Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield

Prologue

1 they gathered for a barbecue: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, January and August 2012. Details of the boy and the scene come from these interviews.

1 “You are a gentle boy”: Author interview, Saleha al Awlaki, September 2012.

1: “There Was Concern…That We Not Create An American Hit List”

3 10:10 a.m.: Joint Inquiry Briefing by Staff on US Government Counterterrorism Organizations (Before September 11, 2001) and on the Evolution of the Terrorist Threat and U.S. Response: 1986–2001, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, June 11, 2002. All details of the briefing come from the transcript, unless otherwise noted.

3 loya jirga: Joe Havely, “The loya jirga: A Very Afghan Gathering,” CNN.com, June 11, 2002.

4 the attic, elevator, narrow staircase, counterespionage: “Tower Report Under Wraps in the Attic,” New York Times, February 27, 1989.

4 most experienced: Clarke describes his White House and counterterrorism credentials during the congressional briefing.

4 more covert action: According to the 9/11 Commission Report, in 1998 Clarke “drew up what he called ‘Political-Military Plan Delenda,’” which laid out a plan to “immediately eliminate any significant threat to Americans” from the “Bin Ladin network.” The plan had diplomatic and financial components but also advocated “covert action to disrupt terrorist activities, but above all to capture Bin Ladin and his deputies and bring them to trial,” as well as “follow-on military action.” National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Philip Zelikow, Executive Director; Bonnie D. Jenkins, Counsel; Ernest R. May, Senior Advisor), The 9/11 Commission Report (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), p. 120.

5 “splattering mud back on the Agency”: Joint Inquiry Briefing by Staff on US Government Counterterrorism Organizations (Before September 11, 2001) and on the Evolution of the Terrorist Threat and U.S. Response: 1986–2001, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, June 11, 2002 (testimony of Richard Clarke). All statements made by Richard Clarke come from the briefing, unless otherwise noted.

5 “political assassinations”: Executive Order No. 11905, Fed. Reg. 7703, 7733 (1976).

5 “engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination”: Executive Order No. 12036, Fed. Reg. 3674, 3688, 3689 (1978).

5 Muammar el Qaddafi: Seymour M. Hersh, “Target Qaddafi,” New York Times Magazine, February 22, 1987.

5 Saddam Hussein’s palaces: “The United States Navy in ‘Desert Shield’/‘Desert Storm’; V: ‘Thunder and Lightning’—The War with Iraq,” May 15, 1991, accessed August 5, 2012, www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ds5.htm. “TLAMs were used against chemical and nuclear weapons facilities, surface-to-air missile sites, command and control centers and Saddam’s presidential palace.”

5 Desert Fox: William M. Arkin, “The Difference Was in the Details,” Washington Post, January 17, 1999.

6 cruise missile attacks: James Bennet, “U.S. Cruise Missiles Strike Sudan and Afghan Targets Tied to Terrorist Network,” New York Times, August 21, 1998.

6 pharmaceutical factory: James Astill, “Strike One,” Guardian, October 1, 2001.

6 case-by-case basis: Clarke says, “[The administration and the Justice Department] did not want to throw out the ban on assassination in a way that threw the baby out with the bathwater.”

6 trigger was seldom pulled: As Clarke put it, “CIA would ask for an authority. They would rapidly get it. We would wait. Nothing would happen.”

6 “were held to the most restricted form of notification”: Representative Pelosi is speaking during the joint briefing.

7 key players: “Statement of Principles,” Project for the New American Century, June 3, 1997. Elliott Abrams, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and I. Lewis Libby were signatories to PNAC’s letter.

7 “decade of defense neglect”: “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New Century,” Project for the New American Century, September 2000, p. 4.

7 “provided a blueprint”: Ibid., Introduction, p. ii.

7 key authors: David Armstrong, “Dick Cheney’s Song of America; Drafting a Plan for Global Dominance,” Harper’s, October 2002.

7 “potential competitors”: Patrick E. Tyler, “U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop,” New York Times, March 8, 1992.

8 more powerful forces, toned down: Jim Lobe, “Cold War ‘Intellectuals’ Re-enlist for War on Iraq, Arabs,” Inter Press Service News Agency, November 17, 2001.

8 “All must be easier to deploy”: Prepared address of George W. Bush, “A Period of Consequences,” The Citadel, Charleston, SC, September 23, 1999.

8 “Ardent supporters”: Lobe, “Cold War ‘Intellectuals.’”

8 “issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein”: “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” p. 14.

9 “undo the Clinton signature”: Donald Rumsfeld, fax to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, “Subject: International Criminal Court,” February 23, 2001, http://rumsfeld.com/library.

9 “‘the crazies are back’”: Transcript, “‘The Crazies Are Back’: Bush Sr.’s Briefer Discusses How Wolfowitz and Allies Falsely Led the U.S. to War,” Democracy Now!, September 17, 2003.

9 Rumsfeld hired Cheney: Charlie Savage, Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy (New York: Bay Back Books, 2008), p. 9.

9 Congress condemned: Ibid., pp. 25–26.

9 overrode an attempt: Richard L. Madden, “House and Senate Override Veto by Nixon on Curb of War Powers; Backers of Bill Win Three-Year Fight,” New York Times, November 7, 1973.

9 “consult with Congress”: Joint Resolution Concerning the War Powers of Congress and the President, Pub. L. No. 93-148, Sec. 3–4 (1973).

10 “low point”: Bob Woodward, “Cheney Upholds Power of the Presidency; Vice President Praises Bush as Strong, Decisive Leader Who Has Helped Restore Office,” Washington Post, January 20, 2005.

