Christine Abizaid Explained

Christine Abizaid
Office:Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
Term Start:June 29, 2021
Term End:July 5, 2024
President:Joe Biden
Predecessor:Christopher C. Miller
Successor:Brett M. Holmgren (Acting)
Education:University of California, San Diego (BA)
Stanford University (MA)
Relations:John Abizaid (father)
Birth Name:Christine Sandra Abizaid

Christine Sandra Abizaid (born February 7, 1979)[1] is an American intelligence officer who was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the Biden administration.

Education

Abizaid earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and a Master of Arts in international policy studies from Stanford University.

A soccer player from an early age, Abizaid played forward for the NCAA Division II UC San Diego Tritons women's soccer team.[2] Her 36 career assists are the second most for the team all-time.[3] [4] During her time with the team, the Tritons were California Collegiate Athletic Association and NCAA champions, and in her senior year she was saluted as "best of the best" by the UCSD Guardian newspaper.[5]

Career

Abizaid has worked as a counterterrorism intelligence official in the Defense Intelligence Agency and on the United States National Security Council. During the Obama administration, she served as a senior policy advisor and assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.[6] In 2014, she became the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

In 2016, Ash Carter put Abizaid in charge of the Defense Innovation Unit in Austin, Texas.[7] Moving to the private sector, she joined Dell in 2017 as director for supply chain sustainability.[8] [9] The 2019 Form 990 for the Middle East Policy Council lists Abizaid as a Director.[10] she remains listed as a Director on the organization's website.[11]

In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Abizaid to serve as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.[12] The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held open hearings on the nomination on June 9, 2021.[13] The full Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote on June 24, 2021.[14]

In 2022, Abizaid participated in a July 1, 2022 Situation Room meeting with President Biden to prepare for a drone strike targeting al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The approved operation took place July 31, 2022. President Biden made a public address confirming the operation had killed Zawahiri on August 1, 2022.[15] [16] [17]

In subsequent testimony to Congress, Abizaid asserted that as a result of Zawahiri's death, the threat of al-Qaeda "is less acute than at any other time since 9/11," and "the most likely threat in the United States is from lone actors, whether inspired by violent extremist narratives, racially or ethnically motivated drivers to violence, or other politically motivated violence."[18] Writers for Lawfare were led to state that following the operation, it was "difficult to believe that [al-Qaeda] can exert the same threat given its leadership depletion".[19]

In 2023, delivering a lecture before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Abizaid noted that al-Qaeda has yet to publicly announce a successor following Zawahiri's death. Her comments briefly mentioned Saif al-Adel and Abd al-Rahman al-Maghribi as possible candidates.[20] [21]

In 2024, Abizaid resigned from her role as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center.[22]

Personal life

Abizaid, a Lebanese American, is the daughter of John Abizaid, a retired United States Army general who served as Commander of the U.S. Central Command during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and diplomat, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia under President Donald Trump.[23]

Abizaid disclosed on her 2021 questionnaire to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that she is married to a woman.[24] She was also accompanied to her Senate confirmation hearing by her wife, whom she acknowledged in her remarks. She was the first female and first openly gay director of the National Counterterrorism Center.[25] [26]

In May 2022, Abizaid spoke with Michael Morell for the CBS News podcast Intelligence Matters, affirming her sexual orientation and that she recognizes "that it's important and it's important to be seen in the position that I'm in, that people will look at what I'm doing and will take a representation of that and latch on to it - good, bad or indifferent."[27] The following month, she spoke to an audience at a Defense Intelligence Agency Pride Month event, speaking about having once been closeted at the agency. She commented that, "I could have been more brave and placed more trust in people," and that "frankly, it's just easier," being open.[28]

External links

Media Appearances

Nomination Materials from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Congressional Testimony

