Gaunt, Scared American Hostage Appears In New Taliban Video

By MATTHEW COLE

Looking gaunt and scared and with a cut on his face, Bowe Bergdahl appears in a newly released Taliban video, a sign that the captive Army soldier is still alive, but that his nearly 18-month ordeal has taken a toll.

The 44-minute video, which was widely distributed on the web, shows a clean-shaven Bergdahl standing with the senior Taliban commander responsible for his capture near the Pakistani border in June 2009. Bergdahl is on-screen for about 15 seconds just over halfway through the video. Some of the footage of Bergdahl is recycled fromer earlier videos.

Mullah Sangin, a top commander in the al Qaeda-connected Haqqani group, is believed to have orchestrated the kidnapping of Bergdahl, and facilitated his movement from Afghanistan to the tribal areas of Western Pakistan, where Bergdahl is believed to be held.

Bergdahl has appeared in a total of four Taliban videos since his capture, the first released in July 2009. Soon after Bergdahl's capture, Sangin threatened to kill him if the U.S. did not pull out of Afghanistan, but he had not previously appeared in a video with his captive.

Through a spokesman, Bergdahl's family has confirmed his identity via screen grabs of the video. A Pentagon spokesman said that it was unknown whether the footage was current, and that the Pentagon "deplore[s] the fact that the Taliban is using him in that way in releasing footage."

"But we continue our efforts to try and recover Specialist Bergdahl," said the spokesman.

Bergdahl, 24, of Boise, Idaho, is the only U.S. serviceman captured since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001.

A private first class at the time of his capture, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska before deploying to Afghanistan. He was promoted to Specialist while in captivity.

Bergdahl was lured from his post in eastern Afghanistan by several Afghan National Army soldiers on June 30th, 2009, and then taken by Taliban fighters in a nearby village, according to a senior Pentagon official.

Bergdahl was quickly moved to Pakistan, where he has been shuttled around several locations, primarily in North Waziristan, the Pentagon official said.

 

Reward Offered For Bergdahl

In the immediate days after Bergdahl's capture, U.S. forces began distributing a leaflet in eastern Afghanistan that warned, "If you do not release the U.S. soldier, then you will be hunted." A picture of an American soldier kicking in the door of an Afghan home covers the leaflet.

The U.S. military also had a succession of efforts to locate the missing soldier and free him. Initially, a reward of $25,000 for location tips was offered to Afghans in the eastern portions of the region from which he disappeared. According to a source involved in the effort, a large number of calls flooded, and overwhelmed U.S. military efforts.

Shortly after Bergdahl was taken prisoner, his captors filmed him making a brief statement and drinking tea and released the tape on the internet. They released a second video on Christmas 2009.

In a video released in April, Bergdahl was bearded and dressed in military issue clothing. He held up a newspaper, but the date of the paper's publication was not visible.

Bergdahl also performed push-ups to demonstrate his physical condition and said he was being treated well, despite being a prisoner.

But Bergdahl began to lose his composure as he talked to the camera.

"Release me please, I'm begging you," he said.

"I love my family. I haven't shown it very well because I've been pretty lost in my life and I don't think I've given my family the love that they've given me."

"Let me go," pleaded Bergdahl.

Additional reporting by Luis Martinez.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/bowe-bergahl...

Al Qaeda's Sarcastic New American Mouthpiece

By MATTHEW COLE

If the latest issue of Al Qaeda's online magazine Inspire reads like it was written and edited by a twentysomething American, that's because it was.

U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may rely on sermons to recruit jihadis, but his Yemen-based understudy, 24-year-old New York-raised Samir Khan, uses sarcasm and idiomatic English. As Khan himself has said, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I [am] Al Qaeda to the core."

Khan solidified his extremist credentials earlier this month when he published a "special edition" of the English-language "Inspire," which revealed details of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's failed cargo bomb plot and mocked the stepped-up security that has ensued in the West.

Khan's skills as a propagandist have grabbed the attention of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, who say he is a rising star in Al Qaeda.

"He does appear to be increasingly involved with operational activities [of Al Qaeda]", a U.S. official told ABC News. One counterterrorism official told ABC News that U.S. intelligence analysts view Khan as an "aspiring" Awlaki, the radical Yemeni-American cleric at the top of the U.S. government's "kill list" because of his operational involvement in AQAP.

Of greatest concern, say government officials and others who have tracked his evolution from a U.S. blogger and jihadi wannabe to an online voice of jihad, is his ability to speak to Western audiences in a vernacular that connects with Americans.

In the first issue of Inspire, which Khan released in July 2010, he titled an article on assembling homemade explosives, "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."

"He's a model of what Americans can do in the propaganda sphere," said Oren Segal, a researcher at the Anti-Defamation League, who has followed Khan's online rhetoric since 2004.

"He's what's next. His message resonates and appeals to Western audiences."

Samir Khan Born In Saudi Arabia, Raised in New York

Khan was born in Saudi Arabia and raised from the age of seven in Queens, New York. He was a normal city teenager who listened to hip hop and wore baggy clothing.

Even before his family relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2004, however, Khan had begun to take an interest in Islam. He ditched his baggy pants for jalabiyas, the long white robes traditionally favored by Saudis. He joined two Islamic groups, but neither espoused violence.

But with the move south, Khan took a turn towards radicalism. In 2004, after watching online videos of suicide bombers blowing themselves up at American military checkpoints in Iraq, Khan began to openly support Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and to express that support on-line.

In 2007, shortly after Osama bin Laden released a communiqué, the New York Times reported that Khan, who had launched a blog called "A Martyr, God Willing" in Arabic, praised the al Qaeda leader, and beseeching Americans to "take his message with great seriousness."

In one of his only interviews, Khan told the New York Times that his favorite online video showed a suicide bomber striking a US base in Iraq. ? "It was something that brought great happiness to me," Khan said.

Khan spent years in his parents Charlotte basement blogging, posting al Qaeda messages, and becoming increasingly radicalized by the war in Iraq. His blog's popularity rose as his rhetoric became more extreme.

In 2009, he started a precursor to Inspire called Jihad Recollections, saying, "We have decided to take it upon ourselves to produce the first jihadi magazine in English." In the third issue, amidst calls for jihad and attacks against non-Muslims, Khan devoted space to a gushing review of a product dear to the hearts of American jihadis and infidels alike, Apple's iPhone 3. According to Khan, iPhone was "quickly becoming a standard as opposed to just another phone. With over 35,000 applications available, it becomes a joke when we hear about the so-called 'iPhone killers'."

