CIA Whistleblower Speaks Out "This is how the US & Iran war will end"
3/25/20261 hr 6 min
John Kiriakou is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and the only intelligence official to blow the whistle on America’s torture program and ultimately pay the price with prison time.
In this revealing conversation, Kiriakou takes us inside the world of spy recruitment, from spotting targets at diplomatic parties to the devastating personal costs of intelligence work. He explains how a childhood fascination with the Middle East led to a 15-year CIA career, his role in capturing high-value Al-Qaeda targets after 9/11, and the moral reckoning that changed everything. We also explore his analysis of current geopolitical tensions, fr...
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First 90 secondsMark Bouris· Host0:00
John Kiriakou, welcome to Straight Talk, mate Thank you.
John Kiriakou· Guest0:03
Thank you. Very happy to be with you.
Mark Bouris· Host0:05
It's a mad time at the moment, like, uh, geopolitically across the world, so it's actually very timely to have an opportunity to speak to someone like you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
John Kiriakou· Guest0:13
My pleasure.
Mark Bouris· Host0:14
Um, been following your stuff for a long time. Uh, huge fan. Like, we love what you do. Um, you know- Thank you ... the fact that you've got Greek surname, that helps, by the way. Um- I know, right?
John Kiriakou· Guest0:23
We gotta stick together.
Mark Bouris· Host0:24
[laughs] Someone called Boris and someone talking to someone called Kiriakou. Cool. [laughs] Okay. So maybe you could just... John, you could just give me a little bit of a background on you as... uh, 'cause, 'cause our audience here in Australia in particular loves to know how you grew up, you know, what were the influences in your life, particularly as a kid, your mom, your dad, your grandfather, your grandmother, your, your regional area. Where'd you grow up? Give me a little bit of a background on you.
John Kiriakou· Guest0:49
Sure. I was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania in a, a, a, a very rural, tiny town, uh, in Amish country, uh, north of Pittsburgh by about one hour. Really, my biggest influences i- in my life were, were my dad and my grandfather, my father's father. Uh, my, my entire family, uh, emigrated to the United States from Greece, from the island of Rhodes, uh, all four of the grandparents in 1931 on my dad's side, 1934 on my mother's side. The week after I turned 18, I went, uh, to Washington, DC, went to school at George Washington University. I earned a, uh, I earned a bachelor's degree