CIA Contractor Describes Hunt for Bin Laden

[XASA]

Following is an excerpt from Lloyd Grove's Lowdown Column in today's New York Daily News. Interesting comments on who is being recruited to be contractors and the use of steroids.

"Snagging stories in hunt for Osama

Swashbuckling journalist Robert Young Pelton has just returned from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with a ripping-good yarn about the CIA's efforts to bag Osama Bin Laden.

A former mujahedeen commander named Hajji tells Pelton - for the upcoming issue of National Geographic Adventure - that al Qaeda's leader is probably hiding in a valley town on the Pakistan side.

"Chittal would be the most likely place," Hajji says. "There is little movement there in the winter. The airplanes don't work well that high up, and you will know when people are coming."

Pelton, 48 - who was kidnapped and released last year by a Colombian paramilitary group and wrote a book titled "The World's Most Dangerous Places" - also interviews a covert CIA operative, nicknamed "The Contractor."

"Our job is to shake the apple tree," says the Contractor, part of a task force that includes Special Forces and Delta Force members and Navy SEALS. "We aren't hunting Bin Laden from the top. Our strategy is to focus on the little guys ... then we intercept their calls and the hunt begins. We are just hired killers. Guns with legs.

"The trouble is that we are doing this inside Pakistan," he continues. "Our government can say that 'we' are not going into Pakistan. But you can be damn sure that white boys are going into Pakistan and shooting bad guys."

Waxing spiritual, the Contractor adds: "These days, the Agency is looking for Mormons and Born Agains. People with a lot of patriotism and the need to do good. At least we start that way."

Then, of course, there's the challenge of staying combat-ready.

"Most of us are into steroids big-time. D-balls [Dianabol] to bulk you up and Sustanon to help you maintain what you gained. The doctors turn a blind eye to it. We get the stuff across the border in Pakistan."

Hmmmm. Suddenly, President Bush's surprising interest in steroids is starting to make sense."

[Argyll]

Nice article

[MSG Dman]

Whats nice about it? Because some clown who never had anything to do with the CIA is running his yap to a reporter to make himself feel cool?

Heres a newsflash for you, CIA operatives would be required to sign the same non-disclosure information as all spec ops, and would not be going on and on about Delta and Seals.

More then likely this is some support idiot who found a reporter who would listen, and we all sit back mesmorized by his heroic tales.

[Argyll]

And you can prove this is a 100% Bull**** story?
You can prove beyond reasonable doubt that there is no "contractor"

Its a nice article because there's more to read between the lines!!


Here's a newsflash for you,would this be the same NDA that has Newspapers running Stories about the Composition of TF121?

However you know how much the public love these kinds of stories,to them it all sounds Mystical and wonderfull,when they seem to forget that most of these poor sods up in the Mountains(SOF) had to tab it there with all their kit,and at times had to breath out their assholes when the going got tougher!!.which is the less glamourous details that joe public ain't interested in!

[UkrainianAmerican]

Whats nice about it? Because some clown who never had anything to do with the CIA is running his yap to a reporter to make himself feel cool?

Heres a newsflash for you, CIA operatives would be required to sign the same non-disclosure information as all spec ops, and would not be going on and on about Delta and Seals.

More then likely this is some support idiot who found a reporter who would listen, and we all sit back mesmorized by his heroic tales.
WORD.

[grendel]

"Most of us are into steroids big-time. D-balls [Dianabol] to bulk you up and Sustanon to help you maintain what you gained...

Just a quick question:
Is it easier to climb mountains when you're built like a gorilla? :|
{my apologies to those in this forum who are built like gorillas offcourse! ;) }

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

"Most of us are into steroids big-time. D-balls [Dianabol] to bulk you up and Sustanon to help you maintain what you gained. The doctors turn a blind eye to it. We get the stuff across the border in Pakistan."Steroids, high altittude, stress and steep hills = Massive Heart Attack? :lol:

[Mo]

I have climbed many mountains, a bunch above 14,000 feet here in colorado and others in Cali, and have been above 17,500 feet in Mexico, weight training is important to climbing but not to be huge as a gorilla, it would only hurt you at big elevations. Although if your cardio shape is excellent.....? I would think that taking roids could only hurt your body in the long run, expecially if you were living at high elevations, the strain on your heart would shorten your life span considerably.

