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So it turns out that Robert Levinson, the ex-FBI agent held captive in Iran since 2007, was actually working as a CIA contractor at the time of his disappearance. All the more reason for Washington to make his freedom a priority.
On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney refused to comment, saying only that when Levinson went missing he “was not a US government employee.” That’s true enough, but it’s clear Levinson was working for the CIA. It’s also clear that he had been captured, presumably by Iran, even though Tehran denies holding him. Nothing has been heard from or about Levinson since 2011.
No doubt the appropriate committees in Congress will be taking a fuller look at what Levinson was doing in Iran and how our intelligence agencies have handled the case. At a time when the United States is negotiating with Iran over its nuclear weapons, it’s unconscionable that the White House could unfreeze Iranian billions without bringing Levinson home if he is still alive, or his body if he has died.
That Levinson’s whereabouts remain a mystery is outrageous, and unfortunately, this is not the only case of the United States’ leaving a man on the field.
The Cuban government continues to hold Alan Gross, a citizen who went to Cuba on a US Agency for International Development project in 2009 to bring Internet service to the Jewish community. Instead of shaking Raul Castro’s hand — as President Obama did at the Mandela funeral — he should have poked his chest and demanded Cuba release Gross.
Then there’s Dr. Shakil Afridi in Pakistan. Though not a US citizen, Americans owe Afridi an enormous debt for his help in bringing justice to Osama bin Laden. For that work, Afridi has been left to rot in a Pakistani prison on trumped-up charges. This week, even the doctor’s lawyer fled Pakistan after receiving threats.
America needs to change this equation. Those who take risks for their country need to know it will be there for them when things go wrong. The White House can start by securing the freedom of three men who lost their own freedom because of work they were doing for ours.
