Michael Barry was the Senior Director for Intelligence Programs for the United States National Security Council (NSC) in 2017 and 2018. [1] He succeeded Ezra Cohen-Watnick who left in August 2017. [2] [3] Barry's appointment was well received within the NSC due to having years of experience in government and respect for established protocol, and due to his predecessor Cohen-Watnick's repeated clashes with the CIA, fellow NSC staffers, and Cabinet officials. [4] Barry has been a CIA official and served in the Air Force from 1982 and 1992, including as a special agent in its Air Force Office of Special Investigations and was deployed to Europe. [2] According to his LinkedIn profile, he graduated from Northeastern University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice.[ citation needed ] Barry was working in Afghanistan with Medecins du Monde in 1992. [5]
According to BuzzFeed, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Barry allegedly worked on a CIA sponsored assassination program to kill terrorists with Erik Prince. [6] Prince was removed from the program in 2006, and it was disbanded in 2009, after Barack Obama became president. [7]
It was reported in July 2018 that Barry would be leaving his NSC position to return to CIA. [4] [3]
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