A Double Agent, the CIA and al Qaeda

Making News

Gauging the Effectiveness of Our Intelligence System ()

The near-disaster over Detroit on Christmas Day has "reignited long-simmering concerns about intelligence reforms" implemented in the aftermath of September 11.  That's according to the Washington Post, raising questions today about the National Counterterrorism Center, created to force 16 different intelligence agencies to share information.  Karen DeYoung wrote the story.

Guests:

• Karen DeYoung: Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Washington Post, @washingtonpost

Main Topic

A Double Agent, the CIA and al Qaeda ()

A promising lead on Osama bin Laden's top aide, Ayman al-Zawahri, drew the CIA's leading al Qaeda hunters to meet in Afghanistan last week with a Jordanian doctor. But he was a double agent and suicide bomber.  The agents, including experts on al Qaeda, failed to conduct a rudimentary search, and lost their lives when he detonated explosives he wore on his body. Since then, the CIA has stepped up missile attacks across the border with Pakistan in apparent retaliation. Disturbing questions remain. How did seven experienced CIA spies get caught in a deadly deception? Was the attack pulled off by a resurgent al Qaeda?  What will it mean for the CIA's crucial relationship with Jordan's intelligence agency?

Guests:

• Greg Miller: National Security Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, @gregpmiller
• Michael Scheuer: former Chief, CIA's Bin Laden Unit
• Brian Fishman: former Director of Research, West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, @brianfishman
• Joshua Landis: Professor of History, University of Oklahoma

Links:

• Los Angeles Times report on US learning about airline attacker while plane en route
• National Defense Education Act
• Miller's article on increasing confusion over how bomber infiltrated CIA base
• Miller's 'The Interrogators: Inside the Secret War against al Qaeda'
• Scheuer's 'Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam after Iraq'

Reporter's Notebook

The EPA Proposes Tighter Smog Rules ()

Ozone is one of the most dangerous pollutants in emissions from power plants and motor vehicles, one of the elements that cause health effects, up to and including death. The Obama Environmental Protection Agency has proposed much tougher rules against smog than those set by the Bush Administration. If the EPA's new regulations are implemented, state and local officials will have tough decisions to make. Juliet Eilperin reports on the environment for the Washington Post.

Guests:

• Juliet Eilperin: National Environmental Reporter, Washington Post, @eilperin