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Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander Audio CD – Abridged, December 27, 2005

4.5 out of 5 stars 545

In Jawbreaker Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA’s most decorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time to describe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

With his unique mix of clandestine knowledge and paramilitary training, Berntsen represents the new face of counterterrorism. Recognized within the agency for his aggressiveness, Berntsen, when dispatched to Afghanistan, made annihilating the enemy his job description.

As the CIA’s key commander coordinating the fight against the Taliban forces around Kabul, and the drive toward Tora Bora, Berntsen not only led dozens of CIA and Special Operations Forces, he also raised 2,000 Afghan fighters to aid in the hunt for bin Laden.

In this first-person account of that incredible pursuit, which actually began years earlier in an East Africa bombing investigation, Berntsen describes being ferried by rickety helicopter over the towering peaks of Afghanistan, sitting by General Tommy Franks’s side as heated negotiations were conducted with Northern Alliance generals, bargaining relentlessly with treacherous Afghan warlords and Taliban traitors, plotting to save hostages about to be used as pawns, calling in B-52 strikes on dug-in enemy units, and deploying a dizzying array of Special Forces teams in the pursuit of the world’s most wanted terrorist. Most crucially, Berntsen tells of cornering bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains—and what happened when Berntsen begged Washington to block the al-Qaeda leader’s last avenue of escape.

As disturbingly eye-opening as it is adrenaline-charged,
Jawbreaker races from CIA war rooms to diplomatic offices to mountaintop redoubts to paint a vivid portrait of a new kind of warfare, showing what can and should be done to deal a death blow to freedom’s enemies.


CIA Commander Gary Berntsen on…

His eyebrow-raising style:
“Most CIA Case Officers advanced their careers by recruiting sources and producing intelligence, I took a more grab-them-by-the-neck approach…I operated on the principle that it was easier to seek forgiveness than ask for approval. Take risks, but make sure you’re successful. Success, not good intentions, would determine my fate.”

Doing whatever it took:
“I didn’t just want to survive: I wanted to annihilate the enemy. And I didn’t want to end up like one of my favorite historical characters—Alexander Burns…He was one of the first of more than 14,000 British soldiers to be wiped out by the Afghans in the First Afghan War. Like Burns before me, I was also an intelligence officer and spoke Persian. This was my second trip into Afghanistan, too. The difference, I told myself, was that Burns had been a gentleman and I would do whatever it took to win.”

Dealing with a Taliban official who controlled American hostages:
“Tell him that if he betrays me or loses the hostages I’ll spend every waking moment of my life hunting him down to kill him. Tell him I’m not like any American he has ever met.”

The capabilities of his Tora Bora spotter team:
“Working nonstop, the four men directed strike after strike by B-1s, B-2s, and F-14s onto the al-Qaeda encampment with incredible precision. Somehow through the massive bureaucracy, thousands of miles of distance [and] reams of red tape…the U.S. had managed to place four of the most skilled men in the world above the motherlode of al-Qaeda, with a laser designator and communications system linked to the most potent air power in history…As I listened over our encrypted radio network, one word kept pounding in my head: revenge.”





Also available as a Random House AudioBook


From the Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Spectacular Advance Praise for Jawbreaker

“The hunt for Osama bin Laden is the story of courageous CIA officers, like Gary Berntsen, repeatedly finding him and U.S. political and military leaders refusing to kill him. Berntsen’s excellent book
Jawbreaker—which CIA leaders tried to suppress to protect America's bipartisan political elite and its military sycophants—precisely describes the eleventh such opportunity since 1998, and again shows that uniformed bureaucrats masquerading as U.S. generals let him escape from Tora Bora rather than risk the lives of U.S. soldiers. Read this heartbreaking book, keep it safe, and reread it after al-Qaeda detonates a nuclear device in America. You will then know who signed the death warrant for tens of thousands of your countrymen.” —Michael Scheuer, bestselling author of Imperial Hubris and Through Our Enemies’ Eyes


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


“The Afghan campaign of 2001 was the CIA’s finest hour.
Jawbreaker is the story of that victory and of the handful of clandestine service officers who organized one of the swiftest, most economical and most decisive military operations in history. Jawbreaker is both a thrilling read and a timely reminder of why America needs a clandestine service, and what we owe to those who serve in it.” —James Dobbins, Director of International Security and Defense Policy, Rand Corporation; Former U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan


From the Hardcover edition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Audio; Abridged edition (December 27, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0739323482
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0739323489
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.59 x 0.98 x 6.22 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 545

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
545 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2008
From the first pages of his redacted recollections, Gary Bernsten takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Agency's early frustrations with the menace of Al Qaeda - as well as his own for the Washington bureaucracy - giving us our first glimpse of the Panshir Valley prior to the USS Cole tragedy and the 9/11 turning point. Bernsten picks up the momentum of  Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander  less than a month later as he was preparing to spearhead the hunt for Bin Laden as it had been laid out by the CIA's Counter Terrorism Center [CTC] and the Armed Forces Central Command [CENTCOM], with the initial airstrikes against the Taliban and Al Qaeda targets and the insertion of both military and civilian teams into Afghanistan.

