CIA goes public in classified ads

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wanted: Good doctors to analyze the health of terrorists and foreign leaders. Must pass polygraph and other “security procedures.”

To apply, call the CIA.

That’s the classified ad running in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, right between an ad calling for an internist in Chicago and another promising “exciting opportunities in geriatric primary care.”

“As an intelligence officer working with a team of physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, you will assess the physical health of foreign leaders and terrorists, and study global health issues,” the advertisement reads.

“Your consultation with all levels of government will help to provide accurate, informed and balanced analysis, ensuring a healthy America.”

Advertising for medical intelligence analysts and an array of other experts is nothing new for the secretive agency, but the CIA is now looking more publicly than it has in years past. Similar jobs are advertised on the agency’s Web site.

“The CIA routinely places ads in publications for people with specific skills,” said CIA spokesman Tom Crispell.

The medical analysts, like agency predecessors for decades, are hired to analyze the health of world leaders, both friendly and unfriendly, for intelligence and negotiating purposes.

The winning candidates also would produce reports on the national security implications of health crises, such as the tsunami in Asia that has killed about 114,000 people, Mr. Crispell said.

No salary information was included in the ad.