3. CIA vs the Taliban: Behind Enemy Lines (Ep 1)

12/04/24 • 47 min

2 Listeners

America knew Al-Qaeda were behind the 9/11 attacks before the day was out. They knew they were being sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan and so the CIA went after them. Small teams were dropped behind enemy lines with bags of cash and very little else, instructed to link up with Afghan warlords like Abdul Rashid Dostum. It proved to be a devastating combination as they began to sweep through Afghanistan.

Listen as Gordon Corera and David McCloskey discuss the first CIA teams first in Afghanistan after 9/11.

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2. The First CIA Coup: Turmoil in Tehran (Ep 2)

1 Recommendations

The first coup attempt has failed. The Shah has fled to Baghdad. The CIA have told Kermit he can leave if he's in a jam, but he chooses not to. He wants to finish the job. The streets of Tehran are chaos; protesters against the Shah are out in their thousands and things are getting violent. But in this Kermit sees an opportunity. If he stokes enough disorder will the majority of the capital turn against Mossadegh's radical supporters? What follows is a tale of dirty tricks, armed weightlifters, and, bizarrely, a series of Iranian politicians in their pyjamas...

Listen as David McCloskey and Gordon Corera tell the story of the 1953 Iranian coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6.

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Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @triclassified

Editor: Kieron Leslie

Producer: Callum Hill

Senior Producer: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor

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4. The Rise and Fall of Assad's Spy State

What will western and Syrian spy services be focusing on following the fall of Bashar al-Assad? Is Russia and Iran’s withdrawal from Syria similar to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan? Were the security services predicting that the Assad regime would collapse so quickly?

Join David McCloskey and Gordon Corera as they answer all these questions and more in this emergency episode of The Rest Is Classified.

For further reading, check out David and Gordon’s recommended profiles below:

Razan Saffour - @RazanSpeaks

Aaron Zelin - @azelin

Leila Al-Shami - @LeilaShami

Charles Lister - @Charles_Lister

Synaps Network - @SynapsNetwork

Kim Ghattas - @KimGhattas

Emma Beals - @ejbeals

Steve Heydemann - @SHeydemann

Rim Turkmani - @Rim_Turkmani

Lina Ghoutouk - @linaagho