The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack

by Ronald Kessler

Book Overview

"You make a mistake, there are dead people." --FBI Special Agent Art Cummings, head of international counterterrorism operations Drawing on unprecedented access to FBI and CIA counterterrorism operatives, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler presents the chilling story of terrorists' relentless efforts to mount another devastating attack on the United States and of the heroic efforts being made to stop those plots. Kessler takes you inside...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307382141
• ISBN13: 9780307382146
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Forum
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent evaluation of counterterrorism efforts

Kessler takes the reader into the world of counterterrorism and paints a realistic picture of today's world. I learned a lot about the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the National Counterterrorism Center. The book contains the good, the bad, and the ugly of the evolution of the U.S.'s effort to counter Islamic terrorism. The bad begins on page 12 when Robert Muller gave Bob Dies a list of software he would require upon becoming Director of the FBI--Microsoft Office for example. Dies informed him that none of it would work on the FBI's current (ancient) computers. It seems the current director, Louis Freeh did not like computers and never used them. This is but one example of what had gone wrong in the 1990s. The FBI was unable to process information and could not communicate with each other or other agencies. The ugly is "the wall" created by Richard Scruggs in a 1995 memo. Instead of realizing Scruggs was an ill-informed idiot, Deputy AG Jamie Gorelick and the AG, Janet Reno approved Scruggs memo. The remainder of the book is devoted to the good, how things have improved. The wall has been torn down and the CIA, FBI and other agencies are communicating. Before making any type of judgment on how well, or how poorly, the U.S. is doing in combating terrorism, read this book. FBI Special Agent Piro's eight months interview with Saddam Hussain is work the price of the book. Saddam confirmed that he had fooled his generals, Iran, and the West into thinking he had WMDs. He did not think the U.S. would invade, and his fear was Iran--and it should be ours too.

Trenchant View Into Intelligence Battle Against Terrorists

Ronald Kessler does what the New York Times and other newspapers fail to do--he gives an accurate and insightful account of the people who work tirelessly for our safety against terrorism: The FBI and the CIA. This book explains the changes made by the FBI and the CIA to reform their operations to adjust to Islamic Fanatics. It also gives a look into the FBI agent who personally interrogated Saddam Hussein for months. Through this book, you get to know Saddam Hussein better. You learn that he was a neat freak, always needing to wash his hands. You learn that Saddam was a student of history. You also learn that he had a human side. As usual, Kessler doesn't disappoint. His book is well written and keeps you interested the whole time. While the New York Times might not give the FBI and CIA the credit they deserve, Ronald Kessler does.

Excellent Review

The book provided an excellent overview of the hard work happening within the US Intelligence Community to defend our country and its allies against a very determined enemy. It also provides a well thought out and articulated counterpoint on issues regarding intelligence collection under the Patriot Act...more of the dialog that the press -and the administration- on why these measures were needed. Bush haters, probably need not apply as the writers bias paints the President's actions against violent Sunni extremists in a very positive light. Similarly, author is damming in his characterization of the haphazard nature that the New York Times and Washington Post disclose the most sensitive portions of our intelligence collection efforts against this target. I am glad I got the audio version of the book and sense that this was probably easier to listen to than read.

The Chapter on Saddam

This is a remarkable work on the activity of the US intelligence community. Of special interest to some readers, such as myself, is the chapter on the debriefing of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein while in American custody at Baghdad's International Airport. Kessler writes that a GS 14 FBI agent of Lebanese stock, George Piro, was assigned to debrief Saddam. Instead of doing so directly, Piro decided that he should first observe Saddam to map out his behavior so that he can later tell whether the late dictator was telling the truth or not. Saddam first took Piro as the chief of the guards and Piro did not correct Saddam's impression. Instead, he ordered that most of Saddam's needs be answered. As friendship developed between the two men, Piro was able to win Saddam's trust and ultimately debrief him smoothly. Of the stories Saddam told Piro was how he conceived of himself as the successor of great Iraqi rulers such as Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar. Saddam also told Piro that Iraq had no chemical weapons after 1991, but gave such an impression to keep its rival Iran on its toes. Saddam was apparently not impressed by his two sons, but said that one does not get to choose his children. The chapter is interesting, however, brief. Perhaps in the future, once Saddam's hundreds of pages of debriefing, as Kessler reported, would be declassified, they would give historians and scholars the chance to rewrite Iraq's modern history in a more accurate manner.

Bravo!

As a modern immigrant who came to this country to avoid the bloodbath of Sri Lanka, 9/11 was a reality check for me. Humans are not safe anywhere was my conclusion on that day when I witnessed the tragic events with shock and awe six years ago. What unfolded afterwards is history. But time and again, one important thing has always been a case of pleasant surprise to me. Someone has been doing their job above and beyond their capacity. Somewhere in this country, brave men and women have protected us for the last seven years, despite the faux pas nature of our administration in the foreign front (especially in Iraq). Protecting a country "lawfully" is not an easy task. Countries like Sri Lanka take a different path. They abduct and kill all those who look like terrorists. If it were Sri Lanka, all American Muslims would have been either sent to the Middle East or would have been forced to "disappear". "The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack" is a unique book that covers all those intelligent operations carried out by law enforcement that were conveniently neglected by main stream media. ("selective amnesia" they call it). Bravo! I would say hands down, not only to those men and women, but also to Ronald Kessler for writing this book. You make a mistake, there are dead people. You mistake an innocent for a terrorist, democracy and credibility is dead. Bravo! for achieving the unthinkable! N.Sivakumar Author of: America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World