Working Vacation

Washington Post (06.26.05):

"For 19 American intelligence operatives assigned to apprehend a radical Islamic preacher in Milan two years ago, the mission was equal parts James Bond and taxpayer-financed Italian holiday, according to an Italian investigation of the man's disappearance. The Americans stayed at some of the finest hotels in Milan, sometimes for as long as six weeks, ringing up tabs of as much as $500 a day on Diners Club accounts created to match their recently forged identities, according to Italian court documents and other records." Italians Detail Lavish CIA Operation

"(A)fter abducting their target and flying him to Cairo under the noses of Italian police, some of them rounded out their European trip with long weekends in Venice and Florence before leaving the country, the records show." But first, let's burn the Italians!! Turns out the Italian secret police had been "aggressively pursuing a criminal terrorism case against Mr. Nasr, with the help of American intelligence officials." After he disappeared, the Italians started to investigate. What they found was that "some of the C.I.A. officers who had been helping them investigate Mr. Nasr were involved in his abduction." Ha, ha. Guess how easy it's gonna be to operate in Italy from now on? For spies on a top-secret mission, our guys were real smooth, subtle, top-notch professionals. "While most of the operatives apparently used false identities, they left a long trail of paper and electronic records that enabled Italian investigators to retrace their movements in detail." What they did is pretty nutty:

• They often stayed in the same five-star hotels;
• They rarely paid in cash;
• They gave their frequent traveler account numbers to desk clerks; and,
• They made dozens of calls from unsecure phones.

It does not appear, however, that they provided Italian intelligence copies of their mission briefs or itineraries. "The Americans' whereabouts are unknown, and Italian authorities acknowledged that the odds were slim that they would ever be taken into custody. The CIA has declined to comment."