CIA museum unveils model of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Afghanistan hideout
- The revamped Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) museum – still closed to the public – is revealing newly declassified artefacts from the spy agency’s most storied operations
- Top among them is a scale model of the compound in Kabul, Afghanistan that was used to brief Joe Biden before the drone strike that killed Zawahiri two months ago
They like to call it “the greatest museum you’ll never see”. Tucked away in the corridors of its Langley, Virginia, headquarters, the revamped Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) museum – while still closed to the public – is revealing some newly declassified artefacts from the spy agency’s most storied operations since its founding 75 years ago.
Top among them: a slightly more than foot-long (30.5cm) scale model of the compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, that was used to brief US President Joe Biden before the drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri just two months ago.
“It’s very unusual for something to get declassified that quickly,” said Janelle Neises, the museum’s deputy director.
“We use our artefacts to tell our stories. It’s a way to be really honest and transparent about the CIA, which is sometimes hard,” said Neises, who joined the museum’s director Robert Byer on Saturday in leading media on a tour of renovated exhibits.
The items, some of which are available to view online, are part of a broader effort to expand public outreach and recruitment by the legendary but secretive agency, known as much in some quarters for its scandals as for intelligence successes.
CIA officials often say that the agency’s successes are secret but its failures sometimes public.