The Triple Agent

Scott Roberson, thirty-eight, busted drug dealers as an Atlanta police officer and protected U.S. dignitaries in war-torn Iraq before joining the CIA in 2009. He became the head of security at Khost and sparred with CIA managers over how to handle security for the planned meeting with Balawi. (Courtesy of the Roberson family)

Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a senior al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan, appeared with Balawi in a fabricated video designed to convince the CIA that the Jordanian doctor had penetrated the terrorist group’s inner circle. (Courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group)

Al-Qaeda commissioned a special suicide vest for Balawi, using military-grade C4 explosives as well as about fifteen pounds of steel pellets and other metal fragments to serve as shrapnel. The device, though snugly strapped to the bomber’s midsection, could be easily detected by anyone brushing against it. (Courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group)

Humam al-Balawi posed for several “martyrdom” videotapes before beginning his mission. In this video, he showed off the detonator he would use to set off a suicide bomb strapped to his chest. “Don’t think that just by pressing a button and killing mujahideen, you are safe,” he said, referring to the CIA and its Predator attacks. (Courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group)

In another martyrdom tape, Balawi (right) appears seated with Hakimullah Mehsud, his host in Pakistan. “His conscience did not allow him to spy on Muslim brothers for the infidels,” Mehsud said of Balawi. (Courtesy of SITE Intelligence Group)

The CIA’s Darren LaBonte (left) and the Mukhabarat’s Ali bin Zeid posed for a snapshot at Khost on the day before Balawi’s arrival. The two were partners on terrorism cases in Jordan and became close friends before they teamed up for the Balawi case. (Courtesy of the LaBonte family)

Jordanian agent Humam al-Balawi entered the CIA base through this gate and was waved by without a search. CIA operatives often insisted that high-level informants have no contact with Afghan guards at the base, for fear that their identity might be compromised. (U.S. government source)

The meeting was set to take place inside the CIA’s heavily guarded compound within the Khost base. Balawi was driven past three guard stations before pulling up outside the building where he was to meet with bin Zeid and the Americans. He was greeted by a group of sixteen intelligence operatives anxious to debrief him. (Courtesy of Tim Brown/GlobalSecurity.org and GeoEye)

CIA director Leon Panetta (left, front) vowed to strike back against the al-Qaeda leaders responsible for killing the seven officers at Khost. In June 2010 he presided over a ceremony adding new stars on the CIA’s Memorial Wall for the slain officers and contractors. (Courtesy of CIA Public Affairs)

Under Panetta’s direction, the CIA targeted Hakimullah Mehsud and al-Qaeda’s No. 3, al-Masri, in a series of missile strikes in the spring and summer. Panetta acknowledged that “systemic” problems had contributed to the CIA’s deadliest day in a quarter century. (Courtesy of Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

Ethan Wise embraces the flag that draped the coffin of his father, fallen security guard Jeremy Wise. (Courtesy of Katrina Clay)