The Latest - Intelligence Community

Intelligence Community Latest Mentions

7th May 2013 – Quoted by The Associated Press

Woman Who Ran Secret Prison Bypassed As Top Spy

Reuel Marc Gerecht

One of the CIA's highest-ranking women, who once ran a CIA prison in Thailand where terror suspects were waterboarded, has been bypassed for the agency's top spy job. more...

21st April 2013 – The Long War Journal

US Drones Strike Again in Yemen, Kill 2 AQAP Operatives

Bill Roggio

The US launched a drone strike against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula today in central Yemen, killing two AQAP operatives. The strike is the third recorded in the country... more...

7th April 2013 – Cited by Scott Shane, The New York Times

Targeted Killing Comes to Define War on Terror

Bill Roggio

In Pakistan, where the SEAL raid that killed Bin Laden sent Pakistani-American relations into a tailspin, drone strikes — though deeply unpopular — are tolerated by the security establishment. more...

14th March 2013 – Quoted by John Hudson, Foreign Policy

Is the Clandestine Service a Den of Promiscuity or Not?

Reuel Marc Gerecht

Ever since the scandal involving ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer Paula Broadwell erupted, the topic of sexual infidelity in the CIA has filled the pages of newspapers and magazines. And without a doubt... more...

28th February 2013 – Cited by Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor

Report: UK Stripping Terrorism Suspects of Citizenship, US Killing Some of Them

Bill Roggio

From the UK, more fodder for the debate over the US drone assassination campaign and the acceptability of killing citizens: In early February, a leaked white paper from the Obama Justice Department caused a small stir... more...

26th February 2013 – Cited by Cora Currier and Justin Elliot, ProPublica

The Drone War Doctrine We Still Know Nothing About

Bill Roggio

The nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director has prompted intense debate on Capitol Hill and in the media about U.S. drone killings abroad. But the focus has been on the targeting of American citizens... more...

8th February 2013 – Cited by Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press

Lawmakers Test Legal Waters for Regulating Drones

Bill Roggio

The new notion is drawing concern from some in Congress who fear special courts would slow down the drone strikes — considered by some, including Brennan, as one of the most effective weapons in the war... more...

7th February 2013 – Cited by Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press

Brennan’s CIA Bid Chance to Strike Back at Critics

Bill Roggio

In answers to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee before the hearing, Brennan said he was "aware of the program but did not play a role in its creation, execution, or oversight," and added... more...

6th February 2013 – Comedy Central

The Daily Show

Clifford D. May

FDD's Clifford May comments were included in a Daily Show segment on Obama Administration memos outlining legal justification for drone killings. more...

5th February 2013 – Cited by Robert F. Worth, Mark Mazzetti, and Scott Shane, The New York Times

Drone Strikes’ Risks to Get Rare Moment in the Public Eye

Bill Roggio

American officials have never explained in public why the C.I.A. and the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command are carrying out parallel drone campaigns in Yemen. Privately, however, they describe... more...

24th January 2013 – Cited by The Associated Press

UN Expert Investigates US Drone Killings

Bill Roggio

A U.N. expert on Thursday launched a special investigation into drone warfare and targeted killings, which the United States relies on as a front-line weapon in its global war against al-Qaida. more...

10th January 2013 – Quoted by Greg Miller, The Washington Post

US Drone Strikes in Pakistan on Rise for 2013

Bill Roggio

The CIA has opened the year with a flurry of drone strikes in Pakistan, pounding Taliban targets along the country’s tribal belt at a time when the Obama administration is preparing to disclose its plans for... more...

7th January 2013 – Quoted by Aamer Madhani, USA Today

Obama Sticks to Circle of Friends for National Security Posts

Mark Dubowitz

In his first term, President Obama purposefully set out to build an administration that, while not quite Abraham Lincoln's Team of Rivals, insured that his most prominent advisers included some that were... more...

7th January 2013 – Cited by Affan Chowdhry, The Globe and Mail

Obama Names Veteran Adviser to CIA

President Barack Obama picked trusted White House adviser John Brennan to be the next CIA director – rounding out his national security team with the architect of an expanded drone program that... more...

6th January 2013 – Cited by The Times of India

New Pak Taliban Faction Chief Fought Against India in J&K

Bahawal Khan, the new chief of a Taliban faction in Pakistan's South Waziristan region after the killing of Mullah Nazir in a US drone strike, is a militant who fought Indian troops in Jammu & Kashmir. more...

3rd January 2013 – Cited by The Associated Press

American Missiles Kill Senior Taliban Militant in Pakistan Who Fought US Troops in Afghanistan

An American drone strike in Pakistan has killed a top Taliban commander who sent money and fighters to battle the U.S. in Afghanistan but had a truce with the Pakistani military, officials said Thursday. more...

24th October 2012 – Cited by The Washington Post

Tracking America’s Drone War

Since 2002, armed drones have become an increasingly important element of U.S. national security policy. This project – which will be updated regularly – documents drone strikes in Pakistan... more...

20th October 2012 – Quoted by Mana Rabiee, VOA News

US Targets Top al-Qaida Operatives in Iran

Jonathan Schanzer

The U.S. State Department's decision to offer a reward of up to $12 million for information leading to the location of the top two al-Qaida operatives in Iran is seen as a sign... more...

18th October 2012 – Cited by First Post - India

Top Al Qaeda Leader Killed in US Drone Attack

A Swiss militant with links to top al Qaeda leadership has been killed in a suspected US drone strike in Pakistan’s troubled tribal agency of North Waziristan... more...

6th September 2012 – Quoted by Spencer Ackerman, Wired

US Used This Torture Box to Interrogate Gadhafi’s Enemies

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

This is a drawing of a locked box which a Libyan man says U.S. interrogators once stuffed him into. It’s said to be about three feet long on each side. Only once during his two years in detention... more...

Experts

Jonathan Schanzer

Vice President for Research

Clifford D. May

President

James Woolsey

Chairman of FDD, Fmr. Director of the CIA

Reuel Marc Gerecht

Senior Fellow

cia, iran, iraq

Events

15th October 2012 - 10:15 PM

Is Al-Qaeda Dead? An Experts Debate

In Collaboration with the New America Foundation

While some counterterrorism analysts and officials say that U.S. military efforts over the past 11 years have resulted in the defeat of al-Qaeda, others argue that the terrorist organization is more durable than that. The successes won by the CIA drone program in Pakistan’s tribal regions and the symbolic killing of Osama bin Laden might be tempered by the growing strength of al-Qaeda's affiliates in countries such as Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. On the other hand, many point out that al-Qaeda has failed to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11.

29th May 2012 - 1:00 AM

Is al-Qaeda Dead?

A Conversation with Ambassador Husain Haqqani

Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States

And featuring FDD experts Reuel Marc Gerecht and Bill Roggio