Henry Ensher, whose diplomatic cover at Jeddah in 1987 was "Political Officer", has had a full career.
After Jeddah, he went on to Muscat in Oman; the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research in Washington; Damascus, Syria as Economic/Commercial Officer (1995); Governance Counselor, Coalition Provisional Authority, Qadisiyah Province, Iraq, 2003; and the CIA Station in Baghdad 2004-2005 (as Deputy Political Counselor).
(Unconfirmed reports have also placed him in the Kabul, Afghanistan Station.)
He is currently living in McLean, Virginia.
His new position is Director of Political Affairs at the State Department's Iraq Office.
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As Political Officer, he demanded visas for peculiar people.
Transferred to Oman and later to the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence & Research, he is currently assigned to Kabul.
He is listed in the McLean, Va. phone book.
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Ensher appears several places on the 'net but you have to look for him.
Henry Ensher. As Political Officer, he demanded visas for peculiar people. Transferred to Oman and later to the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, he is currently assigned to Kabul.
He is listed in the McLean, Va. phone book.
NameBase.org lists Henry Ensher under State Dept. Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts, Syria 1994.
Ensher is (or was) deputy to Robert Ford, political counsellor at the Baghdad Embassy.
November 11, 2001,
Henry Ensher, head of the UN Sanctions (vs. Iraq) at the State Department
Showing posts with label Henry Ensher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Henry Ensher. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Letter to Henry Ensher
April 4, 2007
Mr. Henry S. Ensher
7010 Tyndale Street
McLean, Va. 22101
RE: Visa Program at Jeddah
Dear Henry:
I'm sorry I couldn't reach you by telephone over the holidays. I had wanted to talk to you about the visa program run out of the Jeddah consulate.
As you know, the CIA had recruiting offices in Jeddah, Riyadh, and somewhere in the Eastern Province. With Osama bin Laden's help, they rounded up fighters for the Afghan War, sent them to Jeddah for visas, and then brought them to the U.S. for training, rewards, debriefing, and so on. Then they were packed off to Afghanistan to shoot things down and blow things up, hopefully with Soviet military personnel inside.
What I had sought, when I called you, was answers to some of the following:
Why wasn't I informed about the program? As visa officer, I would have issued to the questionable applicants if the process had been explained to me. Did you all think that I had been clued in by someone in Washington, and then refused to follow instructions?
If so, who was it?
Was there a split between Jay Freres and the other Clandestine Service members about this? All the pressure to give visas to peculiar applicants came from him and not from Eric Qualkenbush, the nominal Base Chief.
Who were the others connected to the program, i.e., those not in Jeddah, but in Riyadh or Dhahran, or Washington, D.C.?
How many spooky visa applicants with clean passports and believable cover stories were there?
Where, exactly, were the recruiting offices in Saudi Arabia?
Who was it that shredded the file I had kept on the demands for illegal visas?
Who finally wised up Greta Holz, my predecessor, getting her to stop her complaints about the visa program? And why was she told not to talk to me about what went on in Jeddah?
Whose idea was it not to tell me about the program? And why?
Given the events of the past 5 years, with 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers getting their visas from Jeddah, added to those formerly recruited in the KSA and now operating in Iraq and Afghanistan against U.S. personnel, have you or others had second thoughts about the Jeddah
program? If so, who and why?
Please give me a call. After 20 years, I'd like to fill in some of the blanks.
Sincerely yours,
J. Michael Springmann
Mr. Henry S. Ensher
7010 Tyndale Street
McLean, Va. 22101
RE: Visa Program at Jeddah
Dear Henry:
I'm sorry I couldn't reach you by telephone over the holidays. I had wanted to talk to you about the visa program run out of the Jeddah consulate.
As you know, the CIA had recruiting offices in Jeddah, Riyadh, and somewhere in the Eastern Province. With Osama bin Laden's help, they rounded up fighters for the Afghan War, sent them to Jeddah for visas, and then brought them to the U.S. for training, rewards, debriefing, and so on. Then they were packed off to Afghanistan to shoot things down and blow things up, hopefully with Soviet military personnel inside.
What I had sought, when I called you, was answers to some of the following:
Why wasn't I informed about the program? As visa officer, I would have issued to the questionable applicants if the process had been explained to me. Did you all think that I had been clued in by someone in Washington, and then refused to follow instructions?
If so, who was it?
Was there a split between Jay Freres and the other Clandestine Service members about this? All the pressure to give visas to peculiar applicants came from him and not from Eric Qualkenbush, the nominal Base Chief.
Who were the others connected to the program, i.e., those not in Jeddah, but in Riyadh or Dhahran, or Washington, D.C.?
How many spooky visa applicants with clean passports and believable cover stories were there?
Where, exactly, were the recruiting offices in Saudi Arabia?
Who was it that shredded the file I had kept on the demands for illegal visas?
Who finally wised up Greta Holz, my predecessor, getting her to stop her complaints about the visa program? And why was she told not to talk to me about what went on in Jeddah?
Whose idea was it not to tell me about the program? And why?
Given the events of the past 5 years, with 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers getting their visas from Jeddah, added to those formerly recruited in the KSA and now operating in Iraq and Afghanistan against U.S. personnel, have you or others had second thoughts about the Jeddah
program? If so, who and why?
Please give me a call. After 20 years, I'd like to fill in some of the blanks.
Sincerely yours,
J. Michael Springmann
