[tzs]

> The baristas go through rigorous interviews and background checks and need to be escorted by agency “minders” to leave their work area

I would have expected the baristas to be actual CIA agents in training. Barista is a job available all over the world. Starbucks itself has locations in 65 countries, covering most of North and South America, most of Europe, and most of Asia. They also have pretty good coverage in the Mideast and Arab regions. Map here [1]. Being able to be planted in a coffee house as a barista and pull that off without suspicion would be a useful skill for an undercover agent trying to monitor what's going on in an area.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks#Locations

[chrissnell]

This is pure conjecture but I've served in the military and know how these things work in the more security-sensitive areas of that organization: My guess is that they are contractors, placed there by whatever corporation handles the rest of their foodservice. They could be former military servicemembers (cooks, quartermaster, etc) who have clean enough records and credit to obtain the security clearance. I'd be willing to bet that they are the most highly-paid baristas in the country.

[wtracy]

"I'd be willing to bet that they are the most highly-paid baristas in the country."

Rumor also has it that the CIA has the highest-paid trash collectors in the world. (All paper waste is incinerated on-site, and is never touched by anyone who isn't cleared by the organization.)

[CoachRufus87]

they check your credit?

[justrudd]

Yep. If you have a lot of debt, it becomes a vector that a foreign intelligence agency could use as an approach on you. Become your friend, find out about that 20K in student loan debt you have, and then mention "Hey. You know. If you were tell me whenever you hear about XYZ, I could help you out with that debt".

edit: fixed spelling.

[bane]

Bad credit could be an angle somebody could use to press you for secrets. So yeah, it seem reasonable.

[barkingcat]

even if they are junior agents, they wouldn't be written about in the washington post.

And even if the writer suspected that, she wouldn't write that with her byline on the article.

[brianbreslin]

Maybe some of them are...?