Expert Views CIA`s Ways of Recruiting, Training Hizballah Agents
Ilaf.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011

 
The front cover of a CIA recruitment brochure. The CIA, recruiting openly again on campuses, is doing land office business, particularly for Operations Directorate, where the real spies are. For many specialties, the CIA market is brisker and more lucrative than the academic market, November 11, 1999. (KRT)

Report by Rima Zahhar in Beirut: “Thus Agents Are Technically Trained To Penetrate the Information”

The remark of Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah in his speech last Friday that US intelligence had recruited members of the party raises the strategic question of how can a closed party like Hizballah be penetrated and how are the agents trained technically to penetrate the information?

Strategic expert Ilyas Hanna tells Ilaf that the CIA`s (acronym in English) agents were not trained but were present and communicating via the mode d`operation (expression in French) and were trained to operate in this way and send the report secretly through a special machine and also trained to use machines.

When asked is it easy today to penetrate the Hizballah organization which is known to be closed? He answers: “It is evident that there is nothing closed in life. There are levels of secrecy and Hizballah`s secrecy is very high, unlike the Palestinians who are easy to penetrate because their secrecy is not high and they have internal conflicts. It is possible to penetrate Hizballah and what happened is the proof. Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah`s admission was important but what cannot be digested is this: Israel failed and sought the help of CIA. The latter has always had a problem with Hizballah since the 1980s which has not abated. It did not start today but goes back to the bombing of the Marines base. The battle today is long and a major one and for Hizballah not to take the CIA question into consideration is a big mistake.”

In reply to a question that the US Embassy denied this today, he says: “It goes without saying that it will not admit this. In principle, the American state does not recognize the American agent who is arrested. The secret agent has his own file.”

When asked can the CIA technically train members from Hizballah, he says: “It is not training. Today, there must be a point at which the two sides meet and a means that is like a virus that enters the body which we do not feel but spreads all over us. When the agent is recruited, he needs the means and confidence building after which his weak points are worked on. Does he love money or women? The system is built on this basis so as to control him. He cannot back down once he does his job and he cannot leave the game once he has entered it. It is possible there is a third party that brought them together. Coincidence might also play its role. The two sides might have met abroad and have common interests. All these details are possible.”

Has such cases been encountered in the Lebanese Army? He answers: “Nowadays, agents in the Lebanese Army working with Israel were arrested. They followed the same mechanism. There might be persons with the CIA and Israel about whom no one knows. Crime does not become a crime unless it is exposed.”

How was Hizballah able to uncover them? He says: “It starts when the information is suspected and the system works on this suspicion. As Nasrallah said, a certain issue was suspected, the party released false information and tracked it, and they were uncovered by knowing who contacted who and they were arrested. This is called counter intelligence (expression in English).”

About the sentence that might be issued against these spies, he says: According to Nasrallah, it will be death. But before that, they are used to get information from them and with whom they had a relationship and whether it is a network within a network and then they are handed over in the end for trial. According to Nasrallah, they will be executed.

How can Hizballah fortify itself against such penetrations happening again? He answers: “There is no absolute secrecy. When this happens then it is possible it will be repeated. There are new challenges and aims at each one of the party`s stages. There might be known persons and were not arrested. As Nasrallah said, persons were suspected and they proved to be innocent. But when we see a network of this kind at a high level then there must be good investigation and the trust factor needs to be lessened. In his view, the purpose from training these persons is that war between parties is based in information, the internal one. For example, where is the party deployed? What missiles there are and where are they? Who is dealing with Iran or Syria? When the other party uncovers all this game then they can be targeted in an easier way and a counter strategy is launched.

(Description of Source: London Ilaf.com in Arabic -- Saudi-owned, independent Internet daily with pan-Arab, liberal line. URL: http://www.elaph.com/)

© Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.

TV airs programme on Iranians accused of cooperating with CIA
BBC Monitoring Middle East
June 23, 2011

At 1900 gmt Iranian state TV`s channel one started to air a report entitled “Enemies of Iran”.

