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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Jaw Breaker and the hunt for Bin laden

a still of 2004 Osama bin Laden videoImage via Wikipedia

I am currently reading a great non-fiction novel called Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander. It is an excellent read about the hunt for Osama Bin laden and is written by Gary Berntsen, the former field commander in charge of the hunt.

The book describes the actions and reactions, mistakes and out right interference by the CIA commanders and other government officials while Team Jaw Breaker attempted to capture Bin Laden before and after 9/11.

I highly encourage reading this book, both for its view of the inner workings of a field op as well as for the "cat and mouse" machinations of the US Government, the CIA and political infighting in general.

I only wish we had more folks like Gary Berntsen on our team. While checking out the Amazon.com website, I spotted an excellent quote by one of the prinicpals in this memoir. His words say it best: “Jawbreaker is a real page turner . . . Berntsen was the CIA’s ‘go to guy’ when it came to leading in Afghanistan, owing to his exceptional operational and leadership skills in situations involving the threat of immediate danger. Berntsen is brave and bold and a true American hero.” —Cofer Black, former Chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorism Center

GDW

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