CIA Spies Caught, Fear Execution in Middle East

[Princess Luna]

In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.
The spies were paid informants recruited by the CIA for two distinct espionage rings targeting Iran and the Beirut-based Hezbollah organization, considered by the U.S. to be a terror group backed by Iran.
"Espionage is a risky business," a U.S. official briefed on the developments told ABC News, confirming the loss of the unspecified number of spies over the last six months.
"Many risks lead to wins, but some result in occasional setbacks," the official said.
Robert Baer, a former senior CIA officer who worked against Hezbollah while stationed in Beirut in the 1980's, said Hezbollah typically executes individuals suspected of or caught spying.
"If they were genuine spies, spying against Hezbollah, I don't think we'll ever see them again," he said. "These guys are very, very vicious and unforgiving."
Other current and former officials said the discovery of the two U.S. spy rings occurred separately, but amounted to a setback of significant proportions in efforts to track the activities of the Iranian nuclear program and the intentions of Hezbollah against Israel.
"Remember, this group was responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9/11," said a U.S. official. Attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 killed more than 300 people, including almost 260 Americans.
The U.S. official, speaking for the record but without attribution, gave grudging credit to the efforts of Iran and Hezbollah to detect and expose U.S. and Israeli espionage.
"Collecting sensitive information on adversaries who are aggressively trying to uncover spies in their midst will always be fraught with risk," said the U.S. official briefed on the spy ring bust.
But others inside the American intelligence community say sloppy "tradecraft" -- the method of covert operations -- by the CIA is also to blame for the disruption of the vital spy networks.
In Beirut, two Hezbollah double agents pretended to go to work for the CIA. Hezbollah then learned of the restaurant where multiple CIA officers were meeting with several agents, according to the four current and former officials briefed on the case. The CIA used the codeword "PIZZA" when discussing where to meet with the agents, according to U.S. officials. Two former officials describe the location as a Beirut Pizza Hut. A current US official denied that CIA officers met their agents at Pizza Hut.
From there, Hezbollah's internal security arm identified at least a dozen informants, and the identities of several CIA case officers.
Hezbollah then began to "roll up" much of the CIA's network against the terror group, the officials said.
One former senior intelligence official told ABC News that CIA officers ignored warnings that the operation could be compromised by using the same location for meetings with multiple assets.
"We were lazy and the CIA is now flying blind against Hezbollah," the former official said. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-spies-caught-fear-execution-middle-east/story?id=14994428#.Tst2qVZdvEN
Normally I think feeling glee at the news of someone's death is wrong, but I make a exception for CIA stooges and Navy Seals, so rot in hell you bastards! Also sorry for linking ABCnews, but it's what popped up on Digg

[GPDP]

I am against the death penalty, but let it be known I will not be shedding any tears if these agents of imperialism are found hanging from the gallows.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Well it's not like the US has ever executed spies.:rolleyes:

[Le Socialiste]

While I personally have no reason to celebrate another person's death, I won't be mourning either. These individuals were agents of imperialism, and I see no reason why I should feel remorse at their (alleged) passing.

[Smyg]

Mwhaha, this is hilarious. I always love it when the CIA is exposed for what they are.

[Rafiq]

*Yawn*

One asshole spying on other assholes.

[ВАЛТЕР]

Meh, off with their heads for all I care.

They can be used for a spy swap too though.

[Yazman]

I have renamed the thread for you. Let me know if you need anything else done, here or in another thread.

[khad]

Meh, off with their heads for all I care.

They can be used for a spy swap too though.
No, they won't. They're local assets. No one is going to bother with all the immigration paperwork, nor do they give a fuck in the first place. These are not trained agents; they're local assets they are only useful in that theater and cannot be re-deployed, and now that they've been rumbled, they can't do spy work ever again.

[RadioRaheem84]

No, they won't. They're local assets. No one is going to bother with all the immigration paperwork, nor do they give a fuck in the first place. These are not trained agents; they're local assets they are only useful in that theater and cannot be re-deployed, and now that they've been rumbled, they can't do spy work ever again.

well that sucks. I was hoping for a prisoner swap of these guys in return for the Cuban 5

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

well that sucks. I was hoping for a prisoner swap of these guys in return for the Cuban 5

But why would Iran or Hezbollah want the Cuban 5? Maybe if the spies had been busted in Cuba, but they weren't, so I'm not sure I follow what you had in mind.

