where inmates are treated like “caged animals.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Ex-CIA employee convicted of most massive data leak in agency’s history

Indian-American Nand Mulchandani, a Silicon Valley IT veteran who completed his schooling in Delhi, has been named the first-ever Chief Technology Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Director William J Burns made the announcement for the coveted position on social media.&nbsp;

Mulchandani has over 25 years of experience working in Silicon Valley, according to the CIA.

"CIA Director William J. Burns appoints Nand Mulchandani as the CIA's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO). With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Mulchandani will ensure the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge innovations to further the CIA's mission, "the CIA said in a tweet.

"With more than 25 years experience working in Silicon Valley as well as the Department of Defense (DoD), Mr. Mulchandani brings substantial private sector, startup, and government expertise to CIA," the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said in a statement on Friday.

Watch | Gravitas: CIA Vs KGB: How it is playing out in the Ukraine crisis

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"Since my confirmation, I have prioritised focusing on technology and the new CTO position is a very important part of that effort. I am delighted Nand has joined our team and will bring his extensive experience to this crucial new role," Director Burns said.

"I am honoured to join the CIA in this role and look forward to working with the Agency’s incredible team of technologists and domain experts who already deliver world-class intelligence and capabilities to help build a comprehensive technology strategy that delivers exciting capabilities while working closely with industry and partners," said Mulchandani.

Mulchandani was most recently the CTO and Acting Director of the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center before joining the CIA.&nbsp;

He has co-founded and served as CEO of several successful firms, including Oblix (which was acquired by Oracle), Determina (which was acquired by VMWare), OpenDNS (which was acquired by Cisco), and ScaleXtreme (which was acquired by Cisco) (acquired by Citrix).&nbsp;

He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Cornell University, a master's degree in management from Stanford University, and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

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Indian-American Nand Mulchandani, a Silicon Valley IT veteran who completed his schooling in Delhi, has been named the first-ever Chief Technology Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Indian-American Nand Mulchandani, a Silicon Valley IT veteran who completed his schooling in Delhi, has been named the first-ever Chief Technology Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Director William J Burns made the announcement for the coveted position on social media. Mulchandani has over 25 years of experience working in Silicon Valley, according to the CIA. "CIA Director William J. Burns appoints Nand Mulchandani as the CIA's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO). With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Mulchandani will ensure the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge innovations to further the CIA's mission, "the CIA said in a tweet. "With more than 25 years experience working in Silicon Valley as well as the Department of Defense (DoD), Mr. Mulchandani brings substantial private sector, startup, and government expertise to CIA," the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said in a statement on Friday. Watch | Gravitas: CIA Vs KGB: How it is playing out in the Ukraine crisis "Since my confirmation, I have prioritised focusing on technology and the new CTO position is a very important part of that effort. I am delighted Nand has joined our team and will bring his extensive experience to this crucial new role," Director Burns said. "I am honoured to join the CIA in this role and look forward to working with the Agency’s incredible team of technologists and domain experts who already deliver world-class intelligence and capabilities to help build a comprehensive technology strategy that delivers exciting capabilities while working closely with industry and partners," said Mulchandani. Mulchandani was most recently the CTO and Acting Director of the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center before joining the CIA. He has co-founded and served as CEO of several successful firms, including Oblix (which was acquired by Oracle), Determina (which was acquired by VMWare), OpenDNS (which was acquired by Cisco), and ScaleXtreme (which was acquired by Cisco) (acquired by Citrix). He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Cornell University, a master's degree in management from Stanford University, and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Who is Nand Mulchandani, the Indian-origin official who will be CIA’s first-ever Chief Technology Officer?

An Indian-American named Nand Mulchandani has been appointed as CIA's first-ever Chief Technology Officer. Watch this report to know more.

US: Indian-American Nand Mulchandani appointed as CIA's first-ever CTO

CIA chief William Burns said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon especially since Russia has faced setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine. Burns was speaking in Atlanta in front of Georgia Tech University.

"Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons," said Burns.

Watch | Russia-Ukraine war: Russian Flagship 'Moskva' sinks in Black Sea while being towed to port

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Burns added that the US has not seen "a lot of practical evidence" of actual deployment of nuclear weapons.

"We're obviously very concerned. I know President Biden is deeply concerned about avoiding a third world war, about avoiding a threshold in which, you know, nuclear conflict becomes possible," said Burns.

Russia possesses tactical nuclear weapons. Such nuclear weapons are less powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during Second World War.

The escalate to de-escalate military doctrine of Russia would involve launching a first strike nuclear weapon of low yield to regain the initiative if things go badly in a conventional conflict with the West.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/moskva-russian-navys-black-sea-fleet-flagship-has-sunk-defence-ministry-471089">Moskva, Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet flagship, has sunk: Defence ministry</a>

But under this hypothesis, "NATO would intervene militarily on the ground in Ukraine in the course of this conflict, and that's not something, as President Biden has made very clear, that's in the cards."

Burns has served as US ambassador to Russia. He had strong words for Vladimir Putin.

calling him an "apostle of payback" who over the years "has stood in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity."

"Every day, Putin demonstrates that declining powers can be at least as disruptive as rising ones," Burns said.

(With inputs from agencies)

CIA chief William Burns said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon especially since Russia has faced setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine.

CIA chief William Burns said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon especially since Russia has faced setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine. Burns was speaking in Atlanta in front of Georgia Tech University. "Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they've faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons," said Burns. Watch | Russia-Ukraine war: Russian Flagship 'Moskva' sinks in Black Sea while being towed to port × Burns added that the US has not seen "a lot of practical evidence" of actual deployment of nuclear weapons. "We're obviously very concerned. I know President Biden is deeply concerned about avoiding a third world war, about avoiding a threshold in which, you know, nuclear conflict becomes possible," said Burns. Russia possesses tactical nuclear weapons. Such nuclear weapons are less powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during Second World War. The escalate to de-escalate military doctrine of Russia would involve launching a first strike nuclear weapon of low yield to regain the initiative if things go badly in a conventional conflict with the West. Also Read | Moskva, Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet flagship, has sunk: Defence ministry But under this hypothesis, "NATO would intervene militarily on the ground in Ukraine in the course of this conflict, and that's not something, as President Biden has made very clear, that's in the cards." Burns has served as US ambassador to Russia. He had strong words for Vladimir Putin. calling him an "apostle of payback" who over the years "has stood in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity." "Every day, Putin demonstrates that declining powers can be at least as disruptive as rising ones," Burns said. (With inputs from agencies)

Desperate Putin may use nuclear weapons, says CIA chief

The Ukraine crisis is nothing short of an information warfare. From troop deployment, to details of possible false flag attack, Intelligence is being shared openly. Palki Sharma will tell you why this crisis is also about CIA vs KGB.

Gravitas: CIA Vs KGB: How it is playing out in the Ukraine crisis

US intelligence continues to work on what may be its most crucial task of the moment, trying to crack a probable date of Russia's potential attack on Ukraine. It is perhaps the biggest challenge for the CIA currently.

CIA fails to crack a Ukraine attack date

CIA fails to crack a Ukraine attack date; US drums up war rhetoric on Ukraine

The United States intelligence panel probing what's behind the mysterious brain injuries among some of the American diplomats and spies overseas released a report, not ruling out the possibility of deliberate attacks.&nbsp;

On Wednesday (February 2), the expert panel in a report said that intense directed energy from an external source is the possible reason behind some of the cases of "Havana syndrome" among US diplomats.&nbsp;

"Havana syndrome" can be defined as a set of medical symptoms with unknown causes. It has been reported mostly abroad by US government officials and some of the military personnel.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/more-than-3000-personnel-face-getting-discharged-as-us-army-tightens-vaccine-mandate-rules-449993">More than 3000 personnel face getting discharged as US Army tightens vaccine mandate rules</a>

Those who are said to be affected have said that they have experienced symptoms like severe pain, ringing in the ears, cognitive difficulties.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, in the recent report, the panel of technological and medical experts found that pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound, delivered from close distances, could have caused the symptoms of what is officially called anomalous health incidents (AHIs).&nbsp;

The cases were first reported in 2016 by the US and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba. In 2017 other including US intelligence and military personnel and their families also reported similar symptoms in other places, such as China and Europe.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/china-suffered-a-huge-loss-in-the-galwan-valley-clash-fabricated-stories-to-the-world-australian-newspaper-449997">China suffered a huge loss in the Galwan Valley clash, ‘fabricated’ stories to the world: Australian newspaper</a>

The experts have revealed that the technology exists to cause the uncommon mix of ear pains, vertigo, nausea and other symptoms.&nbsp;

An unclassified summary of the experts' report, released by the US director of national intelligence, said that out of hundreds of cases reported, "a subset of AHIs cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and could be due to external stimuli".&nbsp;

Supporting the possibility of deliberate attacks, the experts have said that it is possible to create concealable devices that, using moderate amounts of energy, would direct electromagnetic energy or ultrasound waves to cause damage in a targeted person.&nbsp;

However, they did not say whether such devices exist. They also didn't mention who could have been behind them.&nbsp;

The Central Intelligence Agency recently found that all but about two dozen of some 1,000 reported AHI cases had conventional medical or environmental explanations.

(With inputs from agencies)

The United States intelligence panel probing what's behind the mysterious brain injuries among some of the American diplomats and spies overseas released a report, not ruling out the possibility of deliberate attacks.

The United States intelligence panel probing what's behind the mysterious brain injuries among some of the American diplomats and spies overseas released a report, not ruling out the possibility of deliberate attacks. On Wednesday (February 2), the expert panel in a report said that intense directed energy from an external source is the possible reason behind some of the cases of "Havana syndrome" among US diplomats. "Havana syndrome" can be defined as a set of medical symptoms with unknown causes. It has been reported mostly abroad by US government officials and some of the military personnel. ALSO READ | More than 3000 personnel face getting discharged as US Army tightens vaccine mandate rules Those who are said to be affected have said that they have experienced symptoms like severe pain, ringing in the ears, cognitive difficulties. Meanwhile, in the recent report, the panel of technological and medical experts found that pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound, delivered from close distances, could have caused the symptoms of what is officially called anomalous health incidents (AHIs). The cases were first reported in 2016 by the US and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba. In 2017 other including US intelligence and military personnel and their families also reported similar symptoms in other places, such as China and Europe. ALSO READ | China suffered a huge loss in the Galwan Valley clash, ‘fabricated’ stories to the world: Australian newspaper The experts have revealed that the technology exists to cause the uncommon mix of ear pains, vertigo, nausea and other symptoms. An unclassified summary of the experts' report, released by the US director of national intelligence, said that out of hundreds of cases reported, "a subset of AHIs cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and could be due to external stimuli". Supporting the possibility of deliberate attacks, the experts have said that it is possible to create concealable devices that, using moderate amounts of energy, would direct electromagnetic energy or ultrasound waves to cause damage in a targeted person. However, they did not say whether such devices exist. They also didn't mention who could have been behind them. The Central Intelligence Agency recently found that all but about two dozen of some 1,000 reported AHI cases had conventional medical or environmental explanations. (With inputs from agencies)

Intense directed energy by external device could have caused Havana syndrome

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) met in Moscow last week to discuss “regional conflicts”, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The Kremlin’s spokesman said that Putin and CIA chief William Burns discussed bilateral ties, “regional conflicts” and a crisis in diplomatic relations. He did not provide further details.&nbsp;

The meet comes amid reports of Russian troops build-up in the annexed part of Ukraine.

Burns was in Russia for two days of meetings with top officials at the request of President Joe Biden, the US embassy has said.

Last week, CNN reported that Burns had been sent to Moscow to warn the Kremlin about the alleged build-up of troops near Ukraine’s border. It said that after his meetings in Russia, Burns spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/whats-happening-between-russia-and-ukraine-heres-a-cheat-sheet-377164">What's happening between Russia and Ukraine? Here's a cheat-sheet</a>

Biden has increased pressure on Putin since becoming US president in January. In May, Russia formally designated the United States an “unfriendly state”.

