Vincent Cannistraro was Director of Intelligence Programs for the
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Execu ...
(NSC) from 1984 to 1987; Special assistant for Intelligence in the
Office of the Secretary of Defense
The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...
until 1988; and Chief of Operations and Analysis at the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
's (CIA)
Counterterrorist Center
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) was established in 1986, and is a division of the CI ...
until 1991.
["Interview with Vincent Cannistraro"]
''PBS Frontline'', undated, retrieved April 18, 2006.["Witness biographies"]
(pdf), Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, October 24, 2003
Before 1984, he was an officer with the CIA's Directorate of Operations in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, and
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
.
[Priest, Dana. "The Slowly Changing Face of the CIA Spy; Recruits Eager to Fight Terror Are Flooding In, but Few Look the Part," ''The Washington Post'', August 9, 2002.]
After leaving the CIA in 1991, Cannistraro worked as a consultant on
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
and security issues for a number of corporate and government clients, including
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
and
The Vatican.
[
He died on May 21, 2019.
]
Education and awards
Cannistaro has a B.A. and M.A. from Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
. In 1989, he received the Secretary of Defense's Award for Meritorious Civilian Service
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award ...
. He has also received the CIA Medal for Distinguished Service.[
]
Professional life
While at the CIA, Cannistraro ran the agency's Central American task force that supervised covert action in the region, including the Nicaraguan Contras (both the left wing guerillas in the South and the right wing contras in the North). He moved to the Reagan NSC by the direction of CIA Latin American Chief Duane Clarridge
Duane Ramsdell "Dewey" Clarridge (April 16, 1932 – April 9, 2016) was an American senior operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supervisor for more than 30 years. Clarridge was the chief of the Latin American division f ...
, who supported Col. Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...
.[Ignatius, David. "Tale of Two White House Aides: Confidence and Motivation; North Viewed as a Can-Do Marine Who Went Too Far in Zealousness." ''The Washington Post.'' November 30, (1986): Sec. A1.] The Contra program was transferred in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
to the NSC,[Kornbluh, P., and M. Byrne. "The Iran-Contra Scandal: The declassified history." New York: The New Press. (1993): xviii.] and Cannistraro was made Director of Intelligence there later that year. As director, he was responsible for monitoring the US intelligence community budget. and coordinating the approval process for covert action. He also chaired the Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
Working Group at the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
.["Who We Are"]
''Intelligence Brief'', Cannistraro's website.
In 1988, Cannistraro became Chief of Operations and Analysis at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) was established in 1986, and is a division of the CI ...
, where he led the agency's investigation into the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
over Lockerbie
Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...
.
Cannistraro also alleged that Iraqi intelligence agent Farouk Hijazi Farouk Hijazi ( ar, فاروق حجازي) is a former Iraqi government official who served the Iraqi government during the rulership of Saddam Hussein. Hijazi served as Hussein's Director of External Operations for the Mukhabarat, the Iraqi intelli ...
had invited bin Laden to live in Iraq during a December 1998 meeting in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, though he maintained that bin Laden refused the invitation and did not accept support from Saddam Hussein.["Analysis: Though Afghanistan has provided Osama bin Laden with sanctuary, it is unclear where he is now," ]National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, February 18, 1999
He reported on the forged Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[yellowcake
Yellowcake (also called urania) is a type of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before f ...](_blank)
" uranium documents as an attempt by some Bush Administration supporters to link Iraq with nuclear weapons development in order to increase public support for the Iraq war
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
), and on the related disclosure of the identity of CIA case officer Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA officer ...
.["Witness testimony, Vincent Cannistraro"]
(pdf), Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, October 24, 2003.
The front company, Brewster Jennings & Associates
Brewster Jennings & Associates was a front company set up in 1994 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a cover for its officers. The most famous is Valerie Plame, a "covert employee of the CIA" whose then-classified status was published in a ...
, apparently also was used by other CIA officers whose work now could be at risk, according to Cannistraro.
Cannistaro run
''IntelligenceBrief''
a security and information service for private clients. The Vatican is one such client.
On September 12, 2001, Cannistraro stated that five of the hijackers had entered the United States in Maine from Canada via Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and/or a remote border point near Jackman, Maine, several hundred kilometres southeast of Quebec City.
Notes
References
''PBS Frontline''.
"Witness biographies"
(pdf), Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, October 24, 2003.
''Intelligence Brief'', Cannistraro's security and information service.
*Diamond, John. "CIA cuts off more than 1,000 informants, many for criminality", ''Associated Press'', March 2, 1997.
*Ignatius, David. "Tale of Two White House Aides: Confidence and Motivation; North Viewed as a Can-Do Marine Who Went Too Far in Zealousness." The Washington Post. November 30, (1986): Sec. A1.
*Kornbluh, P., and M. Byrne. "The Iran-Contra Scandal: The declassified history." New York: The New Press. (1993): xviii.
*Priest, Dana. "The Slowly Changing Face of the CIA Spy; Recruits Eager to Fight Terror Are Flooding In, but Few Look the Part," ''The Washington Post'', August 9, 2002.
*Santos, Lori. "Walsh draws testimony from NSC officials." United Press International, June 15, (1987)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannistraro, Vincent
People of the Central Intelligence Agency
Iran–Contra affair
2019 deaths
Year of birth missing
Experts on terrorism