# Beirut > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Beirut," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/beirut/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The Lebanese capital John Kiriakou confirms was a genuine espionage playground, though he dates the peak to the 1950s through the mid-1970s, when Beirut was the Paris and the banking centre of the Middle East, and when, beneath the CIA, KGB and Israeli presence, "more secretly the French ran the place." He also explains why the enormous new American embassy there is about fortification rather than a regional CIA headquarters.* - **Peak as a spy centre:** 1950s to the mid-1970s - **Who ran it (per Kiriakou):** "More secretly, the French" - **Comparable cities:** Vienna, Geneva, London - **The new US embassy:** Fortification, not a regional CIA headquarters **Beirut** is the city [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) confirms was a genuine espionage playground, though he places its peak well in the past. ## Why it was a spy centre His answer to whether the reputation is deserved is unqualified, *"Beirut has always been an espionage playground"*, but the era matters: *"Not so much in recent years as in the 1950s, '60s and the first half of the 1970s."*[1][2] The reason was the city's standing: *"Beirut was the Paris of the Middle East. Beirut was the banking center of the Middle East."* Everyone came, *"the CIA was there, the KGB was there, the Israelis were there."*[2] The detail he adds is the one not usually given: *"but more secretly the French ran the place."* His comparison set is European, *"it was very much like, you know, Vienna or Geneva or London, in that it was a spy center."*[2] ## What ended it The Lebanese civil war, beginning in the mid-1970s, changed the city's function. Practical access remains part of the problem: *"it's hard to get in and out of Beirut. The airport is unreliable. MEA, Middle East Airlines, is unreliable."* He notes occasions when the landing lights failed and all flights were cancelled.[3] Kiriakou notes he had never been, and was going in three weeks, *"I want to walk the Corniche. I want to try the excellent restaurants."*[4] ## The enormous embassy Asked whether the huge new American embassy in a small country is a regional CIA headquarters, Kiriakou says no, *"not by a long shot anymore. It could have been once upon a time, but those times have changed."*[4] The size is a function of fortification, and the history behind it is specific. The US embassy in Beirut *"was blown into rubble in 1983,"* within weeks of the Marine barracks bombing; hundreds of Americans died, there have been multiple embassy bombings, and *"lots of CIA people died."*[5] Hence the footprint: *"if you really want to seriously fortify a building, you have to do it like big, like an entire city block kind of big. That's how you protect what is deeper inside."*[6] Asked whether people should be worried, his answer is time-stamped: *"No, I don't think so. Not anymore. In 1975 or 1982 or 1993, I would have given you a different answer, but I think not anymore."*[6] ## Who can be sent there Beirut is a posting the agency treats as armed by definition, and the rule Kiriakou describes follows from that. Asked by a manager in the [Counterterrorism Center](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/counterterrorism-center) whether he could go, he suggested sending the officer who actually covered Beirut, and was told that the man had beaten his wife and could not go, because an officer who is *accused*, not even convicted, of beating his wife is not allowed to carry a gun, and *"you can't work in Beirut without carrying a gun."*[7] In another telling of an almost identical exchange the officer who could not be sent had instead been [psychiatrically evacuated](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/psychiatric-evacuation) and was barred from travel.[8] ## See also - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 03:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=224s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 2. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 04:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=256s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 3. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 04:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=288s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 4. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 05:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=319s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 5. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 05:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=350s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 6. Epstein Files, CIA Asset Recruitments, Worst Spies & More I Going Deeper with JK - DEEP FOCUS (2026-02-03), at 06:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYWaZFl3kA&t=381s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-03-the-deep-focus-epstein-files-cia-asset-recruitments-worst-spies/ 7. S1E11 Have Human Spies Become Obsolete? (2026-01-19), at 13:03. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/695ad02c18c941d6d66b194c/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-19-dead-drop-s1e11-have-human-spies-become-obsolete/ 8. Ex-CIA, John Kiriakou Opens Up About the CIA's Deep State Ties and Political Influence (2026-03-02), at 18:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGfCnX_ZpQ8&t=1080s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-02-carlos-watson-conversations-cia-deep-state/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/beirut/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt