Exclusive Interview: CIA does more harm than good in global politics

“The overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran in the 1950s is probably the most critical mistake the CIA ever made.”

Talk to Sri Lanka Guardian John Kiriakou

( February 26, 2016, Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka Guardian) John Kiriakou, a retired CIA ( the Central Intelligence Agency) agent who has been in prison for nearly two years after blowing the whistle on the George W. Bush administration’s torture program. He sat with Nilantha Ilangamuwa of the Sri Lanka Guardian for an exclusive interview to discuss his life experiences as a former CIA analyst and case officer, yesterday, February 25th, 2016.

Here are some excerpts of the interview:

Nilantha Ilangamuwa ( NI): I assume this is very the first interview that you have decided to give to the Asian press so I’m glad that you have agreed to talk with theSri Lanka Guardian about the situation you have gone through and share your views on certain issues of domestic and foreign policies of the United States of America with us.

Was it a childhood dream to become a spy?

John Kiriakou (JK): Actually, yes. I was fascinated by the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981 and I decided that I wanted either to be a spy or to join the State Department’s Foreign Service. I was fascinated by international affairs.

NI: When was first-time you heard about the CIA and what was your first impression?

JK: The first time I had ever heard of the CIA was in 1975. My parents took my brother, sister, and me to visit my grandparents. When we got to the house, my grandfather asked, “Did you see that terrorists killed the top CIA man in Athens?” That was Revolutionary Organization 17 November’s first assassination. It was of CIA station chief Richard Welch, a crime that remained unsolved until 2002 and to which I devoted a good portion of my career.

NI: Reports say that your professor, who was himself a CIA official, motivated you to join the agency. Tell me more about this interesting part of the story?

JK: Yes, my professor was looking for graduate students whom he thought would be a good fit in the CIA. He pulled me aside and asked if I was interested. I said that I was, and he scheduled a long series of tests for me – medical, psychological, political. The background investigation took about nine months, but I made it through the process and started working for the CIA on January 7, 1990.

NI: As a trainee spy were there certain protocols you followed? How did you find the learning process?

JK: I knew a lot about international affairs, of course, but nothing about intelligence. So they start teaching you from the very beginning. You learn the CIA writing style, the briefing style, and internal politics. Then later, when I joined operations, I learned the art of recruiting spies to steal secrets.

NI: As an agent what do you consider to be the most important contributions of the CIA to global politics?

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