Milton Bearden

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Milton Bearden is a retired Central Intelligence Agency officer and author.

He was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Houston, where his father worked on the Manhattan Project. After serving in the United States Air Force, he joined the CIA in 1964.

During his 30-year career with the CIA, he was a station chief in Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan and Germany. In Pakistan from 1986 to 1989, he played a role in training the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, and was later the director of the Soviet/East European Division during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal the Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Donovan Award for his CIA service. He received the Federal Cross of Merit from the President of the German Federal Republic for his service in Germany at the end of the Cold War.

Since retiring, Bearden has written books based on his experiences, commented on current events, and appeared on television, including Secret Warriors (Discovery Channel), Covert Action (BBC) and The Power of Nightmares (BBC2) History Channel's 'Heroes Under Fire' . Although generally supportive of the CIA and its mission, he has also been outspoken in criticism of US actions in the War on Terrorism. He was co-author of one book with James Risen (author of State of War, which is critical of the White House and the Intelligence Community). Mr. Bearden is a frequent contributor to the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and has contributed to Foreign Affairs and to the book on September 11, 2001, How Did This Happen?, published by Public Affairs. He is a consultant for CBS News. He worked with Robert DeNiro on Universal Studios’ smash-hit Meet the Parents, and worked with DeNiro and screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Insider) on The Good Shepherd, scheduled for release in December 2006. Universal Studios and DeNiro’s Tribeca Productions have optioned The Main Enemy as a planned sequel to The Good Shepherd. As of 2003, Bearden lives in Reston, Virginia with his French-born wife, Marie-Catherine.

[edit] Books

The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan (1998) ISBN 0-375-76083-0; The Main Enemy, The Inside story of the CIA's Final showdown with the KGB with James Risen (2003) ISBN 0-679-46309-7; and co-author of How Did This Happen, Terrorism and The New War (2001) ISBN 1-58648-130-4