Telluride TV: Baer on Trump & Russia, Telluride Library, 8/9

03 Aug Telluride TV: Baer on Trump & Russia, Telluride Library, 8/9

Telluride TV presents an “Evening with Bob Baer” at Telluride’s Wilkinson Public Library, Thursday, August 9., 7 p.m. This free public presentation is offered by Telluride TV and the Library and supported by the Telluride Ski & Golf Company and Telluride TV donors.

Former CIA agent, author & Ophir local Bob Baer.

Let’s play a little game of free association.

I say “Syriana” and you say?… Bet your answer is Telluride Film Fest 2011 tributee George Clooney, who starred as Bob Barnes in the 2005 Academy Award-winning geopolitical thriller about oil, the Middle East, corporate greed, oil, espionage, wealth, power, intrigue, oil, assassination, terrorism and – umm – oil.

“Syriana’s” head-snapping plot by screenwriter/director Stephen Gaghan (“Traffic’) was inspired by “See No Evil,” a book written by Robert Booker “Bob” Baer, who inspired the Barnes character.

Baer is no stranger to Telluride audiences. At his talk on August 9, the former CIA undercover operative and current CNN intelligence and security analyst will draw on his extensive intelligence community connections and his personal experience to shed light on President Trump’s ties to Russia, his relationship to Vladimir Putin and his apparent resistance to the conclusions of his federal agencies, cabinet directors and party leaders about Russian cyber attacks on the USA.

Specifically Baer will examine and assess President Trump’s seemingly deferential attitude and behavior toward Russian President Putin and will directly address the questions on so many people’s minds: Does Putin have something on our president? And, why does President Trump seem to transition so readily from insults and aggression toward US allies to compliments and passivity toward our most powerful adversary?

A 21-year veteran of covert operations based primarily in the Middle East, Baer left the CIA in 1997 and, in 1998, received the agency’s Career Intelligence Medal. He is widely recognized as having a thorough knowledge of contemporary Middle East political history, as well as extensive firsthand experience in the former republics of the Soviet Union.

More about Bob Baer:

Bob Baer was born in Los Angeles, but raised in Aspen. He aspired to become a professional skier, but life took a left turn off the slopes. Educated at Indiana’s Culver Military Academy, Baer went on to graduate from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where then-future CIA director George Tenet was a classmate. While a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley, he applied to the CIA’s directorate of operations. A year’s training, including a four-month paramilitary course followed, which included the study of several foreign languages: Baer is fluent in Arabic, Persian, French, German and English. He is also conversant in Russian, Tajik and Baluch.

During his 21-year career with the CIA, Baer served as an operative in Madras and New Delhi, India; Beirut, Lebanon; Dusanbe, Tajikistan,; Morocco; and Salah al-Din in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In December 2014, Baer began broadcasting for CNN from Telluride TV’s new media center on subjects ranging from the U.S. Senate report on CIA torture during the George W. Bush administration to the failed Navy SEAL attempt to free photojournalist Luke Somers, a hostage held by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Uruguay for resettlement as refugees.

In addition to CNN, Baer is a regular contributor to Time and is currently TIME.com’s intelligence columnist. He also contributes to The Washington Post, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal. 

As indicated,  Bob Baer is also a frequent commentator and author on issues related to international relations, espionage and U.S. foreign policy.

About Telluride TV:

Telluride TV is a public access cable television channel transmitting in Telluride and Mountain Village on local channel 12. A vital community resource since 1986, Telluride TV serves local schools, businesses, non-profits and visitors through media arts education, community-based content and access to broadcasting. Also available on its YouTube channel, Telluride TV’s programming is fresh, fun and informative.

Telluride TV is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.