State Secrets

On the morning of July 31, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has been in hiding since 9/11, walked onto the balcony inside a compound in downtown Kabul. The Egyptian-born physician had taken over the leadership of the terrorist organization after US Navy SEALS killed Osama bin laden in Abbottabad in 2011. For 11 years he had directed al-Qaeda from the shadows and there had been many false starts for the US intelligence agencies and special operations team who were tracking him.  But on this day, as he stood outside, a US directed hellfire missile, reportedly fired from a drone killed him.  The missile was incredibly precise, it killed the al Qaeda leader but not his family, who are believed to have been inside the building at the time. Air to surface missiles like this one are just one of the tools that US counter-terrorism teams have been using as they hunt down terrorist leaders around the globe.  While Zawahiri’s killing was seen as the end of a long and costly manhunt – both in human lives and resources – what does his death mean to the future of the al Qaeda? I spoke recently with retired Lieutenant Generals Scott Howell and Mike Nagata. Lt. Gen Howell served as Commander of Joint Special Operations Command Central before he retired just over a year ago and Lt. Gen Mike Nagata served as Commander of US Special Operations Command before retiring in 2019. As the first Air Force officer to command JSOC, Lt Gen. Howell led a force of 14,000 personnel engaged in special operations across multiple areas of instability and was responsible for the readiness and mission execution of highly-specialized forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. And Lt. General Nagata’s final position before retiring was Director of Strategy for the National Counterterrorism Center – a job he held from 2016 to 2019. He served as Commander of US Special Operations Command-Central and was responsible for Special Operations across the Central Command region from 2013 to 2015 and was heavily involved in the first two years of combat operations against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere.

Suzanne talks with former National Intelligence Manager for Iran (NIM-I) at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Norm Roule on the impact of a potential deal to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement with Iran.  

The former Director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center joins us in The Cipher Brief Studio to talk about why technology is not enough when it comes to maintaining a competitive edge in national security over China.  If the US doesn’t organize as well as it innovates, there will be no victory. 

In this episode Suzanne talks with former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence and founder of the Mossbridge Institute, Dr. Julia Mossbridge.

This week Suzanne talks with former CIA officer and author of new book Victor in the Trouble Alex Finley.  They talk about her career, her path to becoming an author and how she recenlty became an expert on oligarchs and yachts.

This week, Suzanne talks with Steve Blank, the Silicon Valley Entrepreneur widely recognized as one of the most influential voices in technology today. Blank’s passion for US national security led him to co-launch two classes at Stanford, where he teaches.  One is called Hacking for Defense and the other, Hacking for Diplomacy.  Hacking for Defense later became a federal program as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Today, Steve has joined a chorus of voices complaining that Department of Defense ‘culture’ is hindering its ability to truly innovate and it’s putting the US behind it’s adversaries.  What does that mean?  And how could it impact future US national security and US competitiveness in the world?

In this episode Suzanne catches up with Cipher Brief Expert and author Admiral James Stavridis (Ret) to talk about his new book- To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision.

Former Chief of Counterterrorist Operations Ric Prado spent the bulk of his CIA career undercover, taking on the hardest challenges the Agency had, from Nicaragua to Afghanistan. Now, the Cuban refugee shares the secrets of why he did it, and why he thinks it’s time to set the record straight.

Former Senior CIA Officer Kristin Wood shares her insights on secrets and the world of Open Source Intelligence. Now CEO of Grist Mill Exchange, Wood shares her insights on how businesses and the government can benefit the most from secrets that are sometimes right there in the open.

Cipher Brief Publisher and CEO Suzanne Kelly talks with retired CIA Officer Beth Sanner, who spent 35 years in national security before recently retiring.  Her responsibilities included serving as Deputy Director for National Intelligence, and as former President Trump’s Intelligence Briefer.   That means that twice a week, for two years, Sanner met with the former President in the Oval Office, sometimes in other locations around the White House, to brief him on the nation’s most classified intelligence.  In order to do that, she had to get inside her customer’s mind, anticipate the questions he would ask and have answers ready.  What are some of the secrets Sanner has for briefing people in positions of power?