2: 7. Targeting and Tragedy: The Death of Jennifer Matthews and the Courier Hunt Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA In the post-9/11 era, finding bin Laden became the CIA's primary targeting task. Jennifer Matthews, a ded
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 19 October 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
In the post-9/11 era, finding bin Laden became the CIA's primary targeting task. Jennifer Matthews, a dedicated member of Alec Station since the mid-1990s, was chief of station at Khost, Afghanistan, providing targeting information for drone attacks. In 2009, Matthews and several other CIA officers were tragically killed when a source they believed would lead them to bin Laden revealed himself to be a suicide bomber (sent directly from bin Laden). This galvanized the hunt. Since bin Laden avoided 21st-century technology, targeters like Rachel and Maya (pseudonyms) had to develop methods to trace him indirectly. This involved sifting old data, using new technology, and tracing the human relationships of his couriers—the people who used technology and communicated with the inner circle. They ultimately identified Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed, bin Laden's courier and bodyguard, and began tracking his movements.
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| 0:30.1 | This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Dachler with the author Liza Mundy, her new book, The Sisterhood, The Secret History of Women at the CIA, following the attack on Washington and |
| 0:36.6 | New York, the Afghanistan War, following the Afghanistan |
| 0:39.9 | war, the Iraq War. |
| 0:41.6 | It's now 2009 at a CIA station, advanced station in cost the province of Afghanistan. |
| 0:54.1 | One of the CTC women is present as station chief. |
| 0:58.5 | Her name is Matthews. |
| 1:00.2 | And what's about to happen is both tragic and inspiration for the pursuit of bin Laden. |
| 1:08.4 | What is Coast Station? Why does the CIA run that station |
| 1:13.7 | inside a country that's occupied by American forces? Well they're providing targeting information |
| 1:20.3 | for drone attacks into into Pakistan because just as you say we're in a period now where the terrorists have fanned out all over the world. |
| 1:30.3 | Terrorism has multiplied and changed form. The war in Iraq has led to the rise of ISIS. |
| 1:40.1 | So there it is a no longer even just dealing with one, with one organization. |
| 1:46.3 | There are offshoots al-Shabaab and, and sort of franchise terrorist groups that are |
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