[shrek]

I have to admit, this article sounds like rubbish.

Maybe a CIA wannbe would say crap like that but an OP? I have known a few, climbed a few 14'ers with a few and watched one die recently. These guys just don't talk, TO ANYBODY. And as far as steroid use goes. They fall under the same guidelines as all CIA employees, i.e. Drugtests! All that I knew were slim, trim, fit and aerobically explosive. No steroid use evident where I was! Either time!!

[Trigger]

Swashbuckling journalist Robert Young Pelton has just returned from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with a ripping-good yarn
...

It's interesting, but I don't think I believe much of it past the part about us being in Pakistan.

[obd]

Look first off, the guy Pelton supposedly talked to was a contracted agent, not a full time pro. That means he was either taken from the civilian sector or he is ex-cia/spec ops. Either way I seriously doubt the validity of this article. I think its clear US troops and CIA are in Pakistan but this guy rings all kinds of "bull**** warning bells" in my head just listening to him talk. Makes me wonder if he was just entertaining Pelton for a funny joke to see if Pelton would actually print that crap.

Maybe its true. After all, who really knows? None of us here know Im sure!!


Either way, if he really was contracted by the Agency than I doubt he is any longer. What a windbag and a moron. Unless he was told to leak that information and I cant see how that would be the case than I can garuntee he is gonna be killed, arrested, or taken out of theatre for his stupidity......

Im not sure how CIA runs its **** but I know steriods are strictly prohibited in military. The US military has been rabidly anti-narcotic since the debacle of Vietnam and no way they would be letting these guys shoot of steroids considering the negative psychological affects they have. Most spec ops are skinny guys anyway, not Arnold Schwarzeneggers for Gods sake. As I said, this guy just reaks of bull**** to me at least.....

[obd]

Also consider the debacle of the USAF pilots taking caffiene boosters to stay awake and fly combat missions sometimes without sleep for 48 hours and more. There was a huge row about that one. Oh well, in A-stan anything is possible. Consider this though: A Special forces trooper was sent home by his team leader after he stepped on and broke a childs kite that had hit him. To the leader this was a form of "oppression" and so he kicked his ass back to America......I doubt team leaders would be looking the other way at roids usage and its pretty hard to hide in that environment too!!!!!!

[Argyll]

I seriously doubt that any drug taking would be done in the open!.

I know myself having taken Beta Blockers to keep you awake in certain situations,sometimes needs must...............I'm not condoning it in anyway,but the Anti drug routines these days are pretty efficient are they not?

[EYE SPY]

1) This is not an article.

2) This is from the GOSSIP Column of the New York Daily News.

3) The New York Daily News is a tabloid that is as bad or even worse than the New York Post or the National Enquirer.

Seriously, didnt anyone notice this.

[XASA]

First, the gossip column is quoting an article from a National Geographic publication, a publisher with a excellant track record for validity. Second, Pelton's credentials are also pretty solid. Third, if it's BS, then both the National Geographic and Pelton, who worked in the 'stan long before 9/11, were taken for a ride. Fourth, being a full-time worker at Langley and having to take piss tests and being a contractor in the field on assignment trying to keep an edge are two completely different worlds. If you think the war on terrorism is being waged by politically correct Christians in Action who don't use drugs that can enhance their performance you are living in a dream world.

The CIA obviously doesn't confirm or deny for good reasons. We can only guess how valid this "contractor" story is.

[UNDERDOG1]

This is complete bull****...d-balls and sustanon for retaining gains?...bull****.

I've used steroids in the past to compete in MMA, and the ones I would use in a high stress environement like a combat area would be decadurabolin for joints strenght ad fatigue resistance, and maybe ephedrine to stay alert during long calls.

Every testosterone compound like dbol or sustanon would be stupid to use there.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Then, of course, there's the challenge of staying combat-ready.

"Most of us are into steroids big-time. D-balls [Dianabol] to bulk you up and Sustanon to help you maintain what you gained. The doctors turn a blind eye to it. We get the stuff across the border in Pakistan."