The Pentagon said last week it was monitoring the situation in Ukraine closely amid reports of a new build-up of Russian troops on the country's border.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-military-spotted-near-ukraine-border-after-us-warning-376922">Russian military spotted near Ukraine border after US warning</a>

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said earlier this week that an estimated 90,000 Russian troops were positioned along the border and in rebel-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.

However, Russia denied the troop build-up claim.

“Russia maintains troops presence on its territory wherever it deems necessary,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week.

Russia earlier this week complained about US and NATO activity in the Black Sea as its naval forces practised destroying enemy targets there.

(With inputs from agencies)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) met in Moscow last week to discuss “regional conflicts”, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) met in Moscow last week to discuss “regional conflicts”, the Kremlin said on Monday. The Kremlin’s spokesman said that Putin and CIA chief William Burns discussed bilateral ties, “regional conflicts” and a crisis in diplomatic relations. He did not provide further details. The meet comes amid reports of Russian troops build-up in the annexed part of Ukraine. Burns was in Russia for two days of meetings with top officials at the request of President Joe Biden, the US embassy has said. Last week, CNN reported that Burns had been sent to Moscow to warn the Kremlin about the alleged build-up of troops near Ukraine’s border. It said that after his meetings in Russia, Burns spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone. Also read | What's happening between Russia and Ukraine? Here's a cheat-sheet Biden has increased pressure on Putin since becoming US president in January. In May, Russia formally designated the United States an “unfriendly state”. The Pentagon said last week it was monitoring the situation in Ukraine closely amid reports of a new build-up of Russian troops on the country's border. Also read | Russian military spotted near Ukraine border after US warning Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said earlier this week that an estimated 90,000 Russian troops were positioned along the border and in rebel-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine. However, Russia denied the troop build-up claim. “Russia maintains troops presence on its territory wherever it deems necessary,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week. Russia earlier this week complained about US and NATO activity in the Black Sea as its naval forces practised destroying enemy targets there. (With inputs from agencies)

Amid reports of Russian troop build-up in Ukraine, CIA chief met Putin in Moscow

The CIA has found that most cases of the mysterious ailments known as Havana syndrome are unlikely to have been caused by Russia or another foreign adversary, agency officials said, a conclusion that angered victims.

A majority of the 1,000 cases reported to the government can be explained by environmental causes, undiagnosed medical conditions or stress, rather than a sustained global campaign by a foreign power, CIA officials said, describing the interim findings of a comprehensive study.

The CIA is continuing its investigation into two dozen cases that remain unexplained. Those cases&nbsp;said a US&nbsp;official briefed on the findings, offer the greatest chance of yielding clues to whether a foreign power is responsible for some of the unexplained health incidents that have plagued American diplomats and CIA personnel in Havana and Vienna, among other cities.

In addition to those two dozen cases, a significant number of others remain unexplained, the official said.

The idea that Russia, China or Cuba was responsible for attacking hundreds of diplomats around the world was never backed up by any evidence that the Biden administration could unearth. But the FBI, the Pentagon and others continue to investigate whether a foreign power was involved in a smaller number of incidents, the US&nbsp;official said. Clusters of incidents in Havana beginning in 2016 and some in Vienna in 2021, along with other individual incidents, remain a focus of such investigations.

The interim findings left many victims dissatisfied, particularly current and former officials who have been battling chronic ailments for years without being given a clear explanation. In a statement, a group of victims said the CIA interim findings “cannot and must not be the final word on the matter.” The release of the findings, the victims said, was a breach of faith.

“The CIA’s newly issued report may be labelled ‘interim’ and it may leave open the door for some alternative explanation in some cases, but to scores of dedicated public servants, their families and their colleagues, it has a ring of finality and repudiation,” the statement said.

CIA Director William J. Burns said the agency was pursuing a complex issue with “analytic rigour, sound tradecraft and compassion,” emphasizing that agency officers have experienced real symptoms.

“While we have reached some significant interim findings, we are not done,” Burns said in a statement. “We will continue the mission to investigate these incidents and provide access to world-class care for those who need it.”

The agency has never accused Russia or another power of being responsible, but some officials, particularly in the Pentagon, said they believed there was evidence of the involvement of Moscow’s spy agencies, and many victims concurred. When Burns travelled to Moscow in December to warn Russia against invading Ukraine, he raised the issue of the health incidents and said if Russia was found responsible, there would be consequences.

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who suffered Havana syndrome symptoms on a trip to Moscow in 2017, said it was critical to continue to investigate the cases that remain unexplained. Praising Burns’ efforts to improve care for injured officers, he added that the CIA should not revert to a culture where victims were denigrated and dismissed.

“It took us 10 years to find Osama bin Laden,” Polymeropoulos said. “I would just urge patience and continued investigation by the intelligence community and the Department of Defense.”

Another victim, who asked that his name not be used because of his work for the agency, said the government had erred by pushing for more people to report ill health or unexplained symptoms. That brought in thousands of extraneous cases, the victim said, making it harder for the agency’s analysts to focus on the real cases.

The government official briefed on the findings said the effort to bring in large numbers of reports was not a mistake because it allowed the United States to speed up treatment for people suffering from symptoms. The effort also helped provide needed treatment to people with previously undiagnosed conditions, officials said.

CIA officials said there was agreement within the intelligence community about the finding that the majority of Havana syndrome incidents were not the work of an adversarial power conducting a sustained campaign around the globe. Still, confidence in that assessment ranged from low to high across various intelligence agencies.

In addition to the CIA, an expert panel has been looking at classified information about the incidents. The panel, which has provided its findings to the government but is still finishing its report, explored technologies that could result, at least theoretically, in the symptoms being reported.

When made public, that report is expected to provide information on whether directed energy or microwaves could account for some of the unexplained incidents.

A directed energy weapon remains the hypothesis that a number of victims who have studied the incidents believe is most likely. Some of these current or retired officials believe government investigators have dismissed evidence they have collected of strange sounds or electromagnetic readings.

But late last year, officials said the CIA had been unable to find any evidence that a directed energy device was responsible, neither intercepting communications from a foreign government that suggested the use of such a device or readings showing the presence of microwaves at the location of an incident.

Asked if directed energy or microwaves remain a leading theory for the cases still being investigated, an agency official said no potential explanation was being eliminated.

Of the cases that have been resolved, some had medical explanations, including previously undiagnosed conditions, while others were said to have had environmental causes, though CIA officials did not offer examples. Some of the cases, officials said, were potentially related to the high stress of working at the CIA.

Some outside experts believe that stress has contributed to psychosomatic reactions or so-called functional illness. Many victims have found those explanations for chronic headaches and nausea offensive.

Last year, Congress passed a law compensating victims of Havana syndrome, and giving the government until April to devise a payment plan. It is not clear how the interim findings could affect that process. CIA officials would say only that they were working on implementing the law, that their decisions were not yet due and that they were mindful of congressional intent to support officers reporting symptoms.

The statement by the victims said they hoped the interim report was not motivated by a desire on the government’s part to deny claims made under the act.

While some former officials said cases of similar injuries stretch back decades, the most recent spate of ailments began at the end of 2016, when CIA officers and diplomats working in the US&nbsp;embassy in Havana reported strange sounds, pressure and then various ailments including nausea and debilitating migraine headaches.

Those incidents were followed by multitudes of reports in China, then in Vienna. Other reports have come in from around the world, including Russia, India and Vietnam.

A review released in 2020 by a team from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that a microwave weapon was the most likely cause of the injuries.

Victims of the attacks had frequently pointed to various reports over the years about Russian research into directed energy weapons and the capacity of microwaves to cause brain injuries. But critics said that effort was incomplete because the Trump administration had not given the team access to classified information.

Many senior Trump administration officials, including leaders at the CIA, viewed the incidents sceptically, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to conclude that the mysterious incidents were attacks or that Russia was behind them. Some of those officials were influenced by an FBI report that concluded the ailments were a kind of functional illness or stress-induced psychosomatic response.

The Biden administration took office with Burns and others pledging to get better treatment for victims for what they called the anomalous health incidents. They also started new efforts to study what had happened. They formed a new scientific review panel, led by the intelligence agencies, to examine all of the evidence, classified and unclassified. The CIA formed a new cell, led by a veteran of the effort to find bin Laden, to figure out what happened.

Last year, Burns and other officials said the agency was focused on some 200 cases that remained unexplained.

The agency is now focused on two dozen.

The CIA has found that most cases of the mysterious ailments known as Havana syndrome are unlikely to have been caused by Russia or another foreign adversary, agency officials said, a conclusion that angered victims.

The CIA has found that most cases of the mysterious ailments known as Havana syndrome are unlikely to have been caused by Russia or another foreign adversary, agency officials said, a conclusion that angered victims. A majority of the 1,000 cases reported to the government can be explained by environmental causes, undiagnosed medical conditions or stress, rather than a sustained global campaign by a foreign power, CIA officials said, describing the interim findings of a comprehensive study. The CIA is continuing its investigation into two dozen cases that remain unexplained. Those cases said a US official briefed on the findings, offer the greatest chance of yielding clues to whether a foreign power is responsible for some of the unexplained health incidents that have plagued American diplomats and CIA personnel in Havana and Vienna, among other cities. In addition to those two dozen cases, a significant number of others remain unexplained, the official said. The idea that Russia, China or Cuba was responsible for attacking hundreds of diplomats around the world was never backed up by any evidence that the Biden administration could unearth. But the FBI, the Pentagon and others continue to investigate whether a foreign power was involved in a smaller number of incidents, the US official said. Clusters of incidents in Havana beginning in 2016 and some in Vienna in 2021, along with other individual incidents, remain a focus of such investigations. The interim findings left many victims dissatisfied, particularly current and former officials who have been battling chronic ailments for years without being given a clear explanation. In a statement, a group of victims said the CIA interim findings “cannot and must not be the final word on the matter.” The release of the findings, the victims said, was a breach of faith. “The CIA’s newly issued report may be labelled ‘interim’ and it may leave open the door for some alternative explanation in some cases, but to scores of dedicated public servants, their families and their colleagues, it has a ring of finality and repudiation,” the statement said. CIA Director William J. Burns said the agency was pursuing a complex issue with “analytic rigour, sound tradecraft and compassion,” emphasizing that agency officers have experienced real symptoms. “While we have reached some significant interim findings, we are not done,” Burns said in a statement. “We will continue the mission to investigate these incidents and provide access to world-class care for those who need it.” The agency has never accused Russia or another power of being responsible, but some officials, particularly in the Pentagon, said they believed there was evidence of the involvement of Moscow’s spy agencies, and many victims concurred. When Burns travelled to Moscow in December to warn Russia against invading Ukraine, he raised the issue of the health incidents and said if Russia was found responsible, there would be consequences. Marc Polymeropoulos, a former CIA officer who suffered Havana syndrome symptoms on a trip to Moscow in 2017, said it was critical to continue to investigate the cases that remain unexplained. Praising Burns’ efforts to improve care for injured officers, he added that the CIA should not revert to a culture where victims were denigrated and dismissed. “It took us 10 years to find Osama bin Laden,” Polymeropoulos said. “I would just urge patience and continued investigation by the intelligence community and the Department of Defense.” Another victim, who asked that his name not be used because of his work for the agency, said the government had erred by pushing for more people to report ill health or unexplained symptoms. That brought in thousands of extraneous cases, the victim said, making it harder for the agency’s analysts to focus on the real cases. The government official briefed on the findings said the effort to bring in large numbers of reports was not a mistake because it allowed the United States to speed up treatment for people suffering from symptoms. The effort also helped provide needed treatment to people with previously undiagnosed conditions, officials said. CIA officials said there was agreement within the intelligence community about the finding that the majority of Havana syndrome incidents were not the work of an adversarial power conducting a sustained campaign around the globe. Still, confidence in that assessment ranged from low to high across various intelligence agencies. In addition to the CIA, an expert panel has been looking at classified information about the incidents. The panel, which has provided its findings to the government but is still finishing its report, explored technologies that could result, at least theoretically, in the symptoms being reported. When made public, that report is expected to provide information on whether directed energy or microwaves could account for some of the unexplained incidents. A directed energy weapon remains the hypothesis that a number of victims who have studied the incidents believe is most likely. Some of these current or retired officials believe government investigators have dismissed evidence they have collected of strange sounds or electromagnetic readings. But late last year, officials said the CIA had been unable to find any evidence that a directed energy device was responsible, neither intercepting communications from a foreign government that suggested the use of such a device or readings showing the presence of microwaves at the location of an incident. Asked if directed energy or microwaves remain a leading theory for the cases still being investigated, an agency official said no potential explanation was being eliminated. Of the cases that have been resolved, some had medical explanations, including previously undiagnosed conditions, while others were said to have had environmental causes, though CIA officials did not offer examples. Some of the cases, officials said, were potentially related to the high stress of working at the CIA. Some outside experts believe that stress has contributed to psychosomatic reactions or so-called functional illness. Many victims have found those explanations for chronic headaches and nausea offensive. Last year, Congress passed a law compensating victims of Havana syndrome, and giving the government until April to devise a payment plan. It is not clear how the interim findings could affect that process. CIA officials would say only that they were working on implementing the law, that their decisions were not yet due and that they were mindful of congressional intent to support officers reporting symptoms. The statement by the victims said they hoped the interim report was not motivated by a desire on the government’s part to deny claims made under the act. While some former officials said cases of similar injuries stretch back decades, the most recent spate of ailments began at the end of 2016, when CIA officers and diplomats working in the US embassy in Havana reported strange sounds, pressure and then various ailments including nausea and debilitating migraine headaches. Those incidents were followed by multitudes of reports in China, then in Vienna. Other reports have come in from around the world, including Russia, India and Vietnam. A review released in 2020 by a team from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that a microwave weapon was the most likely cause of the injuries. Victims of the attacks had frequently pointed to various reports over the years about Russian research into directed energy weapons and the capacity of microwaves to cause brain injuries. But critics said that effort was incomplete because the Trump administration had not given the team access to classified information. Many senior Trump administration officials, including leaders at the CIA, viewed the incidents sceptically, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to conclude that the mysterious incidents were attacks or that Russia was behind them. Some of those officials were influenced by an FBI report that concluded the ailments were a kind of functional illness or stress-induced psychosomatic response. The Biden administration took office with Burns and others pledging to get better treatment for victims for what they called the anomalous health incidents. They also started new efforts to study what had happened. They formed a new scientific review panel, led by the intelligence agencies, to examine all of the evidence, classified and unclassified. The CIA formed a new cell, led by a veteran of the effort to find bin Laden, to figure out what happened. Last year, Burns and other officials said the agency was focused on some 200 cases that remained unexplained. The agency is now focused on two dozen.