10 domestic spying operations: Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Final Report; Book III: Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans, Senate Rep. No. 94-755 (1976).

10 Salvador Allende: Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Staff Report, Covert Action in Chile, 1963–1973 (1975).

10 stymied the probe: Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (The Church Committee), United States Senate website, accessed October 5, 2012, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/investigations/ChurchCommittee.htm.

10 compel the FBI, rebuffed: Adam Liptak, “Cheney’s To-Do Lists, Then and Now,” New York Times, February 11, 2007.

10 congressional committees: Overview of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Responsibilities and Activities, SSCI website, accessed October 5, 2012, www.intelligence.senate.gov/about.html; “The CIA and Congress: The Creation of the HPSCI,” CIA website, accessed October 5, 2012, www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2011-featured-story-archive/cia-and-congress-hpsci.html.

10 enacted a law: Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 1981, Pub. Law 96-450 (1980). Title V of the law—“Accountability for Intelligence Activities”—states that “the Director of the Central Intelligence and the heads of all departments, agencies, and other entities of the United States involved in intelligence activities shall…keep the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives…fully and currently informed of all intelligence activities which are the responsibility of, are engaged in by, or are carried out for or on behalf of, any department, agency, or entity of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity.”

10 “seriously weakened”: Savage, Takeover, p. 43.

11 “congressional resurgence,” “signing statements”: Ibid.

11 unlawful use of force: “Case Concerning the Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America),” Summary of the Judgment, International Court of Justice, June 27, 1986.

11 Boland Amendment: Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition and House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, with Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views, Senate Rep. No. 100-216, House Rep. No. 100-433 (1987), pp. 498–500.

11 Fourteen members: Paula Dwyer, “Pointing a Finger at Reagan,” Businessweek, June 23, 1997.

11 “minority report”: Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition and House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Section II: Minority Report, Senate Rep. No. 100-216, House Rep. No. 100-433 (1987), pp. 437, 469.

12 commissioning a study: Tom Squitieri, “Role of Security Companies Likely to Become More Visible,” USA Today, April 1, 2004.

12 American Enterprise Institute: Savage, Takeover, p. 67.

12 portraits: The second portrait was, for the time being, only a photograph, but it would later be replaced by a painting worth nearly $50,000. See Christopher Lee, “Official Portraits Draw Skeptical Gaze,” Washington Post, October 21, 2008.

12 “a serious threat”: Transcript, Donald Rumsfeld remarks, “DOD Acquisition and Logistics Excellence Week Kickoff—Bureaucracy to Battlefield,” The Pentagon, September 10, 2001.

13 “revolution in military affairs”: Paul C. Light, “Rumsfeld’s Revolution at Defense,” Brookings Policy Brief Series, Paper No. 142, Brookings Institution, July 2005.

13 massive missile defense systems: James M. Lindsay and Ivo H. Daalder, “The Bush Revolution: The Remaking of America’s Foreign Policy,” Brookings Institution, May 2003.

13 “threat of jihadist terrorism”: Douglas Feith, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism (New York: Harper, 2009), p. 1.

13 “From the start”: Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2004), p. 86.

13 “laid out the case”: Bob Woodward, State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2006), p. 49.

14 “immediate priority targets”: Feith, War and Decision, p. 51.

14 “The agenda was very clear”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton (Ret.), March 2011. All information and statements attributed to General Shelton come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

14 “any shred”: Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror (New York: Free Press, 2004), p. 32.

14 “10 percent chance”: 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 335–336.

14 clashed with Wolfowitz: “The War Behind Closed Doors,” Frontline, PBS, February 20, 2003.

15 “have no clear information”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, February 2012. Details of Dr. Nakhleh’s career are from the author’s interviews. Information about Dr. Nakleh’s scholarship at the CIA can also be found in his biography on the American Foreign Policy Project, accessed October 5, 2012, http://americanforeignpolicy.org/iran-experts/emile-nakhleh.

15 “humble” foreign policy: Transcript, presidential debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, October 11, 2000, www.debates.org/index.php?page=october-11-2000-debate-transcript.

15 more than a dozen visits: Some reports have stated that Cheney made around a dozen visits to CIA headquarters; other reports have put the number slightly lower. Dubose and Bernstein report that “Cheney made at least eight, perhaps as many as fifteen” visits, citing interviews within and connected to the CIA. Libby was reportedly a more frequent visitor. See Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten (Los Angeles Times), “Cheney’s Tussles with CIA Are Subtext of Leaker Probe; Vice President’s Skeptical View of Intelligence Agency Dates Back to the Late 1980’s,” Baltimore Sun, October 21, 2005; Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein, Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency (New York: Random House, 2006, Kindle edition).

15 mass arrests: Martha Mendoza (AP), “One Man Still Locked Up from 9/11 Sweeps,” Washington Post, October 14, 2006.

16 rigorous legal and oversight system: Joshua A. Bobich, “Note: Who Authorized This?! An Assessment of the Process for Approving U.S. Covert Action,” William Mitchell Law Review 33 (3) (April 10, 2007): 1111–1142, 1126. The details of the Clinton administration’s process for approving covert actions are from the article.

16 closely mirrored: Ibid., p. 1126; memorandum from George W. Bush, “Subject: Organization of the National Security Council System,” February 13, 2001. The memorandum is known as National Security Presidential Directive-1 (NSPD-1), and though the unclassified memorandum does not mention covert action specifically, it purports to preserve much of the structure of the national security system.

16 “new series of authorities,” covert actions: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 210.

16 counterterrorism funding, retaliatory strike: Ibid., p. 202.

17 “taking the offensive,” “breaking the back”: Ibid., p. 204.

