CIA chief in Afghanistan outed in error by White House

On Saturday, the White House accidentally named the CIA chief in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reports. The individual was listed as "Chief of Station" in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for the highest ranking spy in a country, in a briefing emailed to reporters.

The list of senior U.S. officials was distributed to reporters covering the surprise trip to the country by President Obama, then included in the White House pool report more widely disseminated to news organizations. Once senior White House officials discovered the name had inadvertently been announced, they quickly sent out a revised list. The Washington Post decided not to publish the individual's name at the request of administration officials, who said the officer and his family would be at risk.

It is unknown at this time whether the CIA will deem it necessary to pull the officer out of Afghanistan; his identity was likely already known to senior Afghan officials, but as the Post reports, in recent years three CIA station chiefs had their identities disclosed in Pakistan, with one becoming the target of death threats before he was rushed out of the country.

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