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Cofer Black

Cofer BlackAKA Joseph Cofer Black

Born: c. 1950
Birthplace: Stamford, CT

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Government

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Coordinator for Counterterrorism, 2002-04

For twenty-eight years a CIA career employee, Black was sworn in 3 December 2002 to the ambassador-level position of State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, in part a public relations position. Among Black's earlier duties was hunting Osama bin Laden. He told CNN in 2003, "I guarantee you, this fellow will get caught like the rest of them."

Black's office came under fire when it grossly underestimated the number of terrorist-caused deaths in 2003, with Richard Armitage holding a prominent press conference announcing that the U.S. was winning the war on terrorism. Congressman Henry Waxman and others disputed the report as obviously in error, stating "it appears that the decline in terrorism reported by the State Department results from manipulation of the data, not an actual decline in terrorism incidents. This manipulation may serve the administration's political interests, but it calls into serious doubt the integrity of the report." Waxman was correct. A revised report released on 22 June 2004 to the Administration's great embarassment raised the number of deaths from 307 to 625.

    High School: Canterbury School, New Milford, CT
    University: BA International Relations, University of Southern California (1973)
    University: MA International Relations, University of Southern California (1974)

    Member of the Board of Blackwater vice chairman, Blackwater USA
    US Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2002-04)
    CIA employee Deputy Chief, Latin America Division (Jun-1998 to Jun-1999)
    CIA employee Task Force Chief in the Near East and South Asia Division (1995)
    CIA employee Director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center (past)
    CIA employee (1974-)
    Romney Victory Inc.
    Distinguished Intelligence Medal


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