Customer Reviews

Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The bottom line in this book is quite clear: US forces on the ground, consisting of fully integrated clandestine case officers, special operations teams, and selected allied operations officers, were able to find Bin Laden's final lair and track him as he escaped over the course of several days toward the Waziristan sanctuary in Pakistan. Also clear is the reluctance of CIA managers to press the President to order the military to insert a Ranger battalion capable of blocking that escape, and the reluctance of the "all or nothing" US generals to commit troops "behind the lines."

The book would normally lose one star for failing to be current with the varied sources pertinent to the story, including Sy Hersh's excellent story on how Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld gave the Pakistani's an air corridor with which they evacuated close to 3,000 Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders over the course of one night. I believe the author of this book when he says that Bin Laden was not among those so evacuated--Bin Laden's style would be to distrust a Pakistani offer of air evacuation, and to want to lead his men directly over ground to sanctuary.

Before detailing my extensive notes on this book, let me just note that it cannot be fully appreciated if you cannot read between the lines (for myself, as a former clandestine case officer, this is perhaps easier, but I find the whining about redaction from some reviewers to be naive--the redacted sections are veils, to be sure, but helpful in being shown). This book is also best appreciated if you have first read Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History; Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 and The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB as well as the book by the author's predecessor in field command, First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan I have reviewed all those books--if you don't want to buy and read them, at least read the reviews as preparation for a full appreciation of this book. If you can find it, a used copy of The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan is both fun read and provides atmosphere.

A few points really jump out at me and make my fly-leaf notes:

1) The author takes a reasonable shot at "First In" by pointing out that he led a team into the area in 2000 to deliver radio intercept training to the Northern Alliance.

2) He carefully documents that George Tenet's "declaration of war" was meaningless, and not backed up by either resources or management commitment. Tenet was a world-class posturer obsessed with pandering to the President and unwilling to actually lead the operators. The author provides what may be one of the best and most factual accounts of Directorate of Operations petty politics, backstabbing, and minor jealousies. The author specifically slams the Latin America Division Chief for being a chickens--t who ordered his officers to NOT volunteer after 9/11 even if they had relevant languages and experiences, and he accuses both Tenet and Jim Pavitt, then the nominal head of the Directorate of Operations (nominal because I never considered him to actually be competent) of panicking after 9/11 and as the Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC) leadership pushed the envelope and did the right things. My impressions of Cofer Black and other CTC leaders jumped up several notches on the basis of this book, and for that alone it is very worthwhile.

3) The most important strategic observation made in this book is the author's documented denouncement of George Tenet's poor judgment in closing stations in Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, and Tajikistan, among others, leaving CIA blind and without localized resources in the most critical years leading up to and following 9/11. The author demonstrates that he is more than just a case officer with a superb quote on page 312 in which he not only calls for a global clandestine presence, but recognizes the value of having a national cadre of "trained experts who speak the languages and show sensitivity to native cultures" and also calls for a dramatic increase in "student, cultural, and scientific exchanges" with other societies. In this context, while glossing over the CIA's general lack of languages, he noted that the Special Forces people sent to help him had no languages skills at all (relevant to this battle).

4) The author and CTC leadership get huge face with me for having the brains to go out and recruit native language speakers without college degrees, giving them the GS-13 and GS-14 grades normally reserved for PhDs. I absolutely admire the author for taking on the CIA's personnel bureaucracy and telling them in essence, "the college degree can come later, right now we need the languages and the Muslim attributes." Absolutely spot on, this is the kind of inspired *leadership* we need in clandestine operations.

5) A few minor notes that add to the scholarship in the area of clandestine intelligence and counter-terrorism:

a) CIA relied on Northern Alliance helicopters instead of having its own capable of providing more reliable transport. This was fixed later, but the bottom line is that both CIA and the US military are completely lacking in not having a squadron of mixed aircraft (helos, VSTOL, and gunships) optimized for high altitude operations (10,000 feet to 18,000 feet).

b) Clean fuel was the major safety hazard--this taught me that one of our first priorities needs to be setting up a Forward Area Refueling Point (FARP) and having a trained fuel master responsible for ensuring clean fuel is available to all of our clandestine and special operations flights in and out of denied areas.

c) The author slams Tenet and Deutch (and David Cohen) for putting intelligence analysts in charge of stations overseas. An analyst is no more capable of managing clandestine operations than a ballerina is of coaching a football team.

d) The author documents that the Nairobi Embassy bombing was tipped in advance, but the informant was blown off (as were the two who told FBI about 9/11 in advance).

e) The author knows that our compartmentation rules are stupid, and shared *everything* with his military counterparts in the field. This worked.

In Afghanistan, for this campaign, unlike in Somalia or Iraq, the clandestine service worked as advertised. Wish that it were so for the rest of the world.

