# Executive assistant to the Deputy Director for Operations > **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: "Executive assistant to the Deputy Director for Operations," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/executive-assistant-to-the-deputy-director-for-operations/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The job John Kiriakou held during the Iraq war, and the shape of its day: a 2:45 a.m. alarm, ten thousand overnight cables triaged down to five or ten by dawn, the deputy directors briefed at seven and the director at half past — and only then the actual work of coordinating with the State Department, the Pentagon and the vice president's office.* - **When:** During the Iraq war - **Alarm:** 2:45 a.m.; at the desk by 3:45–4:00 - **Overnight cable volume:** ~10,000, cut to five or ten - **Briefings:** All deputy directors at 07:00; the [Director](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) at 07:30 **Executive assistant to the Deputy Director for Operations** was [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s post during the Iraq war, and the job he uses when asked what a day inside [the CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) actually looks like. *"Our job was to prosecute the Iraq war."*[1] ## The shape of the day The alarm went at 2:45 a.m. — *"which was tough, man. It took me a good three weeks to get used to that kind of schedule"* — putting him at his desk by 3:45 or 4:00. The first task was triage: *"I start going through the 10,000 [cables](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/operational-cable) that had come in overnight. I whittle those down to between five and 10 that were important enough for the director and the deputy director to hear."*[2] He briefed all of the deputy directors at 7:00 and the Director of Central Intelligence at 7:30 — *"and then I start my day. I mean, I've already worked half a day."* What followed was coordination: with the State Department, the Defense Department and the Office of the Vice President; answering presidential requests; cables out to the field and answers back; a quick trip to New York to see the CIA contingent at the United Nations, or to London, or to Kurdistan, *"just to make sure people have the weapons they need, people have the equipment they need, they have secure communications that they need."*[3][4] Interspersed were one-off demands from the top of the administration — the most memorable being [Dick Cheney's question about a runway in northern Iraq](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cheney-airstrip-question).[5] ## The counterterrorism version The rhythm in counterterrorism was different: in at 7:00, a couple of hours on the overnight cables, and then whatever the day required. *"My boss would come up to me and say, can you brief this group today? Can you fly to Cairo this afternoon? Can you brief the director on XYZ program? Can you go to the State Department and get them off our backs?"*[6] Kiriakou names the variety as the thing that held him: *"this is what I love the most about the CIA — that every single day was something completely different from the day before. That's what kept me engaged."*[6][7] ## See also - [Cheney Airstrip Question](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cheney-airstrip-question) - [The operational cable](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/operational-cable) - [CIA cable priority levels](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-cable-priority-levels) - [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) ## Sources 1. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 05:14. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=314s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 2. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 05:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=345s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 3. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 06:18. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=378s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 4. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 06:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=408s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 5. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 07:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=440s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 6. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 08:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=506s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ 7. What's Really Happening In Israel: Mossad (2025-08-30), at 08:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohHB8bGCxM&t=538s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-30-jamarl-thomas-what-s-really-happening-in-israel-mossad/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/executive-assistant-to-the-deputy-director-for-operations/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt