White House mistakenly blows cover of CIA chief in Afghanistan – reports
26 May 2014, 15:43 -- The White House accidentally blew the cover of the top CIA officer in Afghanistan Saturday, when his name and title were released in an e-mail sent to reporters who traveled with President Obama on his surprise visit to Bagram Air Field.
According to the Washington Post, the officer's name (which has been redacted by the press to protect the individual's safety) was inadvertently included among a list distributed to the press showing the names senior US officials participating in the president's trip.
The mistaken list reportedly identified the individual as "Chief of Station," the CIA's term for the highest-ranking spy official in a given country. After the White House recognized the error, they quickly issued a revised list.
The newspaper said its White House bureau chief, Scott Wilson, who was on the trip, copied the original list from the email provided by White House press officials and included it in a report sent to a distribution list with over 6,000 recipients.
After he spotted the reference to the station chief, Wilson asked White House press officials in Afghanistan if they had intended to include that name, the Post said.
'Initially, the press office raised no objection, apparently because military officials had provided the list to distribute to news organizations,' the Post added. 'But senior White House officials realized the mistake and scrambled to issue an updated list without the CIA officer's name.'
A review of the pool reports from the trip shows that the name was taken out of an updated list sent to reporters.
The Post said it was not clear if the CIA would now be forced to remove the officer from Afghanistan.
No comments from White House.
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