CIA Asset maintains job in Iraq through three governments.

Apparently in charge of death-squads and the like.

The Plank:

" Shahwani is the head of an Iraqi intelligence structure (or, if you prefer, secret police) which is independent of the interior or defense ministries. And funny thing about that: He took his job under the Iyad Allawi interim administration, meaning he's kept his job despite two changes of government. Why might that be? Well, when last anyone checked in--anyone being the intrepid Hannah Allam and Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder--it was because the CIA refused to turn over Shahwani's intelligence bureau to Iraq's elected Shia officials. According to Allam and Strobel, CIA paid Shahwani's salary and kept funding his agency, largely out of the fear that it didn't want to turn over intelligence assets to a government with ties to Iran. I have absolutely no information that Shahwani is still on CIA's payroll. But after a year and yet another change of government following Knight Ridder's story, Shahwani--unique among Iraqi officials--is still in place. Hmm."