The report started by showing the footage of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi announcing the arrest of 30 people on 21 May for cooperating with the CIA.

The programme showed Moslehi talking about how the CIA had hired these individuals to collect information on Iran`s key organizations and networks such as the Atomic energy agency, the transport, electricity and communication and telecommunication networks, banking system, university and academic centres, Ministry of Oil and related projects, research and industrial projects, public transport and airports.

The report said that the CIA had used recruitment centres and disguised companies to recruit agents within Iran and many of the recruits had been experts who had access to information within various organizations. One of these individuals, Jamshid Sadeq Hoseyni described how he was approached by these companies and asked to gather information for them.

The report said experts in various organizations were lured with the promise of permanent visa and work abroad.

Psychologist Nilushak warned against dangers of posting personal details on various sites.

The report said that the CIA actively contacted job seekers and interviewed them on the phone to assessed if they were suitable.

One of the people who had been approached by the CIA was Alireza Valian. He, who was described as an expert in a sensitive centre, said that his details had been available on various sites such as Hot Jobs, Monster, Al-beyt and that he was contacted by some one from a company called Infinite Solutions based in Finland to arrange an interview for a job.

The programme announced the name of the companies that cooperated with the CIA as follows: Holderstone [as heard] consultancy company, Technical Hiring, Engineer One, The En Capital [as heard], Novera International [as heard], Vald Middle Group [as heard], Marketing Research Association.

A woman whose face was pixelated described certain suspicious aspects of an advert put on a website by one of the above companies.

The programme showed Alireza Valian describing his conversation at the interview with the Infinite Solutions. He said he was asked about the type of systems used at work and the type projects handled by his company.

Psychologist Nilushak then urged viewers to ask questions and clarify ambiguities when approached by companies.

The programme warned that the recruits were asked to commit acts of sabotage in communication, electricity or gas networks, create economic crisis and cause financial disruption.

The report then showed the arrest of a man by security forces.

An expert and university lecturer, Fo`ad Izadi, told the programme that the aim was to create disruption in major networks including the electricity network, banking system, underground, and such like.

An arrested engineer whose face was pixelated said he was asked to produce a detailed map of the country`s electricity distribution network for his foreign employers. The programme said that all the CIA interviews were conducted at public places or even in a third country.

The report said that some of the deceived people did not realize that passing such information was a crime. The report said that Jamshid Sadeq- Hoseyni, who has been sentenced to life in prison, knowingly cooperated with the CIA. Sadeq-Hoseyni said he was asked to produce a list of key companies and projects. He said he agreed on a price for his cooperation and agreed to be the contact point for the CIA.

The report said one of the ways of luring the interviewees was the promise of large sums of money and a glamorous future abroad.

Psychologist Nilushak warned of the consequences of cooperating with the enemy. The programme said that Google Earth was used to communicate with the agents where to go to collect their money.

The report said scientific conferences were one of the venues where CIA agents were active in recruiting Iranian students. Another man described how when he applied for a visa he was promised permanent visa in exchange for cooperation with the CIA linked agents. An airport staff and an oil expert whose faces were pixelated also described how they were contacted by CIA linked agents.

An official said the aim of such activities was to topple the Islamic government.

Moslehi said the CIA bases in Malaysia, Turkey, the United Arabs Emirates, where they were recruiting agents, were identified by the intelligence services.

He said those who were cooperating with the enemy without realizing the dangers of their action should contact the intelligence services.

The programme ended at 1935 gmt with the caption “Enemies of Iran will definitely be defeated.”

Source: Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1, Tehran, in Persian 1900 gmt 23 Jun 11

© 2011 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

CIA trying to hire more diverse agents
May 18, 2011

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA`s job market for secret operatives has never been more open. If you speak a language or two, are culturally aware and even better, if you are a first- or second-generation American, you`ve greatly enhanced your chances of landing a job at the nation`s spy agency.

Diversity is the name of the game at the agency. As CIA Director Leon Panetta recently put it, “We have to be an intelligence agency that looks like the world we have to engage in.”