17 Uzbekistan, stopped short: Ibid., p. 203.

17 “admittedly ambitious”: Ibid., pp. 204–205.

17 five more meetings: Prepared testimony of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for delivery to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, March 23, 2004.

17 “concluded”: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 212.

17 began flying drones: Ibid., p. 190.

17 K2: Author interview, US military intelligence source, February 2010.

17 not yet operational: Bill Yenne, Attack of the Drones: A History of Unmanned Aerial Combat (St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2004), p. 86. According to Yenne, “On February 16, 2001, during tests at Nellis Air Force Base, a Predator successfully fired a Hellfire AGM-114C into a target. The notion of turning the Predator into a predator had been realized.”

17 Cofer Black argued: 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 190, 211.

17 “in front of CNN”: Ibid., p. 211. The commission obtained and quoted from a memorandum sent by Cofer Black to Richard Clarke, January 25, 2001.

17 shelve the use of the drones: Ibid.

17 “‘This was new ground’”: Ibid.

18 assistant director for collection: “The Honorable Charles E. Allen, Principal,” Chertoff Group, accessed October 5, 2012, http://chertoffgroup.com/bios/charles-allen.php.

18 “happy to pull the trigger”: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 211.

18 September 4 meeting: Ibid., p. 213.

18 three years to implement: Ibid.

18 “‘broad covert action program’”: Ibid., p. 214.

18 “Only a crisis”: Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, 40th anniv. ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), Preface, 1982, p. xiv.

18 mentored Rumsfeld: Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (New York: Picador, 2007), p. 14.

18 Cheney, sought his counsel: Nina Easton, “Why Is Dick Cheney Smiling?” Money.CNN.com, November 25, 2007.

19 “When that crisis occurs”: Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom, Preface, 1982, p. xiv.

19 “a new Pearl Harbor”: “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” p. 51.

19 “duty to use his bully pulpit”: Feith, War and Decision, p. 51.

19 “all necessary and appropriate force”: Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Those Responsible for the Recent Attacks Launched Against the United States, Pub. Law 107-40, Sec. 2 (2001).

19 one opposing vote, no dissent: Richard F. Grimmett, “Authorization for Use of Military Force in Response to the 9/11 Attacks (P.L. 107-40): Legislative History,” Congressional Research Service, updated January 16, 2007.

19 “urge the use of restraint”: “Barbara Lee’s 9/14/01 Speech,” YouTube video, 2:19, from footage of debate prior to passage of the “Authorization for Use of Military Force,” September 14, 2001, posted by “OneVoicePAC,” September 12, 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh_sxilhyV0.

19 “There must be some of us”: Prepared speech of Representative Barbara Lee, in opposition to authorizing the use of force in Afghanistan, September 14, 2001.

20 “the dark side”: Transcript, interview with Vice President Richard Cheney, Meet the Press, NBC, September 16, 2001.

20 secret presidential directive: Woodward, Bush at War, pp. 75, 101. Woodward outlines an earlier proposal made by CIA director George Tenet during the meetings at Camp David, titled “Going to War,” which includes authorities to detain and use lethal force against members of the al Qaeda network. The September 17 finding, Woodward writes, “authorized all the steps proposed by Tenet at Camp David.”

20 Zambia, Somalia and South Africa: Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (New York: Penguin Press, 2004), p. 267.

20 Zaire: Ibid.

20 CIA station chief: Ibid., front matter.

20 “the Ford Foundation of Sunni Islamic terrorism”: Ibid., p. 271.

20 “operating directive”: Ibid., p. 267.

21 not yet signed: Ibid.

21 “taboo in the outfit”: Bill Waugh with Tim Keown, Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Ground Soldier’s Fifty-Year Career Hunting America’s Enemies (New York: William Morrow, 2004), p. 143.

21 dump his body: Robert Young Pelton, Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), p. 28.

21 “He used to come in my office”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), May 2011.

21 August 6, 2001, Crawford, Texas, ranch: Michael Hirsh and Michael Isikoff, “What Went Wrong,” Newsweek, May 27, 2002.

21 “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US”: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 261. The commission’s report includes partial text of the presidential daily brief from August 6, 2001.

21 “struck soon”: J. Cofer Black, prepared testimony for delivery to the Joint House-Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing into September 11, September 26, 2002.

21 “I just couldn’t wait”: Gordon Corera, “How Terror Attacks Changed the CIA,” BBC.co.uk, March 13, 2006.

22 “flies walking across their eyeballs”: Woodward, Bush at War, p. 52.

22 “Let’s go”: Ibid.

22 “I was astonished”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012.

22 “your marching orders”: Gary C. Schroen, First In: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan (New York: Presidio Press, 2005), p. 38.

22 “You’d need some DNA”: Jane Mayer, “The Search for Osama: Did the Government Let bin Laden’s Trail Go Cold?” New Yorker, August 4, 2003, p. 27.

22 “rock their world”: Woodward, Bush at War, p. 103.

23 majority of the first Americans: Pelton, Licensed to Kill, pp. 30–32.

23 seven to two dozen: Seymour M. Hersh, “Manhunt: The Bush Administration’s New Strategy in the War Against Terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002, p. 66; James Risen and David Johnson, “Threats and Responses: Hunt for Al Qaeda; Bush Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists,” New York Times, December 15, 2002.

23 officially launched: George W. Bush, “Presidential Address to the Nation,” October 7, 2001.

23 “partnership is sound”: Woodward, Bush at War, p. 175.

23 small paramilitary capability: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 351.

24 “the War Council”: Tom Lasseter, “Day Four: Easing of Laws That Led to Detainee Abuse Hatched in Secret,” McClatchy, June 18, 2008.

