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Paid Informants

discreet knowledgeable credible
Paid informants supply critical human intelligence during the hostage crisis with captured U.S. Marines. Leo McGarry cites a couple of them, alongside electronic eavesdropping, to fix the captives' location in a barracks 37 miles east of Bitanga. This detail bolsters Admiral Fitzwallace's Delta Force raid plan—70% success odds from Ghana—and sways President Bartlet to authorize the high-risk extraction. Their input highlights HUMINT's role in resolving operational uncertainty amid execution risks.
3 appearances
Human Intelligence Gathering
Also known as: paid informants

Paid Informants's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

3 moments
S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire
Closed Briefing — The Delta Force Decision

N/A (agents of information) — their presence is an operational fact that raises confidence in location data.

Cited by Leo as corroborating electronic intercepts to fix the hostages' location in the barracks; their human reporting narrows the target and enables the operational recommendation.

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S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire
Private Briefing — The Rescue Decision and Its Cost

Not depicted directly; implied as transactional and consequential.

Referenced as the human sources whose testimony, combined with electronic intercepts, helps localize the hostages in the barracks 37 miles east of Bitanga; they do not speak on-screen but their …

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S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire
Authorize Delta Extraction — 'We Got to Go Get Them'

Not present physically; their contribution carries implied urgency and the hazardousness of human-sourced intelligence.

Referenced by Leo as a key HUMINT source used to fix the captives' location; their prior reporting is a decisive factor in justifying direct action.

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Affiliations

First Special Forces
U.S. Military Special Forces Hostage Rescue and Tactical Extraction Operations
26 Special Ops
U.S. Military Special Operations and Hostage Rescue Raids
Foreign and Domestic Intelligence Agencies
Global Surveillance, Threat Evidence Synthesis, and Presidential Authorization Support
Delta Force
Elite U.S. Special Forces Hostage Rescue and Airborne Tactical Assault Operations