SpyTalk: February 6, 2011 - February 12, 2011

Egyptian police training giving FBI a black eye

Like everything else in the close U.S.-Egyptian security relationship, Washington’s training program for Cairo's police and intelligence agencies is giving the U.S. a steadily darkening black eye. A headline in Thursday’s London Telegraph shouted, “Egyptian 'torturers' trained by FBI.” The...

By Jeff Stein  | February 10, 2011; 10:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
Categories:  Foreign policy, Intelligence, Media, Military  
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CIA shakeup a bad idea, some old spies say

CIA veterans say a report that the agency is radically reorganizing its spy service is probably overblown, and if it’s not, it's an idea that should be shot down, as has happened in the past. U.S. News reported Tuesday that...

By Jeff Stein  | February 9, 2011; 12:53 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (8)
Categories:  Intelligence, Media, Military  | Tags:  Leon Panetta; George Little  
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Bush not at risk of arrest in Europe, experts say

European law enforcement officials and other experts say the chances of George W. Bush being arrested on war crimes charges in Switzerland--or anyplace else on the continent--are almost nil. Headlines and assertions by human rights groups that the former president...

By Jeff Stein  | February 8, 2011; 6:40 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (53)
Categories:  Foreign policy, Intelligence, Lawandcourts, Media, Military  | Tags:  George W. Bush; Armando Spataro; Dick Marty; Gavin Sullivan; John Dinges; Amnesty International  
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Jane Harman’s resignation is CIA’s loss

There have to be some misty eyes at the CIA and the other spook redoubts around the city over news of Jane Harman’s resignation. The feisty California Democrat was such a good friend to the spy agency, no matter the...

By Jeff Stein  | February 7, 2011; 6:40 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (18)
Categories:  Congress, Homeland Security, Intelligence, Politics  
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Our Man in Havana

The U.S.-Cuba spy wars have long seemed more Monty Python than John Le Carré. As if more proof were needed, Cuban prosecutors announced Friday that they would seek a 20-year jail term for an American contractor arrested more than a...

By Jeff Stein  | February 7, 2011; 12:11 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (7)
Categories:  Intelligence, Justice/FBI, Lawandcourts  | Tags:  Alan Gross; Harry B. "Skip" Brandon; Saul Landau; Fidel Castro  
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