William Burns as Director of the CIA

CIA Director William Burns (pictured in April 2021) says his life is nothing like James Bond or Jason Bourne, in the first broadcast of the US spy agency ‘The Langley Files’.

Washington (AFP) – His life isn’t the same as Jason Bourne and James Bond, CIA Director Bill Burns said in the US spy agency’s first podcast on Thursday, tearing up hot cars in crowded cities and deploying unimaginably deadly gadgets.

Burns said popular spy movies show “a world of heroic individuals who drive fast cars, defuse bombs, and solve world crises on their own every day.”
“This, I must tell you, is a constant source of amusement for my wife and daughters.”“I am most comfortable driving my 2013 Subaru Outback at the stated speed limits, and for me at least, the height of technological audacity is when I can finally operate the Roku remote at home,” he admitted.

Burns, 66, a veteran diplomat who has run the CIA since March 2021, made the comments on the first episode of “The Langley Files,” an podcast vowing to demystify the super-secret agency.
Burns’ main point was to stress that while the CIA has many secret officers in the field, they are not separate operators like Bond, Bourne, or Jack Ryan from Hollywood celebrities.
“The truth is that intelligence is very much a team sport. It is a profession of hard teamwork and shared risk,” Burns said.

Besides field operators, it includes teams of people—scientists, digital specialists, and other analysts—who filter information in offices.
He halted the operation that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in July, as well as CIA intelligence in December and January, which showed Russia planning to invade Ukraine, as significant successes.

Our successes are often obscured, our failures are often painfully visible, and our sacrifices are often unknown. And a certain amount of freedom of action certainly comes with territory, Burns said.
The podcast is hosted by “Dee” and “Walter,” but a CIA spokesperson wouldn’t reveal their last names or even say if the first names are real.
Asked how often the podcast will appear, the spokesperson said “periodically.”