Paul Mauro emphasizes the importance of U.S. intelligence preparation in the successful rescue of a missing colonel in Iran, drawing parallels to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Paul Mauro, a former law enforcement official, stated on Monday that U.S. intelligence agencies had laid the essential groundwork for the successful rescue of a missing colonel from enemy territory in Iran. He emphasized that the operation relied heavily on intelligence gathered well before the mission commenced.
“You’ve got to collect, you collect, you collect, and a lot of it sometimes you’re never going to use,” Mauro explained during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “The key is when you need it, it has to be there.”
Mauro drew a comparison to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, which took place under the Trump administration in January. He noted the U.S. forces’ ability to accurately pinpoint the location of Maduro and his wife at the time of the operation, allowing for an effective capture.
“They got him as they were running to a safe room without a scratch. Everybody comes out without a scratch,” Mauro said, highlighting the precision of the operation. “They got them as they were fleeing. That’s how detailed the messaging was, and that’s how synchronized the operation was.”
He asserted that a similar level of preparation and coordination was evident in the recent mission in Iran, where U.S. forces successfully rescued a missing weapons systems officer from a downed F-15E following a multi-day search in hostile territory.
In a related statement, former President Donald Trump referred to the rescue of the downed Air Force pilot as an “Easter miracle.”
Mauro explained that U.S. intelligence was able to act swiftly to retrieve the missing colonel once his location was confirmed. “This was one of those situations where the bell rang. ‘Guys, what [have] you got?’ The President turns around, [War Secretary] Hegseth turns around, and they all talk to [CIA Director John] Ratcliffe and they say, ‘What [have] you got, director?’ and fortunately it was there,” he said.
He concluded by underscoring a broader truth about intelligence work, which is particularly evident to those within the intelligence community: the success of operations ultimately hinges on the people managing the sources. “At the end of the day… it comes down to people,” Mauro stated. “If you think that you can sit in a cubicle someplace and get everything you need done, that’s not how it’s going to go. You need people in country, in dangerous areas, Americans working on our behalf that you’ll never hear about… they’re running the sources so that, again, when you need it, they say, ‘My source is good.’
According to Fox News, Mauro’s insights shed light on the critical role of intelligence preparation in high-stakes operations.