Michael F. Walker
 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikitia's general notability guideline. |
Michael F. Walker | |
|---|---|
| Director of the Near East and South Asia Division, CIA | |
| In office 10 February 2007 – 10 July 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1951 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Intelligence officer, CIA senior executive |
| Known for | Leadership of CIA operations in the Middle East and South Asia |
Michael F. Walker (born 1951) is a former senior executive of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who was appointed Director of the Near East and South Asia Division on 10 February 2007.[1] In this position, he directed all CIA covert intelligence operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries in the Middle East and South Asia.[2] Per Newsweek magazine, he was involved in planning the alleged joint CIA-Mossad assassination of Hizballah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in 2008 .[3] His tenure as Director of the Near East and South Asia until 10 July 2010 was during the height of U.S. military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, operations against Al Qaida and the Taliban, and the 2009 suicide bombing in Khowst, Afghanistan which resulted in the deaths of six CIA officers.[4] In a 2011 Washington Post op-ed, Walker was highly critical of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and warned of the collapse of the U.S -backed Karzai government.[5] In an interview with CNBC in 2011, he accused the Pakistani intelligence service of complicity in sheltering terrorist Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.[6]
Walker joined CIA in 1981 and retired in late 2010. He lived 18 years abroad, serving in seven countries across the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Per an expose by James Bamford, he was allegedly involved in a rogue intelligence operation in Athens, Greece in 2000.[7] His overseas assignments included operating under cover in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Mujahidin war of the mid-1980s and in Beirut during the late 1980s civil war, and returning to Afghanistan during the U.S.-Taliban conflict in 2002. He held the position of Chief of Station in five countries including Bucharest, Athens and Berlin. His other Senior Intelligence Service (SIS) leadership positions at CIA Headquarters were Deputy Director of the Special Activities Division (2000–2002) and Chief of Operations in the Counterterrorism Center (1990–1991).
During the 1970s, before his CIA career, Walker was an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps and worked in Rajasthan, India as a Peace Corps volunteer. Since retiring from CIA in 2010, he has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University[8][9] and a senior advisor with the Chertoff Group in Washington D.C.[10]
References
- ↑ "CIA Near East and South Asia Division - Powerbase". powerbase.info. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ Center, Combating Terrorism (2011-05-01). "What the Experts Say..." Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ "The Anatomy of a CIA Assassination". Newsweek. 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ↑ "Attack on CIA in Afghanistan Blamed on Double Agent". PBS News. 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ↑ "Opinion | Will the Afghan army ever stand up and fight?". The Washington Post. 2011-04-29. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ Javers, Eamon (2011-05-03). "Ex-CIA Official: Bin Laden Probably Had Help". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ Bamford, James (2015-09-29). "Did a Rogue NSA Operation Cause the Death of a Greek Telecom Employee?". The Intercept. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ↑ "Georgetown University Faculty Directory". gufaculty360.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
- ↑ MacLeod, Alan (2023-03-16). "From Georgetown to Langley: The controversial connection between a prestigious university and the CIA - MR Online". Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ↑ Murray, Ellen (2022-10-20). "Michael F. Walker". The Chertoff Group. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
External links
This article "Michael F. Walker" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.