JanFeb2017

THE

TERRORIST

WHO

LOVED ME

he hiring process was not easy; it’s a long and arduous process that

can literally take years. Many of us in the counterterrorism business,

whether it be law enforcement or in the intelligence business, have expe-

rienced that “gulp” moment during our background investigation. This is

the moment you are strapped to the polygraph machine and the FBI polyg-

rapher asks you that one question you were dreading. For many of us that

question had to do with drug policy and that marijuana experimentation

you did in college. Or that year you failed to file a tax return or that one-off

juvenile act of graffiti vandalism or some other such trivial yet guilt induc-

ing event in your young life. For François that question was

“Have you ever

had any contact with terrorists?”

After 9/11 many Americans decided to take action in the

effort to fight terrorism. Some joined the military, some

joined the intelligence services, some joined the police

and some applied for the FBI. The FBI had an urgent need

for people fluent in select foreign languages. One such

patriotic applicant was an American immigrant named

François Cassar

Eugene Casey

(as told to by François Cassar)