海角大神

In the film 鈥榋ero Dark Thirty鈥� she was known as 鈥楳aya,鈥� the CIA analyst who spent years doggedly tracking down Osama bin Laden, then identifying his body when US Navy Seal Team Six killed him during a raid in Pakistan.

In real life, however, her story is more complicated with ties to the rendition and torture of terrorist suspects, as well as a missed opportunity to head off the attacks of 9/11. And now she鈥檚 been forced out of the shadows with several news outlets revealing her identity.

Most recently, that鈥檚 the website , whose stated missions are 鈥渢o provide a platform to report on the documents previously provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden鈥� and 鈥渢o produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues.鈥�

For years, the CIA has argued forcibly against naming the analyst, frequently referred to as a bin Laden expert. Some outlets, including the Associated Press have agreed to use only her middle name 鈥� Frances 鈥� since both her first and last names are unusual and easily identifiable.

鈥淲e would strongly object to attaching anyone鈥檚 name given the current environment,鈥� CIA spokesperson Ryan Trapani told聽The Intercept聽in an email. In a follow-up voicemail he added: 鈥淭here are crazy people in this world and we are trying to mitigate those threats.鈥�

In reply, Glenn Greenwald and Peter Maass wrote Friday, 鈥淭he Intercept聽is naming [the analyst] over聽CIA objections because of her key role in misleading Congress about the agency鈥檚 use of torture, and her active participation聽in the torture program (including playing a direct part聽in the torture of at least one innocent detainee). Moreover,聽[the analyst] has already聽been publicly identified by news organizations as the CIA officer responsible for many of these acts.鈥�

The analyst is noted (but not named) in the unclassified summary of the recent Senate Intelligence Committee鈥檚 so-called torture report.

鈥淗er name was redacted at least three dozen times in an effort to avoid publicly identifying her,鈥� NBC News reported last week. 鈥淚n fact, much of the four-month battle between Senate Democrats and the CIA about redactions centered on protecting the identity of the woman, an analyst and later 鈥榙eputy chief鈥� of the unit devoted to catching or killing Osama bin Laden, according to US officials familiar with the negotiations.鈥�

鈥淭he expert is no stranger to controversy,鈥� NBC reported. 鈥淪he was criticized after 9/11 terrorist attacks for countenancing a subordinate's refusal to share the names of two of the hijackers with the FBI prior to the terror attacks. But instead of being sanctioned, she was promoted.

Writing in The New Yorker under the headline 鈥淭he Unidentified Queen of Torture,鈥� Jane Mayer reports that the analyst, who is still in a position of high authority over counterterrorism at the CIA, 鈥渁ppears to have been a source of years鈥� worth of terrible judgment, with tragic consequences for the United States.鈥�

Writes Mayer (who does not name the analyst): 鈥淪he dropped the ball when the CIA was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks; she gleefully participated in torture sessions afterward; she misinterpreted intelligence in such a way that it sent the CIA on an absurd chase for Al Qaeda sleeper cells in Montana. And then she falsely told congressional overseers that the torture worked.鈥�

鈥淎ccording to sources in the law-enforcement community who I have interviewed over the years, and who I spoke to again this week, this woman 鈥� had supervision over an underling at the agency who failed to share with the FBI the news that two of the future 9/11 hijackers had entered the United States prior to the terrorist attacks,鈥� Mayer writes. 鈥淎mazingly, perhaps, more than thirteen years after the 9/11 attacks, no one at the CIA has ever been publicly held responsible for this failure.鈥�

Still working in the shadows as the head of the CIA鈥檚 Global Jihad unit, with a civilian聽rank equivalent to a military general, the analyst at this point is in no position to defend herself.