Hmmmm. Suddenly, President Bush's surprising interest in steroids is starting to make sense."


Come on man I seriously doubt these dudes are jacked up on roids, isnt there some sorta drug tests these guys have to pass/do as a part of being apart of the CIA? Also theres Seals and Delta supposidly hes working with, but are they on roids too? I doubt it very much.

I'm all for getting bin-laden, but this article smells like ****.

[XASA]

For those who are not familar with Pelton's work, here is an interview from last year where he discusses his interaction with SF and how he was the first American to spot Lindh.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0215_020215_peltoninterview.html

Being familar with Pelton's previous work long before 9/11, I lend more credence to his account of the current situation than I do to those on this forum who based their knowledge on their limited personal experience.

Can this be disinformation? Of course it can. But to dismiss the story outright before checking out the facts or reading the article seems rather preposterous.

Steroids are performance enhancers, which is why so many athletes have used them before they were banned in most sports. To think that a contractor-- not a soldier-- wouldn't want the same edge in battle when his life is on the line because of some preconceived notion that all drugs are bad is mind boggling.

If Pelton's article is true and he wasn't being misinformed, that doesn't make the contractors any less heroes in my eyes.

[shrek]

I'm not discounting the article completely, I just call BS. Hey, you gotta fall on one side of the fence or the other, ride it too long and it will chap your ass.
I am not saying that the guy who wrote the article doesn't have impeccable credentials. I'm saying that the guy spewing the info is probably full of the brown stuff. "Contractors" are not free agents that do as they please. They still fall under strict guidelines, not as strict as say SF, but strict all the same.

Hell, when we were over there we had a Haji bought satelite dish. We would watch Fox news about gunbattles and bombings that WE were involved in and you wouldn't believe how inaccurate they were. We sometimes wondered if they were talking about us!! Careful what you believe. As far as the Roids are concerned. Of course I have no way whatsoever to prove one way or the other, but for me, I say no way, these guys cared too much about their health and their bodies.

[CX20]

Has anyone else here actually read any of Robert Young Pelton's books? I'm a fan of his "World's Most Dangerous Places" series and have read every book in that series that he has written.

However one thing I don't agree with is his overtly over-left leaning, anti-governments and general anti-military leaning. Some of his gang of travellers write pieces for The Guardian, and another is a writer for The Independent. Every chapter is tainted in some way with digs, jibes or insults at the CIA/US's expense. One particular thing you should be aware of, and I feel very qualified to say this after reading all of his books, is that he hates the CIA with a passion. There are whole pages slagging off the CIA, and he has gone out of his way to dig up even minor CIA activities in the smaller countries he has reviewed, it seems for no other reason than to "have a go" at the CIA. Not to mention his venomous rantings on Bush, Rumsfield et all and the USA section.

He does have a soft spot for the US Army Special Forces, but that's where his military sympathies end. He even had a go at the teenage recruits in one chapter on the US military, calling them "uneducated" and so on.

Pelton is an excellent writer and story teller, but he is VERY biased to say the least. Not to mention I have read other factual accounts of some of the things he has said he's done, and they have revealed that he has embellished or exaggerated things to say the least!

[shrek]

Ah, a voice of someone who knows. Thanks for the facts!!

[usa320]

And you can prove this is a 100% Bull**** story?


Absolutely. that proof being that TF121 isnt under the command of the CIA, like the article states, and niether are navy SEALs or SFOD-D.

And there isnt a chance in hell a reporter would get anywhere near TF121.

[XASA]

^Another armchair commando expert opinion ;) The column doesn't refer to the CIA being in charge. Nor is there a reference to any Task Force; in fact, no one here has yet read the article. I think I'll wait until it is on the stands before adding to this debate.

[Argyll]

And you can prove this is a 100% Bull**** story?


Absolutely. that proof being that TF121 isnt under the command of the CIA, like the article states, and niether are navy SEALs or SFOD-D.

And there isnt a chance in hell a reporter would get anywhere near TF121.

Where in the article does it state that TF121 is under Command of the CIA?

I wonder if it was a reporter who took the photo's of Saddam being led into the Foyer of a Hotel,surrounded by Members of TF 121?