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Missing American in Iran Was on Unapproved CIA Mission
RealClearDefense ^ | 12/12/2013 | Matt Apuzzo & Adam Goldman

Posted on 12/13/2013 10:32:06 AM PST by mojito

In March 2007, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson flew to Kish Island, an Iranian resort awash with tourists, smugglers and organized crime figures. Days later, after an arranged meeting with an admitted killer, he checked out of his hotel, slipped into a taxi and vanished. For years, the U.S. has publicly described him as a private citizen who traveled to the tiny Persian Gulf island on private business.

But that was just a cover story. An Associated Press investigation reveals that Levinson was working for the CIA. In an extraordinary breach of the most basic CIA rules, a team of analysts — with no authority to run spy operations — paid Levinson to gather intelligence from some of the world's darkest corners. He vanished while investigating the Iranian government for the U.S.

(Excerpt) Read more at realcleardefense.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 200703; adamgoldman; cia; contractor; iran; kishisland; levinson; robertlevinson; rogueagent
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Freelancing operations inside the Agency?

That's Barry's CIA.

1 posted on 12/13/2013 10:32:07 AM PST by mojito
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To: mojito
My bad.

Bush's CIA too.

Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.

2 posted on 12/13/2013 10:33:30 AM PST by mojito (Zero, our Nero.)
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To: mojito

Reminds me of the Plame-Wilson affair. The bottom line is that the CIA is not supposed to pull MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE deals with rogue agents. Sorry, if they work for the CIA, there is no “plausible deniability”. Either they are working approved missions (overt or covert) or they are not working.


3 posted on 12/13/2013 10:40:55 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Last Obamacare Promise: "If You Like Your Eternal Soul, You Can Keep It.")
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To: mojito

The Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.


4 posted on 12/13/2013 10:42:45 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: mojito

Does unapproved equal “if you get caught you are on your own?”


5 posted on 12/13/2013 10:44:48 AM PST by .45 Long Colt
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

The CIA runs a lot of companies to do this kind of stuff. When I got out of the air force in ‘95 I received a package in the mail one day. The letter was offering me a job to go to Bosnia and provide comm support to ‘special forces’ operating in the hills.

The company was based in Hong Kong but said they were a subsidiary of a company in Langley Virginia.


6 posted on 12/13/2013 10:46:21 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

FWIW, the analyst on CBS AM news said it was not a “rogue” operation, but one that gets approval outside of normal channels. He also said the family was given $2.5million to not divulge he was working for the CIA. And the family is still demanding the gov do something to get him freed; that’s pretty hypocritical.


7 posted on 12/13/2013 10:46:23 AM PST by grania
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To: mojito

Why bother reading the article? How the heck would they know if he was approved. They’ve already stated they know nothing about anything anyway!


8 posted on 12/13/2013 10:47:00 AM PST by poobear (Socialism in the minds of the elites, is a con-game for the serfs, nothing more.)
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To: grania

I have no problem with the familys actions.


9 posted on 12/13/2013 10:48:04 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: mojito

nooooooo...that was just Obama flirting with the Denmark’s Prime Minister at Mandela’s Funeral...and fake flirt nonetheless - since we all know what team Barry plays on!


10 posted on 12/13/2013 10:50:22 AM PST by BCW (Salva reipublicae)
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To: mojito

Failed efforts are alway “unapproved”....

If you recall the intro to every episode of “Mission Impossible”....


11 posted on 12/13/2013 10:58:33 AM PST by G Larry (Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Psalms 109:8)
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To: mojito

The family was paid $2.5 million to keep their mouths shut.

So who blew the whistle here and how much of this new story is true?


12 posted on 12/13/2013 11:01:17 AM PST by Uncle Chip
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To: mojito

The Blacklist ?


13 posted on 12/13/2013 11:06:08 AM PST by knarf (I say things that are true .. I have no proof .. but they're true.)
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To: mojito

He’s being thrown under the bus during the effort to clear up loose ends as The Great ObamaNation normalizes relations with Iran to further the elimination of Israel.


14 posted on 12/13/2013 11:08:30 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: mojito

So...when his severed head and badly mutilated body wash up on the shores of Qatar, do we blame AP for his death?


15 posted on 12/13/2013 11:20:50 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym defines the science.)
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To: driftdiver
I have no problem with the family's actions

I understand that under times of stress and incomprehensible fear decisions are affected, so I'd never condemn them.

If the money is an insurance policy of sorts and they are free to speak about his situation, that's fine. If the money was in exchange for their silence, not so much. But who knows what pressure they were under? (assuming the newscast was accurate)

16 posted on 12/13/2013 11:21:29 AM PST by grania
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To: grania

They were probably told here’s some money to keep quiet while the govt works to get him out.

Only the govt isn’t working to get him out.


17 posted on 12/13/2013 11:23:05 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: mojito

Sounds like an episode from Homeland.


18 posted on 12/13/2013 11:32:42 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: mojito

19 posted on 12/13/2013 12:29:39 PM PST by traumer
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To: grania
People should know by now how immaterial money is.

It's really a dumb thing to do ... pay someone money .. for their silence.

Now, keep me happy on goofballs, alcohol and a constant supply of women and I think I could keep my mouth shut.

Money is a vehicle for all of that, but actually procuring and guaranteeing your safety while goofed up ?

A year and the money's gone.

20 posted on 12/13/2013 12:34:21 PM PST by knarf (I say things that are true .. I have no proof .. but they're true.)
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