Michele Rigby Assad, a former CIA operations officer specializing in counterterrorism and lie detection, shares fascinating insights from her decade-long career in the CIA. She recounts the rigorous training for high-stakes deployments and the cultural challenges she faced in the Middle East. Michele discusses the unintended consequences of U.S. de-Ba'athification in Iraq and her harrowing experience facilitating an airlift for persecuted Iraqi Christians amid the ISIS crisis. She emphasizes the importance of language and cultural understanding in intelligence work.