Most ‘Havana syndrome’ cases unlikely caused by foreign power, CIA says

For months, the CIA and government scientists have been working to find a cause of the chronic ailments reported by intelligence officers and diplomats — but the health incidents, known as the Havana syndrome, remain as mysterious now as they were a year ago.

Intelligence officials have not found any hard evidence that points to a cause. There are no intelligence intercepts implicating an adversarial spy service. No one has detected microwaves, other readings of energy pulses or any other weapons that could be to blame.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/havana-syndrome-fbi-makes-it-a-top-priority-will-continue-to-identify-the-cause-431742">Havana Syndrome: FBI makes it a top priority, will continue to 'identify the cause'</a>

Some officials say they remain convinced Russia is involved. And CIA Director William Burns delivered a warning during his trip to Moscow last month: If Russia was found to be responsible, there would be consequences.

The trouble developing evidence shows the difficulty of the problem and suggests that absent a big breakthrough — evidence of someone using a device or an informant telling the CIA about what is afoot — getting answers will be a slow, frustrating and potentially contentious process, especially for those who have been afflicted.

Some outside experts have raised the possibility that the symptoms — chronic headache, vertigo, nausea and others — are a kind of psychosomatic reaction to stress, a so-called “functional illness” — a suggestion rejected by victims and many government officials.

Some scientists believe sensory discomfort — such as the strange sounds, heat or pressure associated with Havana syndrome cases, coupled with anxiety — can trigger real symptoms and sickness.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/havana-syndrome-strikes-again-what-is-it-exactly-408221">Havana Syndrome strikes again? What is it exactly?</a>

There have now been 750 official reports of possible anomalous health incidents, according to people briefed on the cases, but about three-quarters are no longer being investigated as likely cases of Havana syndrome. Some reports lacked the required sensory experience, such as heat, pressure or sound, before the symptoms’ onset, and others were found to have separate environmental or medical explanations. Of those cases, it is possible some may turn out to be psychosomatic, according to people briefed on the intelligence.

But of the approximately 200 cases of mysterious incidents still under active examination, the Biden administration does not think they were caused by functional illness or other psychosomatic reactions. In those cases, a US&nbsp;official said, multiple explanations remain possible, including directed energy, sonic devices or other medical explanations.

Directed energy, such as microwaves, remains one of the theories, perhaps the leading theory, according to American officials. But, so far, the CIA has been unable to collect hard evidence to show that any of the people suffering from symptoms of Havana syndrome have been hit with some sort of energy pulse.

Across the government, agencies are searching for clues they may have missed that could help unravel the mystery, according to officials familiar with the efforts. The examination, including the FBI, National Security Agency and CIA, involves reviewing forensic evidence, including surveillance tapes from American embassies. The government is also putting measures in place to detect any directed energy aimed at American diplomats and spies abroad.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/havana-syndrome-blinken-vows-to-solve-mystery-of-illness-affecting-us-diplomats-427052">Havana Syndrome: Blinken vows to solve mystery of illness affecting US diplomats</a>

One official said the work showed that the various agencies were determined to get to the bottom of what is happening. But, the official cautioned, the work could take time. The government needed to find “the right answer,” not “the easy answer, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because much of the government’s work to determine a cause of the incidents is classified.

US&nbsp;officials have repeatedly said that the symptoms people are suffering from are real and that the CIA, the Biden administration and Congress have taken steps to improve access to medical care and improve compensation for victims who can no longer work.

“What I know, having talked to dozens and dozens of my colleagues who have been victimized, is that real harm is being done to real people,” Burns told a congressional hearing last month.

In a report last year, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that a microwave weapon — a form of pulsed directed energy — was the most likely cause. Recent studies have indicated that directed energy or microwaves could cause brain injuries and symptoms like those of Havana syndrome.

Others briefed on the intelligence said the lack of evidence is baffling, since the kinds of directed energy known to cause injury ought to be detectable. The absence of proof could mean an adversarial power is using a technology that is unknown, and undetectable, to the United States.

Watch |&nbsp;Havana Syndrome: US Secy Blinken vows to solve the mystery

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It could also mean that the theory that directed energy is being used is wrong.

Some officials inside the government are convinced Russia is responsible for at least some of the incidents and has deliberately targeted US&nbsp;military personnel and CIA operatives. In his trip last month to Moscow, Burns told Russian officials that any sort of operation that caused severe brain injuries for US&nbsp;personnel was out of bounds for Russia’s spy services and that there would be consequences if Russia is shown to be responsible, according to people briefed on the conversations. The Washington Post earlier reported Burns’ warning to Russian officials.

It was the second time that senior American officials have raised the issue with their Russian counterparts, who have consistently denied involvement. President Joe Biden raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in their Geneva summit this year.

US&nbsp;intelligence agencies have also not been able to intercept any communications about rival foreign services using a device on US&nbsp;diplomats or spies. Getting an informant that could shed light on what foreign intelligence agencies or intercepting communications of rival spies is a top priority for intelligence agencies, according to people briefed on the inquiry.

What is more, medical personnel working with the intelligence agencies have also not been able to develop a concrete diagnosis or any kind of test that can determine who has been a victim and who has other kinds of medical ailments.

Individual victims have said their doctors have found blood markers consistent with concussions and brain scans showing injury or nerve damage. But investigators looking at the broad group of victims who have reported symptoms have not been able to find a pattern, such as a diagnostic test result the victims have in common.

Mark Lenzi, a State Department official who was injured in Guangzhou, China, said cognitive tests in many people with Havana syndrome show similar deficits, particularly in exercises involving 3D-shape rotations. Such tests are given to fighter pilots, and both the Air Force and Navy tested Lenzi earlier in his career, results that can be compared to more recent evaluations.

The government, Lenzi said, has readings that show the presence of dangerous levels of microwave energy in China. In an unclassified workers’ compensation report he filed with the Labor Department, Lenzi recounted how his neighbour in China used a commercial detector to record high levels of microwave energy in the apartment next to his.

But follow-up tests by the government used a classified device widely known not to be as reliable at detecting directed energy, said Lenzi, whose work involves countering foreign eavesdropping including by using directed energy. When the government says directed energy is a theory, but there is no evidence, “That is simply not true,” Lenzi said

“They have readings, especially in Guangzhou,” he said.

To lead the effort to find a cause of the incidents, and improve the medical care for those hurt by them, the CIA has formed the Global Health Incident Cell, a group that has been reviewing all of the reports.

A senior US&nbsp;official said the intelligence agencies “want a breakthrough because we want to know the thing or things that is producing harm.” Finding an answer, whatever it is, could not only help the government stop what is causing them but also help doctors treat the ailments.

Some former government officials say the episodes stretch back decades. Listening devices used by the Russian government in the 1990s and aimed at CIA officers working in the US&nbsp;Embassy are believed by some to have caused nausea and other symptoms.

But the most recent spate of incidents began in late 2016 in Cuba, where 40 CIA officers and diplomats said they heard strange noises, then reported headaches and nausea in episodes through May 2018. Those exposed the longest have reported chronic disabilities.

Since then, American diplomats have been injured in Guangzhou and other cities in China. More than two dozen American officials have reported symptoms in Vienna. There have been other reports around the world involving military officers, CIA personnel and diplomats.

For months, the CIA and government scientists have been working to find a cause of the chronic ailments reported by intelligence officers and diplomats — but the health incidents, known as the Havana syndrome, remain as mysterious now as they were a year ago.

