2: 5. Alex Station, the Virtual War on Al-Qaeda, and the Struggle for Presidential Attention Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA Following the 1993 World Trade Center attack and the fatal shooting of two CIA officers, the

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 19 October 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

5. Alex Station, the Virtual War on Al-Qaeda, and the Struggle for Presidential Attention Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA

Following the 1993 World Trade Center attack and the fatal shooting of two CIA officers, the Counterterrorism Center created "Alec Station" (named after a CIA officer's son). Alec Station was a "virtual station" created during a period of CIA resource loss ("peace dividend"). It represented a novel collaboration of analysts and clandestine operatives working in the headquarters basement to track and understand Osama bin Laden's network. Women analysts, including Cindy Storer and Barbara Sude, developed new skills in "manhunting" and targeting, sometimes directing field operatives. Cindy Storer recognized that al-Qaeda was a meticulous worldwide organization, not a mere confederation. However, the group's key struggle was gaining traction: they faced resistance from senior leaders (like those on the Soviet desk who feared losing funding) and could not consistently persuade editors to include their warnings about bin Laden in the President's Daily Brief (PDB).

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0:25.5	Thank you. best-selling blends. Visit sumup.com. UK to learn more. This is CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor.
0:30.0	Here's John Batchelor.
0:32.5	Visiting with the sisterhood,
0:34.7	the secret history of women at the CIA by Liza Mundy, continuing.
0:38.8	It is June 25, 1993.
0:42.3	Heidi August, our heroine for having fought the Soviets, having fought the Abu Nudal,
0:49.7	is drawn her way for another stationing.
0:52.3	She's moving around within the agency. She's on her way to work
0:55.8	that morning on the road, the access road that comes into the CIA. She sees up ahead. A man
1:01.7	get out of a Brown-Dotson, is my note here, and open fire. Two agency officers are killed.
1:08.5	Many are wounded. He gets back in the car and flees.
1:12.2	Now, this is June, 93.
1:15.1	Months later, there's an attempt to bring down one of the World Trade Center towers with an enormous explosion
	...

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