[Nox]

"espionage is a risky business," a u.s. Official briefed on the developments told abc news

NO SHIT lol

[Smyg]

And here I thought espionage was good for your health... :rolleyes:

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

hell, id execute them. after allowing them to say goodbye to their families

i think that my sentence is dark. take that the best you could

[Charlie Watt]

A grass is a grass. I have no sympathy for anyone that aids and abets US foreign policy.

[rylasasin]

This is why you gotta kill the engineer right after sapping his sentry. Having a Dead Ringer helps too.

Spies, Bloody Useless.

[Tim Finnegan]

"US Government fears that it may have to deal with fact that actions have consequences".

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

"US Government fears that it may have to deal with fact that actions have consequences".
lol

[RadioRaheem84]

But why would Iran or Hezbollah want the Cuban 5? Maybe if the spies had been busted in Cuba, but they weren't, so I'm not sure I follow what you had in mind.

I figured they would've done it as a nod for Cuba and against the US. I thought since Iran is allied with Venezuela and they're allied with Cuba, then......

[Red Commissar]

According to something I was reading on Gawker, the informants/turncoats within Hezbollah's ranks were actually caught during one of their 'meetings' in a Pizza Hut :lol:

http://gawker.com/5861484/iran-and-hezbollah-caught-all-the-cia-spies-at-pizza-hut


Both ABC News and the AP are out with very similar "exclusives" on the CIA's Lebanese debacle. In short, Hezbollah's counterintelligence force caught the CIA acting like amateurs. From the AP:

Using the latest commercial software, [Hezbollah's] spy-hunters unit began methodically searching for spies in Hezbollah's midst. To find them, U.S. officials said, Hezbollah examined cellphone data looking for anomalies. The analysis identified cellphones that, for instance, were used rarely or always from specific locations and only for a short period of time. Then it came down to old-fashioned, shoe-leather detective work: Who in that area had information that might be worth selling to the enemy?

Another weak spot was choice of code words. When the agency decided to cryptically refer to its secret meet-up spot as "PIZZA," that helped two Hezbollah double-agents infer that the location may have been a pizza restaurant. And it was! So Hezbollah kept an eye on a Beirut Pizza Hut, a tactic that ABC News says allowed "Hezbollah's internal security arm [to identify] at least a dozen informants, and the identities of several CIA case officers."

[Zostrianos]

Hopefully now the US will learn it can't fuck around with the rest of the world with impunity like they usually do.

[Le Socialiste]

Hopefully now the US will learn it can't fuck around with the rest of the world with impunity like they usually do.

Don't count on it.

[~Spectre]

"We were lazy and the CIA is now flying blind against Hezbollah," the former official said.

It's a little odd how officials are leaking that this was a total loss. I suspect the opposite is true. That they still have significant assets and are trying to get Hezbollah off their trail.

[Islamic Socialist]

Now they're going to pay the punishment for spying against the forces of resistance in Lebanon which have defended Lebanon for years against Zionist occupation, US and European imperialism and their proxy forces in the region which have attempted to stand in the way of Lebanon's destiny which is to be a nation unoccupied and uncolonised. These spies threatened the activity of the resistance by spying for imperialism and are now going to be executed for doing so, the material conditions call for this as in Lebanon there cannot be a simple petty punishment such as imprisonment for this crime, the punishment has to be execution in order to send a message to US imperialism and to those who would seek to do the same.

[Princess Luna]

Looks like 12 more were caught in Iran, it must be a good time to be in the rope business! :)

Iran has arrested 12 people it claims were working undercover for the CIA inside the Islamic republic, further raising tensions in its already strained relationship with the US.

On Wednesday, the Irna state news agency quoted a senior Iranian official as saying that the spies it claimed to have arrested had been gathering intelligence from Iran's security and military units as well as its highly sensitive nuclear programme.

"The main mission of this act of espionage was related to Iran's progress in the fields of nuclear technology and also military and security activities," said Parviz Sorouri, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, in quotes carried by Irna.

Sorouri told the agency that the network had been uncovered by an operation involving the Iranian ministry of intelligence. "The US and Zionist regime's espionage apparatuses were trying to damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services," he said. "Fortunately, with swift reaction by the Iranian intelligence department, the actions failed to bear fruit."

