March 2011: Libyan rebels rise against Muammar Gaddafi. What at first appears to be a spontaneous uprising is in reality the culmination of a carefully managed, top secret, 30-year-old, CIA operation. For decades America has been plotting to remove the man it branded the Mad Dog of the Middle East. What few people know as the rebellion against Gaddafi unfolds is that the man leading the uprising is in fact a long-time CIA contact. CIA Declassified s1e1: Killing Mad Dog Gaddafi, 2014
The Libyan rebels are directed and coordinated by CIA experts on the ground. ibid.
CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia: The North Africa desk is buzzing. They are monitoring secret communications coming in from Libya. ibid.
1986: Operation El Dorado Canyon: Instead of sending in a CIA hit squad, the US will launch air strikes on a series of military targets inside Libya. ibid.
The rebels turn into a baying mob. They unleash a murderous revenge upon Gaddafi for four decades of oppression. ibid.
A fortress in Afghanistan. 1 month after 9/11. 2 operatives from the CIA’s elite special activities division are hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden. This is the declassified story of how the CIA with elite forces put down a Taliban uprising outnumbered 100/1. CIA Declassified s1e2: Fortress of War
The full operational force of the CIA now forcuses on one man and his network of terrorists. The CIA knows bin Laden is hiding in Afghanistan. He’s found refuge with a Taliban, the ruling extremist Islamic regime. But they don’t know his precise location. ibid.
For the very first time in American history, President Bush approves a plan using the CIA as a lead element in a war. Operation Enduring Freedom is the invasion of Afghanistan. ibid.
At the CIA headquarters analysts receive intelligence that many of these hardline foreigners are in fact members of Al Qaeda. ibid.
In 1996 the CIA set up a specialist unit to investigate a relatively unknown but extremely wealthy Saudi billionaire. His name is Osama bin Laden. CIA Declassified s1e3: The Real Zero Dark Thirty
Alex Station doesn’t give up. It tracks Bin Laden through the warrens of Kandahar. ibid.
Intelligence suggest that bin Laden has slipped over the border into Pakistan. Pakistan is officially an ally of the United States. ibid.
In Zero Dark Thirty, under torture [Abu] Zubaydah reveals Bin Laden’s link to the outside world – a courier. ibid.
Che Guevara, a ruthless revolutionary is intent on destroying the United States. In the 60s he’s causing mayhem in Bolivia to spark off revolutions throughout South America that will destabilise the area and threaten American interests … Mission: to capture Che Guevara and bring him back alive. CIA Declassified s1e4: The Hunt for Che Guevara
To students and revolutionary youths the world over he is a hero, a freedom fighter. But to others Che is a cold-blooded killer. ibid.
For the next four months US instructors, many veterans of Korea and Vietnam, train the Bolivian soldiers. ibid.
14th August 1967: 2 weeks after Rodriguez arrives in Bolivia, government soldiers make a spectacular discovery: it’s a cave used be Che’s guerillas – it contains a treasure trove of information on the rebel force. ibid.
One of the documents taken from the guerrilla’s cave is Che’s passport. It reveals how he entered Bolivia disguised as a middle-aged Uruguayan economist in November 1966. ibid.
The guerillas are completely isolated and alone. ibid.
Beirut, 1985: Terrorists are targetting Americans in a deadly series of attacks. Hundreds are dead. And now the CIA’s top man in the Middle East has been taken hostage. William Casey, the head of the CIA, decides to throw out the rule book and strike back. In a top-secret mission still denied by the American government, Casey allegedly sanctions the assassination of the men he believes is responible for the attacks on Americans. CIA Declassified s1e5: Beirut Bomb
1983, Beirut, Lebanon: The capital of this tiny Middle Eastern country is being devastated by years of conflict. Now American troops are arriving in the city. Their mission not to invade but to bring peace. Also in the city is a substantial CIA presence. Operating out of the US embassy, the agents are there to counter a growing problem in Beirut – terrorism. ibid.
As the classified CIA meeting is gathering, a white van is winding through the Beirut streets to the embassy. ibid.
The entire central section of the embassy collapses in the explosion, bringing down seven storeys of masonry and rubble. ibid.
