Michael Scheuer

For the German canoer, see Michel Scheuer.

Michael Scheuer
Born1952 (age 71–72)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Alma materCanisius College (BA)
Niagara University (MA)
Carleton University (MA)
University of Manitoba (PhD)
Occupation(s)Former CIA intelligence officer, blogger, author, foreign policy critic, political analyst, adjunct professor
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAlfreda Frances Bikowsky
Websitenon-intervention2.com

Michael F. Scheuer (pronounced "SHOY-er"), (born 1952) is an American former intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, blogger, author, commentator and former adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies. One assignment during his 22-year career was serving as Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station (the Osama bin Laden tracking unit at the Counterterrorism Center, known as "Alec Station") from 1996 to 1999. He also served as Special Advisor to the Chief of Alec Station from September 2001 to November 2004.

Scheuer became a public figure after being outed as the anonymous author of the book Imperial Hubris (2004), in which he criticized many of the United States' assumptions about Islamist insurgencies and particularly Osama bin Laden. Later in 2004, shortly after the "outing" of Scheuer's harsh criticism of America's close alliance with Israel, Scheuer resigned from his position at the CIA. In his book, Scheuer depicted bin Laden as a rational actor who was fighting to weaken the United States by weakening its economy, rather than merely combating and killing Americans.

Scheuer challenges the common assumption that terrorism is the threat facing the United States in the modern era, arguing rather that Islamist insurgency (and not "terrorism")[1] is the core of the conflict between the U.S. and Islamist forces, who in places such as Kashmir, Xinjiang, and Chechnya are "struggling not just for independence but against institutionalized barbarism."[1][2] Osama bin Laden acknowledged the book in a 2007 statement, suggesting that it revealed "the reasons for your losing the war against us".[3][4]

In February 2009, Scheuer was fired from his position as a senior fellow of the Jamestown Foundation by the foundation's president.[5] In December 2013 and January 2014, Scheuer was criticized for seeming to advise American citizens to seriously consider assassinating U.S. President Barack Obama.[6] In September 2014, in addition to earlier "praise" received from Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State issued a press release quoting Scheuer in order to appeal to an American audience.[7][8][9] By 2019, Scheuer was endorsing QAnon conspiracy theories and advocating violence against various perceived enemies of Donald Trump, including former president Barack Obama, whom Scheuer falsely claimed was "Kenya-born."[10]

  1. ^ a b Imperial Hubris. p. 253
  2. ^ Khan, L. Ali. (2006) A theory of international terrorism. Pages 243–44.
  3. ^ Transcript abcnews.go.com
  4. ^ "CIA Chief Says Al-Qaida is Plotting Attack on U.S." NPR. September 7, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference fired was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Gertz, Matt (January 3, 2014). "Fox's Benghazi Expert Endorsed Assassinating Obama Last Week". Media Matters for America. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Mosendz, Polly (September 23, 2014). "ISIS Releases a Second Hostage-Hosted Propaganda Video". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Cobain, Ian (September 23, 2014). "Islamic State posts video showing British hostage John Cantlie". The Guardian. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "Bin Laden was reading conspiracy theories books about 9/11 attacks, claims US". The Independent. May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Ackerman, Spencer (September 15, 2020). "He Hunted Bin Laden for CIA. Now He Wants Americans Dead". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 15, 2020.