24 “minority report”: Chitra Ragavan, “Cheney’s Guy,” US News.com, May 21, 2006, www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060529/29addington.htm.

24 also included: Lasseter, “Day Four.”

24 explicitly excluded: Tim Golden, “After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law,” New York Times, October 24, 2004. Golden’s article refers explicitly to the exclusion of certain lawyers and officials from the internal discussions of the military tribunal policy.

24 issue a finding, must comply: 50 U.S.C. Sec. 413b, “Presidential Approval and Reporting of Covert Actions.”

24 Greystone: Author interview, military intelligence source, November 2009. The existence of a program known by the abbreviation “GST” was originally reported by Dana Priest for the Washington Post. Priest later mentioned the name “Greystone” in an interview featured on the PBS documentary Top Secret America.

24 umbrella, legitimate target: Dana Priest, “Covert CIA Program Withstands New Furor,” Washington Post, December 30, 2005.

24 compartmentalized programs: Ibid.

25 directly order hits: Ibid.

25 “selected foreign counterparts,” “broadened our options”: Tyler Drumheller, with Elaine Monaghan, On the Brink: An Insider’s Account of How the White House Compromised American Intelligence (New York: Carroll and Graff, 2006), p. 32.

25 “simply extraordinary”: Transcript, interview with John Rizzo, “John Rizzo: The Lawyer Who Approved CIA’s Most Controversial Programs,” PBS.org, September 6, 2011.

25 “Status of Forces”: John Barry, Michael Isikoff, and Michael Hirsh, “The Roots of Torture,” Newsweek, May 23, 2004.

25 private contractors: Ibid.

25 “lawyered up”: Dana Priest, “Former CIA Spy Boss Made an Unhesitating Call to Destroy Interrogation Tapes,” Washington Post, April 24, 2012.

25 series of legal documents: Stephen Gillers, “The Torture Memo,” Nation, April 9, 2008.

25 “big boy pants”: Transcript, interview with Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., 60 Minutes, CBS, April 29, 2012.

26 shipping containers, discrete sites, brick factory: Jane Mayer, “The Black Sites: A Rare Look Inside the C.I.A.’s Secret Interrogation Program,” New Yorker, August 13, 2007.

26 “Salt Pit”: Dana Priest, “CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons,” Washington Post, November 2, 2005.

26 evolved: Ibid. A former senior intelligence official told Priest, “We never sat down, as far as I know, and came up with a grand strategy. Everything was very reactive. That’s how you get to a situation where you pick people up, send them into a netherworld and don’t say, ‘What are we going to do with them afterwards?’”

26 naval vessels, Lake Kariba: Priest, “CIA Holds Terror Suspects.”

26 funneling suspects: Ibid.

26 freely tortured: Rebecca Leung, “CIA Flying Suspects to Torture?” CBSNews.com, February 11, 2009.

26 refused to provide details: Priest, “CIA Holds Terror Suspects.”

26 decided to reduce: Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen, “Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002,” Washington Post, December 9, 2007.

26 signed a presidential directive: Jane Mayer, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals (New York: Doubleday, 2008), p. 114.

26 suspects to Egypt: Stephen Grey, Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Rendition and Torture Program (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006), pp. 139–141.

27 direct authorization: Ibid., pp. 140–141. According to Grey, who interviewed Michael Scheuer for the book, the White House had signed off on the rendition policy. Lawyers signed off on each operation, and “within the CIA, authority for each operation…had to come from the director of central intelligence…or his assistant director.”

27 more than seventy renditions: Eighth Public Hearing Before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, March 24, 2004 (testimony of George Tenet, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency).

27 Mir Aimal Kasi: Amnesty International, “Pakistan: Imminent Execution of Mir Aimal Kasi Raises Fears for Others Taken into US Custody Without Human Rights Safeguards,” 2002.

27 Ramzi Yousef: Richard Clarke, op-ed, “The Confusion over Renditions,” Boston Globe, January 29, 2009.

27 Wali Khan Amin Shah: Christopher S. Wren, “U.S. Jury Convicts Three in a Conspiracy to Bomb Airliners,” New York Times, September 6, 1996; rendition confirmed in “Patterns of Global Terrorism 1998,” US Department of State, April 1999.

27 Tsutomu Shirosaki: “Patterns of Global Terrorism 1998,” US Department of State, April 1999.

27 “not to expel, extradite”: Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, Pub. Law 105-277, Sec. 2242(a) (1998).

27 “won in large measure”: Jim Landers, “CIA Official Says War on Terrorism Will Be Won with Great Force,” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, October 18, 2001.

27 “kick the (expletive) out of them”: Dana Priest and Barton Gellman, “U.S. Decries Abuse but Defends Interrogations,” Washington Post, December 26, 2002.

27 “probably aren’t doing your job”: Ibid.

27 “gloves come off”: Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, Hearings Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 107th Cong., 2nd Sess., September 26, 2002 (testimony of J. Cofer Black).

28 Pakistani forces: Dana Priest, “Al Qaeda-Iraq Link Recanted; Captured Libyan Reverses Previous Statement to CIA, Officials Say,” Washington Post, August 1, 2004.

28 “Shoe Bomber,” Twentieth Hijacker, witness: Mayer, The Dark Side, p. 104.

28 “handle this”: Ibid.

28 “genuinely friendly”: Ibid., p. 106.

28 orders from Cofer Black: John Barry and Daniel Klaidman, “A Tortured Debate,” Newsweek, June 20, 2004.