For months, the CIA and government scientists have been working to find a cause of the chronic ailments reported by intelligence officers and diplomats — but the health incidents, known as the Havana syndrome, remain as mysterious now as they were a year ago. Intelligence officials have not found any hard evidence that points to a cause. There are no intelligence intercepts implicating an adversarial spy service. No one has detected microwaves, other readings of energy pulses or any other weapons that could be to blame. Also read | Havana Syndrome: FBI makes it a top priority, will continue to 'identify the cause' Some officials say they remain convinced Russia is involved. And CIA Director William Burns delivered a warning during his trip to Moscow last month: If Russia was found to be responsible, there would be consequences. The trouble developing evidence shows the difficulty of the problem and suggests that absent a big breakthrough — evidence of someone using a device or an informant telling the CIA about what is afoot — getting answers will be a slow, frustrating and potentially contentious process, especially for those who have been afflicted. Some outside experts have raised the possibility that the symptoms — chronic headache, vertigo, nausea and others — are a kind of psychosomatic reaction to stress, a so-called “functional illness” — a suggestion rejected by victims and many government officials. Some scientists believe sensory discomfort — such as the strange sounds, heat or pressure associated with Havana syndrome cases, coupled with anxiety — can trigger real symptoms and sickness. Also read | Havana Syndrome strikes again? What is it exactly? There have now been 750 official reports of possible anomalous health incidents, according to people briefed on the cases, but about three-quarters are no longer being investigated as likely cases of Havana syndrome. Some reports lacked the required sensory experience, such as heat, pressure or sound, before the symptoms’ onset, and others were found to have separate environmental or medical explanations. Of those cases, it is possible some may turn out to be psychosomatic, according to people briefed on the intelligence. But of the approximately 200 cases of mysterious incidents still under active examination, the Biden administration does not think they were caused by functional illness or other psychosomatic reactions. In those cases, a US official said, multiple explanations remain possible, including directed energy, sonic devices or other medical explanations. Directed energy, such as microwaves, remains one of the theories, perhaps the leading theory, according to American officials. But, so far, the CIA has been unable to collect hard evidence to show that any of the people suffering from symptoms of Havana syndrome have been hit with some sort of energy pulse. Across the government, agencies are searching for clues they may have missed that could help unravel the mystery, according to officials familiar with the efforts. The examination, including the FBI, National Security Agency and CIA, involves reviewing forensic evidence, including surveillance tapes from American embassies. The government is also putting measures in place to detect any directed energy aimed at American diplomats and spies abroad. Also read | Havana Syndrome: Blinken vows to solve mystery of illness affecting US diplomats One official said the work showed that the various agencies were determined to get to the bottom of what is happening. But, the official cautioned, the work could take time. The government needed to find “the right answer,” not “the easy answer, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because much of the government’s work to determine a cause of the incidents is classified. US officials have repeatedly said that the symptoms people are suffering from are real and that the CIA, the Biden administration and Congress have taken steps to improve access to medical care and improve compensation for victims who can no longer work. “What I know, having talked to dozens and dozens of my colleagues who have been victimized, is that real harm is being done to real people,” Burns told a congressional hearing last month. In a report last year, the National Academy of Sciences concluded that a microwave weapon — a form of pulsed directed energy — was the most likely cause. Recent studies have indicated that directed energy or microwaves could cause brain injuries and symptoms like those of Havana syndrome. Others briefed on the intelligence said the lack of evidence is baffling, since the kinds of directed energy known to cause injury ought to be detectable. The absence of proof could mean an adversarial power is using a technology that is unknown, and undetectable, to the United States. Watch | Havana Syndrome: US Secy Blinken vows to solve the mystery It could also mean that the theory that directed energy is being used is wrong. Some officials inside the government are convinced Russia is responsible for at least some of the incidents and has deliberately targeted US military personnel and CIA operatives. In his trip last month to Moscow, Burns told Russian officials that any sort of operation that caused severe brain injuries for US personnel was out of bounds for Russia’s spy services and that there would be consequences if Russia is shown to be responsible, according to people briefed on the conversations. The Washington Post earlier reported Burns’ warning to Russian officials. It was the second time that senior American officials have raised the issue with their Russian counterparts, who have consistently denied involvement. President Joe Biden raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in their Geneva summit this year. US intelligence agencies have also not been able to intercept any communications about rival foreign services using a device on US diplomats or spies. Getting an informant that could shed light on what foreign intelligence agencies or intercepting communications of rival spies is a top priority for intelligence agencies, according to people briefed on the inquiry. What is more, medical personnel working with the intelligence agencies have also not been able to develop a concrete diagnosis or any kind of test that can determine who has been a victim and who has other kinds of medical ailments. Individual victims have said their doctors have found blood markers consistent with concussions and brain scans showing injury or nerve damage. But investigators looking at the broad group of victims who have reported symptoms have not been able to find a pattern, such as a diagnostic test result the victims have in common. Mark Lenzi, a State Department official who was injured in Guangzhou, China, said cognitive tests in many people with Havana syndrome show similar deficits, particularly in exercises involving 3D-shape rotations. Such tests are given to fighter pilots, and both the Air Force and Navy tested Lenzi earlier in his career, results that can be compared to more recent evaluations. The government, Lenzi said, has readings that show the presence of dangerous levels of microwave energy in China. In an unclassified workers’ compensation report he filed with the Labor Department, Lenzi recounted how his neighbour in China used a commercial detector to record high levels of microwave energy in the apartment next to his. But follow-up tests by the government used a classified device widely known not to be as reliable at detecting directed energy, said Lenzi, whose work involves countering foreign eavesdropping including by using directed energy. When the government says directed energy is a theory, but there is no evidence, “That is simply not true,” Lenzi said “They have readings, especially in Guangzhou,” he said. To lead the effort to find a cause of the incidents, and improve the medical care for those hurt by them, the CIA has formed the Global Health Incident Cell, a group that has been reviewing all of the reports. A senior US official said the intelligence agencies “want a breakthrough because we want to know the thing or things that is producing harm.” Finding an answer, whatever it is, could not only help the government stop what is causing them but also help doctors treat the ailments. Some former government officials say the episodes stretch back decades. Listening devices used by the Russian government in the 1990s and aimed at CIA officers working in the US Embassy are believed by some to have caused nausea and other symptoms. But the most recent spate of incidents began in late 2016 in Cuba, where 40 CIA officers and diplomats said they heard strange noises, then reported headaches and nausea in episodes through May 2018. Those exposed the longest have reported chronic disabilities. Since then, American diplomats have been injured in Guangzhou and other cities in China. More than two dozen American officials have reported symptoms in Vienna. There have been other reports around the world involving military officers, CIA personnel and diplomats.

Review finds no answers to mystery of Havana syndrome

In the torturous history of the US government’s black sites, the FBI has long been portrayed as acting with a strong moral compass. Its agents, disgusted with the violence they saw at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, walked out, enabling the bureau to later deploy “clean teams” untainted by torture to interrogate the five men accused of conspiring in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

But new information that emerged this week in the September&nbsp;11 case undermines that FBI narrative. The two intelligence agencies secretly arranged for nine FBI agents to temporarily become CIA operatives in the overseas prison network where the spy agency used torture to interrogate its prisoners.

The once-secret program came to light in pretrial proceedings in the death penalty case. The proceedings are examining whether the accused mastermind of the September&nbsp;11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his four co-defendants voluntarily confessed after years in the black site network, where detainees were waterboarded, beaten, deprived of sleep and isolated to train them to comply with their captors’ wishes.

At issue is whether the military judge will exclude from the eventual trial the testimony of FBI agents who questioned the defendants in 2007 at Guantánamo and also forbid the use of reports that the agents wrote about each man’s account of his role in the hijacking conspiracy.

A veteran Guantánamo prosecutor, Jeffrey D. Groharing, has called the FBI interrogations “the most critical evidence in this case.” Defense lawyers argue that the interrogations were tainted by the years of torture by U.S. government agents.

In open court Thursday, another prosecutor, Clayton G. Trivett Jr., confirmed the unusual arrangement, in which nine agents were "formally detailed" to the agency “and thus became a member of the CIA and worked within CIA channels.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/rittenhouse-acquittal-polarises-us-on-political-lines-attracts-sharp-reactions-430653">Also read |&nbsp;Rittenhouse acquittal polarises US on political lines, attracts sharp reactions</a>

He said that the agents served as “debriefers,” a CIA term for interrogators, and questioned black site prisoners “out of the coercive environment” and after the use of “EITs.”

EITs, or enhanced interrogation techniques, is a CIA euphemism for a series of abusive tactics that the agency used against Mohammed and other prisoners in 2002 and 2003&nbsp;tactics that were then approved but are now illegal. They include waterboarding, painful shackling and isolating a prisoner nude, shivering and in the dark to break his will to resist interrogation.

Trivett offered no precise time period but made clear that the FBI agents were absorbed by the CIA sometime between 2002, when the black sites were established, and September 2006. On their return to the FBI, they took on the status of CIA assets, he said, and so their identities are classified.

Five of the nine agents had roles in the interrogations of some of the defendants in the case, Trivett said, and their names have been provided to defence lawyers on the basis that they not be disclosed.

The FBI declined to comment on the arrangement, as did the CIA.

A defence lawyer, James G. Connell III, added more details in the same court hearing.

He said that the nine agents “stopped being FBI agents and became CIA agents temporarily” under a memorandum of understanding that established a different arrangement than the more typical assignment of a representative of one law enforcement agency to work out of the organisation of another.

A former CIA historian, Nicholas Dujmovic, said there was a precedent for “taking employees from another government agency and quickly making them CIA employees for specific functions.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-us-uk-considering-boycott-of-beijing-winter-olympics-430708">Also read |&nbsp;After US, UK 'considering' boycott of Beijing winter Olympics</a>

In the 1950s, the CIA transformed US Air Force pilots into CIA employees during their stints flying U-2 spy planes and then returned them to the Air Force without the loss of seniority or benefits. “President Eisenhower thought it was important that U-2s not be piloted by US military pilots,” Dujmovic said. The process was called “sheep dipping,” he said.

Earlier testimony showed the FBI participating remotely in the CIA interrogations through requests sent by cables to the black sites seeking certain information from specific detainees, including Mohammed after he was waterboarded 183 times to force him to talk.

The pretrial hearings are in their ninth year and the military judge, Col. Matthew N. McCall of the Air Force, is the fourth judge to hear testimony at Guantánamo. In arguing over potential trial evidence, the prisoners’ lawyers have repeatedly accused prosecutors of redacting information that the defence needs to prepare for the capital trial. In the military commissions, prosecutors are the gatekeepers of potential trial evidence and can withhold information they deem not relevant to the defence’s needs.

In one example, Connell showed the judge a November 2005 cable the FBI sent to the CIA that contained questions for three of the defendants while they were in a black site out of reach of the courts, lawyers and the International Red Cross.

The FBI released the cable to the public this month under an executive order by President Joe Biden to declassify information about the FBI investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Connell had earlier received a version of the same cable from prosecutors. But it was so redacted that it obscured the fact that the FBI wanted Mohammed and the other defendants questioned in the black sites.

Trivett sought to play down the disclosure of the FBI-CIA collaboration as routine business at a time when the U.S. government was devoting tremendous resources to investigating the September 11 attacks. “This is not some big bombshell,” he told the judge.

A lawyer for Mohammed, Denny LeBoeuf, cast the collaboration as part of a conspiracy to portray FBI accounts of interrogations of the defendants at Guantánamo in 2007 as “clean team statements,” a law enforcement expression.

“They were never clean,” LeBoeuf said. “Torture isn’t clean. It is filthy. It has sights and sounds and consequences.”