Samir Khan Moves to Yemen

According to Segal of the ADL, Khan left the U.S. for Yemen in October 2009, which is around the time the fourth and final issue of Jihad Recollections appeared. In Yemen, he launched Inspire, and since his arrival in Yemen, say U.S. authorities, his on-line efforts have been in conjunction with AQAP. Inspire's second edition, which was published before the October printer bomb attempt and included Khan's claim to be "Al Qaeda to the core," featured a photo of the Chicago skyline, which U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials think was a tip-off of the terror group's intention to address the bombs to Jewish targets in Chicago.

There has been skepticism about Inspire's authenticity and Khan's connection to some Al Qaeda figures in Yemen, but several organizations outside the U.S. government that monitor extremist web sites and statements have concluded that Khan and Inspire are in fact working with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Ben Venzke, who runs IntelCenter, one of the groups that monitors extremist sites, quickly concluded that Khan's magazine was real. He pointed to the most recent issue of Inspire, which took gloating credit for the cargo bomb plot.

"We have never seen a jihadist group in the Al Qaeda orbit ever release, let alone only a few weeks after, such a detailed accounting of the philosophy, operational details, intent and next steps following a major attack," said Venzke.

"This may represent a new level of interaction by jihadi groups following an operation and is a far cry from the days of shadowy claims and questions as to who was actually responsible."

In the most recent issue of the magazine, Khan's used a mocking tone to respond to Western security procedures intended to prevent further bombs sent via cargo shipments.

"The British government said that if a toner weighs more than 500 grams it won't be allowed on board a plane. Who is the genius who came up with this suggestion? Do you think that we have nothing to send but printers?"

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/samir-khan-a...

CIA Lies Led To Death Of American Mother and Baby Daughter

By Matthew Cole and Brian Ross

CIA officials caused the deaths of an American mother and child in a tragic plane shootdown above Peru, according to a blistering new report, by operating a counter-drug program outside the rules for six years and then lying about it to their superiors.

The report also says that after Roni Bowers and her daughter Charity died, the officials tried to cover up how it happened by "repeatedly" lying to Congress. Details from the report, and footage from the 2001 shootdown, are featured in this week's edition of "Brian Ross Investigates."

The CIA inspector general's report details "an environment of negligence" in which nearly two dozen officials knowingly participated in the shootdown of the Bowers plane and 14 other aircraft over the Peruvian jungle between 1996 and 2001 without following the established rules. While the program was in operation, according to the report, the officials misled their superiors and the National Security Council about the procedures being followed, and assured them that no planes were being shot down until it was certain they were drug planes.

After the Bowers shoot down in April 2001, according to the report, the officials tried to cover up their mistakes by "misrepresent[ing] the Agency's performance [in]almost a dozen Congressional briefings and hearings." The report cites numerous violations, omissions, and falsehoods, and even suggests that the CIA's general counsel interfered with a Department of Justice investigation into the shootdown. The Department of Justice said it would prosecute the officials for lying and the deaths of Roni and Charity Bowers, according to the report, if the CIA did not work out an "administrative" plan to discipline them.

On April 20, 2001, Jim and Veronica "Roni" Bowers and their two children, six-year-old son Cory and infant daughter Charity, were returning to their home in Peru from a trip to Brazil in a small airplane piloted by Kevin Donaldson.

The Bowers' worked as Christian missionaries along a stretch of the Amazon River near Iquitos, Peru, a remote jungle region near the Brazilian and Colombian borders heavily traveled by drug traffickers.

The CIA and the Peruvian Air Force were working in the same area, trying to interdict drug smugglers. Starting in 1995, they'd operated a joint program to intercept civilian aircraft suspected of smuggling drugs from South America to the U.S., shooting them down if necessary.

A CIA spotter plane saw the Cessna in which the Bowers family was flying and alerted the Peruvian Air Force, which shot them down, killing Roni and Charity. Jim Bowers, Cory and pilot Kevin Donaldson survived after their plane crash-landed .

The so-called Airbridge Denial Program (ABDP) shot down a total of 15 aircraft between 1995 and 2001, all of them except the Bowers' reportedly piloted by drug smugglers. The program had to be authorized by an executive order from President Bill Clinton in 1994 because of international laws prohibiting firing on civilian planes. Offiicials were supposed to follow a series of steps to differentiate between an innocent passenger plane and a drug plane before shooting any aircraft down, but did not follow those steps on April 20, 2001 or in 13 of the other 14 cases, according to the report.

The IG report blames the Peruvian Air Force for the misidentification of the Bowers' plane, but says the CIA should have been able to call off the shootdown if it had followed the program's official guidelines. Investigators also found evidence that CIA officials running the program ordered a Peruvian Air Force jet to strafe suspected drug smugglers who fled their aircraft after it had been shot down, which was both contrary to guidelines.

 

CIA Tape of Plane Shootdown

The nearly two-hour long encounter between the Bowers family and the CIA and the Peruvian Air Force on April 20, 2001 was captured in a CIA videotape.

The CIA spotter plane, with two operative aboard, sneaked up behind the Cessna as it flew over the Amazon.

"We are trying to remain covert at this point," one of the CIA pilots on the plane can be heard to say on the tape.

The CIA pilot describes the aircraft as a high-wing, single-engine float plane, which is accurate, that it has picked up on the border between Peru and Brazil.

But the CIA personnel misidentified the craft as a drug plane. The CIA alerted the Peruvian Air Force, which scrambled an interceptor. Over the next two hours, the CIA personnel would express doubts, but would not correct their error, and would repeatedly violate what the White House believed to be strict rules of engagement.

Said former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who served in the White House at the time on the National Security Council, which created the anti-drug program, "Either the CIA spotter aircraft or the interceptor is supposed to get up close, identify the plane from the tail number, try to indicate to the plane that it should follow them to the ground."

That did not happen. Instead, the decision was made not to try to identify the tail number, because it might allow the plane to escape.

"You know, we can go up attempt the tail number," says a CIA operative on the tape. "The problem with that is that if he is dirty and he detects us, he makes a right turn immediately and we can't chase him."

When the Peruvian Air Force jet arrived it issued a warning to the target plane, saying, 'We will shoot you down." The warning was in Spanish, which the Bowers and their pilot could understand, but it was on the wrong frequency.

'They're Killing Us'

The CIA pilots begin to have doubts. "This guy doesn't, doesn't fit the profile," says one. But nothing was done to pull the plane back.

The CIA then asks a Peruvian Air Force liaison, "Are you sure is bandito? Are you sure?" "Yes, okay," says the Peruvian. "If you're sure," responds the CIA operative. Then more serious doubts were quietly whispered.

