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Milton Bearden is an American author, film consultant, and formerCIA officer.[1][2][3][4] Bearden served as the president and CEO of the Asia-Africa Projects Group, aWashington, D.C.–based firm that provides resource development and advisory services, from 2010 to 2015. He has been engaged in authorship and film consultancy since 1998.[5] As of 2016, Bearden resides in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Marie-Catherine, a retired university professor, atGeorgetown University and theUniversity of Texas at Austin, and currently a professional consultant on inter-cultural protocols and etiquette.
Bearden was born inOklahoma and spent his early years inWashington state, where his father worked on theManhattan Project, and later moved with his family toHouston,Texas. After serving in theUnited States Air Force, he joined theCIA in 1964. Bearden studied Chinese at the Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in linguistics from theUniversity of Texas at Austin.[1]
During his 30-year career with the CIA, Bearden was astation chief inPakistan,Nigeria,Sudan andGermany. He served as the CIA's chief of station in Pakistan from 1986 to 1989, and played a role in managing Agency's provision of arms, intelligence and training to theISI which in turn provided the Afghanmujahedeen fighting occupying Soviet forces. He was also responsible for collecting intelligence on Pakistan's then-covert nuclear weapons program.[6][2]
Bearden appeared several times in theBBC Documentary byAdam Curtis calledThe Power of Nightmares where he talked of his involvement with the Mujahadeen, the Afghan Arabs and how he was assigned to the role byWilliam Casey, the then currentDirector of Central Intelligence. According to Bearden, Casey told him that Afghanistan seemed to be possibly one of the keys to winning. Casey said "'I want you to go to Afghanistan, I want you to go next month and I will give you what ever you need to win... He gave me theStinger missiles and a billion dollars!"
Bearden was one of the senior CIA officials criticized in the 1994 "snitch fax". The fax was allegedly written by ex-CIA officer David Sullivan, and addressed to members of Congress investigating CIA issues, including theAldrich Ames spy case.[7][3]
He was later appointed the Chief of the Soviet/East European Division during the collapse of theSoviet Union. He received theDistinguished Intelligence Medal, theIntelligence Medal of Merit and theDonovan Award for his CIA service. He received theFederal Cross of Merit from the President of the German Federal Republic for his service in Germany at the end of theCold War.
Since retiring, Bearden has written books based on his experiences, commented on current events, and appeared on television, includingSecret Warriors (Discovery Channel),Covert Action (BBC),The Power of Nightmares (BBC2), andHeroes Under Fire (The History Channel). Although generally supportive of the CIA and its mission, he has also been outspoken in his criticism of US actions in theWar on Terrorism. He was co-author of one book withJames Risen. Bearden is a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of theNew York Times, theLos Angeles Times andThe Wall Street Journal, and has contributed toForeign Affairs and to the book about theSeptember 11 attacks,How Did This Happen?, published byPublicAffairs. He also serves as a consultant forCBS News.
In August 1999, he argued that the threat posed byOsama bin Laden had been blown out of proportion. He called for the U.S. government to renounce "any plans for a unilateral military action against Osama bin Laden or for another cruise missile attack on Afghanistan." Bearden also called for a "serious dialogue" with the Taliban and said that they "have no more obligation to extradite Osama bin Laden to the United States than, say, the French do in the case ofIra Einhorn or the Israelis in the case of Samuel Scheinbein—both of whom are fugitives from American justice in capital murder cases".[4]
Following the September 11 attacks, he coined the term "graveyard of empires" to refer to Afghanistan, invoking Afghan victories against outside invaders which had significant political consequences for the invading nations. Bearden predicted that relying on theNorthern Alliance against majority ethnic groups would create "a brutal, general civil war that would continue until the United States simply gave up".[8]
Bearden has provided commentary for several documentaries films and television series, includingNightline,60 Minutes,Biography,Uncovered: The War on Iraq,The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear,National Geographic: Inside 9/11, Our Own Private Bin Laden,The Eighties, Afghanistan 1979, Spy Wars, andAfghanistan: The Wounded Land.[5]
He worked withRobert De Niro onRonin andMeet the Parents, and worked with De Niro and screenwriterEric Roth (Forrest Gump,The Insider) onThe Good Shepherd, released in December 2006. Universal Studios and De Niro'sTribeca Productions have optionedThe Main Enemy as a planned sequel toThe Good Shepherd. He also worked with directorMike Nichols on the filmCharlie Wilson's War, released in December 2007.[9]
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