28 objected: Garrett M. Graff, The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War in the Age of Global Terror (New York: Little, Brown, 2011), p. 359; Jason Vest, “Pray and Tell,” American Prospect, June 19, 2005.

28 “You know where you are going”: James Risen, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration (New York: Free Press, 2006), p. 29.

28 USS Bataan: “Top al Qaeda Leader Held Aboard U.S. Warship,” CNN.com, January 8, 2002.

28 tortured, Iraq connection: Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007), pp. 122–123.

28 Cheney’s office directly intervened: Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, “The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney,” Washington Note, May 13, 2009.

28 “real macho interrogation”: Transcript, interview with Ali Soufan, “The Interrogator,” Frontline, PBS, aired September 13, 2011.

29 “lacks specific details”: John D. Rockefeller IV and Carl Levin, letter to Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, October 18, 2005. The letter contains two paragraphs of a DIA defense intelligence terrorist summary (DITSUM) from October 3, 2005, concerning claims made by Libi following his interrogation.

29 given to Secretary of State Powell: Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, p. 187.

29 “I can trace the story”: Transcript, speech as delivered by Colin Powell before the United Nations, February 5, 2003.

29 “what you want[ed] to hear”: Transcript, “The Interrogator,” Frontline.

29 directing a global manhunt: Author interviews with former U.S. officials, August 2010, May 2011.

29 convened a meeting, shut out: Savage, Takeover, pp. 135–136, 138.

29 had told President Bush: Katharine Q. Seelye, “A Nation Challenged: The Prisoners; Powell Asks Bush to Review Stand on War Captives,” New York Times, January 27, 2002.

30 endanger the lives: Colin L. Powell, memorandum to Counsel to the President, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, “Subject: Draft Decision Memorandum for the President on the Applicability of the Geneva Convention to the Conflict in Afghanistan,” January 26, 2002. Powell lists the “pros” and “cons” of applying and not applying the Geneva Conventions to the conflict in Afghanistan. Among the cons of not applying the conventions, Powell notes, is that “it will reverse over a century of U.S. policy and practice in supporting the Geneva conventions and undermine protections of the law of war for our troops, both in this specific context and in general.”

30 directive, just after: Barry, Isikoff, and Hirsh, “Roots of Torture.” Bush made his decision in early February, and by “mid-January 2002 the first plane-load of prisoners landed at Gitmo’s Camp X-Ray.”

30 “We didn’t tell the FBI”: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., with Bill Harlow, Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives (New York: Threshold Editions, 2012), pp. 116–117.

30 “near total dependence on CIA”: Donald Rumsfeld, working paper sent to General Myers, “Subject: Afghanistan,” October 17, 2001. Rumsfeld writes, “Given the nature of our world, isn’t it conceivable that the Department ought not to be in a position of near total dependence on CIA in situations such as this?”

2: Anwar Awlaki: An American Story

31 Their best hope: Dr. James J. Zogby, “The Arab American Vote in the November 2000 Election,” Arab American Institute, December 14, 2000. In an analysis commissioned by Abu Dhabi Television, Zogby writes that “a recent poll of Arab American voters shows that Arab Americans supported the candidacy of Republican George W. Bush over the candidacy of Democrat Al Gore by a margin of 45.5% to 38%.” He further notes that despite the fact that Arab Americans tended to lean Democratic, “this election took place against the backdrop of escalating Israeli violence against Palestinians,” which “apparently influenced the votes of a number of Arab Americans.”

31 “Freedom is one of them”: Transcript, interview with Anwar al Awlaki, “Fighting Fear,” NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, October 30, 2001.

31 Fulbright scholarship: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. Details of Nasser al Awlaki’s family life and the early years of Anwar al Awlaki are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

31 “My studies in the United States”: Ibid. All quotations from Nasser al Awlaki are from interview with author, unless otherwise noted.

31 “meet people of the New World”: Personal, unpublished essay written by Nasser al Awlaki and shown to the author in January 2012.

32 April 22, 1971: An FBI report about Anwar lists his birthday as April 21, but Nasser says in an interview with the author that Anwar was born on the 22nd. News reports have used both dates.

32 University of Minnesota: “Interview: Dr. Nasser al-Awlaki on the Killing of His Son, Anwar, and His Grandson,” National Yemen, October 6, 2012.

33 O’Hare Airport: Catherine Herridge, The Next Wave: On the Hunt for Al Qaeda’s American Recruits (New York: Crown Forum, 2011), p. 78.

33 civil engineering: Bruce Finley, “Muslim Cleric Targeted by U.S. Made Little Impression During Colorado Years,” Denver Post, April 11, 2010.

33 “not [a] fully practicing Muslim”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans; Al Awlaki Revealing His Side of the Story,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

33 Muslim Student Association: Ibid.

34 “staying in the US”: Ibid.

34 grades were slipping: Ibid.

34 “termination of my scholarship”: Ibid.

34 “I was a fundamentalist now!”: Ibid.

35 asked him to deliver a sermon: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012; Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path from Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” New York Times, May 8, 2010.

35 “very promising person”: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012.

35 graduated from CSU: Finley, “Muslim Cleric Targeted by U.S.”

35 Denver Islamic Society: Ibid.

35 Malcolm X: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

35 “He had this magic”: Finley, “Muslim Cleric Targeted by U.S.”

35 “a beautiful tongue”: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

35 September 13, 1995: Author copy of Abdulrahman al Awlaki’s birth certificate.

35 Masjid al Ribat al Islami: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

35 education leadership: Union-Tribune and Associated Press, “Anwar al-Awlaki, al-Qaida-Linked Cleric with San Diego Ties, Killed,” UTSanDiego.com, September 30, 2011.