Get this book!

Berntsen provides not only an exciting story (must-read, page-turner) as well as a lesson on how to operate in the field. Berntsen was THE field commander who ran the most effective campaign in U.S. history. It was quick and it was fast and it was also, by the way, economical. Berntsen and his team was outnumbered by 1,000 to 1. And yet they were able to improvise and to apply the resources at hand and prevail over an enemy that was sworn to kill as many Americans as possible ... and did exactly that on several occasions (the embassy bombings, the Cole, and finally on 9/11 with the killing of 3,000 Americans at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon). The enemy had planned and practiced and they had defeated the Russians and before them the British. Yet Berntsen describes in detail how "IN LESS THAN TWO MONTHS [my emphasis], approximately 110 Agency officers and 350 SF soldiers on the ground with seventy million dollars and the support of U.S. airpower and the help of our Afghan allies" had done what no one else had ever been able to do.

You feel Berntsen's frustrations when time and again bureaucrats back in the U.S. sabotaged the campaign with their need to "be the boss" even though they ignored the accurate information they were receiving and bitterly resented the successes by people who were actually in contact with the enemy.

The bureaucrats' mantra seemed to be: "Well, just because field operators ask for something, doesn't mean we have to give it to them."

You can see how Berntsen applies some basic principles: thoughtful audacity; speed of action; preparation for action and then rapid improvisation when actual real-life events intrude and conditions change; recognition of when change actually occurs.

Please get this book! This is a vital book if you are merely interested or, especially, if you have a family member in the military or working in any of the Homeland Security-related fields. Give this book as a gift to a son or daughter; this is history in the making.

We need to learn from Gary Berntsen. He lays out some very important lessons that you can actually experience through his eyes.

The bureaucrats at the CIA hate this book. It exposes them for what they are!! They are jealous and envious and are willing to sabotage our own safety for their own personal career ambitions. Even though four years have elapsed, the bureaucrats are still running things -- Berntsen describes how they let Osama Bin Laden escape and ... we still haven't caught him...

Get this book!! It is important that you read it quickly and pass it and its vital points to others who will continue the fight against the terrorists and against the bureaucrats.

Looking for an adrenaline rush that makes you think? Get Jawbreaker. Gary Berntsen is a no-bull... kind of guy, who goes into the hottest spots and gets the job done. He was sent into Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and corner Bin Laden, and that's what he did in record time, leaving the folks in DC and CENTCOM scratching their heads. Even when he had OBL cornered, General Franks and the military couldn't step up to the plate with a measily 800 U.S. Rangers. Sickening.

There's more. Much more. For example, Berntsen was part of a CIA team that was in Afghanistan with plans to kidnap a OBL lieutenant in early 2000, but was pulled out when people in CIA headquarters got nervous. Thanks.

Jawbreaker should be required reading for all Americans over the age of 18. All U.S. Senators and Congressmen should be ordered to read it twice.

I picked up this book this morning and read it with straight through with a short break for lunch. It's a riveting account of the war in Afghanistan by the CIA operative who ran the war on the ground, and a fascinating inside look at the war on terrorism. I found it very exciting to read and eye-opening. Most importantlly, I finished Jawbreaker feeling that I understand better than ever the challenges of fighting the war on terrorism.

Gary Berntsen was the man on the ground in Afghanistan. He helped lead the Northern Alliance to victory over the Taliban and had Osama Bin Laden trapped in Tora Bora. He was also part of a CIA team that was in Afghanistan on a mission against al-Qaeda nine months before the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Gary Berntsen and his co-author Ralph Pezzullo have done a remarkable job of capturing the drama and excitement of these operations. I felt like I was there. You'll read about the frustrations of dealing with bureaucrats in Washington, negotiating with the Afghan Northern Alliance, running operations against al-Qaeada and directing a very successful intelligence-driven war in Afghanistan with a small team of men under extremely dangerous circumstances.

Gary Berntsen is a real American hero. Shame on the CIA for trying to block this book. Kudos to Berntsen and Pezzullo for telling a remarkable story in the style of a real-life thriller. I recommend that you drop everything else and read this book!

Gary Berntsen is the kind of guy I want defending our country. He's smart, cunning, aggressive and brave. He's out in the field getting the job done intelligently, while the bureaucrats back in Washington engage in second-guessing and back-room politics. He loves what he does and is good at it.

Jawbreaker is a fascinating book because Berntsen has no political axe to grind. He simply tells it as it is. The CIA-led war in Afghanistan was a surprising success. But we also made some major mistakes, including letting Osama Bin Laden slip away.