"That is bullshit," says one CIA operative. "I think we're making a mistake." "I agree with you," says the other operative.

A minute and a half later the gunships opened fire and the Bowers' pilot, Donaldson, screamed in Spanish for the jet to stop.

"They're killing me. They're killing us," yells Donaldson on the tape.

"Tell him to terminate," says one of the CIA operative to the Peruvian liaison. " No. Don't Shoot. No more, no mas."

The Peruvian liaison starts yelling at the pilot, "Stop! No mas, no mas, Tucan no more."

"God," says one of the CIA pilots.

By then the damage was done. Trailing black smoke, it headed for a river to land, with Roni and Charity already dead from bullet wounds and the pilot wounded in both legs.

CIA Misled Congress

Jim Bowers, his son Cory and Kevin Donaldson survived. But for almost nine years, the CIA misled Congress, the White House and the dead woman's parents about how and why the agency defied the rules established to make sure innocent people were not killed.

The CIA's internal report was completed in August 2008, seven years after the deadly incident but withheld from public disclosure. Retiring Congressman Pete Hoekstra, R.-Mich., who was ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee, fought for years with CIA over what he suspected was an agency cover-up.

In February, ABC News first reported that roughly 16 CIA officials were subjected to an accountability panel, which led to no dismissals or demotions.

"If there's ever an example of justice delayed, justice denied, this is it," said Rep Hoekstra, "The [intelligence] community's performance in terms of accountability has been unacceptable. These were Americans that were killed with the help of their government, the community covered it up, they delayed investigating."

A CIA spokesperson issued a statement to ABC News in February that placed the blame for the shootdown on the Peruvian Air Force, and said its own internal review had shown no evidence of a cover-up.

"The program to deny drug traffickers an "air bridge" ended in 2001 and was run by a foreign government," said the spokesperson. "CIA personnel had no authority either to direct or prohibit actions by that government. CIA officers did not shoot down any airplane. In the case of the tragic downing of [April 20th] 2001, CIA personnel protested the identification of the missionary plane as a suspect drug trafficker."

"This was a tragic episode that the Agency has dealt with in a professional and thorough manner," continued the statement. "Unfortunately, some have been willing to twist facts to imply otherwise. In so doing, they do a tremendous disservice to CIA officers, serving and retired, who have risked their lives for America's national security."

I

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-lies-led...

U.S. Feared Parcel Bomb Plot Was Coming; Saw September 'Dry Run'

By MATTHEW COLE, RICHARD ESPOSITO, MATTHEW MOSK and BRIAN ROSS

US intelligence officials feared that al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen were plotting to attack the United States and actually intercepted what they now believe were "dry run" shipments to Chicago in mid-September, according to several people briefed on the plot and a senior US official.

The senior US official told ABC News that the "dry run" involved a carton of household goods including books, religious literature, and a computer disk, but no explosives, shipped from Yemen to an address in Chicago by "someone with ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."

Another person briefed on the incident said it is now believed the terrorists sent the package "so they could track how long it took and whether there would be any problems for the package getting through the system."

Senior administration officials told ABC News that, after the September shipment was discovered, U.S. intelligence agencies had specific concerns about the Yemen-based group's interest in Chicago, noting not only the destination of the September shipment, but also a photograph of the Chicago skyline in a magazine recently published by the terror group's propaganda arm.

US intelligence "intercepted the packages in transit," the senior intelligence official said, searched them, and then allowed them to continue to Chicago.

"The dry run is always important to al Qaeda," said Dick Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official and now an ABC News consultant. "In this case they wanted to follow the packages using the tracking system to know exactly when they got to a point, how long the timer had to be set for, so the bomb would go off at the right point, which presumably was over Chicago."

The US official said the CIA feared the packages "were intended to probe the security system for air cargo but there was nothing in them that could have been used to hide a bomb."

While officials believed air cargo might be used for an attack, "no one in the US government had specific timing or date" for the real bombs, the senior US official said.

The White House said it only learned of the actual air cargo plot late Thursday night when Saudi intelligence provided "a tip" about the bombs being shipped.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the tip involved the FedEx and UPS tracking numbers which made it possible for the US to stop the shipments at transfer points in Dubai and the United Kingdom.

CLICK HERE to follow ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross on Twitter.

"We were able to identify where they were emanating from by package number, where they were located," Napolitano told ABC News.

Bomb Flew On Qatar Air Passenger Flight

The senior US official said the tracking numbers were not known to the US until after the packages had left Yemen.

The timing is significant because one of the bombs, the one shipped by FedEx, was moved to Dubai on two separate Qatar Air passenger jets.

The UPS shipment was moved on an all-cargo flight through Germany and on to England where it was to have been sent to the United States.

US and British authorities say they now believe that the bombs, hidden in desktop printers, were designed to be detonated on board the aircraft carrying them.

"If one cargo plane is taken down by a bomb," said Brad Garrett, an ABC News consultant and former FBI agent, "you could literally shut down cargo transport across the world."

The White House has publicly thanked the Saudi intelligence service for its cooperation but the weeks of intelligence sharing with the Saudis that allowed the US to know in advance that parcel bombs were coming has not previously been reported.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-feared-ma...

CIA Sues Ex-Spy Over Two-Year Old Book

By Matthew Cole

A CIA lawsuit threatens to turn a little-known two-year-old tell-all by a disgruntled former spy into a bestseller. Within hours of the lawsuit's filing Tuesday, "The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture," had rocketed up the Amazon rankings.

"The Human Factor," written by an ex-agent using the pseudonym Ishmael Jones, went largely unnoticed when it was first published in July 2008. But within hours of the lawsuit's filing Tuesday, the book had vaulted up the Amazon rankings.

In the book, "Jones" charges the CIA with waste, fraud and abuse as he details his career over two decades working under non-official cover, or NOC, mainly in Europe.

The CIA said in a statement that Jones was being sued for breaking his secrecy agreement and for not allowing the agency's publication review process to "run its course." The agency is seeking any money Jones received for the publication or sales of the book.

The suit, which does not allege that Jones revealed any classified information, raises questions about why the agency would bring a case two years after publication and where both sides agree no sensitive secrets were revealed.

A check Tuesday revealed the book ranked 143,379 on Amazon sales list, but within hours of the CIA's announcement of the lawsuit, the ranking shot up to 659. It had risen all the way to 24 by Wednesday morning.

"CIA officers are duty-bound to observe the terms of their secrecy agreement with the Agency," Director Leon Panetta said. "This lawsuit clearly reinforces that message."