In the torturous history of the US government’s black sites, the FBI has long been portrayed as acting with a strong moral compass. Its agents, disgusted with the violence they saw at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, walked out, enabling the bureau to later deploy “clean teams” untainted by torture to interrogate the five men accused of conspiring in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In the torturous history of the US government’s black sites, the FBI has long been portrayed as acting with a strong moral compass. Its agents, disgusted with the violence they saw at a secret CIA prison in Thailand, walked out, enabling the bureau to later deploy “clean teams” untainted by torture to interrogate the five men accused of conspiring in the attacks of September 11, 2001. But new information that emerged this week in the September 11 case undermines that FBI narrative. The two intelligence agencies secretly arranged for nine FBI agents to temporarily become CIA operatives in the overseas prison network where the spy agency used torture to interrogate its prisoners. The once-secret program came to light in pretrial proceedings in the death penalty case. The proceedings are examining whether the accused mastermind of the September 11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his four co-defendants voluntarily confessed after years in the black site network, where detainees were waterboarded, beaten, deprived of sleep and isolated to train them to comply with their captors’ wishes. At issue is whether the military judge will exclude from the eventual trial the testimony of FBI agents who questioned the defendants in 2007 at Guantánamo and also forbid the use of reports that the agents wrote about each man’s account of his role in the hijacking conspiracy. A veteran Guantánamo prosecutor, Jeffrey D. Groharing, has called the FBI interrogations “the most critical evidence in this case.” Defense lawyers argue that the interrogations were tainted by the years of torture by U.S. government agents. In open court Thursday, another prosecutor, Clayton G. Trivett Jr., confirmed the unusual arrangement, in which nine agents were "formally detailed" to the agency “and thus became a member of the CIA and worked within CIA channels.” Also read | Rittenhouse acquittal polarises US on political lines, attracts sharp reactions He said that the agents served as “debriefers,” a CIA term for interrogators, and questioned black site prisoners “out of the coercive environment” and after the use of “EITs.” EITs, or enhanced interrogation techniques, is a CIA euphemism for a series of abusive tactics that the agency used against Mohammed and other prisoners in 2002 and 2003 tactics that were then approved but are now illegal. They include waterboarding, painful shackling and isolating a prisoner nude, shivering and in the dark to break his will to resist interrogation. Trivett offered no precise time period but made clear that the FBI agents were absorbed by the CIA sometime between 2002, when the black sites were established, and September 2006. On their return to the FBI, they took on the status of CIA assets, he said, and so their identities are classified. Five of the nine agents had roles in the interrogations of some of the defendants in the case, Trivett said, and their names have been provided to defence lawyers on the basis that they not be disclosed. The FBI declined to comment on the arrangement, as did the CIA. A defence lawyer, James G. Connell III, added more details in the same court hearing. He said that the nine agents “stopped being FBI agents and became CIA agents temporarily” under a memorandum of understanding that established a different arrangement than the more typical assignment of a representative of one law enforcement agency to work out of the organisation of another. A former CIA historian, Nicholas Dujmovic, said there was a precedent for “taking employees from another government agency and quickly making them CIA employees for specific functions.” Also read | After US, UK 'considering' boycott of Beijing winter Olympics In the 1950s, the CIA transformed US Air Force pilots into CIA employees during their stints flying U-2 spy planes and then returned them to the Air Force without the loss of seniority or benefits. “President Eisenhower thought it was important that U-2s not be piloted by US military pilots,” Dujmovic said. The process was called “sheep dipping,” he said. Earlier testimony showed the FBI participating remotely in the CIA interrogations through requests sent by cables to the black sites seeking certain information from specific detainees, including Mohammed after he was waterboarded 183 times to force him to talk. The pretrial hearings are in their ninth year and the military judge, Col. Matthew N. McCall of the Air Force, is the fourth judge to hear testimony at Guantánamo. In arguing over potential trial evidence, the prisoners’ lawyers have repeatedly accused prosecutors of redacting information that the defence needs to prepare for the capital trial. In the military commissions, prosecutors are the gatekeepers of potential trial evidence and can withhold information they deem not relevant to the defence’s needs. In one example, Connell showed the judge a November 2005 cable the FBI sent to the CIA that contained questions for three of the defendants while they were in a black site out of reach of the courts, lawyers and the International Red Cross. The FBI released the cable to the public this month under an executive order by President Joe Biden to declassify information about the FBI investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks. Connell had earlier received a version of the same cable from prosecutors. But it was so redacted that it obscured the fact that the FBI wanted Mohammed and the other defendants questioned in the black sites. Trivett sought to play down the disclosure of the FBI-CIA collaboration as routine business at a time when the U.S. government was devoting tremendous resources to investigating the September 11 attacks. “This is not some big bombshell,” he told the judge. A lawyer for Mohammed, Denny LeBoeuf, cast the collaboration as part of a conspiracy to portray FBI accounts of interrogations of the defendants at Guantánamo in 2007 as “clean team statements,” a law enforcement expression. “They were never clean,” LeBoeuf said. “Torture isn’t clean. It is filthy. It has sights and sounds and consequences.”

FBI agents became CIA operatives in secret overseas prisons

According to reports, CIA Director William Burns spoke with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow about Russia’s military buildup on its border with Ukraine in an effort to gauge the Kremlin’s intentions in the region.

CIA Director Willian Burns meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow

A suburban Baltimore high school graduate turned al-Qaida courier, speaking to a military jury for the first time, gave a detailed account Thursday of the brutal forced feedings, crude waterboarding and other physical and sexual abuse he endured during his 2003 to 2006 detention in the CIA’s overseas prison network.

Appearing in open court, Majid Khan, 41, became the first former prisoner of the black sites to openly describe, anywhere, the violent and cruel “enhanced interrogation techniques” that agents used to extract information and confessions from terrorism suspects.

For more than two hours, he spoke about dungeonlike conditions, humiliating stretches of nudity with only a hood on his head, sometimes while his arms were chained in ways that made sleep impossible, and being intentionally nearly drowned in icy cold water in tubs at two sites, once while a CIA interrogator counted down from 10 before water was poured into his nose and mouth.

Soon after his capture in Pakistan in March 2003, Khan said, he cooperated with his captors, telling them everything he knew, with the hope of release. “Instead, the more I cooperated, the more I was tortured,” he said.

The dramatic accounting capped a day in which eight U.S. military officers were selected to serve on a jury, which will deliberate Friday on his official sentence in the range of 25 to 40 years, starting from his guilty plea in February 2012.

But the sentence is largely symbolic, a military commission requirement

Unknown to the jurors, Khan and his lawyers reached a secret deal this year with a senior Pentagon official in which his actual sentence could end as early as February and no later than February 2025 because Khan had become a government cooperator upon pleading guilty.

Jurors were told that in 2012 Khan pleaded guilty to terrorism charges, including murder in violation of the law of war, for delivering $50,000 of al-Qaida money from Pakistan to an al-Qaida affiliate in early 2003. The money was used in a deadly bombing of a Marriott hotel in August 2003, while Khan was a prisoner of the CIA. He has said he did not know how the money would be used.

He also admitted to plotting a number of other crimes with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, notably by wearing a suicide vest in a failed effort in 2002 to assassinate the president of Pakistan at the time, Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

Sentencing was delayed for nearly a decade to give Khan time and opportunity to cooperate with federal and military prosecutors, so far behind the scenes, in federal and military terrorism cases. In the intervening years, prosecutors and defence lawyers clashed in court filings over who would be called to testify about Khan’s abuse in CIA custody, and how.

In court Thursday, Khan read from a carefully worded 39-page account that did not identify CIA agents or the countries and foreign intelligence agencies that had a role in his secret detention at black sites — information that is protected at the national security court. He expressed remorse for hurting people through his embrace of radical Islam and al-Qaida, but also found a way around a labyrinth of U.S. intelligence classifications to realize a decade-long ambition to tell the world what U.S. agents had done to him.

“To those who tortured me, I forgive you,” he said, noting that while he was in custody he had rejected al-Qaida, terrorism, “violence and hatred.”

“I hope in the day of judgment that Allah will do the same for you and for me. I ask forgiveness from those whom I have wronged and I have hurt.”

It was an emotional day for Khan. His father, Ali, and a sister, both U.S. citizens, sat behind the court in a gallery, seeing him in person for the first time since he left the United States and joined al-Qaida after the Sept. 11 attacks. They were 50 feet from him and did not seem to recognize the now balding middle-age man with a gray goatee when he first entered the court.

After many minutes he caught their eyes, then waved. His father looked startled. Khan craned his neck frequently during the proceedings to see his family — and at one point formed a heart with his hands.

He juxtaposed his remarks of contrition with previously unheard details of what happened to him at the hands of the United States, the country his parents and siblings adopted by becoming citizens even as he did not.

His father wept through long stretches of the descriptions, at times hiding his head in his hands, while his sister, also tearful, tried to comfort him. The jury of Marine, Navy and Army officers watched and listened soberly, but displayed no emotion.

He received beatings while nude and spent long stretches in chains — at times shackled to a wall and crouching “like a dog,” he said, or with his arms extended high above his head and chained to a beam inside his cell. He was kept in darkness and dragged, hooded and shackled, his head slamming into floors, walls and stairs as he was moved between cells.

Before the CIA moved him from one prison to another, he said, a medic inserted an enema and then put him in a diaper held in place by duct tape so he would not need a bathroom break during flights. Guards moving him would hood him, aside from the time he had his face duct taped.

While held in a Muslim country, he said, his captors allowed him to pray. But at times the Americans did not.

Earlier accounts released by his lawyers said he was so sleep deprived for a time that he began to hallucinate. He described the experience: images of a cow and a giant lizard advancing on him inside a cell while he was chained to a beam above his head. He tried to kick them away but lost his balance, causing his chains to jerk him.

Khan gained attention with the release of a 2014 study of the CIA program by the Senate Intelligence Committee that said, after he refused to eat, his captors “infused” a puree of his lunch through his anus. The CIA called it rectal refeeding. Khan called it rape.

The CIA pumped water up the rectum of prisoners who would not follow a command to drink. Khan said this was done to him with “green garden hoses. They connected one end to the faucet, put the other in my rectum and they turned on the water.” He said he lost control of his bowels after those episodes and, to this day, has haemorrhoids.

He spoke about failed and sadistic responses to his hunger strikes and other acts of rebellion. Medics would roughly insert a feeding tube up his nose and down the back of his throat. He would try to bite it off and, in at least one instance, he said, a CIA officer used a plunger to force food inside his stomach, a technique that caused stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

The intelligence agency declined Thursday to comment on the descriptions offered in the hearing but noted that the CIA’s detention and interrogation program ended in 2009.

Lawyers sought permission to bring Khan’s wife and daughter, who was born after his capture, to the court, but the commander of the military’s Southern Command, which oversees prison operations, opposed their attendance. Like Khan, who acquired permanent resident status as a boy in the United States but never became a U.S. citizen, his wife and daughter are citizens of Pakistan.

Khan began by telling the jury that he was born in Saudi Arabia and was raised in Pakistan, the youngest son of eight siblings, until his father acquired a gas station in Maryland and moved the family to the United States when he was 16. He went on to graduate from a high school in suburban Baltimore and was working for a telecommunications contractor that managed the Pentagon phone system at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks.

He described the attacks and the death of his mother months earlier in 2001 as a turning point in his life.

Until then, he said, he had straddled two worlds: his traditional Pakistani family life and that of an American teenager who “smoked weed occasionally and had my share of girlfriends,” both of which he hid from his mother. After she died, he said, he was drawn to practicing Islam.

He rejected the explanation that Muslims had carried out the attack, “thinking that this was just another way the universe was kicking me while I was down, making me question my faith in Islam.”

During a family trip to Pakistan in 2002 — in which both he and his sister found spouses in arranged marriages — he encountered relatives, cousins and an uncle who had in earlier years joined the jihad in Afghanistan and had ties to al-Qaida.

“I was lost and vulnerable, and they went after me,” he said, including by showing him “propaganda videos” about the detention operation at Guantánamo, the base where he would be transferred for trial in 2006.

“I went willingly to al-Qaida,” he said. “I was stupid, so incredibly stupid. But they promised to relieve my pain and purify my sins. They promised to redeem me, and I believed them.”

A suburban Baltimore high school graduate turned al-Qaida courier, speaking to a military jury for the first time, gave a detailed account Thursday of the brutal forced feedings, crude waterboarding and other physical and sexual abuse he endured during his 2003 to 2006 detention in the CIA’s overseas prison network.

