How CIA terrorist hunters actually work, according to an operative
by Kevin Reilly and Daniel Gessner
Michele Rigby Assad spent 10 years as a CIA officer specializing in counterterrorism and counterintelligence, with assignments in Iraq and other locations across the Middle East.
Assad breaks down how CIA officers collect intelligence, debrief sources, and turn human behavior into operational knowledge. She also reflects on the dangers of working in Iraq during the war on terror and a post-CIA mission that helped rescue nearly 150 Iraqi Christians threatened by ISIS.
She discusses the sexism she faced inside the agency. Assad tells Business Insider that despite having studied Arabic and Middle Eastern culture, she still had to fight for operational roles in the field.
After leaving the CIA, Assad wrote "Breaking Cover" and "Get Off the X." Today, she uses her CIA training as a keynote speaker and in corporate and international security consulting.