35 “very outgoing and cheerful”: Memorandum for the record: telephone interview of Lincoln Higgie, prepared by Dieter Snell, FBI-San Diego Field Office, November 19, 2003. Available at the National Archive and Records Administration website, http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00449.pdf.

35 “albacore fishing”: Transcript, The Situation Room, CNN, September 30, 2011.

36 first run-in with the FBI: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

36 “blind sheikh”: Ibid.

36 Holy Land Foundation: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Philip Zelikow, Executive Director; Bonnie D. Jenkins, Counsel; Ernest R. May, Senior Advisor), The 9/11 Commission Report (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), p. 517.

36 Charitable Society for Social Welfare: Susan Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided al-Qaeda,” Washington Post, February 27, 2008.

36 “front organization”: Tom Hays (AP), “FBI Eyes NYC ‘Charity’ in Terror Probe,” washingtonpost.com, February 26, 2004.

36 Abdul Majeed al Zindani: Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque.”

36 US Department of Labor: US Department of Labor, International Labor Affairs Bureau, Technical Cooperation Project Summary, for project “Alternatives to Combat Child Labor Through Education and Sustainable Services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region,” www.dol.gov/ilab/projects/europe_mena/MidEast_LebanonYemen_EI_CLOSED.pdf; “Project Status—Europe, Middle East, and North Africa,” Department of Labor website, accessed October 2010, www.dol.gov/ilab/projects/europe_mena/project-europe.htm.

36 raising money for orphans: Author interviews with Awlaki family members, January 2012.

36 “does not meet the criterion”: J. M. Berger, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2011), p. 119.

37 Two men: Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque.”

37 Nawaf al Hamzi: Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, Hearings Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 107th Cong., 2nd Sess., September 26, 2002, p. 178.

37 “spiritual adviser”: Ibid.

37 recording CDs: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

37 extremely popular: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

37 more than a hundred CDs: J. M. Berger, “Gone but Not Forgotten,” Foreign Policy, September 30, 2011.

37 “free of obvious radicalism”: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

37 “very pleased”: Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad,” The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, London, 2011.

37 sent “moles”: Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans.”

37 busted twice: “Radical Cleric Killed by Drone Was Twice Arrested with Prostitutes in San Diego,” L.A. Now (blog), Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2011, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/anwar-awlaki-the-american-born-cleric-and-jihadist-killed-by-a-us-backed-drone-strike-in-yemen-spent-several-years-in-san.html.

38 “I was surrounded by police officers”: Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans.”

38 “move somewhere else”: Ibid.

38 partial scholarship: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

38 chaplain: Ibid.

38 “full force of faith”: Transcript, “Connections Between Radical Cleric, Hasan Closely Examined,” NewsHour, PBS, November 12, 2009.

39 backseat of a taxi: “Former Islamic Spiritual Leader Defends Mosque,” Copley News Service, September 28, 2001.

39 screamed threats: “Muslim Americans Suffer Terrorist Backlash,” Scripps Howard News Service, September 12, 2001.

39 closed for three days: William Branigin, “Terror Hits Close to Home; Mix of Emotions Sweeps over Area’s Residents,” Washington Post, September 20, 2001.

39 “How should we react?”: Susan Morse, “First Source of Comfort; When Events Overwhelm, Clergy, Not Doctors, Are on the Front Lines,” Washington Post, September 18, 2001.

39 security firm: Debbi Wilgoren and Ann O’Hanlon, “Worship and Worry; Fear for Other Muslims Mixes with Support for US,” Washington Post, September 22, 2001.

39 Local churches: Ibid.

39 baseball bat: Ibid.

39 “heinous”: Branigin, “Terror Hits Close to Home.”

39 “Best Buy”: Brian Handwerk and Zain Habboo, “Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar’s Perspective—Part 1,” National Geographic, September 28, 2001.

40 “knocking on my door”: Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans.”

40 showed him pictures: Federal Bureau of Investigation file on “Anwar Nasser Aulaqi,” September 26, 2001. Document obtained by Intelwire, intelwire.com.

40 attended an Awlaki sermon: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 229.

40 “did not recognize”: Ibid., p. 221.

40 Awlaki also said: Ibid., pp. 229–230.

40 “described Hazmi”: Ibid., p. 221.

40 “a loner”: Federal Bureau of Investigation file on “Anwar Nasser Aulaqi.”

40 “very religious person”: Ibid.

40 got a lawyer: Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans.”

40 “Investigation continues”: Federal Bureau of Investigation file on “Anwar Nasser Aulaqi.”

40 series of phone conversations: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 517.

40 “evidence is thin”: Ibid., p. 221.

41 Nidal Malik Hasan: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. That Hasan attended Dar al Hijrah has been documented in press reports, such as David Johnston and Scott Shane, “U.S. Knew of Suspect’s Tie to Radical Cleric,” New York Times, November 9, 2009.

41 worst massacres: Robert D. McFadden, “Army Doctor Held in Ft. Hood Rampage,” New York Times, November 5, 2009.

41 “tolerance”: “Al-Awlaki Assassinated in Drone Attack,” blog post on Dar al Hijrah website, September 30, 2011, www.daralhijrah.net/ns/?p=6258.

41 “overtly political or radical”: Matthew Barakat, “Relief, Anger at Va. Mosque Where al-Qaida Figure Preached,” Associated Press, September 30, 2011.

41 “right to defend itself”: Transcript, “Fighting Fear,” interview by Ray Suarez, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, October 30, 2001.

41 “go-to Muslim cleric”: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

42 “merging East and West”: Laurie Goodstein, “A Nation Challenged: The American Muslims; Influential American Muslims Temper Their Tone,” New York Times, October 19, 2001.