A suburban Baltimore high school graduate turned al-Qaida courier, speaking to a military jury for the first time, gave a detailed account Thursday of the brutal forced feedings, crude waterboarding and other physical and sexual abuse he endured during his 2003 to 2006 detention in the CIA’s overseas prison network. Appearing in open court, Majid Khan, 41, became the first former prisoner of the black sites to openly describe, anywhere, the violent and cruel “enhanced interrogation techniques” that agents used to extract information and confessions from terrorism suspects. For more than two hours, he spoke about dungeonlike conditions, humiliating stretches of nudity with only a hood on his head, sometimes while his arms were chained in ways that made sleep impossible, and being intentionally nearly drowned in icy cold water in tubs at two sites, once while a CIA interrogator counted down from 10 before water was poured into his nose and mouth. Soon after his capture in Pakistan in March 2003, Khan said, he cooperated with his captors, telling them everything he knew, with the hope of release. “Instead, the more I cooperated, the more I was tortured,” he said. The dramatic accounting capped a day in which eight U.S. military officers were selected to serve on a jury, which will deliberate Friday on his official sentence in the range of 25 to 40 years, starting from his guilty plea in February 2012. But the sentence is largely symbolic, a military commission requirement Unknown to the jurors, Khan and his lawyers reached a secret deal this year with a senior Pentagon official in which his actual sentence could end as early as February and no later than February 2025 because Khan had become a government cooperator upon pleading guilty. Jurors were told that in 2012 Khan pleaded guilty to terrorism charges, including murder in violation of the law of war, for delivering $50,000 of al-Qaida money from Pakistan to an al-Qaida affiliate in early 2003. The money was used in a deadly bombing of a Marriott hotel in August 2003, while Khan was a prisoner of the CIA. He has said he did not know how the money would be used. He also admitted to plotting a number of other crimes with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, notably by wearing a suicide vest in a failed effort in 2002 to assassinate the president of Pakistan at the time, Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. Sentencing was delayed for nearly a decade to give Khan time and opportunity to cooperate with federal and military prosecutors, so far behind the scenes, in federal and military terrorism cases. In the intervening years, prosecutors and defence lawyers clashed in court filings over who would be called to testify about Khan’s abuse in CIA custody, and how. In court Thursday, Khan read from a carefully worded 39-page account that did not identify CIA agents or the countries and foreign intelligence agencies that had a role in his secret detention at black sites — information that is protected at the national security court. He expressed remorse for hurting people through his embrace of radical Islam and al-Qaida, but also found a way around a labyrinth of U.S. intelligence classifications to realize a decade-long ambition to tell the world what U.S. agents had done to him. “To those who tortured me, I forgive you,” he said, noting that while he was in custody he had rejected al-Qaida, terrorism, “violence and hatred.” “I hope in the day of judgment that Allah will do the same for you and for me. I ask forgiveness from those whom I have wronged and I have hurt.” It was an emotional day for Khan. His father, Ali, and a sister, both U.S. citizens, sat behind the court in a gallery, seeing him in person for the first time since he left the United States and joined al-Qaida after the Sept. 11 attacks. They were 50 feet from him and did not seem to recognize the now balding middle-age man with a gray goatee when he first entered the court. After many minutes he caught their eyes, then waved. His father looked startled. Khan craned his neck frequently during the proceedings to see his family — and at one point formed a heart with his hands. He juxtaposed his remarks of contrition with previously unheard details of what happened to him at the hands of the United States, the country his parents and siblings adopted by becoming citizens even as he did not. His father wept through long stretches of the descriptions, at times hiding his head in his hands, while his sister, also tearful, tried to comfort him. The jury of Marine, Navy and Army officers watched and listened soberly, but displayed no emotion. He received beatings while nude and spent long stretches in chains — at times shackled to a wall and crouching “like a dog,” he said, or with his arms extended high above his head and chained to a beam inside his cell. He was kept in darkness and dragged, hooded and shackled, his head slamming into floors, walls and stairs as he was moved between cells. Before the CIA moved him from one prison to another, he said, a medic inserted an enema and then put him in a diaper held in place by duct tape so he would not need a bathroom break during flights. Guards moving him would hood him, aside from the time he had his face duct taped. While held in a Muslim country, he said, his captors allowed him to pray. But at times the Americans did not. Earlier accounts released by his lawyers said he was so sleep deprived for a time that he began to hallucinate. He described the experience: images of a cow and a giant lizard advancing on him inside a cell while he was chained to a beam above his head. He tried to kick them away but lost his balance, causing his chains to jerk him. Khan gained attention with the release of a 2014 study of the CIA program by the Senate Intelligence Committee that said, after he refused to eat, his captors “infused” a puree of his lunch through his anus. The CIA called it rectal refeeding. Khan called it rape. The CIA pumped water up the rectum of prisoners who would not follow a command to drink. Khan said this was done to him with “green garden hoses. They connected one end to the faucet, put the other in my rectum and they turned on the water.” He said he lost control of his bowels after those episodes and, to this day, has haemorrhoids. He spoke about failed and sadistic responses to his hunger strikes and other acts of rebellion. Medics would roughly insert a feeding tube up his nose and down the back of his throat. He would try to bite it off and, in at least one instance, he said, a CIA officer used a plunger to force food inside his stomach, a technique that caused stomach cramps and diarrhoea. The intelligence agency declined Thursday to comment on the descriptions offered in the hearing but noted that the CIA’s detention and interrogation program ended in 2009. Lawyers sought permission to bring Khan’s wife and daughter, who was born after his capture, to the court, but the commander of the military’s Southern Command, which oversees prison operations, opposed their attendance. Like Khan, who acquired permanent resident status as a boy in the United States but never became a U.S. citizen, his wife and daughter are citizens of Pakistan. Khan began by telling the jury that he was born in Saudi Arabia and was raised in Pakistan, the youngest son of eight siblings, until his father acquired a gas station in Maryland and moved the family to the United States when he was 16. He went on to graduate from a high school in suburban Baltimore and was working for a telecommunications contractor that managed the Pentagon phone system at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. He described the attacks and the death of his mother months earlier in 2001 as a turning point in his life. Until then, he said, he had straddled two worlds: his traditional Pakistani family life and that of an American teenager who “smoked weed occasionally and had my share of girlfriends,” both of which he hid from his mother. After she died, he said, he was drawn to practicing Islam. He rejected the explanation that Muslims had carried out the attack, “thinking that this was just another way the universe was kicking me while I was down, making me question my faith in Islam.” During a family trip to Pakistan in 2002 — in which both he and his sister found spouses in arranged marriages — he encountered relatives, cousins and an uncle who had in earlier years joined the jihad in Afghanistan and had ties to al-Qaida. “I was lost and vulnerable, and they went after me,” he said, including by showing him “propaganda videos” about the detention operation at Guantánamo, the base where he would be transferred for trial in 2006. “I went willingly to al-Qaida,” he said. “I was stupid, so incredibly stupid. But they promised to relieve my pain and purify my sins. They promised to redeem me, and I believed them.”

For first time in public, a detainee describes torture at CIA black sites

Amid tensions between the US and China, ambassador Qin Gang said that the US shouldn't go by the "cold war playbook, travestied from 007 movies" and it should just be left to&nbsp;Hollywood.

Gang's comments came as the CIA recently announced that it was opening a centre “to address the global challenge posed by China".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wont-bow-to-china-will-bolster-our-national-defence-taiwan-president-tsai-ing-wen-419560">Also Read:&nbsp;Won't bow to China, will bolster our national defence: Taiwan President</a>

The Chinese ambassador was however not impressed as he asserted that some people in the US "in their delusions" think they are James Bond and cannot "resist the urge to act out their own play".

Gang said it was "meaningless" and "harmful actions" while informing that President Biden during his phone call with Chinese President Xi had sought to "avoid miscommunication, miscalculation and unintended conflict".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/satellite-image-shows-chinas-new-fighter-jet-deployed-near-taiwan-418837">Also Read:&nbsp;Satellite image shows China’s new fighter jet deployed near Taiwan</a>

While opening the Chinese centre, the CIA had said that it faces the "toughest geopolitical test in a new era of great power rivalry" referring to China.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/china-hardens-its-stance-on-taiwan-419508">Watch:&nbsp;China hardens its stance on Taiwan</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/china-hardens-its-stance-on-taiwan-419508/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

China's repeated air incursion in recent weeks has led to increased tensions between the Biden administration and China as Taiwan's defence minister declared that the Communist nation is in a position to invade the country in 2025.

President Biden last week had declared the US was ready to abide by the Taiwan agreement after his phone call with President Xi as tensions escalated over Taiwan.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-administration-reveals-us-nuclear-warheads-arsenal-first-time-in-four-years-after-trumps-ban-418541">Also Read:&nbsp;Biden administration reveals US nuclear warheads</a>

Last week China had sent 56 warplanes to Taiwan in a single day which was the largest number of planes sent to the country which included bombers and fighter jets as Taiwan scrambled its jets and put missile launchers in place to thwart the Chinese threat.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Amid tensions between the US and China, ambassador Qin Gang said that the US shouldn't go by the "cold war playbook, travestied from 007 movies" and it should just be left to Hollywood.

Amid tensions between the US and China, ambassador Qin Gang said that the US shouldn't go by the "cold war playbook, travestied from 007 movies" and it should just be left to Hollywood. Gang's comments came as the CIA recently announced that it was opening a centre “to address the global challenge posed by China". Also Read: Won't bow to China, will bolster our national defence: Taiwan President The Chinese ambassador was however not impressed as he asserted that some people in the US "in their delusions" think they are James Bond and cannot "resist the urge to act out their own play". Gang said it was "meaningless" and "harmful actions" while informing that President Biden during his phone call with Chinese President Xi had sought to "avoid miscommunication, miscalculation and unintended conflict". Also Read: Satellite image shows China’s new fighter jet deployed near Taiwan While opening the Chinese centre, the CIA had said that it faces the "toughest geopolitical test in a new era of great power rivalry" referring to China. Watch: China hardens its stance on Taiwan China's repeated air incursion in recent weeks has led to increased tensions between the Biden administration and China as Taiwan's defence minister declared that the Communist nation is in a position to invade the country in 2025. President Biden last week had declared the US was ready to abide by the Taiwan agreement after his phone call with President Xi as tensions escalated over Taiwan. Also Read: Biden administration reveals US nuclear warheads Last week China had sent 56 warplanes to Taiwan in a single day which was the largest number of planes sent to the country which included bombers and fighter jets as Taiwan scrambled its jets and put missile launchers in place to thwart the Chinese threat. (With inputs from Agencies)

US shouldn't use cold war playbook like James Bond 007 movies: Chinese ambassador

The CIA will embark on a reorganisation intended to focus more on China, the agency’s director announced Thursday.

At the heart of the effort will be a new China Mission Center meant to bring more resources to studying the country and better position officers around the world to collect information and analyse China’s activities.

The new centre “will further strengthen our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government,” William J. Burns, the agency’s director, said in a statement.

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Another new centre will focus on new technology and global problems like pandemics and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/climate-change">climate change</a>. Called the Transnational and Technology Mission Center, part of its mission will be to identify new technologies that could be used by the agency to help collect intelligence and by others against CIA operatives.

During his confirmation hearing in February, Burns identified China as his top priority, and the challenges of changing technology as another important focus area. The new mission centres, along with the creation of a new post of chief technology officer, are a way of formalizing those priorities.

The changes reflect a general policy across the Biden administration’s national security team of giving added attention to a new generation of challenges and threats to the United States after two decades in which terrorism dominated the work of the intelligence community.

The agency has briefed congressional leaders on the changes, and the increased focus on China at least is likely to be greeted warmly. Both Republicans and Democrats have argued that the intelligence agencies need to direct more resources to China and improve their analysis of the Chinese government.

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The announcement comes only days after CIA stations and bases around the world received a top-secret cable warning about informants that have been arrested, killed or turned into double agents.

Technological advances have made collecting intelligence in China very difficult. Ubiquitous surveillance cameras and facial recognition software powered by artificial intelligence has made evading detection in China particularly challenging.

A decade ago, the Chinese government systematically dismantled the CIA’s spying operation in the country, with informants captured or killed. Some former officials have blamed a breach of the agency’s classified communications system, while others have blamed a former CIA officer later convicted of giving secrets to China. Since then, the agency has tried to rebuild its networks, but the Chinese government’s power to track the movements and communications of people have slowed the effort.

A senior CIA official said the new technology center would help the agency stay ahead of new technologies that can identify spies. During the last several years, the official said, the agency has been working to address new technological developments and pushing officers not to underestimate adversarial intelligence services.

Watch | Gravitas: Captured, Killed &amp; Compromised: CIA admits to losing spies

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-captured-killed-compromised-cia-admits-to-losing-spies-418739/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

In the jargon of the CIA, tradecraft is the set of skills spies use to evade adversarial operatives, find new sources and communicate with them securely. Technological advances by countries like China have forced the agency to update and improve their tradecraft. And the senior official said the new focus on technology and China would help in those efforts to continue to transform their tradecraft.

The changes are also an attempt to refine the broad reorganization of the CIA undertaken in 2015 by John O. Brennan, when he became director in the final years of the Obama administration. Before the announcement, Burns reached out to former agency directors to brief them on the reorganization and his thinking, several of whom said the changes made sense to them.

“The CIA must adapt to the policy priorities of each new administration as well as to the evolving global landscape of national security challenges and opportunities,” Brennan said. “If there is any country that deserves its own mission center, it is China, which has global ambitions and presents the greatest challenge to US&nbsp;interests and to international order.”

