David Coleman Headley Research Paper

David Coleman Headley, an American citizen and terrorist committed a well planned attack that left one-hundred and sixty families mourning for the loss of their loved ones. Although David Headley was of the Pakistani origin, he was hired as an informant under the Drug Enforcement Association in the United States . Both United States and Pakistan government’s did not share their leads and suspicions about Headley prior to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Although Headley was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration he acquired the potential to be a threat towards the United States and the CIA failed to pursue his repetitive warnings over the course of seven years which makes them responsible for Headley’s attacks.

Headley was a Pakistani-American drug smuggler and DEA informant, an

Writer and journalist Webster Tarpley says, “If this David Headley was working for the CIA all along, which is a very plausible conclusion, it means that the CIA implicated and was running and masterminding the Mumbai terror attack of 2008” (Tarpley). Headley was indeed working for the U.S. government and he was under strict survelliance, which raises the question as to why he was not stopped by law enforcement. Sebastian Rotella mentions, “Although the communications surveillance had hinted at links to the Mumbai attacks, the agents were stunned by the extent of his role in the plot and his high-level contacts. He gave the FBI unprecedented evidence and intelligence about Al Qaeda, Lashkar and the hardest target of all, the ISI” (Rotella). The Pakistan government had leads to Headley that were shared with the U.S. government, however; David was still granted unlimited access to travel between countries and plot his attacks. Since Headley was being monitored and watched as a potential terrorist threat, his freedom and rights should have been limited in order to prevent his