References

  1. Web site: WorldCat Identities. https://web.archive.org/web/20220801172009/https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no2022020296/. dead. August 1, 2022. WorldCat.
  2. Web site: 2000 UC San Diego Women's Soccer Roster . . 2000 . February 26, 2023 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20001017163230/http://athletics.ucsd.edu/wsocfol/wsocrost.html . October 17, 2000.
  3. Web site: 2001-01-11 . She's Simply the Best . 2022-12-07 . UCSD Guardian . en-US.
  4. Web site: Women's Soccer Record Book . 2022-12-07 . UC San Diego . en.
  5. Web site: 2001-05-07 . Goodbye to the Tritons' Best of the Best . 2022-12-07 . UCSD Guardian . en-US.
  6. Web site: DNI Haines Statement on the President's Intent to Nominate Christine Abizaid as NCTC Director. 2021-04-12. www.dni.gov. 2021-10-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20211026170955/https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2021/item/2203-dni-haines-statement-on-the-president-s-intent-to-nominate-christine-abizaid-as-nctc-director. dead.
  7. Web site: SECDEF Announces Another Link to Tech Innovators . 2022-12-07 . CHIPS.
  8. Web site: 2021-04-12. President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate 11 Key Administration Leaders on National Security and Law Enforcement. 2021-04-12. The White House. en-US.
  9. Web site: Christine S. Abizaid. 2021-04-12. www.defense.gov. en-US.
  10. Web site: 2013-05-09 . MIDDLE EAST POLICY COUNCIL FOUNDATION - Form Form 990 for period ending Dec 2019 - Nonprofit Explorer . 2022-12-08 . ProPublica . en.
  11. Web site: Board of Directors Middle East Policy Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220701054047/https://mepc.org/board-directors . 2022-07-01 . 2022-12-08 . mepc.org . en.
  12. Web site: 2021-04-12 . President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate 11 Key Administration Leaders on National Security and Law Enforcement . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210412200627/https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/12/president-biden-announces-his-intent-to-nominate-11-key-administration-leaders-on-national-security-and-law-enforcement/ . 2021-04-12 . 2022-06-11 . The White House . en-US.
  13. Web site: Open Hearing: Nomination of Christine Abizaid to be Director of National Counterterrorism Center of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Nomination of Robin Ashton to be Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220607160026/https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/hearings/open-hearing-nomination-christine-abizaid-be-director-national-counterterrorism-center . 2022-06-07 . 2022-06-11 . . en-US.
  14. Web site: 2021-06-24 . PN368 - Nomination of Christine Abizaid for Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 117th Congress (2021-2022) . 2022-06-11 . www.congress.gov.
  15. News: Baker . Peter . Cooper . Helene . Barnes . Julian E. . Schmitt . Eric . 2022-08-01 . U.S. Drone Strike Kills Ayman al-Zawahri, Top Qaeda Leader . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-12-07 . 0362-4331.
  16. Web site: 2022-08-02 . Background Press Call by a Senior Administration Official on a U.S. Counterterrorism Operation . 2022-12-07 . The White House . en-US.
  17. Bennett . Brian . Hennigan . W. J. . 2022-08-01 . Biden Hails al-Zawahiri Killing as Sign of American Resolve . live . Time . en-US . https://web.archive.org/web/20220802022513/https://time.com/6202703/biden-al-zawahiri-al-qaeda-afghanistan/ . 2022-08-02 . 2022-12-07.
  18. Testimony before the Senate hearing,
  19. Web site: Taneja . Kabir . Pantucci . Raffaello . 2022-12-04 . Did al-Qaeda Die With Ayman al-Zawahiri? . 2022-12-07 . . en.
  20. News: Singh . Kanishka . Landay . Jonathan . 2023-01-10 . Al Qaeda succession after al-Zawahiri's death still unclear -U.S. official . en . Reuters . 2023-01-11.
  21. Web site: Christine . Abizaid . 2023-01-10 . A Survey of the 2023 Terrorism Threat Landscape . https://web.archive.org/web/20230111200307/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/survey-2023-terrorism-threat-landscape . 2023-01-11 . 2023-01-11 . The Washington Institute . en-US.
  22. News: Schmitt . Eric . 2024-06-05 . U.S. Counterterrorism Chief Is Stepping Down . 2024-08-15 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  23. News: Barnes. Julian E.. 2021-04-12. Biden chooses a former Pentagon official to run the National Counterterrorism Center.. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-04-12. 0362-4331.
  24. Web site: Abizaid . Christine . 2021-05-04 . Response to Questionnaire for Completion by Presidential Nominees . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210707050531/https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/q-cabizaid-060921.pdf . 2021-07-07 . 2022-06-25 . intelligence.senate.gov.
  25. News: Barnes . Julian E. . 2021-06-09 . A Senate committee questioned Christine Abizaid, Biden's nominee for a top counterterrorism post. . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-12-07 . 0362-4331.
  26. Web site: U.S counterterrorism chief Christy Abizaid to step down after 3 years on the job - CBS News. Olivia. Gazis. June 5, 2024. www.cbsnews.com.
  27. Web site: Counterterrorism Chief Christy Abizaid on top terror threats - "Intelligence Matters" . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220511102241/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-terror-threats-counterterrorism-chief-christy-abizaid-intelligence-matters/ . 2022-05-11 . 2022-06-25 . www.cbsnews.com . 11 May 2022 . en-US.
  28. Web site: NCTC Director Christy Abizaid talks about bringing authentic self to workplace . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20220625191302/https://www.odni.gov/index.php/newsroom/news-articles/news-articles-2022/item/2301-nctc-director-christy-abizaid-talks-about-bringing-authentic-self-to-workplace . 2022-06-25 . 2022-06-25 . www.odni.gov .

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