Is the CIA Losing Its Grip in the Middle East?

Clandestine Services veteran Marc Polymeropoulos laments the demise of deep regional expertise

May 19, 2021

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Marc Polymeropoulos, a 28-year veteran of the CIA’s Clandestine Service directorate, says the CIA lost its “last great Arabist” with the passing of agency legend and Middle East hand Charlie Seidel.

Seidel, who died in 2019, held senior CIA leadership positions in Eqypt, Jordan, Iraq Kuwait and Syria, and once headed operations in the Middle East. He …

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