Featured Image Credit: YouTube/LADbible Stories
Topics: World News, US News, Travel
Liv Bridge
A former CIA spy has tipped off which countries you really shouldn't consider visiting if you value your safety.
The Department of State already has a pretty extensive list of countries US citizens should either think twice about visiting, or outright prohibit travel for countries under the Level 4 advisory, which means 'do not travel.'
Countries like Iran, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Russia and a handful of others are top of that list, for reasons ranging from war, unrest and terrorism to the highly likely scenario that a US citizen could land in hot water in a kidnapping, hostage or wrongful detention situation.
Now, John Kiriakou, a former CIA spy and whistleblower, has spilt the beans about his career working for America's primary intelligence agency for LADBible Stories, and which countries he personally considers the most dangerous.
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First of all, John said there are 'several' of concern, "and I've been to all of them. I never got to go to the nice places," he joked.
"I went to 72 countries with the CIA, and almost all of them were just awful.
"Some of the most dangerous places in the world are Yemen, Somalia, Gaza, Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan," he continued. "You have to sleep with one eye open. You just never know how bad things are gonna get."
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Giving an example, the agent said he visited Yemen - not just once, but five times.
The country is currently a Level 4 on the US travel advisory list, for reasons including unrest, crime, health, kidnapping or hostage taking, terrorism and an ominous 'other' category.
For John, every time he went, it was 'worse than the previous time'.
"The fifth and final time that I went, we were only allowed to stay at one hotel. The hotel had a 30-foot-high wall around it to protect it from bomb blasts. You couldn't stay in any of the other hotels by then," he said.
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"Well, the day after I arrived, a group of South Korean diplomats arrived, and on the drive to the airport to the hotel, they were ambushed, and they were all killed. Six of them."
Tragically, that wasn't the end of the saga either, as John said another group of South Korean intelligence officers arrived a few days later to investigate the murders, and they too were ambushed and killed.
"And so the South Koreans just closed their embassy and went home. That's a pretty dangerous country," John concluded.
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His insight comes as President Donald Trump is planning to impose a new immigration ban on 32 countries alongside an existing 19 in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. - one of whom died.
The alleged suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, entered the US in 2021 and was granted asylum earlier this year.
Trump's renewed move would restrict people from certain countries from entering the US. He is also putting an 'adjudicative hold' on asylum and citizenship applications, as well as a review of residents from 'high-risk countries' who entered the US under former President Joe Biden's leadership in 2021.
As for US foreign policy, John said he believes it's a 'complete and utter disaster' right now.
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"I've never seen an administration that works so hard to offend and alienate our friends," he explained, in reference to Trump's comments earlier this year that he plans to take over Canada.
"Threatening to invade Canada? That's an act of war," he said.
"Even if you're joking, why would you even joke like that, our loud?"