Friday March 9, 2007

I've Been Thinking:

Maybe he wasn't kidnapped.
Perhaps he defected.
The intrigue surrounding Ali Reza Azkari, the high level Iranian diplomat who disappeared on February 7th while in Istanbul, continues.

No matter how he got there, the presence of Azkari, the man who knows so much about Iran, about al Qaeda, about the world of terror, is a tremendous "intelligence asset" for both the United States and Israel.
No matter how he got there, getting him there required a coordinated effort by the United States CIA and State Department and Israel.

If Azkari defected - they will not have to break him to get information and intel.
If Azkari defected - the knowledge and understanding of the inner workings of Iran that he will convey will be even more significant.
But ...
If Azkari defected - we must determine that he is delivering honest information and is not a plant, deliberately disseminating disinformation in order to send the United States and Israel down the road of poor decision making.

In order to ascertain Azkari's veracity debriefings must be done in Parsi, the native language of Iran.
In order to ascertain Azkari's veracity debriefing must be done by people who truly understand nuance.