May 2021 will mark two years since CIA legend Charles Seidel died while on a business trip to Saudi Arabia.
A young 62 years old, he was working in the private sector in a region and among a people he truly loved. "Charlie," as those of us in the CIA knew him, was not only my friend and mentor but also at one time the U.S. government’s preeminent expert on the Middle East. Charlie was on a first-name basis with kings, prime ministers, tribal sheikhs, street sweepers, and shopkeepers. Mentioning Charlie within the halls of power and palaces in Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia would gain you instant access to officials who mattered. Saying his name to a barber in downtown Amman would evoke a huge smile and laugh, and a demand to be able to send sweets and gifts to a man seen as one of their own.
