An Interview With Julie Sirrs (Defense Intelligence Agency)

Julie Sirrs is a former Middle East analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency (1992-1999). An ardent student of Afghanistan culture, she began by visiting the war torn country after graduating from Georgetown University. After college, she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency. Her analytic experience of Afghanistan and the Taliban was valuable to the DIA and in 1998 she went back to Afghanistan to meet Northern Alliance commanders (Ahmad Shah Massoud) whom were fighting against the Taliban for control of the country. Sirrs said she notified her supervisor of her trip, but her presence in Afghanistan caused a bureaucratic fight involving the State Department, C.I.A. and D.I.A. In this interview we talk about her experience with the DIA, her involvement with Afghanistan, the intelligence services indecision to back the Northern Alliance and being one of the last people to speak with Ahmad Shah Massoud alive. Sirrs is currently a Shareholder with Boone Karlberg a law firm based in Montana.