CIA suicide bomber: What went wrong depends on who you ask
In the wake of the deadly attack at one of its bases in Afghanistan, there is disagreement among CIA veterans about what went wrong.
Intelligence officials, both current and former, all agree that mistakes were made. But what that says about the broader problems in the CIA is a matter of debate. Ask some and it is a matter of communication. Others, a problem of a lack of experience.
In a report finalized this week, CIA Director Leon Panetta concluded it was a systemic failure within the agency and not the actions of one person or group that enabled a Jordanian informant to blow himself up along with nine other people at the remote CIA post. FULL POST
Report: Key information on CIA base bomber wasn't relayed
Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi is believed to be the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives last December.
Prior to a suicide attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan last December, some people within the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence service were skeptical about the reliability of a Jordanian informant, but those concerns were not passed on to officers on the base, according to a U.S. intelligence official.
A Jordanian intelligence officer told his U.S. counterpart in Amman, Jordan, that Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi might be working for al Qaeda and could be attempting to lure the Americans into a trap, but "unfortunately, some of those concerns weren't properly documented or conveyed through formal channels," the U.S. official said.
Read the full story
CIA: Concerns about informant ignored before attack
Before a suicide attack on a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, last December, some people within the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence service were skeptical about the reliability of a Jordanian informant, but those concerns were not passed onto officers on the base where Humam Abu-Mulai al-Bulawi blew himself up, taking seven CIA employees and three others with him.
These findings are part of a just-completed CIA review.
Read FULL STORY
Suicide bomber attacks outside military base in Khost
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) - A suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province killed one civilian and wounded two security guards at the entrance to a military base on Monday, the interior ministry said. FULL POST
Tape allegedly of suicide bomber who killed CIA officers
Radical militant Islamist websites posted a new video containing an audio message purported to be by Humam Al Balawi, the Jordanian doctor turned suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents in eastern Afghanistan in December.
CIA bomber's widow: 'We were sharing our views with each other'
CNN's Nic Robertson sat down with Defne Bayrak for an in-depth interview to talk to the widow about Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi - a Jordanian doctor identified as a suicide bomber in an attack that left seven CIA operatives dead in Afghanistan.
From her response to questions of how she met her husband to the reaction to the news of her husband's actions - Bayrak reveals what life has been like for her. Shortly after the attacks, she said she was shocked by her husband's actions but "proud" of what he did, stirring outrage in some.
What more does she have to say? Read and watch more from CNN's Nic Robertson's interview
Expert: CIA missed glaring red flags
Amman, Jordan - In the murky world of spying, where choices are generally among shades of gray, success, by definition, goes unnoticed. Failure, however, is catastrophic.
So how did a Jordanian doctor play double agent, outsmart his CIA handlers, and end up killing seven Americans and a Jordanian military officer at a remote base in Afghanistan?
CIA suicide attacker's wife 'shocked' but proud
Amman, Jordan - The wife of an alleged suicide bomber who killed eight people at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last week says she is shocked by his actions but "proud" of what he did. Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi - a Jordanian doctor identified as the attacker - said she doubted accusations her husband had been an intelligence agent, but was satisfied he did not die in vain.
"I am proud of my husband. My husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war," she told reporters. "If he is a martyr, may God accept his martyrdom."
Al-Balawi has been named as the suspected bomber behind a December 30 attack on a U.S. base in Khost, in southeastern Afghanistan, that killed killed seven CIA officers and contractors, and a Jordanian army captain.
Bayrak, speaking from their home in Istanbul, told CNN Turk television she was "shocked" to hear what he had done. "It is impossible for me to make a guess if he was an agent, what was his reason going there," she said. "I am not saying whether I am believing or not believing. I am trying to say, we were not expecting something like this."
Read more about the reaction from the suspect's father, mother and brother