Sometimes his riveting account of this handful of dedicated experts and professionals [some 110 CIA officers and 350 Special Forces soldiers, supported by air power and advanced technology] could be difficult to follow because of the rapid pace of events and the multiple facets of their operations. Whenever I watch Robert Redford's 
Lions For Lambs (Widescreen Edition) , it conjures up the actions of those forces in my mind. But on the whole, his blend of textured characters and harrowing circumstances was fascinating reading, even with the bands of redacted text every few pages. His return to the Panshir from Tajikistan, his efforts with the native commanders, with their intelligence operations and the allied forces, with hostage issues, language problems and cultural conflicts; Gary shared each step of the way with us in vivid detail. His descriptions of Tora Bora gave us edge-of-your-seat panoramas of the execution of our warfare options with a modern enemy, in sharp contrast to how we have failed in Iraq. Being so close to his mission's near-complete success, his obvious frustrations with his recall and the uncertainty of our policies in the area are easy to understand. History may see those events in his favor and be more sympathetic to his feelings.

Bernsten's conclusions offer a longer perspective of our actions during those few critical months that are shared by others and documented elsewhere. Our Afghan war has been described as a flawed masterpiece and may end up as one of the more notable military achievements in the last half century. May it serve as a positive example for future successes, as open societies face the challenges of lethal enemies, and as a call for creative leadership with compassion and understanding for other people and their traditions.

Bob Magnant is the author of 
The Last Transition...  - a fact-based novel about Iran, Iraq and the Middle East...
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2012
I've bought 3 of these books so far. Everytime I tell someone about it they want to borrow it!! This book was so interesting to read!!! It's a true story and the author is an amazing hero who deserves so much credit for eliminating the Taliban in such a short amount of time. It was fustrating reading how close we were to getting Bin Ladin and sad that our Government wouldn't give him the extra men when we were so close. If we had more Rangers we could have gotten Bin Ladin so many years ago and saved soooo many lives...This is a story written by our CIA's commander who was on the ground. This is a story that should have been made public a long time ago!!! Everyone should read this - even young teenagers that were too young and do not know the whole story. The author is always on the news stations as an expert on the Middle East. He has so much knowledge and is so passionate about what he does. The stories this guy tells is crazy!! He's so fasinating to watch. I also read his other book "The Walk In". That was another great book- fast reading. They need to make Jawbreaker into a movie!!!!!
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Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2014
This is a particularly interesting book written by the CIA officer in charge of the initial war on Al Qaeda. The author was part of the second team of CIA officers sent to the region and performed a magnificent job of destroying our nation’s enemy post 9-11.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was the integration of multiple elements of our intelligence and military forces. It was amazing to see how they were used to produce a syngeneic effect on the battle field. The previous experience of the CIA in the era of the Russian invasion was critical to the development of the alliances required to destroy Al Qaeda.

The author makes an interesting point regarding the concept of intelligence based warfare. One of the major concepts being utilization of resources for maximum effect at a minimal destruction to targets that are not targeted.

Admittedly this book does drag down a little with the political issues that needed to be addressed in order to create that alliance. But it makes up for it when describing American soldiers riding horse-back into confrontations with the enemy. To my knowledge, the last American cavalry charge took place in the Philippines in World War Two.

The author also explains the situation at Tora Bora and why it is believed Al Qaeda escaped into Pakistan’s tribal area. With great frustration it seems the author believes it was an internal political issue that prevented the US from blocking this region and preventing the escape. This particular section of the book is worth reading in detail as it is unfortunately true that success has many fathers but failure has none.

Over all this is a very interesting book about the war in Afghanistan. If you enjoyed this then I would strongly suggest First In: How seven CIA officers opened the war on terror in Afghanistan by Gary Schroen and most certainly Hank Crumpton’s book The Art of Intelligence: lessons from a Life in the CIA’s clandestine service as they both deal with direct intervention in Afghanistan. I would also recommend Hard Measures by Jose A Rodriguez as a primer for what happens when you have key assets with information derived from the battle field.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Gary Rixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't hesitate. What a read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2020
Wow! I'm not sure I've ever read a book so fast. Really excellent. A shame about the redactions, of which their are quite a few, but I guess that's unavoidable given the nature of the content.
Johannes Wessels
5.0 out of 5 stars insight
Reviewed in Canada on April 7, 2017
well written...good book...
One person found this helpful
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alkbt
5.0 out of 5 stars Livre arrivé rapidement et conforme à la description !
Reviewed in France on June 10, 2021
Livre arrivé rapidement et conforme à la description !
Juergen Koller
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr interessante Einblicke, decken sich mit
Reviewed in Germany on January 22, 2013
Guter, verständlicher Stil.
Sehr gut angereichert mit den "wahrscheinlich" eigenen Erfahrungen.
Gibt einen Einblick in die Denk- und Handlungsweise amerikanischer Streitkräfte.
Die geschwärzten Passagen sind gewöhnungsbedürftig.
Schnelle Lieferung, einwandfreier Zustand.
DavidHo
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book - what has happened about the redacted material since publishing in 2006....
Reviewed in Australia on September 12, 2016
This book is interesting and tells an important story. It is easy to read and keeps up the pace. One gets the impression that Bernstein is a bit of an old style 'out there' guy, like Bill Donovan all those years ago. It also paints a not so rosy picture of ongoing political lack of will to prosecute the offensive, after starting a big time covert operation. Seems to be an ongoing theme, get out there and go for it, but then go weak kneed well it gets tough.

The problem with the book is that the redacted sections tend to make the story disjointed at times; well maybe not exactly disjointed but it has to jump ahead in time and you don't always understand the rationale of why events happened. The narrative (circa 2006?) says that a legal attempt was being made to have the redacted material restored. Well, 10yrs on and it hasn't happened. So does that mean it is going to stay that way for another 20 years or more?

I obtained it after reading the Pezzullo/Chase book Zero Footprint last month (Aug 2016).