Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack [Hardcover]

Marc A. Thiessen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2010

White House speechwriter Marc Thiessen was locked in a secure room and given access to the most sensitive intelligence when he was tasked to write President George W. Bush’s 2006 speech explaining the CIA’s interrogation program and why Congress should authorize it. Few know more about these CIA operations than Thiessen, and in his new book, Courting Disaster, he documents just how effective the CIA’s interrogations were in foiling attacks on America, penetrating al-Qaeda’s high command, and providing our military with actionable intelligence. Thiessen also shows how reckless President Obama has been in shutting down the CIA’s program and releasing secret documents that have aided our enemies. Courting Disaster proves:

How the CIA program thwarted specific deadly attacks against the U.S.
Why “enhanced interrogation” was not torture by any reasonable legal or moral standard
How the information gained by “enhanced interrogation” could not have been acquired any other way
How President Obama’s actions since taking office have left America much more vulnerable to attack

In chilling detail, Thiessen reveals how close the terrorists came to striking again, how intelligence gained from “enhanced interrogation” repeatedly stymied their plots, and how President Obama’s dismantling of this CIA program is inviting disaster for America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Marc Thiessen knows, in ways that few others do, just how effective, heroic, and morally justified were the interrogators who kept this nation safe after 9/11. If you want to know what really happened behind the scenes at the CIA interrogation sites or at Guantanamo Bay, you simply must read this book. It reveals how we foiled potentially devastating terrorist plots, and how the current administration is putting us at terrible risk by its misplaced liberal grandstanding. --Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States

Renditions. Enhanced interrogation. Waterboarding. Detentions. Guantanamo. Warrantless eavesdropping. These are not mere words or phrases. They're the Rorschach test of political discourse in today's America--and like ink blots, they evoke visceral reactions in place of reasoned discussion. Yet behind each of these words and phrases is a reality--a reality of great dangers, hard facts, tough decisions, and important lessons. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to confront these realities with knowledge and facts rather than rhetoric and headlines. --General Michael Hayden, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

The military men and women assigned to the task of detaining and questioning terrorists at Guantanamo Bay have served our country with honor and professionalism. They have been maligned and slandered as having 'undermined' our country's highest ideals. In Courting Disaster, Marc Thiessen sets the record straight. He approaches the tough issues with energy and reason. This is a valuable book for anyone who wants to understand the truth--the critical truth that the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay defended our nation's ideals and principles, even as the terrorists who were kept from returning to the battlefield and reaching America's shores were intent on destroying them. --Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Courting Disaster

"Marc Thiessen knows, in ways that few others do, just how effective, heroic, and morally justified were the interrogators who kept this nation safe after 9/11. If you want to know what really happened behind the scenes at the CIA interrogation sites or at Guantanamo Bay, you simply must read this book. It reveals how we foiled potentially devastating terrorist plots, and how the current administration is putting us at terrible risk by its misplaced liberal grandstanding."
—Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States

"Renditions. Enhanced interrogation. Waterboarding. Detentions. Guantanamo. Warrantless eavesdropping. These are not mere words or phrases. They’re the Rorschach test of political discourse in today’s America—and like ink blots, they evoke visceral reactions in place of reasoned discussion. Yet behind each of these words and phrases is a reality—a reality of great dangers, hard facts, tough decisions, and important lessons. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to confront these realities with knowledge and facts rather than rhetoric and headlines."
—General Michael Hayden, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

"It was only because of the unheralded efforts of CIA and military interrogators that many more Americans did not suffer the same fate my brother did on 9/11. They kept us safe—and for that they have been vilified, slandered, and threatened with prosecution. In this terrific and important book, Marc Thiessen comes to the defense of these courageous men and women. He explains, in stunning detail, how they protected us from danger, and how the good work they did is now being undone. This book deserves to be read by every American—and by our president."
—Debra Burlingam, sister of Charles “Chic” Burlingame, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, hijacked and crashed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001

