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October 20, 2010

CIA Officer Ignored Warnings Before Afghan Base Attack
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The CIA has disclosed it failed to properly vet a Jordanian double agent
before he carried out a suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan
last year. The attack by Humam Khalil al-Balawi killed seven CIA agents
and contractors, the worst for the agency since the 1983 bombing of the
US embassy in Lebanon. An internal probe found that a CIA officer in
Jordan failed to report warnings that al-Balawi may have been working
for al-Qaeda. Balawi was allowed access to the CIA base after claiming
he had information to give to the CIA related to the whereabouts of
al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.



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