Interview · moment 10 of 11
Bin Laden Raid Doubts, Saudi-Israeli Backchannels, and Rare Earth Minerals
from Inside the Cia (with John Kiriakou) · #54
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
6 minGuest
Kiriakou backs Seymour Hersh's contested account of the Bin Laden raid, describes a mysterious Saudi radar shutdown suggesting secret Israeli-Saudi cooperation against Iran, downplays pipeline theories about Middle East wars in favor of rare earth mineral interests in Afghanistan, and closes with stories about running into fellow ex-CIA figures like Colin Powell and John McLaughlin around Virginia.
- 1:27:07Israeli jets conducted a dry run crossing Saudi Arabia to UAE and back, with Saudis shutting off their ground-based radar.
- 1:27:32Tim identifies a behind-the-scenes alliance between Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar against Iran.
- 1:28:18Tim argues fracking has made Middle Eastern oil less relevant and doubts the pipeline motivation theory.
- 1:28:32Rare earth minerals used in everything from car bumpers to nuclear missiles are the real geopolitical prize, not oil.
- 1:28:56Afghanistan's rare mineral abundance likely became a motivating factor after 2002 when the deposits were discovered.
- 1:29:25Tim asks if intelligence officials living in Virginia constantly bump into each other at Whole Foods and restaurants.
- 1:29:49Guest encountered a hostile woman at Barnes and Noble who refused to speak to him, saying 'I don't talk to traders.'
- 1:30:45Guest ran into former CIA deputy and acting director John McLaughlin at a used bookstore in Washington D.C.
- 1:31:02Tim asks about deep cover operatives with wiped fingerprints who completely disappear from the system.
- 1:32:02Guest reveals the woman mentioned may face human rights charges in Europe and cannot travel outside the US after retiring.
John KiriakouJohn McLaughlinDoing Time Like a SpyAfghanistanColin PowellIranGerald McRaneyDelta BurkeOrel HershiserJohn CryerEd Begley Jr.Syria