"I think it's a simple case of going after a whistle-blower who is trying to expose government waste and fraud," said Jones in an email. Jones chose to publish the book using a false name, and changed the names of all covert employees mentioned in the book.

Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy said the lawsuit is a mistake, but an action the CIA had to make to maintain its authority over its employees.

"If you look at this from a strictly National security policy point of view," Aftergood said, "This is a bone-headed move. You'll make an obscure book by an unknown author into a national news story."

But Aftergood said the agency's real aim is internal discipline. "The government is not simply concerned about protecting secrets. It is also concerned about Jones' overt defiance of established security rules."

 

Operation Dark Heart

The CIA's action also echoes the recent censoring of a former Army intelligence officer who published a book about the war in Afghanistan. In that case, the Department of Defense purchased and destroyed 10,000 copies -- the entire first run -- before a new, redacted version was printed. The book, "Operation Dark Heart," by Lt. Col Anthony Shaffer, began selling briskly and is currently number seven on the New York Times bestseller list. Shaffer and his publisher, St. Martin's Press, credit the publicity stemming from the Pentagon's efforts to censor the book for the sales.

Jones' book details his 20-year career as an NOC, and describes a bloated organization plagued by fraud, waste and bureaucratic lethargy. But the book never reveals the countries Jones lived or worked in, or the names of other agents or co-workers.

A spokeswoman for the CIA said that despite the potential to boost sales for the book, the CIA had to take a stand against Jones. "There's principle involved here. Intelligence officers need to understand their solemn obligation to protect our nation's secrets. People can make judgments about the quality of the book -- or lack thereof -- themselves."

Oddly, if the agency were to win its suit and the book continued to sell, the CIA would be given the profits.

Jones and other former CIA officers have complained in the past that the CIA's publication review consistently favors former spies who tell stories flattering to the agency. Jones suggested that the antipathy towards the book focused on his message, a sharp critique of the CIA.

In the book's forward about why he chose to publish before getting the CIA's approval, Jones claimed that two recent books by high ranking CIA officials, including one by former director George Tenet, revealed "startling amount[s] of classified information."

"These books criticize the President, however, and not the organization."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-sues-spy...

Report: US Contractors Hired Iranian Spies, Taliban, Warlords To Guard US Troops In

By MATTHEW COLE

A scathing Senate report says US contractors in Afghanistan have hired warlords, "thugs," Taliban commanders and even Iranian spies to provide security at vulnerable US military outposts in Afghanistan.

The report, published by the Senate Armed Services Committee, says lax oversight and "systemic failures" have led to "grave risks' to US forces, including instances where contractors have employed Afghan subcontractors who were "linked to murder, kidnapping and bribery, as well as Taliban and anti-coalition activities."

The chairman of the committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D.-Michigan, said the report was evidence that the US needs to reduce its reliance on contractors.

"We need to shut off the spigot of US dollars flowing into the pockets of warlords and power brokers who act contrary to our interests," said Sen. Levin.

The committee reviewed roughly 125 unclassified Department of Defense security contracts between 2007 and 2009, and found that there are some 26,000 private security contractors operating in Afghanistan, the majority of whom are Afghan nationals. The review found "systemic failures" of the military oversight for contracts, including the hiring of what Levin called "many too many" security contractors who had been improperly vetted, improperly trained or were not provided weapons.

In some cases, companies were awarded contracts though they had no ability to provide the services needed. In those cases, companies then quickly hired local nationals without proper vetting or security checks. The chaotic system left US facilities and personnel vulnerable to attack. The report found that some Afghan security guards simply walked off their posts at remote forward operating bases.

Contractor Allegedly Hired Iranian Spies

In two specific cases, the report charges that ArmorGroup and a contracting company EODT, hired private security guards who worked for Taliban-connected warlords. According to the report, a US military official initially recommended that ArmorGroup hire the warlord to help provide guards to fulfill a contract. After US military officials at a Western Afghanistan airbase discovered that Afghan security guards were passing sensitive security and troop information to the Taliban, the guards were fired.

Within days, the fired guards were hired by a second contractor to supply security at a second US facility just a few miles north, the report claims. EODT, the report alleges, had two Afghans on their payroll who were known to US military intelligence as Iranian agents.

The report describes a chaotic warzone where security contracts bordered on the absurd. In some instances, Senate staffers said on background, guards were not given weapons or were provided with defective weapons. Some Afghan contractors assigned to Afghan police training centers were paid more than the recruits, resulting in the police trainees quitting and going to work as private security for the base. In one case, a Marine lance corporal was killed by an Afghan insurgent who was employed as a private security contractor on a US military contract.

The report did not make any recommendations to the Pentagon about how to curtail the abuses and violations discovered in the investigation, but Sen. Levin was adamant that the US military has too many private security contractors in Afghanistan.

"Our reliance on private security contractors in Afghanistan has too often empowered local warlords and powerbrokers who operate outside the Afghan government's control and act against coalition interests," Levin said. "The situation threatens the security of our troops and puts the success of our mission at risk."

ArmorGroup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

EODT noted in a statement to ABC News that while it had only had the chance to preliminarily review the Senate report, it had cooperated fully in the investigation, and that its contract required EODT "to utilize Afghan personnel and specifically those from the area surrounding the contract location." EODT also said local leaders had provided help in hiring Afghans, and that those leaders "were persons made known to EODT by the U.S. military or were commonly known leaders within that area."

"While the [report] may present certain criticisms of EODT's hiring practices," said the statement, "EODT has never been advised by the U.S. military that problems of this nature exist. However, just as EODT has cooperated fully with the [Senate Armed Services Committee] investigation, EODT stands ready to engage the U.S. military or other stakeholders about these issues in order to improve our internal processes and contract performance."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-contracto...

$9 Billion in Iraq Reconstruction Funds Missing

By MATTHEW COLE

In a little noticed report last week, a US auditor concluded that $8.7 billion in reconstruction aid to Iraq is unaccounted for by the Department of Defense. With Iraq struggling financially as the US withdraws, the vanished money has become a symbol of the dysfunctional American-led rebuilding effort.

According to the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, known as SIGIR, as much as 96 percent of the $9 billion provided by the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) for reconstruction cannot be properly accounted for, noting that poor management and lack of regulations have led to the missing funds. For fully $2.6 billion of the missing funds, there is no paperwork at all.

Although SIGIR did conduct criminal investigations, which led to eight convictions for bribery, fraud, and money laundering, the report does not suggest that the bulk of the $8.7 billion was stolen.