"The military men and women assigned to the task of detaining and questioning terrorists at Guantanamo Bay have served our country with honor and professionalism. They have been maligned and slandered as having ‘undermined’ our country’s highest ideals. In Courting Disaster, Marc Thiessen sets the record straight. He approaches the tough issues with energy and reason. This is a valuable book for anyone who wants to understand the truth—the critical truth that the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay defended our nation’s ideals and principles, even as the terrorists who were kept from returning to the battlefield and reaching America’s shores were intent on destroying them."
—Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing; 1st American edition (January 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596986034
• ISBN-13: 978-1596986039
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > September 11

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

212 of 284 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK, January 19, 2010

By 

Z. Ojakli (Falls Church, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack (Hardcover)

"Courting Disaster" begins with a note from the author: "You should not be reading this book. I should not have been able to write it." Thiessen examines all the classified info leaked "drip by drip" over the years by government officials and the info the Obama Administration put out in the public domain last year. Really good read. Great insight into the other side of this debate-- namely that, there are many committed public servants in the CIA and other government agencies that are doing all they can to protect us from another 9/11. I wondered when someone would speak up for those that don't generally speak up in their own defense. This book is the answer: well-written; well-researched; riveting read.

55 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You should read this book., April 1, 2010

By 

Daimion - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack (Hardcover)

This is a very powerful book. It left me with a profound gratitude for all the President Bush and our government did to combat terrorism and protect this country in the aftermath of September 11th. It also left me deeply saddened that we had gotten to a point in this country where this book could even be written. So much of what has been declassified and discontinued should never have been taken off the table in our fight against terrorism - but it was; and Thiessen does his best to set the record straight on what has happened and where we are headed.

Thiessen has compiled a meticulously researched defense of the interrogation policies of the Bush administration, and the subsequent changes that the Obama administration has put into place. As a speech writer for Bush, Thieseen has first hand knowledge and a unique view on many of the events he describes in the book. I understand that the subject of this book is highly political, highly emotional, and very personal to many people. I'm not going to take a large amount of space to try and lay out all of the arguments in the book. I'll simply say this for myself - I do not believe that what the U.S. has done over the past 8 years is torture. I do not believe that the U.S. has lost its moral standing in the world. I do believe that what did was necessary, appropriate, and that it saved American lives. Lastly, I do believe that some of what the Obama administration is doing today is making this country less safe.

I give this book five stars. Regardless of your political leanings, you owe it to yourself to read this book, and read it with an open mind. Look at the facts and make up your own decisions. But whatever you decide, take a moment to be thankful that we have not suffered another major terrorist attack on US soil since September 11th - and ask yourself - why not?

President Bush himself summed it up best during a 2007 speech:

In this new war, the enemy conspires in secret - and often the only source of information on what the terrorists are planning is the terrorists themselves. So we established a program at the Central Intelligence Agency to question key terrorist leaders and the operatives captured in the war on terror. This program has produced critical intelligence that has helped us stop a number of attacks - including a plot to strike the U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, a planned attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, a plot to hijack a passenger plane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, California, [and] a plot to fly passenger planes into Heathrow Airport and buildings into downtown London. Despite the record of success, and despite the fact that our professionals use lawful techniques, the CIA program has come under renewed criticism in recent weeks. Those who oppose this vital tool in the war on terror need to answer a simple question: Which of the attacks I have just described would they prefer we had not stopped?

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, April 13, 2010

By 

Mark Morris (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack (Kindle Edition)

If you hate the Bush administration you will hate the book and if you support the Bush administration then you will probably enjoy it. Based on the fact that all the reviews seem to be 5 stars or 1 star it seems that you can at least say that you will have an opinion after you read it. If you feel that water boarding is torture in any situation don't read the book, it will just make you crazy. If you want to water board, beat, and humiliate all the terrorists in revenge then you will be disappointed as well. If what is in the book is true then I think that most people raised in the 1970's as I was will believe that they were treated worse by parents and teachers than most of the terrorists were. I was shocked at just how easy we were on these guys and still got them to talk. Can water boarding be used to torture someone? Of course. Do we water board our troops when they undergo SERE training? Yes. And if all water boarding is torture and torture is illegal then shouldn't somebody be prosecuted for torturing our troops? None of this is black and white. If it were then there wouldn't be any discussion. It does make you think and also points out how other interrogations were conducted in WWII and other conflicts. The details of real torture were hard to read but put what the CIA did in perspective for me.