After a two-decade career at the CIA where he was considered the agency’s finest field operative in the Middle East, Robert Baer embarked on a new career, as an author, intelligence columnist and security analyst.
The American, who was remembered and famously investigated by the FBI for conspiring to assassinate Saddam Hussein after he was sent to Iraq by the CIA to organize an opposition to the then Iraqi president. Piece”. His works can also be read in Time, Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
Robert Baer Biography
On July 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California, Robert Booker Baer was born. He spent his early years in the sun before moving to Aspen, Colorado at age 9 following his parents’ divorce.
Baer’s academic records show he attended Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, before enrolling at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He graduated in 1976 and continued his studies at the University of California at Berkeley. There, he jokingly sent a request to the CIA’s Operations Directorate, known today as the National Clandestine Service.
As the job market is tough, RobertAfter graduating from Berkley, Baer continued his work. He trained for a year, completed a four-month paramilitary course, parachute training and several foreign language courses which have now enabled him to be fluent in Arabic, Persian, French and to master the Russian, Tajik and Baluch. He then spent 21 years with the agency, carrying out field assignments in India, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, France, Tajikistan, Morocco, Yugoslavia and Iraqi Kurdistan, before leaving his duties in 1997.
5 interesting facts you need to know
1. Robert Baer’s books spawned an award-winning film
Two of Robert Baer’s books; See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terror (2002) and Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (2003), were the basis from Stephen Gaghan’s screenplay for the geopolitical thriller, Syriana (2005).
The film, which features a cast that includes George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright and Mazhar Munir, among others, explores oil politics and the global influence of the oil industry. The main character, Bob Barnes, played by Clooney, was loosely based on Baer himself. For his performance in the film, the actor won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. He additionally received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
2. He believes the CIA has exact knowledge of who orchestrated the Lockerbie bombing
The Lockerbie bombing refers to the destruction and murder of 243 passengers and 16 crew members on Pan Am Flight 103 by a bomb in December 1988. The plane, which was heading for Frankfurt, Germany via the city of Detroit, via London and New York, exploded in flight over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 11 more people on the ground.
Following a three-year joint investigation by the FBI and a Scottish police force, arrest warrants were issued for two Libyan nationals in 1991. After protracted negotiations and UN-imposed sanctions, the leader Libyan Muammar Gaddafi handed over the suspects in 1999. One of the suspects, Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Baset al Megrahi, was found guilty. and imprisoned for life in 2001 following the bombing. In 2003, Gaddafi accepted responsibility for the attack and compensated the families of the victims. However, he claimed that he never gave the order for the attack.
While this all unfolded in court and Robert Baer believed that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-CG) was behind the attack. He then said that it was indeed Iran that was behind the bombing. In 2009, after Al Megrahi’s compassionate release, Baer advanced the thesis that the jailed bomber had a secret file proving that Iran was behind the attack and that the CIA had known from the beginning who had really orchestrated it. He said that was the real reason the Libyan was released, so that the information would not become public.
3. He is married to a fellow spy
Robert Baer is married to fellow CIA member Dayna Baer (née Williamson). According to reports, the two men first met while on a mission to Sarajevo to spy on Hezbollah members. Baer would have been immediately attracted to her, but since she was subordinate and they were on the field, they couldn’t have anything between them. A few months later, they reunited at CIA headquarters in Washington, and he was now able to ask her out and the rest was history.
Prior to his marriage, Dayna, Baer was previously married to a woman identified only as Secretary of the State Department. Together they had three children. two daughters and a son.
4. He hoped to become a professional skier
As a young boy, Robert Baer had hoped to become a professional skier. His love for the sport was fueled by his time spent in Aspen, Colorado, a popular destination for sports enthusiasts.
5. His mother is a wealthy heiress
Seeing that Robert Baer was once a deep cover asset in the CIA, it’s no surprise to know that the identities of his parents and other family members are not known. But while the details of her life are shrouded in secrecy, Baer has made it clear to the world that her mother, whose identity is not known, is a wealthy heiress.
The story goes that after his parents’ divorce and poor performance in school, Baer’s mother was able to take him on a trip across Europe, traveling to Paris, France during the 1968 riots. , Germany, Prague, Czechoslovakia during the Warsaw Pact invasion and Russia.