Critics of the military's management said they were troubled by the sheer size of the figures and how much of the money could not be traced to any records of any kind.

"Was the money funneled? Did it end up in the hands of the Iraqi insurgency? This isn't the best advertisement for US government management," said Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, a non-partisan watchdog group.

The DFI was created in 2003 by the United Nations with Iraqi money from a combination of oil revenue, previously frozen assets and left over funds in the UN's oil for food program. After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Iraqi government allowed the US military to manage the dispersal of the DFI funds in an effort expedite the reconstruction of Iraq. The US Congress gave the Iraqi government a separate $53 billion for reconstruction.

The SIGIR report noted that the US military was slow to establish rules about accounting for the money, but more significantly, "once established the guidance was not followed." The contracting was so poor, the report notes, that the US government may be "potentially liable."

Money allocated for reconstruction was originally overseen by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) until it was dissolved in 2004. Subsequently, the Iraqi government permitted the Department of Defense to administer the fund and manage contracts for reconstruction.

According to the audit, the only element of the military to provide documentation for money spent was the Army Central Command, which handled and spent roughly $400M.

"When the government cannot account for 96 percent of the money it spends on anything," said Amey, " it's very troubling."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iraq-billion...

Iran Nuke Defector Left Behind $5 Million In CIA Cash

By MATTHEW COLE

The Iranian nuclear scientist who returned to Tehran today left behind some $5 million he was promised by the CIA as part of "benefits package" offered by the CIA's National Resettlement Operations Center, US officials tell ABC News.

"Anything he got is now beyond his reach, thanks to the sanctions against Iran," one US official said. "We've got his information and the Iranians have him."

When Amiri defected, the CIA offered him $5 million for information about the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Typically, the CIA places these kinds of funds in escrow so that an informant is only paid bit by bit, at the agency's discretion. Keeping the money in escrow prevents an asset from grabbing the money all at once.

It is unknown how much money Amiri was able to collect prior to his return to Iran, but the bulk of the cash remains in US hands. "He's gone," said the US official, "but the money's still here."

As early as this spring, CIA officials believed that Amiri, who fled Iran last year in a daring operation, might not want to stay in the US and could redefect. Amiri, who turned up at an Iranian government office in Washington, D.C. on Monday and asked to return to Iran, arrived back in Tehran Wednesday.

Despite the seeming suddenness of Amiri's decision to return to Iran after years working as a CIA asset and more than a year of resettlement in the US, the CIA began to sense he may not have wanted to come out of Iran, despite the offer of $5 million and resettlement in the United States.

According to current and former US intelligence officials briefed on the Amiri case, the CIA began pressuring Amiri to flee Iran as early as 2008. It was then, the officials say, that the CIA feared that Amiri was under suspicion of spying for the Americans.

The CIA was afraid of losing their source. Certain that the Iranian government would execute Amiri for treason, the agency suggested to Amiri that he should flee Iran.

Amiri, however, told his CIA handlers that he was safe and that the Iranian government did not have any reason to know he was giving information about the Iranian nuclear program to the U.S. Amiri stalled the CIA by telling his handlers that twice he tried to escape on his own but had failed.

Amiri May Have Been Unprepared to Leave Iran

Eventually, the officials say, CIA pressure wore Amiri down and he agreed to leave Iran. But looking back, the CIA now believes Amiri's story that he had tried to escape on his own may have been false, and the first sign that he was not psychologically ready to leave for the US.

To entice Amiri, the CIA offered him $5 million and offered to get him and his wife and son out of Tehran and resettle them in the U.S, as the CIA commonly does for important defectors. The money, officials say, was not given up front, but was to be distributed incrementally over the course of his life.

Amiri agreed to take the money and offer of resettlement, but told the CIA he would leave his family behind. When asked why he would go alone, Amiri told the CIA he disliked his wife and felt that his son would be better off in Iran believing his father had disappeared, according to the officials briefed on the matter.

The CIA then arraigned for Amiri to take a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, where, with the help Saudi intelligence, Amiri would be whisked out of the Middle East and resettled in the US. The plan was to make Amiri disappear with no clues as to where Amiri had gone, but within weeks the Iranian government accused the U.S. of kidnapping their scientist. Amiri's wife and family reportedly protested outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Once Amiri arrived in the U.S. he was debriefed by top government experts on Iran's nuclear program and the process of resettlement. According to one former intelligence official, Amiri was moved to Tucson, Arizona by a little known division inside the CIA called the National Resettlement Operations Center, or NROC. The Center facilitates a witness protection like process that settles defectors and foreign agents across the country. Once moved in, defectors are typically visited by NROC officers every few weeks. Otherwise, they are free to live their new life.

In Amiri's case, the resettlement was rocky and he began to long for his son. Sometime this spring, in a moment of weakness, Amiri called home. The CIA, while continually testing and examining Amiri to ensure he was not a double agent, began to reexamine his case after the call home. That fateful phone call set off a chain of events that finally ended yesterday when Amiri landed in Tehran and embraced his wife and son.

Iranians Threatened Amiri's Son

According to current and former US intelligence officials, Amiri disliked his wife so much he purposefully called a brother-in-law in an effort to speak to his son and refused to speak with his wife.

On a later, second call, Amiri's brother-in-law answered the phone and then handed it to Iranian intelligence officials. According to the officials, the Iranians threatened to hurt Amiri's son if Amiri did not agree to tape an internet testimonial. Amiri agreed, and gave a series of statements claiming he had been drugged, kidnapped and tortured by the CIA and flown against his will from Saudi Arabia to the U.S.

Upon learning of Iranian threats against Amiri's son and the interview, the CIA flew to Tucson and had produced their own video. In it, Amiri tells the camera he is happily living in the U.S. as a student and that he knew nothing of the Iranian nuclear program.

But the Iranian government now had its hooks in Amiri and American officials began to accept that they may not be able to convince Amiri to stay in the US.

According to the current and former US officials, the CIA began to look back at Amiri's case and suspected he had not been psychologically prepared to leave Iran.

Amiri "wanted to see his family again," said a US official familiar with the defection. "Defectors are human beings. In this country, they make their own choices. He made up his mind; in the United States, at least, he has that right."

Amiri told Iranian television this week in an interview that the CIA offered him a "bribe" of $10 million to appear on CNN and announce that he had willingly defected the US. On his return to Tehran Wednesday, Amiri repeated his claim that the CIA had taken him against his will.

A US official today said that Iran's story of kidnapping was a "fairy tale," and said that Amiri had come to the US willingly. He also said that before he went back to Iran, Amiri had given the US "significant, original information that's checked out."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/shahram-amir...

