Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Piro immigrated to the United States with his family in July 1979, aged 12, following the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. His family settled in Turlock, California, where he adapted to life in America before joining the U.S. Air Force at 18. He later pursued a career in law enforcement, eventually joining the FBI.
Piro’s multilingual background proved valuable throughout his career. Having grown up speaking Arabic, spoken Assyrian at home and attended a French school, he developed proficiency in four languages, including English.
In 2004, just five years after joining the FBI, Piro was selected to lead the Bureau’s interrogation of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator implicated in the Anfal Campaign, which devastated Kurdish and Assyrian communities in northern Iraq.
Over the course of the mission, he spent more than 500 hours with Saddam, using psychological techniques and building rapport to understand the former leader’s thinking, decisions and worldview.
His approach included controlling aspects of Saddam’s daily environment and using the former president’s poetry to establish a connection. Saddam reportedly came to believe he had developed a genuine friendship with his interrogator.
The interrogation yielded insights into Saddam’s thinking before the Iraq War, including his belief that the United States would not invade Iraq in 2003 and his decision to dismantle the country’s weapons of mass destruction programme.
FBI Assistant Director Joe Persichini, Piro’s supervisor at the time, described the operation as “one of the top accomplishments of our agency in the last 100 years.”
Over more than three decades in law enforcement and national security, Piro held numerous senior positions within the FBI, including Deputy Assistant Director of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate and Director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group.
In 2014, he became Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, overseeing counterterrorism, criminal, cyber and counterintelligence operations and more than 900 employees. His responsibilities also extended across Central and South America and the Caribbean.
His achievements earned him several honours, including the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, FBI Director’s Award of Excellence and FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement for Life Saving Action. He also holds a Master of Arts in International Security Studies and a Master’s Certificate in Arab Studies from Georgetown University.
More than two decades after the historic interrogation, Piro is sharing his experience through his forthcoming memoir. According to Piro, the book explores Saddam Hussein’s psychology, the events surrounding the Iraq War and the decisions that continue to shape the Middle East. It also examines leadership, human behaviour, accountability and the team behind the operation.
His memoir offers readers a rare insider’s perspective on Saddam Hussein, the Iraq War and a defining operation in modern FBI history.