200 people are wounded in the attack; 63 are killed; 17 of them American. ibid.
The van approaches the perimeter of the barracks. As a peacekeeping force, the marines’ weapons are not loaded. The face of the driver is visible to the guards as he aims the truck at the barracks. He is smiling. The truck rams into the base of the barracks and is primed to explode. It is the largest non-nuclear explosion since the Second World War. The entire building is levelled. ibid.
A Hezbollah car bomb targets the US embassy annex building: 24 are killed and 90 are injured. ibid.
The Iranians are running a car bomb school for Hezbollah terrorists. ibid.
‘It was totally an off-the-books operation.’ ibid. Bob Woodward
The blast kills 83 people, 283 lie wounded. The victims are mainly schoolgirls, woman and children. ibid.
It is Al-Qaeda’s first strike at America. Hundreds are killed by suicide bombs at two US embassies in Africa. CIA Declassified s1e6: Operation Celestial Balance
The terrorists are operating from a country [Kenya] that’s a no-go zone for the US. The top-secret mission: to infiltrate the most dangerous country in the world, deliver Operation Celestial Balance, and work with SEAL Team 6 to ensure that justice is done. ibid.
Nairobi, Kenya, 7th August 1998: Just after 10.30 a.m. a truck drives up to the US embassy, and instead of slowing at the barrier it accelerates. The final death toll is 12 Americans and 200 Kenyans. With over 4,000 injured. lmost simultaneously another suicide bomb explodes outside the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, the capital of the neighbouring country of Tanzania. ibid.
The CIA Nairobi station immediately get to work. ibid.
Kenya’s chaotic neighbour Somalia is the perfect safe haven for terrorists on the run. For years it’s been a no-go area for Americans thanks to the notorious Battle of Mogadishu five years earlier – the shooting down of a Blackhawk helicopter, and the drawn out rescue attempt that followed. ibid.
‘18 US Army Rangers were killed. Hundreds of Somalis died in that the US pulled out, and Somalia was left to its own devices for a number of years.’ ibid. comment
Suddenly a car explodes outside the hotel: 16 people are killed including 10 Kenyans and 3 Israelis; many more are injured. ibid.
Simultaneous coordinated attacks – the Al Qaeda signature. ibid.
The plot [plane into embassy] is foiled but it shows the CIA that al-Qaeda is maturing into a determined and well-resourced operation, and its protection in Magadishu is making it stronger every day. ibid.
The Warlords are now faking information and arresting innocent people just to keep the money rolling in. ibid.
It’s making the Americans even more unpopular on the streets of Magdishu. ibid.
Gang warfare erupts on the streets. ibid.
‘The Ethiopian Armed Forces invaded Somalia.’ ibid. comment
Operation Celestial Balance: The US Fifth Fleet is directed to wait off the Somali coast, silent miniaturized surveillance drones are launched to watch the roads running south out of Magadishu … Seal Team Six stationed on a nearby Destroyer now get their orders. The plan is simple: make an airborne assault … With a fix on [Saleh Ali Saleh] Nabhan, Seal Team Six moves and engages the Al Qaeda bomber, killing him. ibid.
Iran, 1979: The worst hostage crisis in American history. Unknown to the world at the time, US embassy staff escape and find their way to the house of Canadian diplomats where they spend 85 days in hiding. CIA Declassified s1e7: Argo: The Secret Story
An extraordinary plan: to walk the diplomats out of Iran in broad daylight posing as a Hollywood film crew. The CIA now pushes its tradecraft to the limit as they set out to disguise and train six ordinary Americans in the art of escape. This is the real-life story of what would later become an Oscar-winning Hollywood sensation. ibid.
In late 1979 thousands of anti-American protesters in Iran are gathering outside the US embassy. Demonstrations against America are common. Iran is still in the throes of an Islamic revolution. ibid.
66 Americans are now being held hostage at gunpoint. At this stage the CIA have no idea that there’s a group of diplomats on the run. ibid.
The State Department is consumed by the ever worsening hostage crisis … The State Department turns to the CIA. ibid.
The Flash cables are about the escaped diplomats. ibid.
The Date for exfiltration: January 25th 1980. ibid.