The new reorganization is not nearly so broad as Brennan’s. But Burns is undoing two changes put in place by Brennan’s successor, Mike Pompeo, who was President Donald Trump’s first CIA director. Pompeo created mission centers focused on North Korea and Iran. Those groups will now be folded back into regional centers focused on the Middle East and East Asia.

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With the ending of the Iran mission center, its current chief, Michael D’Andrea, is retiring from the agency. The appointment in 2017 of D’Andrea, who had a long career leading operations against al-Qaida and other terrorist targets, was a sign of the Trump administration’s hard-line on Iran. And inside the CIA, D’Andrea helped craft a more muscular approach against Tehran.

Throughout his time in the agency, D’Andrea worked undercover, even as he took senior leadership roles, and the agency would not publicly acknowledge or discuss his role. But with his retirement, his work can ever so slightly emerge from the shadows. Burns said Thursday that D’Andrea had had a “remarkable impact.”

“On behalf of all of us at CIA, I want to express deep appreciation to Mike for his decades of service and leadership on some of the most difficult issues we’ve faced,” Burns said.

A senior CIA official said ending the independent Iran and North Korea centres did not reflect any reduction in the agency’s view of the importance of those countries or a lessening of the threat they posed. But a review of the agency’s operations concluded that Iran and North Korea were best analyzed inside the context of their wider regions.

China’s global ambitions, and its growing involvement in countries across the world through its development initiatives, mean that it could benefit from its own focal centre.

Burns will start meeting with China experts on a weekly basis, much as his predecessor’s held weekly counterterrorism meetings for much of the last two decades.

US: CIA claims to be losing troubling number of agents

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-cia-claims-to-be-losing-troubling-number-of-agents-418867/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The CIA will also push more China experts to work overseas. While it may not be possible to increase the number of agency officials working in China, the agency can position more analysts in Asia and regions of the world where China is active, to help agency officers gain a better understanding of Beijing’s strategies and tactics.

In a message to the CIA workforce delivered on Wednesday, Burns said that in China, the United States was “facing our toughest geopolitical test in a new era of great power rivalry.”

The CIA will embark on a reorganisation intended to focus more on China, the agency’s director announced Thursday. At the heart of the effort will be a new China Mission Center meant to bring more resources to studying the country and better position officers around the world to collect information and analyse China’s activities.

The CIA will embark on a reorganisation intended to focus more on China, the agency’s director announced Thursday. At the heart of the effort will be a new China Mission Center meant to bring more resources to studying the country and better position officers around the world to collect information and analyse China’s activities. The new centre “will further strengthen our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government,” William J. Burns, the agency’s director, said in a statement. Also read | New report claims CIA planned gun battle & abduction to snatch Assange Another new centre will focus on new technology and global problems like pandemics and climate change. Called the Transnational and Technology Mission Center, part of its mission will be to identify new technologies that could be used by the agency to help collect intelligence and by others against CIA operatives. During his confirmation hearing in February, Burns identified China as his top priority, and the challenges of changing technology as another important focus area. The new mission centres, along with the creation of a new post of chief technology officer, are a way of formalizing those priorities. The changes reflect a general policy across the Biden administration’s national security team of giving added attention to a new generation of challenges and threats to the United States after two decades in which terrorism dominated the work of the intelligence community. The agency has briefed congressional leaders on the changes, and the increased focus on China at least is likely to be greeted warmly. Both Republicans and Democrats have argued that the intelligence agencies need to direct more resources to China and improve their analysis of the Chinese government. Also read | Captured, killed or compromised: CIA admits to losing dozens of informants The announcement comes only days after CIA stations and bases around the world received a top-secret cable warning about informants that have been arrested, killed or turned into double agents. Technological advances have made collecting intelligence in China very difficult. Ubiquitous surveillance cameras and facial recognition software powered by artificial intelligence has made evading detection in China particularly challenging. A decade ago, the Chinese government systematically dismantled the CIA’s spying operation in the country, with informants captured or killed. Some former officials have blamed a breach of the agency’s classified communications system, while others have blamed a former CIA officer later convicted of giving secrets to China. Since then, the agency has tried to rebuild its networks, but the Chinese government’s power to track the movements and communications of people have slowed the effort. A senior CIA official said the new technology center would help the agency stay ahead of new technologies that can identify spies. During the last several years, the official said, the agency has been working to address new technological developments and pushing officers not to underestimate adversarial intelligence services. Watch | Gravitas: Captured, Killed & Compromised: CIA admits to losing spies In the jargon of the CIA, tradecraft is the set of skills spies use to evade adversarial operatives, find new sources and communicate with them securely. Technological advances by countries like China have forced the agency to update and improve their tradecraft. And the senior official said the new focus on technology and China would help in those efforts to continue to transform their tradecraft. The changes are also an attempt to refine the broad reorganization of the CIA undertaken in 2015 by John O. Brennan, when he became director in the final years of the Obama administration. Before the announcement, Burns reached out to former agency directors to brief them on the reorganization and his thinking, several of whom said the changes made sense to them. “The CIA must adapt to the policy priorities of each new administration as well as to the evolving global landscape of national security challenges and opportunities,” Brennan said. “If there is any country that deserves its own mission center, it is China, which has global ambitions and presents the greatest challenge to US interests and to international order.” The new reorganization is not nearly so broad as Brennan’s. But Burns is undoing two changes put in place by Brennan’s successor, Mike Pompeo, who was President Donald Trump’s first CIA director. Pompeo created mission centers focused on North Korea and Iran. Those groups will now be folded back into regional centers focused on the Middle East and East Asia. Also read | Havana syndrome cases may be linked to crickets, claims report With the ending of the Iran mission center, its current chief, Michael D’Andrea, is retiring from the agency. The appointment in 2017 of D’Andrea, who had a long career leading operations against al-Qaida and other terrorist targets, was a sign of the Trump administration’s hard-line on Iran. And inside the CIA, D’Andrea helped craft a more muscular approach against Tehran. Throughout his time in the agency, D’Andrea worked undercover, even as he took senior leadership roles, and the agency would not publicly acknowledge or discuss his role. But with his retirement, his work can ever so slightly emerge from the shadows. Burns said Thursday that D’Andrea had had a “remarkable impact.” “On behalf of all of us at CIA, I want to express deep appreciation to Mike for his decades of service and leadership on some of the most difficult issues we’ve faced,” Burns said. A senior CIA official said ending the independent Iran and North Korea centres did not reflect any reduction in the agency’s view of the importance of those countries or a lessening of the threat they posed. But a review of the agency’s operations concluded that Iran and North Korea were best analyzed inside the context of their wider regions. China’s global ambitions, and its growing involvement in countries across the world through its development initiatives, mean that it could benefit from its own focal centre. Burns will start meeting with China experts on a weekly basis, much as his predecessor’s held weekly counterterrorism meetings for much of the last two decades. US: CIA claims to be losing troubling number of agents The CIA will also push more China experts to work overseas. While it may not be possible to increase the number of agency officials working in China, the agency can position more analysts in Asia and regions of the world where China is active, to help agency officers gain a better understanding of Beijing’s strategies and tactics. In a message to the CIA workforce delivered on Wednesday, Burns said that in China, the United States was “facing our toughest geopolitical test in a new era of great power rivalry.”

CIA reorganisation to place new focus on China

The CIA is losing spies. They're being captured, killed & compromised. A leaked cable claims CIA's adversaries are hunting down its informants & turning them into 'double agents'. Who are these adversaries? Watch this report by Palki Sharma to find out.

Gravitas: Captured, Killed & Compromised: CIA admits to losing spies

The CIA sent a top-secret message to its global network of stations and bases that said a concerning number of informants recruited from other countries to spy for the U.S. have been captured, killed or compromised.

US: CIA claims to be losing troubling number of agents

Top American counterintelligence officials warned every CIA station and base around the world last week about troubling numbers of informants recruited from other countries to spy for the United States being captured or killed, people familiar with the matter said.

The message, in an unusual top-secret cable, said that the CIA’s counterintelligence mission centre had looked at dozens of cases in the last several years involving foreign informants who had been killed, arrested or most likely compromised. Although brief, the cable laid out the specific number of agents executed by rival intelligence agencies — a closely held detail that counterintelligence officials typically do not share in such cables.

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The cable highlighted the struggle the spy agency is having as it works to recruit spies around the world in difficult operating environments. In recent years, adversarial intelligence services in countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been hunting down the CIA’s sources and in some cases turning them into double agents.

Acknowledging that recruiting spies is a high-risk business, the cable raised issues that have plagued the agency in recent years, including poor tradecraft, being too trusting of sources, underestimating foreign intelligence agencies and moving too quickly to recruit informants while not paying enough attention to potential counterintelligence risks — a problem the cable called placing “mission over security.”

The large number of compromised informants in recent years also demonstrated the growing prowess of other countries in employing innovations like biometric scans, facial recognition, artificial intelligence and hacking tools to track the movements of CIA officers in order to discover their sources.

While the CIA has many ways to collect intelligence for its analysts to craft into briefings for policymakers, networks of trusted human informants around the world remain the centerpiece of its efforts, the kind of intelligence that the agency is supposed to be the best in the world at collecting and analyzing.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-report-claims-cia-planned-gun-battle-abduction-to-snatch-assange-416285">New report claims CIA planned gun battle &amp; abduction to snatch Assange</a>

Recruiting new informants, former officials said, is how the CIA’s case officers — its front-line spies — earn promotions. Case officers are not typically promoted for running good counterintelligence operations, such as figuring out if an informant is really working for another country.

The agency has devoted much of its attention for the last two decades to terrorist threats and the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but improving intelligence collection on adversarial powers both great and small is once again a centerpiece of the CIA’s agenda, particularly as policymakers demand more insight into China and Russia.

The loss of informants, former officials said, is not a new problem. But the cable demonstrated the issue is more urgent than is publicly understood.

The warning, according to those who have read it, was primarily aimed at front-line agency officers, the people involved most directly in the recruiting and vetting of sources. The cable reminded CIA case officers to focus not just on recruiting sources but also on security issues including vetting informants and evading adversarial intelligence services.

Among the reasons for the cable, according to people familiar with the document, was to prod CIA case officers to think about steps they can take on their own do a better job managing informants.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/us-spy-plane-crash-in-afghanistan-277115">Now, Iran media claims CIA chief behind Soleimani’s assassination killed in Afghanistan plane crash</a>

Former officials said that there has to be more focus on security and counterintelligence, among both senior leaders and front-line personnel, especially when it comes to recruiting informants, which CIA officers call agents.

“No one at the end of the day is being held responsible when things go south with an agent,” said Douglas London, a former agency operative. “Sometimes there are things beyond our control, but there are also occasions of sloppiness and neglect, and people in senior positions are never held responsible.”

London said he was unaware of the cable. But his new book, “The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence,” argues that the CIA’s shift toward covert action and paramilitary operations undermined traditional espionage that relies on securely recruiting and handling agents.

Sheetal T. Patel, who last year became the CIA’s assistant director for counterintelligence and leads that mission centre, has not been reluctant to send out broad warnings to the CIA community of current and former officers.

In January, Patel sent a letter to retired CIA officers warning against working for foreign governments who are trying to build up spying capabilities by hiring retired intelligence officials. (The letter, promptly leaked, also included warnings about talking to journalists.)

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cia-vienna-station-chief-removed-amid-havana-syndrome-criticism-report-415559">CIA Vienna station chief removed amid 'Havana syndrome' criticism: Report</a>

Former officials say the broadsides are a way of pushing CIA officers to become more serious about counterintelligence.

The memo sent last week suggested that the agency underestimated its adversaries — the belief that its officers and tradecraft were better than other intelligence services. But the results of the study showed that countries being targeted by the US&nbsp;are also skilled at hunting down informants.

Some former officials believe that the agency’s skills at thwarting adversarial intelligence services have grown rusty after decades of focusing on terrorism threats and relying on risky covert communications. Developing, training and directing informants spying on foreign governments differs in some ways from developing sources inside terrorist networks.

