Sex Scandal Calls CIA’s Self-Policing Into Question
A CIA sex scandal, or, more precisely, allegations that a CIA agent raped two Algerian women, has raised questions in Congress about how the agency polices itself. Oddly, discussions of the controversy have failed to emphasize another significant "oops" moment in CIA operations regarding corruption and the need for oversight: torture.
A CIA sex scandal, or, more precisely, allegations that a CIA agent raped two Algerian women, has raised questions in Congress about how the agency polices itself. Oddly, discussions of the controversy have failed to emphasize another significant “oops” moment in CIA operations regarding corruption and the need for oversight: torture.
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As a novice CIA case officer in the Middle East, Andrew Warren quickly learned the value of sex in recruiting spies. Colleagues say that he made an early habit of taking informants to strip clubs, and that he later began arranging out-of-town visits to brothels for his best recruits. Often Warren would travel with them, according to two colleagues who worked with him for years.
His methods earned him promotions and notoriety over a lengthy career, until Warren, 41, became ensnared in a sex scandal. Two Algerian women have accused the Virginia native of drugging and sexually assaulting them, and, in one instance, videotaping the encounter.
Six weeks after the allegations came to light, Warren has been formally notified by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta of his impending dismissal, according to U.S. government officials familiar with the case. But the episode — one of three sex-related scandals to shake the CIA this year — has drawn harsh questions from Congress about whether the agency adequately polices its far-flung workforce or takes sufficient steps to root out corrupt behavior.
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Editorial Cartoons
Mass protests have reshaped Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and Sudan, but you'd never know it from the coverage they've received in U.S. media.
Aggressive policing, mass incarceration and inhumane detention facilities are products of overseas empire—imperial chickens come home to roost.
From Algeria to Morocco, there's been a new set of popular uprisings in northern Africa, protesting autocrats—of which the U.S. has its own.
America’s history of bungling in the Middle East suggests it should just sit this latest development out.
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