William Francis “Bill” Buckley was the Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Beirut at the time of his kidnapping by elements of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in March 1984. He was held in captivity for approximately fifteen months — tortured, recorded, and ultimately killed. His case is, in John Kiriakou’s account, the source of a generation of CIA operational-security reforms.[1][2]
Kidnapping and the tracking-device lesson
Buckley was kidnapped in the parking garage of his Beirut apartment building. The kidnappers were aware that he carried a CIA tracking device concealed in his belt buckle and removed the belt — “just took the belt off of him and threw it out the car window” — almost immediately. The agency had no idea where he was being held.[2]
VHS torture tapes
About a month after the kidnapping, the U.S. embassy in Athens received a VHS tape showing Buckley being tortured and begging the CIA to help him. Approximately four months later, the U.S. embassy in Rome received a second tape: “He’s just hanging from a hook and there’s snot coming out of his mouth and he’s mumbling something that you can’t understand.”[2][3]
Death and retrieval
Buckley was eventually executed in captivity. The CIA learned of his death from a source. His body was subsequently retrieved and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Kiriakou, who lives within walking distance of Arlington, visits the grave periodically alongside those of Mike Spann and other CIA personnel.[3][4]
CIA response
The people who kidnapped him — from PIJ — no longer exist. So we took care of them and then got the body back.[4]