Clinton: Iranian Nuclear Defector Is 'Free To Go'

by Matthew Cole and Kirit Radia

Shahram Amiri, the Iranian nuclear scientist in the middle of a high-stakes battle between Washington and Tehran, has taken refuge in a Pakistani embassy building in Washington, D.C. and will leave for Iran within the next 48 hours.

Iranian official Ali Shirazi confirmed to ABC News that Amiri is now in the Iranian interests section building, which is under the auspices of the Pakistani diplomatic mission to the U.S. A senior Pakistani official told ABC News that Amiri arrived at the Iranian building at 6:30 p.m. Monday and asked to go home. Both Iranian and Pakistani officials told ABC News that Amiri will leave the U.S. within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri has been in the United States "of his own free will."

"His is free to go," said Clinton. "He was free to come. These decisions are his alone to make."

Clinton said that Amiri was actually scheduled to travel to Iran on Monday "but was unable to make all the of the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through transit countries."

Another U.S. official said Amiri's decision to return home "gives the lie to the idea he was tortured or imprisoned. He can tell any story he wants -- but that won't make it true." The official said Amiri "came to this country freely, he live there freely, and he has chosen freely to return to Iran."

While Iranian authorities claim Amiri was abducted in Saudi Arabia in 2009 and brought to the U.S. against his will, U.S. intelligence officials say Amiri defected to the U.S. voluntarily after working for several years as a CIA spy and providing crucial details about Iran's burgeoning nuclear weapons program.

According to people in the U.S. intelligence community briefed by the CIA, the Iranian government threatened to harm Amiri's family unless he returned home. He left a wife and son behind.

In two videos released at the end of June, Amiri claimed to have "escaped" U.S. intelligence and said he was on his way back to Iran.

On the videos, Amiri claimed that he escaped "U.S. intelligence officers in Virginia." He said he was now in a "safe place" but that he was in "danger and could possibly be arrested again by U.S. intelligence officers at any moment." He has also claimed that he was tortured by U.S. officials.

"In case anything happens to me or if I do not make it back home safely, the responsibility will solely rest on the officials of the United States," Amiri said in a video posted to YouTube, which was apparently recorded June 14.

After the release of the videos, a U.S. official disputed Amiri's claims.

"The guy's ability to make and release messages is clear proof that he hasn't been held in the United States against his will," said the official. "That's not the way it works -- we don't have to compel people to defect. Maybe he's just trying to build a story for the folks back home. The fact that he can say what he wants doesn't make his statements true. He's shown to the world that he has the power to make choices -- even bad ones."

The second of the two videos aired on Iranian state television, continuing the effort of Tehran to show Amiri was kidnapped and brought to the U.S. against his will.

In fact, U.S. officials say, Amiri was a key spy inside the Iranian nuclear program for several years before his defection.

Amiri's precise role in U.S. intelligence gathering remains unclear. Former and current intelligence officials told ABC News that Amiri confirmed the existence of a secret underground enrichment facility near Qom and also described him as a key source in the conclusions of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weaponization program. Initially, before Amiri defected back to Iran, the same officials told ABC News that Amiri's information had contradicted the 2007 NIE finding, but further reporting indicates that was an incorrect interpretation.

CIA director Leon Panetta acknowledged in June to ABC News that the CIA no longer believed the conclusions of the 2007 NIE, saying that Tehran continues "to work on designs" for a nuclear weapon.

"I think they continue to develop their know-how," Panetta said. "They continue to develop their nuclear capability."

Iran and Nuclear Weapons

Iran's nuclear ambitions have been the subject of international debate. The Obama administration recently called for increased U.N. sanctions. Amiri, once a star scientist for the Iranian nuclear program,according to U.S. officials, has become the center of efforts of both countries to characterize Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Tehran has said that its nuclear program is for energy purposes only and denies ambitions for a nuclear weapon.

Iranian intelligence and the CIA posted dueling videos of the scientist earlier this year. In one video, Amiri claimed the U.S. kidnapped, drugged and tortured him, in the other he said he was happy to be in the U.S.

CIA officials pushed for Amiri to flee the country out of fear that his disclosures might have exposed him to Tehran as a spy.

Amiri vanished last June during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The Iranian government claimed then that their scientist, a professor at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, had been kidnapped by the CIA. In fact, say U.S. officials, the CIA, with the help of the Saudi government, whisked Amiri to the U.S., where he was to permanently resettle.

U.S. Discovered Hidden Enrichment Facilities, Video Dueling Began

A few months after Amiri arrived, the Obama Administration announced that U.S. intelligence had discovered a second, hidden nuclear enrichment facility in the Iranian city of Qom.

Then came the alleged threats by Iranian intelligence, which set off the bizarre battle of dueling videos that were released earlier this month. The first, which was broadcast on Iranian state television, shows Amiri speaking to a computer camera and announcing that the U.S. had drugged and kidnapped him and forced him to Tucson, Arizona.

He appeared to be looking down at a script as he spoke.

According to the two current U.S. officials, Amiri called home earlier this year because he missed his family. On a second call, Iranian intelligence answered and threatened to harm his son, unless he taped an internet video saying he'd been kidnapped. Amiri, fearing for his family, agreed, according to a person briefed on the case.

"He missed his son," said the person. "And he couldn't help calling home to speak to him." Within days, the CIA learned that Amiri had given the Iranians a video and moved quickly to produce a version of its own. The second video shows Amiri well-dressed and manicured with a globe - turned to North America -- and chess set behind him as he appears to read from a teleprompter. He says, in Farsi, that he is happily living in the U.S. and going to school. He also denied having worked in the Iranian nuclear program and made a plea to his wife and son. "I want them to know that I never abandoned then, and that I will always love them."

According to one U.S. official, the CIA intended to produce the video and launch it on the internet before the Iranians had a chance to air their version.

Instead, the video languished at CIA headquarters for weeks, according to a senior intelligence official. Then, in early June, Iranian state television aired the Amiri video. Within a day, the CIA posted their Amiri video on YouTube, with a user identification of "shahramamiri2010."

The Iranian government then formally requested that the U.S. government return Amiri, accusing the Americans of holding him against his will. A spokesperson for the State department acknowledged that the U.S. government received the request, but had no further comment.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iranian-nucl...

Iranian Defector: I've Escaped from CIA

By Matthew Cole

The Iranian nuclear scientist in the middle of the high stakes battle between Washington and Tehran has released two new videos, claiming to have "escaped" U.S. intelligence and says he's on his way back to Iran.

The scientist, Shahram Amiri, who, according to U.S. intelligence officials resettled in the U.S. last year after working for several years as a CIA spy, has claimed that he escaped "U.S. intelligence officers in Virginia." He says he is now in a "safe place" but that he is in "danger and could possibly be arrested again by U.S. intelligence officers at any moment."

"In case anything happens to me or if I do not make it back home safely, the responsibility will solely rest on the officials of the United States," Amiri says in a video posted to YouTube, which says was recorded June 14.

A U.S. official tried today to quickly rebuke Amiri's claims.

"The guy's ability to make and release messages is clear proof that he hasn't been held in the United States against his will, says that theory's absurd. That's not the way it works—we don't have to compel people to defect. Maybe he's just trying to build a story for the folks back home. The fact that he can say what he wants doesn't make his statements true. He's shown to the world that he has the power to make choices—even bad ones."

The latest video aired today on Iranian state television and continues the propaganda efforts of Tehran to show Amiri was kidnapped and brought to the U.S. against his will.

In fact, U.S. officials say, Amiri was a key spy inside the Iranian nuclear program for several years before his defection.

Amiri's precise role in U.S. intelligence gathering remains unclear. Former and current intelligence officials told ABC News that Amiri confirmed the existence of a secret underground enrichment facility near Qom and also described him as a key source in the conclusions of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weaponization program. Initially, before Amiri defected back to Iran, the same officials told ABC News that Amiri's information had contradicted the 2007 NIE finding, but further reporting indicates that was an incorrect interpretation.

CIA director Leon Panetta acknowledged this week to ABC News that the CIA no longer believed the conclusions of the 2007 NIE, saying that Tehran continues "to work on designs" for a nuclear weapon.

"I think they continue to develop their know-how," Panetta said. "They continue to develop their nuclear capability."

Iran and Nuclear Weapons

Iran's nuclear ambitions have been the subject of international debate. The Obama administration recently called for increased U.N. sanctions. Amiri, once a star scientist for the Iranian nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, has become the center of efforts of both countries to characterize Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Tehran has said that its nuclear program is for energy purposes only and denies ambitions for a nuclear weapon.

Both the Iranian intelligence agency and the CIA have posted dueling videos of the scientist in past several weeks. In one video, Amiri claims the U.S. kidnapped, drugged and tortured him, in the other he says he is happy to be in the U.S.

Behind the scenes, the situation has become so grave that American officials fear Amiri could re-defect, according to the people briefed on the situation.

CIA officials pushed for Amiri to flee the country out of fear that his disclosures might have exposed him to Tehran as a spy.

Amiri vanished last June during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The Iranian government claimed then that their scientist, a professor at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, had been kidnapped by the CIA. In fact, say U.S. officials, the CIA, with the help of the Saudi government, whisked Amiri to the U.S., where he was to permanently resettle.

A few months after Amiri arrived, the Obama Administration announced that U.S. intelligence had discovered a second, hidden nuclear enrichment facility in the Iranian city of Qom.

Both the CIA and the White House have refused to comment on Amiri.

Complicating the defection is the fact that he left behind a wife and child. Since arriving in the U.S., and being secluded in Arizona, U.S. officials say Amiri has struggled with his decision to flee Iran.

Then came the alleged threats by Iranian intelligence, which set off the bizarre battle of dueling videos that were released earlier this month. The first, which was broadcast on Iranian state television, shows Amiri speaking to a computer camera and announcing that the U.S. had drugged and kidnapped him and forced him to Tucson, Arizona.

Competing Videos of Amiri

He appeared to be looking down at a script as he spoke.

According to the two current U.S. officials, Amiri called home earlier this year because he missed his family. On a second call, Iranian intelligence answered and threatened to harm his son, unless he taped an internet video saying he'd been kidnapped. Amiri, fearing for his family, agreed, according to a person briefed on the case.

"He missed his son," said the person. "And he couldn't help calling home to speak to him."

Within days, the CIA learned that Amiri had given the Iranians a video and moved quickly to produce a version of its own. The second video shows Amiri well-dressed and manicured with a globe - turned to North America - and chess set behind him as he appears to read from a teleprompter. He says, in Farsi, that he is happily living in the U.S. and going to school. He also denied having worked in the Iranian nuclear program and made a plea to his wife and son. "I want them to know that I never abandoned then, and that I will always love them."

According to one U.S. official, the CIA intended to produce the video and launch it on the internet before the Iranians had a chance to air their version.

Instead, the video languished at CIA headquarters for weeks, according to a senior intelligence official. Then, earlier this month, Iranian state television aired the Amiri video. Within a day, the CIA posted their Amiri video on YouTube, with a user identification of "shahramamiri2010."

The Iranian government has since formally requested the U.S. government to return Amiri, accusing the Americans of holding him against his will. A spokesperson for the State department has acknowledged that the U.S. government has received the request, but has had no further comment.

 

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iranian-defe...

US: Iran Threatens Family of Nuclear Defector Shahram Amiri`

By MATTHEW COLE

The Iranian government has threatened to harm the family of a nuclear scientist who defected to the U.S. and helped provide crucial details about Iran's burgeoning weapons program unless he returns home, according to people in the intelligence community briefed by the CIA.

The high-stakes spy saga is being played out online, where both the Iranian intelligence agency and the CIA have posted dueling videos of the scientist. In one video, he claims the U.S. kidnapped him, in the other he says he is happy to be in the U.S.

Behind the scenes, the situation has become so grave that American officials fear Amiri could re-defect, according to the people briefed on the situation. A full report on the case will be broadcast Monday on ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline."

At the center of the intrigue is Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist, who officials say operated within Iran as a key CIA spy for several years before his defection.

Amiri apparently provided crucial information, though his precise role in U.S. intelligence gathering remains unclear. Former and current intelligence officials told ABC News that Amiri confirmed the existence of a secret underground enrichment facility near Qom and also described him as a key source in the conclusions of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, which found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weaponization program. Initially, before Amiri defected back to Iran, the same officials told ABC News that Amiri's information had contradicted the 2007 NIE finding, but further reporting indicates that was an incorrect interpretation.

CIA director Leon Panetta told ABC News yesterday on This Week that the CIA no longer believes the conclusions of the 2007 NIE, saying that Tehran continues "to work on designs" for a nuclear weapon.

"I think they continue to develop their know-how," Panetta said. "They continue to develop their nuclear capability."

CIA officials pushed for Amiri to flee the country out of fear that his disclosures might expose him to Tehran as a spy.

