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Vincent Cannistraro was Director of NSC Intelligence from November 1984 to January 1987 . He was Special Assistant for Intelligence in the office of the Secretary of Defense (January 1987-October 1988). Prior to 1984, he was a CIA officer active in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He served in Washington at CIA headquarters as Chief of the Central American Task Force, from 1983 to 1984, and then was removed by CIA Director William Casey for opposing paramilitary operations in that region. <Report by Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh; report of joint Congressional committees investigation of Iran/contra 1987>.

Cannistraro is the former head of Counterterrorism Operations and Analysis at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (1988-1991); he led the CIA's investigation into the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am 103 by the Libyan government. He left the CIA in 1991, since when he has been a consultant on global security events and intelligence issues for corporate and US government clients. He is often cited by U.S. media on these issues, as well as in Europe and Asia. His role in countering the terrorist group Abu Nidal Organization was documented in the book "Eclipse" by author Mark Perry published by Morrow in 1992.

He has commented on the forged Niger "yellowcake" uranium documents , which attempted to link Iraq with nuclear weapons development, and on the related disclosure of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame. He was a charter signer of a letter to President Bush arguing for the enactment of a ban on torture by American officials.

References

  1. ↑ “Director of NSC Intelligence from 1984 to 1987,  Cannistraro went on to serve as chief of operations for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center and to lead the CIA's investigation into the bombing of Pan Am 103...” -- From a PBS interview that may be read here:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/interviews/
  2. ↑ Ian Masters, "Who Forged the Niger Documents?", AlterNet, April 7, 2005 -- Edited transcript of interview with Cannistraro

believe ‘former CIA officials’?]

• Central Intelligence Agency
• Anti-Iraq war Veterans