# Iraq, the training account

> **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: "Iraq, the training account," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iraq-the-training-account/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The reason John Kiriakou says he was given the Iraq portfolio as a new CIA analyst in 1990, that nothing ever happened there, and the promise that once he had learned tradecraft and the house writing style he would be moved to somewhere exciting, such as Romania.*

- **Assigned:** January 1990
- **Rationale given:** Nothing ever happens there
- **Cabinet:** Unchanged since the 1968 revolution
- **Traffic:** Entire days with no cable at all
- **Promised next posting:** Somewhere exciting, such as Romania
- **What intervened:** The invasion of Kuwait, 2 August 1990

**Iraq, the training account** is how John Kiriakou has characterised his first assignment at the CIA, which he took up at the beginning of January 1990 and held as an analyst for seven and a half years.

## The assignment

Kiriakou has said he was given Iraq because nothing ever happened there. He describes the country's cabinet as having been the same since the 1968 revolution, and the account as producing entire days without a single cable, no press, no State Department reporting, nothing. [1]

The instruction he says he was given was to learn tradecraft and the CIA writing style, after which he would be transferred to something exciting, and the example offered, which he stresses was actually said to him, was Romania. [1]

## What happened instead

By Kiriakou's account, just as he reached the point of knowing what he was doing and becoming something of an expert in the field, Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. He arrived at the office at seven that morning to be told by his boss not to take his jacket off, because they were going to the White House. [2]

## The years that followed

Kiriakou spent the first seven and a half years of his CIA career as an analyst on Iraq. [3] He has said it was Iraq all the time, and that he grew tired of it because it became clear to him that the United States was not serious about doing anything about Saddam Hussein, at least through the Clinton administration. That boredom is the reason he gives for seeking a transfer to operations, an unusual move at the time. [4]

## See also

- [The Oval Office briefing of 2 August 1990](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/oval-office-briefing-1990)
- [Arabic And Greek](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/arabic-and-greek)
- [The Powell telephone call](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-powell-telephone-call)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Episode 572 Blowing the Whistle with John Kiriakou (2021-09-25), at 12:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audd3a7d0e6&t=763s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-09-25-abe-lincoln-s-top-hat-episode-572-blowing-the-whistle-with-john-kir/
2. Episode 572 Blowing the Whistle with John Kiriakou (2021-09-25), at 13:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audd3a7d0e6&t=793s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-09-25-abe-lincoln-s-top-hat-episode-572-blowing-the-whistle-with-john-kir/
3. Episode 572 Blowing the Whistle with John Kiriakou (2021-09-25), at 08:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audd3a7d0e6&t=511s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-09-25-abe-lincoln-s-top-hat-episode-572-blowing-the-whistle-with-john-kir/
4. Episode 572 Blowing the Whistle with John Kiriakou (2021-09-25), at 19:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=audd3a7d0e6&t=1141s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2021-09-25-abe-lincoln-s-top-hat-episode-572-blowing-the-whistle-with-john-kir/

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