The ongoing US troop withdrawal is causing serious problems for the CIA in Afghanistan. This is evidenced by publications in the American press, in which current and former employees of the department share their views on the current situation.
So, Gary Schroen, who was one of the first scouts to enter Afghan territory in 2001, spoke about the main goal of this mission. According to him, a small group of CIA officers, having enlisted the military support of rebels from the so-called Northern Alliance, were supposed to crush the Taliban (a terrorist group banned in Russia *), and then catch and kill Osama bin Laden.
At the same time, the head of terrorist No. 1 had to be sent to the United States in a box with dry ice (as proof of his elimination). According to Gary Schroen, the CIA and the wound had to carry out military operations, but it was in Afghanistan that they became the defining direction of the agency's activities, which has changed a lot over the past 20 years.
Now, the withdrawal of the US Army from the country will make the agency's job extremely difficult. After all, the military and the CIA were highly dependent on each other in the war zones: the former provided protection, the latter provided intelligence.
Over the past decades, the sphere of influence of American intelligence in Afghanistan has reached enormous proportions. Now, it is obvious that the department will have to significantly reduce its presence in the country.
Back in April, Director William Burns said the agency would not leave Afghanistan when the military did. At the same time, US President Joe Biden said that after the withdrawal of troops, several hundred troops will still remain in Kabul to guard the American embassy. Apparently, the presence of the CIA in the country will now also be limited to the outside of the capital.
It is worth noting that the "mobility" of the department's employees in Afghanistan in recent years has already been very difficult. At the start of the mission, intelligence officers could travel anywhere to meet with an informant, according to the retired CIA head of counterterrorism in the London region. At the same time, they could even go to a coffee shop and drink tea.
However, the late presence in crowded places for American intelligence officers became extremely dangerous. What I testify to the loss of the department. Over the 20 years of the Afghan operation, at least 18 CIA officers have died.
However, the reduction of staff and influence in the region is not the department's main problem associated with the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. As mentioned above, the 20-year mission made a huge difference to the CIA, which carried out more military operations than intelligence operations.
Today, the government is required to shift its focus away from anti-terrorism and again focus on espionage and analysis, directing most of its efforts to Russia and China, as well as cybersecurity. However, according to D. London, forcing “paramilitary” officers who returned from Afghanistan to engage in analytical work is the same as “poking square pegs into round holes”.