While the memo identified specific numbers of informants that were arrested or killed, it said the number turned against the United States was not fully known. Sometimes, informants who are discovered by adversarial intelligence services are not arrested but instead are turned into double agents who feed disinformation to the CIA, which can have devastating effects on intelligence collection and analysis. Pakistanis have been particularly effective in this sphere, former officials said.

The collapse of the US-backed government in Afghanistan means that learning more about Pakistan’s ties to the Taliban government and extremist organizations in the region is going to become ever more important. As a result, the pressure is once again on the CIA to build and maintain networks of informants in Pakistan, a country with a record of discovering and breaking those networks.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/cia-says-al-qaeda-is-regrouping-post-taliban-takeover-in-afghanistan-report-413469">CIA says Al Qaeda is regrouping post Taliban takeover in Afghanistan: Report</a>

Similarly, the focus by successive administrations on great power competition and the challenges of China and Russia has meant that building up spy networks and protecting those sources are more important than ever.

In those countries, technology has also become a problem, former officials said. Artificial intelligence, biometric scans, facial recognition and other technology has made it far easier for governments to track American intelligence officers operating in their country. That has made meeting and communicating with sources far more difficult.

A breach of the classified communications system, or “covcom,” used by the CIA helped to expose the agency’s networks in China and in Iran, according to former officials. In both cases, informants were executed. Others had to be extracted and resettled by the agency.

In Iran and China, some intelligence officials believe that Americans provided information to the adversarial agencies that could have helped expose informants. Monica Elfriede Witt, a former Air Force sergeant who defected to Iran, was indicted on a charge of providing information to Iran in 2019. The Iranians leveraged her knowledge only after determining she could be trusted. Later that year, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA officer, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for providing secrets to the Chinese government.

Watch |&nbsp;Early signs of Al-Qaeda regrouping in Afghanistan, notes CIA

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/early-signs-of-al-qaeda-regrouping-in-afghanistan-notes-cia-413465/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Former officials say there is no shortage of examples of where the agency has been so focused on the mission that security measures were not given proper consideration. And in some cases, a turned agent can have deadly consequences.

The 2009 bombing at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven agency employees was a good example of mission over security, London said. In that suicide attack, a Jordanian doctor the CIA thought it had persuaded to penetrate al-Qaida had in fact been turned against the United States.

“We were in such a rush to make such a big score,” London said. “Those were tradecraft mistakes.”

He added it is important to remind the CIA’s workforce of the damage that can happen when tradecraft lapses.

“Do your job and don’t be lazy,” he said. “It’s a willingness to say we are not as perfect as we think we are. That’s a positive thing.”

Top American counterintelligence officials warned every CIA station and base around the world last week about troubling numbers of informants recruited from other countries to spy for the United States being captured or killed, people familiar with the matter said.

Top American counterintelligence officials warned every CIA station and base around the world last week about troubling numbers of informants recruited from other countries to spy for the United States being captured or killed, people familiar with the matter said. The message, in an unusual top-secret cable, said that the CIA’s counterintelligence mission centre had looked at dozens of cases in the last several years involving foreign informants who had been killed, arrested or most likely compromised. Although brief, the cable laid out the specific number of agents executed by rival intelligence agencies — a closely held detail that counterintelligence officials typically do not share in such cables. Also read | Havana syndrome cases may be linked to crickets, claims report The cable highlighted the struggle the spy agency is having as it works to recruit spies around the world in difficult operating environments. In recent years, adversarial intelligence services in countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan have been hunting down the CIA’s sources and in some cases turning them into double agents. Acknowledging that recruiting spies is a high-risk business, the cable raised issues that have plagued the agency in recent years, including poor tradecraft, being too trusting of sources, underestimating foreign intelligence agencies and moving too quickly to recruit informants while not paying enough attention to potential counterintelligence risks — a problem the cable called placing “mission over security.” The large number of compromised informants in recent years also demonstrated the growing prowess of other countries in employing innovations like biometric scans, facial recognition, artificial intelligence and hacking tools to track the movements of CIA officers in order to discover their sources. While the CIA has many ways to collect intelligence for its analysts to craft into briefings for policymakers, networks of trusted human informants around the world remain the centerpiece of its efforts, the kind of intelligence that the agency is supposed to be the best in the world at collecting and analyzing. Also read | New report claims CIA planned gun battle & abduction to snatch Assange Recruiting new informants, former officials said, is how the CIA’s case officers — its front-line spies — earn promotions. Case officers are not typically promoted for running good counterintelligence operations, such as figuring out if an informant is really working for another country. The agency has devoted much of its attention for the last two decades to terrorist threats and the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but improving intelligence collection on adversarial powers both great and small is once again a centerpiece of the CIA’s agenda, particularly as policymakers demand more insight into China and Russia. The loss of informants, former officials said, is not a new problem. But the cable demonstrated the issue is more urgent than is publicly understood. The warning, according to those who have read it, was primarily aimed at front-line agency officers, the people involved most directly in the recruiting and vetting of sources. The cable reminded CIA case officers to focus not just on recruiting sources but also on security issues including vetting informants and evading adversarial intelligence services. Among the reasons for the cable, according to people familiar with the document, was to prod CIA case officers to think about steps they can take on their own do a better job managing informants. Also read | Now, Iran media claims CIA chief behind Soleimani’s assassination killed in Afghanistan plane crash Former officials said that there has to be more focus on security and counterintelligence, among both senior leaders and front-line personnel, especially when it comes to recruiting informants, which CIA officers call agents. “No one at the end of the day is being held responsible when things go south with an agent,” said Douglas London, a former agency operative. “Sometimes there are things beyond our control, but there are also occasions of sloppiness and neglect, and people in senior positions are never held responsible.” London said he was unaware of the cable. But his new book, “The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence,” argues that the CIA’s shift toward covert action and paramilitary operations undermined traditional espionage that relies on securely recruiting and handling agents. Sheetal T. Patel, who last year became the CIA’s assistant director for counterintelligence and leads that mission centre, has not been reluctant to send out broad warnings to the CIA community of current and former officers. In January, Patel sent a letter to retired CIA officers warning against working for foreign governments who are trying to build up spying capabilities by hiring retired intelligence officials. (The letter, promptly leaked, also included warnings about talking to journalists.) Also read | CIA Vienna station chief removed amid 'Havana syndrome' criticism: Report Former officials say the broadsides are a way of pushing CIA officers to become more serious about counterintelligence. The memo sent last week suggested that the agency underestimated its adversaries — the belief that its officers and tradecraft were better than other intelligence services. But the results of the study showed that countries being targeted by the US are also skilled at hunting down informants. Some former officials believe that the agency’s skills at thwarting adversarial intelligence services have grown rusty after decades of focusing on terrorism threats and relying on risky covert communications. Developing, training and directing informants spying on foreign governments differs in some ways from developing sources inside terrorist networks. While the memo identified specific numbers of informants that were arrested or killed, it said the number turned against the United States was not fully known. Sometimes, informants who are discovered by adversarial intelligence services are not arrested but instead are turned into double agents who feed disinformation to the CIA, which can have devastating effects on intelligence collection and analysis. Pakistanis have been particularly effective in this sphere, former officials said. The collapse of the US-backed government in Afghanistan means that learning more about Pakistan’s ties to the Taliban government and extremist organizations in the region is going to become ever more important. As a result, the pressure is once again on the CIA to build and maintain networks of informants in Pakistan, a country with a record of discovering and breaking those networks. Also read | CIA says Al Qaeda is regrouping post Taliban takeover in Afghanistan: Report Similarly, the focus by successive administrations on great power competition and the challenges of China and Russia has meant that building up spy networks and protecting those sources are more important than ever. In those countries, technology has also become a problem, former officials said. Artificial intelligence, biometric scans, facial recognition and other technology has made it far easier for governments to track American intelligence officers operating in their country. That has made meeting and communicating with sources far more difficult. A breach of the classified communications system, or “covcom,” used by the CIA helped to expose the agency’s networks in China and in Iran, according to former officials. In both cases, informants were executed. Others had to be extracted and resettled by the agency. In Iran and China, some intelligence officials believe that Americans provided information to the adversarial agencies that could have helped expose informants. Monica Elfriede Witt, a former Air Force sergeant who defected to Iran, was indicted on a charge of providing information to Iran in 2019. The Iranians leveraged her knowledge only after determining she could be trusted. Later that year, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA officer, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for providing secrets to the Chinese government. Watch | Early signs of Al-Qaeda regrouping in Afghanistan, notes CIA Former officials say there is no shortage of examples of where the agency has been so focused on the mission that security measures were not given proper consideration. And in some cases, a turned agent can have deadly consequences. The 2009 bombing at a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven agency employees was a good example of mission over security, London said. In that suicide attack, a Jordanian doctor the CIA thought it had persuaded to penetrate al-Qaida had in fact been turned against the United States. “We were in such a rush to make such a big score,” London said. “Those were tradecraft mistakes.” He added it is important to remind the CIA’s workforce of the damage that can happen when tradecraft lapses. “Do your job and don’t be lazy,” he said. “It’s a willingness to say we are not as perfect as we think we are. That’s a positive thing.”

Captured, killed or compromised: CIA admits to losing dozens of informants

The CIA has removed its Vienna station chief following criticism of his management, including what some considered an inadequate response to reports of "Havana syndrome" incidents at the US&nbsp;Embassy there, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The Post, which cited unnamed current and former US&nbsp;officials, reported the action would send a message that leaders must take seriously the Havana syndrome, a mysterious set of ailments that include migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness.

A CIA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on specific incidents or officers.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cia-officer-reports-havana-syndrome-symptoms-on-india-trip-reports-414634">CIA officer reports Havana syndrome symptoms on India trip: reports</a>

The Washington Post said dozens of US&nbsp;personnel in the Austrian capital, including diplomats and intelligence officials, as well as some of the children of US&nbsp;employees, have reported symptoms of the syndrome.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-evidence-of-havana-syndrome-say-cuban-scientists-412983">No evidence of 'Havana Syndrome', say Cuban scientists</a>

CIA Director William Burns said in July that about 100 CIA officers and family members were among some 200 US&nbsp;officials and kin sickened by Havana syndrome.

The ailments were first reported by officials based in the US&nbsp;Embassy in Cuba in 2016.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/havana-syndrome-strikes-again-what-is-it-exactly-408221">Havana Syndrome strikes again? What is it exactly?</a>

Last year, a US&nbsp;National Academy of Sciences panel found that the most plausible theory is that "directed, pulsed radio frequency energy" causes the syndrome.

Burns has said there is a "very strong possibility" the syndrome is intentionally caused and that Russia could be responsible. Moscow denies involvement.

The CIA has removed its Vienna station chief following criticism of his management, including what some considered an inadequate response to reports of "Havana syndrome" incidents at the US Embassy there, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The CIA has removed its Vienna station chief following criticism of his management, including what some considered an inadequate response to reports of "Havana syndrome" incidents at the US Embassy there, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post, which cited unnamed current and former US officials, reported the action would send a message that leaders must take seriously the Havana syndrome, a mysterious set of ailments that include migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness. A CIA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on specific incidents or officers. Also Read | CIA officer reports Havana syndrome symptoms on India trip: reports The Washington Post said dozens of US personnel in the Austrian capital, including diplomats and intelligence officials, as well as some of the children of US employees, have reported symptoms of the syndrome. Also Read | No evidence of 'Havana Syndrome', say Cuban scientists CIA Director William Burns said in July that about 100 CIA officers and family members were among some 200 US officials and kin sickened by Havana syndrome. The ailments were first reported by officials based in the US Embassy in Cuba in 2016. Also Read | Havana Syndrome strikes again? What is it exactly? Last year, a US National Academy of Sciences panel found that the most plausible theory is that "directed, pulsed radio frequency energy" causes the syndrome. Burns has said there is a "very strong possibility" the syndrome is intentionally caused and that Russia could be responsible. Moscow denies involvement.

CIA Vienna station chief removed amid 'Havana syndrome' criticism: Report

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