Throwing Amiri completely under the bus like this doesn't seem to benefit anyone
The story of Iranian nuclear not-a-scientist Shahram Amiri gets stranger:
'The Iranian scientist who American officials say defected to the United States, only to return to Tehran on Thursday, had been an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency inside Iran for several years, providing information about the countryâ??s nuclear program, according to United States officials.The scientist, Shahram Amiri, described to American intelligence officers details of how a university in Tehran became the covert headquarters for the countryâ??s nuclear efforts, the officials confirmed. While still in Iran, he was also one of the sources for a much-disputed National Intelligence Estimate on Iranâ??s suspected weapons program, published in 2007, the officials said. For several years, Mr. Amiri provided what one official described as â??significant, originalâ? information about secret aspects of his countryâ??s nuclear program, according to the Americans.
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I can understand some bitterness from the CIA and other U.S. officials who invested time and resources in this guy, but throwing Amiri completely under the bus like this doesn't seem to benefit anyone. If the purpose of such a "Brain Drain" scheme is to attract high-level defections from Iran, then the U.S. isn't making a great sales pitch here: Tell us what you know for money; get homesick and we'll basically sign your death certificate.
And the Iranians appear to be connecting the dots:
'On Thursday, even as Mr. Amiri was publicly greeted at home by his 7-year-old son and held a news conference, Iranâ??s foreign minister gave the first official hints of Iranian doubts about his story. â??We first have to see what has happened in these two years and then we will determine if heâ??s a hero or not,â? the BBC quoted the foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, as saying to a French news agency. â??Iran must determine if his claims about being kidnapped were correct or not.â?Â'
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about intelligence operations of this nature can explain to me the harm in allowing Amiri to say America kidnapped him. He seemingly became homesick, was worried about his family and decided to split. It's certainly embarrassing for someone, or several someones in Washington, but their attempt at C.Y.A. could cost this guy his life.
The CIA allegedly got years of intelligence out of him, and at a relatively low cost (and as Spencer Ackerman notes, Amiri, rather admirably I'd say, left that money on the table to go back). Why not let him return home to a heroes welcome and keep mum about it to the Post and Times?
(AP Photo)