Blerim Skoro is a Kosovo-born former CIA operative whose life took a dramatic turn after deserting the Yugoslav army in the 1990s. Arriving in New York as an asylum seeker, Skoro’s journey led him from a drug trafficking conviction to becoming a key informant for the FBI and CIA post-9/11. Posing as a radicalized Islamist, he infiltrated al-Qaeda networks in the Balkans, Middle East, and Pakistan, providing critical intelligence. His covert work ended after a 2010 shooting in Macedonia, when the CIA severed ties, leaving him with minimal compensation. Facing deportation in 2016, Skoro’s story, detailed in the documentary The Accidental Spy, highlights the perils of espionage and abandonment by his handlers. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://www.tryarmra.com/srs https://www.identityguard.com/srs https://www.betterhelp.com/srs This episode is sponsored by Better Help. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/srs and get on your way to being your best self. https://www.blackbuffalo.com https://www.boncharge.com/srs https://www.meetfabric.com/shawn https://www.shawnlikesgold.com https://www.helixsleep.com/srs https://www.hillsdale.edu/srs https://www.patriotmobile.com/srs https://www.rocketmoney.com/srs Blerim Skoro Links: Check out the documentary The Accidental Spy coming soon! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2xOkWvXkIQ (Film trailer) For sales or screening queries, please contact the film's producer, Johnny Howorth [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
We're going to come to the point how I was offered from ISIS to become leader of ISIS. So September 11, I'm in a cell with one of the terrorists. The first flight hit, he jumps from the bugging bed and happy. This is from my leader. Now I'm thinking if I kill this guy in a prison or not. I see two guys coming down and they pulled a gun, shot me four times, not once.
They taught you how to make bombs? Absolutely. What kind of bombs?
Blerem Skoro, welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Honored to be in your show. Honored to have you. Thank you. Man, you've got a hell of a life story, growing up in Kosovo, coming in, being recruited by the CIA as an asset, infiltrating Al-Qaeda, an assassination attempt. I mean, this is going to be a really good interview. Really good interview.
Yes, it is going to be good.
And your story is so interesting, they're doing a documentary about you.
Yes.
When's that coming out?
Hopefully we're planning soon. I don't have too much control over that. It's people involved, but it's going to come soon.
Do you know where it's going to go?
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