CIA news stories on Newser

CIA Reveals Names of 15 Slain Agents

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:40:05 CDT

CIA agents killed in the line of duty over the last 30 years finally got their due yesterday. The agency revealed the names of 15 such operatives in a ceremony, reports the Los Angeles Times . Many of the fallen officers had been working under the guise of State Department employees....

Hollywood Got Inside Scoop on bin Laden Raid

Kevin Spak — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:24:31 CDT

The White House, CIA, and Pentagon all gave special access to Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow to help with her movie about Osama bin Laden's death, according to documents obtained by the conservative Judicial Watch . In one interview , Undersecretary of Defense Mike Vickers tells Bigelow that top admirals can't talk...

CIA Can Keep Bay of Pigs Document Secret: Judge

Kevin Spak — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:04:29 CDT

The CIA doesn't need to reveal a probably-embarrassing Bay of Pigs investigative report to the public, a judge ruled yesterday, because it was never finalized. The National Security Archive, a private group promoting government transparency, had sued for the release of a volume entitled the "CIA's Internal Investigation of the...

Bomb-Plot Busting Double-Agent Is British

Kevin Spak — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:19:20 CDT

Another tantalizing—and potentially damaging—tidbit has leaked about the double-agent who foiled an al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula underwear bomb plot. The agent is of Saudi descent but lived for years in Britain, where he spent some time with jihadist sympathizers and acquired a British passport, sources tell CNN...

Al-Qaeda Bomb Was Sewn Into 'Custom-Fit' Underwear

Kate Schwartz — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:02:58 CDT

We now know that a Saudi double-agent managed to get his hands on a non-metallic bomb that was designed by al-Qaeda to slip past metal detectors—and a number of US officials aren't too happy about said revelation. Though the AP held the story for a few days, the CIA...

US: CIA Foils al-Qaeda Underwear Bomb Plot

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:54:29 CDT

The CIA has stopped al-Qaeda from bombing a US-bound airliner with a new kind of underwear bomb intended to slip past metal detectors, the AP reports. US officials say that agents grabbed the bomb in Yemen from a would-be terrorist who hadn't picked a flight yet, but planned to strike...

White House Gives CIA OK to Bomb Yemen at Will

Matt Cantor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:48:00 CDT

The White House has loosened restrictions on the use of US drones against suspected militants in Yemen, following a CIA request . Now, the CIA and military can target militants seen as dangerous to the US without knowing their names, as is the case in Pakistan, the Wall Street Journal reports....

Pentagon Gets Its Own Global Spy Agency

Kevin Spak — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:51:35 CDT

The Pentagon has created a new spy agency that will expand its intelligence gathering operations outside of current war zones. The new Defense Clandestine Service will work closely with the CIA, investigating targets unrelated to its current battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials tell the Washington Post ; the paper speculates...

CIA Wants Green Light to Bomb Yemen at Will

Kevin Spak — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:39:04 CDT

CIA Director David Petraeus has requested permission to launch drone strikes in Yemen even when the agency is not sure who the strikes might kill. Instead, the CIA would launch attacks based on patterns of suspicious activity, much the way it does in Pakistan, a tactic known as "signature strikes,...