Like a good thriller, Jawbreaker captures your attention from the first page and doesn't let go. You find out what it's like to be a CIA undercover operative being called in the middle of the night, saying goodbye to your family and flying halfway around the world in pursuit for terrorists who have just blown up at U.S. Embassy. You fly in helicopters across the Hindu Kush mountains and are deposited on the dusty plains of Afghanistan to work with hardened Afghan warlords. You live on adrenaline, working 18 hours a day directing a war against the Taliban, negotiating for hostages, calling in airstrikes, monitoring the movements of Osama Bin Laden, pursuing other high-value targets, etc.

Mr. Berntsen has an amazing story to tell. I credit his co-author Ralph Pezzullo for telling it remarkably well. I've read everything on the top fiction and non-fiction lists, and you won't find a better written, more important book than Jawbreaker. Five stars!

Skilly fully written and troubling. Gary Berntsen dedicated a good part of his life to protecting the country he loves and believes in. But his missions were continually undercut by bureaucrats in Washington who were unwilling to take risks or listen to people in the field. I recommend this book strongly. It's a great read and an important book.

This is a real insider's story that captures the excitement, complexity and frustration of being part of the most important CIA undercover operation in recent history. I found it hard to put down. It provides a very interesting perspective on the war on terrorism and one that should be read by everyone who's interested in our country's future.

I purchased this book for recreational reading -if that tells you anything about what I consider to be fun - shortly after it was published, expecting to read an insider's account of paramilitary forces in Afghanistan and how they interacted with military Special Operations Forces, and in that Berntsen did not disappoint. This book is a fairly quick read and as a first person accounting it makes for some interesting background and fills in some gaps in my understanding of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially on the political aspects of how the CIA was willing, on one hand, to provide so much autonomy to a field operative, but yet could not seem to engage in a truly cooperative venture between the agency and military SOFs.

Perhaps the comparison is unfair, but having recently read "Cobra II" and "Ghost Wars," this book suffers by comparison, even given the differences in the described events which form the topics of the aforementioned books. I found the writing in "Jawbreaker" to be somewhat less sophisticated and interesting, and the redactions incredibly disruptive. I think in balance I would rather that Berntsen omitted the redactions or substituted open source materials to appease the Agency's Publication Review Board. While I understand and sympathize with his plight as a loyal former USG employee who was required to contend with the Board's machinations and allegedly mercurial attitudes, it seemed almost like a gimmick or a tease to have vast sections pockmarked with black bars indicating redactions. I have seen similar techniques used before, i.e., promises of interesting material only to indicate that the material was classified and thus incomplete or redacted (Bill Gertz in "Breakdown") and I found the technique to overshadow what the author was saying.

I am currently reading "First In," Gary Schroen's accounting of his own insider experiences in the same operation, and I will be curious to see how the two authors compare. At first blush, Schroen's style seems less distracting, but I will post my thoughts on his efforts and a comparison when I get some spare time.

If you are interested in the war on terror, and Afghanistan in particular, you will buy this book. And you will read it in one or two sittings.

It is well written, has great pace, and has enough new information to make things interesting. But it is unfair to call this a complete book - there isn't a whole lot of new information here, when considering the other sources available in print or online. Why is that? Redactions! There are redactions on every page, sometimes slicing a sentence in half, sometimes removing 5-6 pages of information. For some reason, almost all information on supplies and funding the Northern and Eastern Alliance was redacted, ALL information on interrogation of prisoners, almost all information on direct action. Perhaps most frustrating was the nearly total redaction of Mr. Bernstsens criticism; which to me was half the point of the book.

I really admire the work the author did, and appreciate him writing about it, but I was terribly disappointed with the final result. If he ever gets an uncensored version out - I will gladly plunk down another $25 for it, but until then, buyer beware.

Jawbreaker is one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read. In fact, it actually reads like a fiction book would. It only took me two sittings to finish it. Berntsen is a talented writer, and he makes the story fast-paced and full of good facts and well-described action.

Jawbreaker focuses almost completely on our war against Afghanistan immediately following September 11. The account written by Berntsen is amazing. The facts of how we took over the country with only about 450 American troops on the ground and 15,000 Northern Alliance soldiers is jawdropping. The best parts of the book are in the middle, where Berntsen recounts the very beginnings of the war, with the fall of Mazar e-Sharif being the absolute best part of the book. The book also follows some backstories that I had never actually heard of before, such as the Shelter Now International missionaries who were held hostage for a large part of the conflict. It is an empowering book to read, but also frustrating when Berntsen talks about our missed opportunities to trap bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda.

No question, if you are interested in the Middle East and our country's work there in the War on Terror, this book is for you. The only drawback to the book is that, for some reason, the CIA heavily censors many important sections. Enough so that some of the narratives are a little tough to follow. Other than that, there is no con whatsoever to this book.