The agency is seeking Americans from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

The diverse work force goes beyond race, ethnicity and heritage. The CIA chief recruiter, Patty Brandmaier, said, “It`s also background. It`s also education. It`s also life experiences or different professional experiences, different ways of thinking to bring to bear on our mission.”

Language skills are at the forefront. CIA Director Panetta put it bluntly, “I don`t think you can be a good intelligence officer unless you have a language capability.”

New recruiting ads are part of an enhanced effort to depict the CIA as a diverse work force, with officers ready to drop what they`re doing to meet the challenge, whether in Washington, D.C., or some distant land.

One of the TV commercials portrays an officer taking a call at home, summoning him to work to confront a crisis. At the office, he is surrounded by co-workers of different ethnicities, all actively engaged in the effort. The audio says in part, “My working hours can change, instantly. The mission is constant but every day is different ... Don`t just watch the news, live it, 24/7.”

Another ad shows an officer who appears to be meeting with sources overseas. The last words on the audio, “One operation, one meeting could make a difference.”

In its effort to recruit culturally and ethnically diverse candidates, the CIA has placed help wanted ads in Arabic and Farsi in American Middle Eastern communities from Dearborn, Michigan, to Los Angeles.

A big challenge has been convincing a skeptical Arab and Iranian American community the CIA is a good place to work.

Brandmaier said it`s been tough. She believes there is distrust because of the role the CIA plays in the Middle East.

“There are times where members of the community we are working with felt like they were going out on a limb to accept our advertising or to have a sponsor at one of their events,” she said.

With threats potentially coming from around the globe, the CIA is also looking for Americans who speak Chinese, Korean and Pashto and Dari, both spoken in Afghanistan.

Brandmaier says the CIA is trying to break away from its image of only wanting to hire Ivy league types.

“We are looking at different populations in terms of education, people who didn`t grow up or go to school on the East Coast,” she said.

Students are a top recruiting priority for the agency, but if University of Maryland junior Maryam Elbalghiti is any indication, it has long way to go to convince them the CIA is a desirable occupation.

Elbalghiti, who is studying advanced Arabic in hopes of joining the State Department, said, “I would have moral qualms with working with the CIA, for example because I would not want to be directly or indirectly involved with anything that would be of violent origin or have violent effects.”

Competition also is a battle for the CIA. The key demographic groups -- Americans of Mideast and South Asian backgrounds -- are heavily recruited by the State Department, FBI, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency among others.

CIA recruitment efforts must also contend with what Brandmaier calls the myths, everything from the glamorous lifestyle portrayed in the James Bond movies, to spying on your family and friends. There is a myth-busters advertising campaign just to dispel those misperceptions about the agency.

Through hiring and training, Panetta wants to double the number of analysts and collectors who are proficient in languages and increase by 50% the number of officers who are skilled in mission-critical languages such as Arabic, Pashto, Urdu, Persian, Russian, Korean and Chinese. He hopes to reach the goal by 2015.

“Our clandestine service officers must be able to collect intelligence overseas by speaking to sources in their own language, by blending in with local people,” he said. “Our analysts, to make sense of that intelligence, must understand cultural nuances and have a sense of how people in other countries think and make decisions.”

Panetta said his primary mission is to defeat al Qaeda.

“It`s going to depend on understanding what drives people into them, understanding the culture, understanding the society. And the best way to do that is to understand the language.”

But speaking a foreign language is no guarantee you will get hired.

“I wouldn`t hire someone just because they spoke Dari or Urdu or Pashto,” said Brandmaier, adding, “We look at the whole person. So what I`m looking for in my people is character, integrity, initiative, and I`m looking for leadership.”

The CIA doesn`t announce how many people it wants to hire -- or how successful it has been in its diversity effort. At its heart, the CIA remains a secret organization. But they will tell us in the last year they have increased by 25% the number of officers proficient in a language other than English. That skill gets a pay bonus.

© Copyright 2011 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.