Graham Speaks on Experiences With CIA on 9/11
Mary Margaret Graham, Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency New York City Office on September 11, 2001, spoke at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University on April 24, 2017 about her experiences leading up to, during and following the terrorist attacks. Graham was hosted by Joseph Wippl, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School and former CIA officer who spent a 30-year-career as an operations officer in the National Clandestine Service.
In her 29 years with the CIA, Graham has held numerous field and headquarters assignments including Associate Deputy Director for Operations for Counterintelligence, Chief of the Directorate of Operation’s National Resources Division and Deputy Chief of the Directorate of Operations Europe Division. She has also served as the United States Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection and the Executive Assistant to William Crowell, then Deputy Director of the National Security Agency.
Graham, whose office at the time of the attacks was at World Trade Center Building 7, described the initial confusion between when the first plane hit the North Tower and the second plane hit the South Tower. According to Graham, after seeing the second plane hit the South Tower, she felt certain that the events of that morning were an act of terrorism.
“I must admit that the first thing that went through my head, after having been in the agency at that stage for 26 years, was that I had failed,” Graham said. “You think to yourself in the moment I joined the agency because I wanted to keep my country safe and I wanted to serve, and here this is happening at home. That was a nanosecond because the first thing that has to be on your mind when you’re in a situation like that as a manager and leader is your people.”
Graham also discussed the effect that the events of 9/11 and the aftermath of the attacks have shaped the intelligence community.
“The activity and the activism of the 9/11 families, and the results of the 9/11 Commission resulted in the passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act and the creation of the Director of National Intelligence whose job is to connect the dots,” Graham said.
According to Graham, the biggest challenge currently facing the CIA and larger intelligence community are cyber-attacks.
Probably the biggest challenge for the intelligence community is cyber. By far,” Graham said. “Technology has gotten ahead of us. It moves so fast. It’s not all done here in the United States. The threat of a bad actor in the cyber world is significant. We’re up against it.”