Arab Spring an 'intel disaster' for West

The Arab Spring has been "an intelligence disaster" for Western security services because of the fall of Middle Eastern leaders working with the United States and Europe, says a former Central Intelligence Agency chief.

"The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up -- either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse," said Michal Scheuer, who headed the CIA unit tasked with hunting down Osama bin Laden.

First and foremost, he says, is the loss of the so-called black rendition system the CIA launched after Sept. 11, 2001.

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