Sorouri's comments follow reports on Monday that Iran and the Lebanese Shia militia, Hezbollah had identified alleged CIA informants.

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said in June that his group had uncovered at least two CIA informants within its ranks but his claims were met with scepticism at the time. But former US officials told Reuters this week that those arrested were indeed working for the CIA. The officials claimed the agents were "believed to be local recruits" working for the CIA rather than US citizens.

Iran did not specify the nationality of the individuals it has arrested and the CIA has declined to comment on the recent reports, saying "it does not, as a rule discuss allegations of operational activities".

In October, tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated after US authorities said military factions inside the regime have conspired to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran denied the allegations and one Iranian diplomat told the Guardian that the US had resorted to a so-called "entrapment technique" in order to smear Tehran in the eyes of the international community. US allegations were met with widespread scepticism because of the sloppy nature of the alleged assassination plot and the limited evidence provided by the US.

In a tit for tat reaction in November, Iranian officials accused the US of committing acts of terrorism in the Islamic republic. Iran said at the time that it had evidence showing the US had been behind "terror" operations in Iran, including the assassination of its nuclear scientists.

"We have 100 unbeatable documents on the US role in directing terror and terrorists in Iran and the region," the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed. "By releasing these documents, we will dishonour the US and those who claim to be the advocates of human rights and campaign against terrorism among the world public opinion." Iran claimed it had sent the documents to the UN but has so far not provided them to the media.

In recent years, Iran's nuclear programme has experienced a series of dramatic setbacks after the assassinations of its scientists and the Stuxnet computer worm, which was designed to sabotage its atomic facilities and halt its uranium-enrichment programme. This month, an explosion at a military base near Tehran killed the architect of Iran's missile programme. Iran has pointed the finger at the US and Israel for what has been widely seen as a covert war against the country's nuclear programme and military capabilities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/24/iran-claims-arrests-of-cia-agents
Also for some reason Al-Jazeera deleted their article about this, one moment it was on the front page, I hit refresh and it was nowhere to be seen

[Yazman]

As much as I hate to be the one saying this when it's CIA fuckwits we're talking about, I don't support the death penalty. Not even for reactionaries like that. Hell, I didn't even support it for Saddam Hussein. Execution is not cool in my books.

If they get thrown in prison though, sure.

[Rocky Rococo]

Oh, I get it, overshadowing this is why the US media was flooded with the trumped-up tales of the ridiculously bogus supposed Iranian spy ring that was going to blow up Saudi diplomats in Washington DC restaurants. The spies in these rings have been disappearing for six months now while the Iranians and Hezbollah haven't said a word about it, so in typical American fashion, the US created a Public Relations hoax to stir up a brouhaha about the danger of Iranian spies, and deflect attention from any upcoming revelation about these US spy rings getting busted. (I'll digress to point out that real Iranian spies probably are fairly dangerous, as their profession requires. However, those dangerous spies are exceedingly unlikely to include alcoholic former used car dealers that fall into the first sting operation the FBI rolls out at them.).)

[PhoenixAsh]

Ok...here is the deal...like Khad said: they are local assets and the US doesn't give a shit.

They won't, never have and never will give one god damned shit for local foreign people especially from "third world" countries. They simply do not. These people are in their eyes useful tools which they can buy and use and dispose of at their leisure. Nothing will be learned from this and plans will already have been set in motion to minimise the damage.

Because the only thing the CIA will give a shit about is the fact that now they have to recruit new people and they temporarilly have to deal with a set back which may or may not impair the continuation of the flow of information.

[Zealot]

Then what else is there to do with spies? "Rehabilitating" them and letting them go would be out of the question...

[PhoenixAsh]

The question should probably: why is there anything to spy on?

There is only something to spy on if there is competition, a secret flow of information witheld from the general public by those in power, or an intent to steal information which is only available for a few (such as pattents) and when there is dishonesty in mutual cooperation or a complete lack of working together and solidarity.

Maybe this is a bit of a generalising statement...but think about it.



As far as I am aware, and I am far from an expert, the number one reason people become assets of foreign intelligence agencies is money, blackmail and pressure.

People who are very ideologically involved rarely become assets but apply directly. As some of you may know the CIA actively recruits from the US embassies and there are even application forms you can fill in. I know...years back a friend of mine filled them in, was rejected, and became a private contracting body guard in Brasil and later Thailand.