Background
- In 1987, the US and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which included as part of its compliance verification scheme on-site inspections.
- The intelligence aspects of monitoring overall Soviet compliance with the INF treaty were overseen by an entity known as the Arms Control Intelligence Staff, or ACIS, which reported directly to the Director, CIA
- Early on in his tenure as an inspector, I established a relationship with ACIS that was linked to the unique role I played on the ground in the former Soviet Union.
During this time, I was introduced to a unit known as the Joint Intelligence Liaison Element, or JILES, a CIA team attached directly to Central Command.
- After the war, I left the Marines, and was soon thereafter recruited by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), created after the war to oversee the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
My marriage to Marina Khatiashvili, a Georgian national who I became acquainted with during my time as an inspector with OSIA, and who I courted and married after leaving the Marine Corps, had infuriated John Bird, who had apparently been taken to task for trying to recruit a guy (me) who then went off and married a Soviet.
- It didn't matter that I had broken no rules or laws, or that the Cold War was over
By the spring of 1992, the tension between UNSCOM and the CIA over my continued role had reached a point where the CIA had to confront me directly.
- The agency dispatched Stu Cohen, a senior officer with experience in arms control, to meet with me. He stated that the CIA believed that my marriage had compromised me, and that I had never done anything that violated my oath of allegiance to my country.
The investigation was complete
- Stu had uncovered a memorandum, written by John Bird, which stipulated that I was a "known threat" to the United States, and should be treated as a serious security risk
- This letter was the Genesis of all CIA concerns
- Bird admitted that he had no evidence that I had done anything wrong, but that he personally took exception to my marriage to Marina and wrote the memorandum out of spite
Stu kept his word, and for the next six years he was able to carry out his disarmament mission, all the while being supported by the CIA
- After a series of difficult inspections, where his performance was singled out by the US intelligence community, Stu was approached by a senior CIA officer who encouraged him to apply for a position within the agency.
- At this juncture, he was very conflicted about his work with UNSCOM.
I applied to the CIA, hoping to land a position as an analyst in the former Soviet Affairs division, now renamed the Office of Russian and East European Affairs.
- I was invited down to Langley, where I interviewed with a senior manager. The long and short of it was, my application was rejected because I was considered too 'old school'.
- By the spring of 1994, UNSCOM was transitioning into long-term monitoring operations and my skill set - hunting for hidden weapons - was no longer seen as necessary. So, I returned to the Marine Corps, and did my best to disappear into obscurity.
The relationship led to a renewed campaign of extremely aggressive inspections that touched on the most sensitive aspects of Iraqi security, including the president of Iraq himself.
- What we didn't know is that the CIA was using the UNSCOM inspections to implement a covert operation designed to remove Saddam Hussein from power
- In June 1996, while leading a team in a stand-off with the Iraqi authorities, the CIA used the team to trigger a crisis which was supposed to end with US cruise missiles taking out Iraqi security forces, while a unit from the presidential security guards assassinated Saddam Hussein and replaced him with a hand-picked CIA asset.
Just like the agency he worked for
- My personal interaction with the Central Intelligence Agency helped me to see through its legend-infused mystique and realize it did little more than serve as a bodyguard of lies.
- Which is why my only wish for its 75th birthday is that there isn't a 76th.
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