Former CIA Targeter: Hunting Terrorists After 9/11 | Brittany Butler

Former CIA targeting officer Brittany Butler joins us to discuss her path from a small town in Georgia to the CIA, where she helped build target packages against extremist networks in Iraq and Afghanistan. She breaks down what targeting officers actually do, the realities of working with detainees and liaison partners, and how the fight evolved from AQI toward ISIS and Taliban senior leadership. Brittany also talks about burnout, leaving the agency to focus on family, her work supporting Afghan women, and how those experiences shaped her spy novels The Syndicate Spy and The Patriot’s Daughter.