"Ghosts of Beirut," a Reflective Counterterrorism Masterpiece

The four-part Showtime thriller traces the CIA's decades-long pursuit and assassination of terrorist Imad Mughniyah, "the father of smoke."

In October 2013, I placed a call to the Central Intelligence Agency. I told the CIA’s public affairs office I wanted to talk to them about a story I’d unearthed, about the agency’s assassination of Imad Mughniyah, the world’s top terrorist for decade until he was taken out in 2008. I wasn’t looking for a simple comment, I told them, but some help fleshi…