Amiri vanished last year during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The Iranian government claimed then that their scientist, a professor at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, had been kidnapped by the CIA. In fact, say U.S. officials, the CIA, with the help of the Saudi government, whisked Amiri to the U.S., where he was to permanently resettle.

Competing Amiri Videos

A few months after Amiri arrived, the Obama Administration announced that U.S. intelligence had discovered a second, hidden nuclear enrichment facility in the Iranian city of Qom.

Both the CIA and the White House have refused to comment on Amiri.

Complicating the defection is the fact that he left behind a wife and child. Since arriving in the U.S., and being secluded in Arizona, U.S. officials say Amiri has struggled with his decision to flee Iran.

Then came the alleged threats by Iranian intelligence, which set off the bizarre battle of dueling videos that were released earlier this month. The first, which was broadcast on Iranian state television, shows Amiri speaking to a computer camera and announcing that the U.S. had drugged and kidnapped him and forced him to Tucson, Arizona.

He appeared to be looking down at a script as he spoke.

According to the two current U.S. officials, Amiri called home earlier this year because he missed his family. On a second call, Iranian intelligence answered and threatened to harm his son, unless he taped an internet video saying he'd been kidnapped. Amiri, fearing for his family, agreed, according to a person briefed on the case.

"He missed his son," said the person. "And he couldn't help calling home to speak to him."

Within days, the CIA learned that Amiri had given the Iranians a video and moved quickly to produce a version of its own. The second video shows Amiri well-dressed and manicured with a globe - turned to North America - and chess set behind him as he appears to read from a teleprompter. He says, in Farsi, that he is happily living in the U.S. and going to school. He also denied having worked in the Iranian nuclear program and made a plea to his wife and son. "I want them to know that I never abandoned then, and that I will always love them."

According to one U.S. official, the CIA intended to produce the video and launch it on the internet before the Iranians had a chance to air their version.

Instead, the video languished at CIA headquarters for weeks, according to a senior intelligence official. Then, earlier this month, Iranian state television aired the Amiri video. Within a day, the CIA posted their Amiri video on YouTube, with a user identification of "shahramamiri2010."

Amiri Faces Tough Decisions

The Iranian government has since formally requested the U.S. government to return Amiri, accusing the Americans of holding him against his will. A spokesperson for the State department has acknowledged that the U.S. government has received the request, but has had no further comment.

"The United States doesn't force people to defect—that's a decision they make themselves," said a U.S. official. "Mr. Amiri wasn't kidnapped, and he certainly wasn't tortured. That's absurd. The guy has internet access and the ability to make and transmit videos. Let's get real. If you look at defectors as a group, without commenting on any particular individual, some adjust better than others, and some deal better than others with tugs and pressures from back home. But, ultimately, they make their own choices."

One Iranian defector warned that Amiri has some tough decisions ahead. Reza Kahlili, who still uses a pseudonym to protect his relatives whom he left behind in Iran, told ABC News that Amiri is likely making life or death decisions.

Defecting, Khalili said, "becomes very emotional, and at times you question your sanity and the decisions that you've made."

"If he went back…he would be tortured." Khalili said. "And then he would certainly be executed."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iran-threate...

Iran Tells U.S. to Hand Over Missing Nuke Scientist

By Kirit Radia and Matthew Cole 

The U.S. State Department said today that Iran had passed on a diplomatic note through the Swiss embassy in Tehran regarding missing nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who Tehran insists was abducted by the U.S. government.

"They allege in the note that we have him and they want him back," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters today. "We will respond to the diplomatic note."

Two videos of Amiri surfaced on YouTube earlier this week, one showing Amiri telling an Iranian journalist he had been abducted by the U.S., the other showing Amiri claiming to be safe and happy in the U.S.

Asked about the conflicting videos, Crowley replied, "The [second video] will not be able to tell us any more about this individual's whereabouts than the first one." The U.S. has not given any official acknowledgement of Amiri's location.

The topic of Amiri came up during what Crowley says was a previously scheduled meeting yesterday between the Swiss ambassador and Iran's foreign ministry.

Amiri, 32, has been at the center of a mystery since his disappearance on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last year. ABC News reported exclusively on March 30 that he had defected to the U.S. and was providing information about Iran's secret nuclear program, citing current and former CIA officials.

In a video posted online by Iranian television, with English subtitles, Amiri claimed he had been drugged and kidnapped and was living in Tucson, Ariz.

"Since I was abducted and brought to the U.S., I was heavily tortured and pressured by U.S. intelligence," Amiri says in Farsi.

"When I became conscious, I found myself in a plane on the way to the U.S.," he says.

Amiri claims that he was forced to lie and pretend that he had top secret information on the Iranian nuclear program so the U.S. could put "pollitical pressure" on Iran, and then asks international human rights organizations to help free him from captivity in the U.S.

Amiri, unshaven and wearing headphones, appears to be talking through a computer phone hook-up, which he says on the tape was made on April 5, one week after ABC News first reported his alleged defection to the US.

At almost the same time the first video was posted on line by Iranian television, a second video was posted on YouTube late Monday night in which Amiri appears in a professionally lit setting and says he is safe and happy to be in the United States. It is not clear who produced or posted the second video.

"I am free here and I assure everyone I am safe," he says.

Iranian Scientist in U.S. Misses Family

"My purpose in today's conversation is to put an end to all the rumors that have been leveled at me over the past year. I am Iranian and I have not taken any steps against my homeland," he says, and then asserts that his purpose in being in the US is to get a doctorate in radiation health "in order to upgrade the level of healthcare in my country and my world."

Amiri adds that he would like to share the results of his education with his people "provided that I have a chance to go back home safely."

He talks about missing his son and wife, denies that he abandoned them, and says, "I have confidence that the government of Iran will protect and watch over my family."

U.S. officials tell ABC News they consider Amiri's defection an "intelligence coup" in its continuing efforts to undermine Iran's nuclear program.

CIA officials declined to publicly comment on any aspect of the case but a senior US intelligence official said "it's ridiculous to think the United States would have to compel anyone to defect and then force them to stay in this country."

Intelligence officials asked if the scientist was being held against his will, how did he have access to the internet to call Iran?

It is not uncommon for defectors to go through "psychological issues," according to an intelligence official familiar with the case.

The Iranian government says the initial video of Amiri is evidence that the United States is holding the scientist against his will.

After his disappearance, the Iranian foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki, and Amiri's family blamed the US for kidnapping the scientist. His family had protested outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran, claiming the Saudis had played a role in Amiri's "abduction."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/iran-tells-u...