Gust Avrakotos was a Central Intelligence Agency case officer, mentor to John Kiriakou, and one of the central figures in Charlie Wilson’s War.[1] Within the CIA he was both prolific and divisive: “He killed a lot of Russians, a lot. Medals, promotions, couldn’t get along with anybody. Everybody hated Gust and Gust hated everybody. But he was a sweetheart deep down — you just had to know how to deal with him.”[2]
Relationship with John Kiriakou
Avrakotos served as a father figure to Kiriakou during the latter’s career.[1] The two worked together on the Revolutionary Organization 17 November task force.
A widely retold episode between the two illustrates Avrakotos’s temperament: Kiriakou mentioned in passing that the 17 November group’s second victim, the chief of the Hellenic National Police named Mylonas, had been a torturer during the Greek military junta. Avrakotos grabbed Kiriakou by the lapels, slammed him against a wall, and shouted “Mylonas was my friend.” Kiriakou warned him to take his hands off or he would make him sorry; after Avrakotos let go, Kiriakou said “I’m sorry he got shot in the head, but he was a torturer. Keep your hands to yourself next time.” Avrakotos afterward told him: “I really respect you for the way you reacted.”[2][3]
The broken-mirror recruitment technique
Avrakotos taught Kiriakou a cold-pitch technique from his own work in the 1950s, which Kiriakou subsequently used to recruit the station chief of an enemy intelligence service in Athens. The method:
- Identify the target’s vehicle by its diplomatic license plate
- Approach the parked vehicle carrying a heavy book bag
- Strike the side mirror with the book bag, breaking it off
- Pick up the mirror and inquire at neighboring residences for the owner — both for cover and to identify the residence
- Knock at the target’s door, apologize, offer to pay for the damage
- Invoke Arab cultural hospitality norms to obtain entry by requesting a glass of water
- Once inside, demonstrate Arabic language ability by speaking with any children present, ensuring the target hears
- Drop the cover and deliver the pitch in front of the target’s family[4][5][6]
In the operation Kiriakou ran on Avrakotos’s plan, the pitch was delivered in front of the target’s four-year-old daughter and consisted of a single statement and a 24-hour deadline: “This is my card with my real name, I’m from the CIA in Washington. Your guy is going down — he’s going to die. You can die with him, or you can be on the side of the good guys. You have until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning to make that decision.” The target called at 10:00 the next morning; the operation produced a successful recruitment and shut down a substantial threat to American personnel.[6][7][8]
Kiriakou was promoted to GS-13 or GS-14 (equivalent to a military Lieutenant Colonel) on the strength of this operation.[9]