42 “perverted their religion”: Handwerk and Habboo, “Attack on America.”

42 webcast: Travis Fox, video, “Understanding Ramadan: A Day in the Life of an Imam,” www.washingtonpost.com, November 18, 2001.

42 “Our position needs to be reiterated”: Anwar al Awlaki sermon, excerpted in “Fighting Fear,” NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, October 30, 2001.

42 “attack on US foreign policy”: Wilgoren and O’Hanlon, “Worship and Worry.”

42 “killing of civilians in Afghanistan”: “Muslim Students Are Wary of the War,” Washington Times, October 11, 2001.

42 “not going to happen”: Ellen Sorokin, “Area’s Muslims Facing a Somber Ramadan; Terror Attack, War in Afghanistan Create ‘Gloomy Mood,’” Washington Times, November 16, 2001.

42 “rushed into this war”: Video interview from November 2001, provided to the author by Travis Fox.

43 “freedom to the people”: Transcript, Morning Edition, National Public Radio (hereafter NPR), November 1, 2001.

43 “casualties from the civilians”: Video interview from November 2001, provided to the author by Travis Fox.

43 “radical understanding”: Ibid.

44 vigilantes and federal agents: See Human Rights Watch USA, “‘We Are Not the Enemy’: Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to Be Arab or Muslim After September 11,” November 14, 2002; “NPR Special Report: Muslims in America; Part One: Profiling the Proud Americans of ‘Little Mecca,’” NPR, October 21, 2001, www.npr.org/news/specials/response/homefront/features/2001/oct/muslim/011022.muslim.html.

44 “element of feeling”: Transcript, Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, NPR, November 15, 2001.

44 “crude fashion”: Joe Cantlupe and Dana Wilkie, “Former San Diego Islamic Spiritual Defends Mosque,” Copley News Service, September 28, 2001.

44 “radical voices”: Transcript, Morning Edition, NPR, November 1, 2001.

44 “American Muslims”: Jean Marbella, “Ramadan Raises Conflicting Loyalties; US Muslims Feel Pull of Nation, Solidarity; War on Terrorism,” Baltimore Sun, October 28, 2001.

44 “enemy of Islam”: Transcript, Morning Edition, NPR, November 1, 2001.

45 “privilege”: E-mail from undisclosed sender to undisclosed recipients, subject: “RE: Luncheon Speaker—Islam and Middle Eastern politics and culture—February 5th—Response date—1/31,” sent February 1, 2002, obtained by public intelligence, http://publicintelligence.net/dod-email-discussing-anwar-al-awlakis-2002-presentation-at-the-pentagon/.

45 “secretary of the Army’s”: Catherine Herridge, “Exclusive: Al Qaeda Leader Dined at the Pentagon Just Months After 9/11,” FoxNews.com, October 20, 2010.

45 “attended a luncheon”: Ibid.

45 “East Side West Side”: E-mail from undisclosed sender, “RE: Luncheon Speaker.”

45 PBS documentary: Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, PBS, 2002, produced by KiKim Media and Unity Productions Foundation/A KQED Presentation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

45 sweeping raids: Jerry Markon, “Muslim Anger Burns over Lingering Probe of Charities,” Washington Post, October 11, 2006.

46 Operation Green Quest: Associated Press, “Feds Launch ‘Operation Green Quest,’” CBSNews.com, October 25, 2001.

46 International Institute of Islamic Thought: Judith Miller, “A Nation Challenged: The Money Trail; Raids Seek Evidence of Money-Laundering,” New York Times, March 21, 2002.

46 Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences: Riad Z. Abdelkarim and Basil Z. Abdelkarim, “Islam in America: As American Muslims Face New Raids, Muslim Charities Fight Back,” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May 2002, pp. 80–81.

46 property seized: Markon, “Muslim Anger Burns.”

46 five hundred boxes: Ibid.

46 “attack on every one of us”: Audio recording of Anwar al Awlaki sermon, Virginia, March 2002, transcription by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad,” The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, London, 2011.

46 “struggle for those rights”: Ibid.

46 active subject: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 91.

46 “various investigations”: Chitra Ragavan, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story,” US News and World Report, June 13, 2004, www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/040621/21plot.htm.

46 flip him: Awlaki, “Spilling Out the Beans.”

46 “across state lines”: Ragavan, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story.”

46 “Why are you leaving?”: Transcript, “Connections Between Radical Cleric, Hasan Closely Examined,” NewsHour, PBS, November 12, 2009.

47 running for parliament: Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie.”

47 his own TV show: Shane and Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path.”

47 “ruined him”: Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie.”

47 “war against Muslims”: Audio recording of Imam Anwar al Awlaki sermon, unconfirmed location, March 2002.

3: Find, Fix, Finish: The Rise of JSOC

48 “worldwide war”: Transcript, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, “Address to the Men and Women of Fort Bragg/Pope AFB,” Fort Bragg, NC, November 21, 2001.

48 secret meeting: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), pp. 8–10.

48 “joint headquarters”: Description of Joint Special Operations Command from “Special Operations Forces Reference Manual,” compiled and developed for the Joint Special Operations Forces Institute by Cubic Applications, Inc., January 1998.

49 Operation Eagle Claw: Mark Bowden, “The Desert One Debacle,” Atlantic, May 2006.

49 went down in a sandstorm: Ibid.

49 several crucial aircraft: Ibid.

49 abort mission order: Ibid.

49 Eight US service members: Ibid.

49 hostages for weapons: Gary Sick, “The Election Story of the Decade,” op-ed, New York Times, April 15, 1991.

49 just minutes after: NBC Nightly News, January 20, 1981, www.nbc.com/news-sports/msnbc-video/2012/01/from-the-archives-reagan-sworn-in-iran-hostages-released/.

49 Honey Badger: Tom Clancy, with General Carl Stiner (Ret.), Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2002), p. 9.

49 Che Guevara: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (Ret.), September 2010. Details of Colonel Lang’s background and credentials come from the author’s interview. Also see “Bio of Col. W. Patrick Lang,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), turcopolier.typepad.com.

50 “training and leading indigenous forces”: Ibid. All statements and information attributed to Colonel Lang come from the author’s interview.

50 force multiplier: Lieutenant Colonel David E. Hill Jr., “The Shaft of the Spear: US Special Operations Command, Funding Authority, and the Global War on Terrorism,” US Army War College Strategy Research Project, March 15, 2006.

50 Delta Force had formed: See Command Sergeant Major Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit (New York: Bantam Dell, 2003), pp. 1–4.

50 founding commander: “Seal Team Six,” Special Operations Forces Situation Report (SOFREP), accessed September 5, 2012, http://sofrep.com/devgru-seal-team-6/. Other details of the origins of SEAL Team 6 come from SOFREP’s brief history.

51 Field Operations Group: Michael Smith, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006), pp. 20–21.

51 successful rescue operation: Ibid., pp. 22–46.

51 Grenada: See Ronald H. Cole, “Operation Urgent Fury: Grenada,” Joint History Office, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1997.

51 “the use of sabotage, killing”: Robert Chesney, “Military-Intelligence Convergence and the Law of the Title 10/Title 50 Debate,” Journal of National Security Law and Policy 5 (2012): 539–629.

52 Pablo Escobar: See Mark Bowden, Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw (New York: Penguin Books, 2001), pp. 147, 259.

52 former Yugoslavia: Paula Broadwell, with Vernon Loeb, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus (New York: Penguin Press, 2012), pp. 148–153; Smith, Killer Elite, pp. 192–193.

52 secret presidential directive: “Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC),” GlobalSecurity.org, accessed October 1, 2012, www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/jsoc.htm.

52 Waco, Texas: Philip Shenon, “Documents on Waco Point to a Close Commando Role,” New York Times, September 5, 1999.

52 World Cup, Summer Olympics: “Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC),” GlobalSecurity.org.

52 “transnational threats”: Eric Schmitt, “Commandos Get Duty on U.S. Soil,” New York Times, January 23, 2005.

52 80 percent: Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition).

52 “ace in the hole”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton (Ret.), March 2011. All information and statements attributed to General Shelton come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

52 most of his military career: “General Henry Hugh Shelton Biography,” website of the General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center at North Carolina State University, accessed October 5, 2012, www.ncsu.edu/extension/sheltonleadership/shelton-forum/documents/GENERALHENRYHUGHSHELTONBIOGRAPHYOct07.pdf.

53 rescue of Kurt Muse: “Delta Force Pulled Off Daring Rescue,” Associated Press, January 3, 1990.

53 war plan: Tom Clancy, with General Carl Stiner (Ret.), Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2002), p. 409. Clancy writes, “‘Schwarzkopf was a good example of a senior officer who did not understand special operations and was afraid of it,’ said Special Forces vet Maj. General Jim Guest, who served as the J-3 at SOCOM. Schwarzkopf’s mentality was, ‘I have a coiled cobra in a cage and if I open the cage, that cobra is going to get out and possibly embarrass me.’”

53 “In 1996 alone”: U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), History of SOCOM, 6th ed., March 31, 2008.

53 large-scale operations: Ibid.

53 “reduced emphasis”: General Wayne Downing, memorandum to Rumsfeld and General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, “Special Operations Forces Assessment,” November 9, 2005. Retrieved from http://rumsfeld.com/library/.

53 propose missions: Richard H. Shultz Jr., “Showstoppers: Nine Reasons Why We Never Sent Our Special Operations Forces After al Qaeda Before 9/11,” Weekly Standard 9 (19), January 26, 2004.

53 included JSOC: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Philip Zelikow, Executive Director; Bonnie D. Jenkins, Counsel; Ernest R. May, Senior Advisor), The 9/11 Commission Report (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), p. 136.

53 “never used once”: Shultz, “Showstoppers.”

54 approximately twenty operations: Ibid.

54 “‘finish’ capabilities”: Downing, memorandum to Rumsfeld and Pace, “Special Operations Forces Assessment.”

54 Title 10: See sections 153 and 163 of Title 10 of the US Code.

54 “based on deception”: General Hugh Shelton (Ret.), Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), pp. 401, 413.

55 had lawyered: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 16. Scarborough discusses Shultz’s report, for which he received top security clearances to interview senior commanders and policy makers. “Pentagon lawyers in the 1990s argued that DoD did not have the legal authority until Title 10” to authorize covert operations, Shultz wrote. “Rumsfeld overturned the Clinton policy of arguing in favor of Title 10 restrictions, and has decided that covert missions can indeed be authorized from the Pentagon,” Scarborough wrote.

55 “possibility of hunting”: Shultz, “Showstoppers.”

55 security clearance: Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War, p. 14.

55 UN peacekeeping mission: United Nations Security Council Resolution 794, adopted December 3, 1992, accessed December 5, 2012, www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1992/scres92.htm.

55 warlords openly defied: Dr. Richard W. Stewart, The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994, U.S. Army Center of Military History, accessed January 2011, www.history.army.mil/brochures/Somalia/Somalia.pdf.

55 green light: Mark Bowden, “How a Relief Mission Ended in a Firefight,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 14, 1997.

55 descended into disaster: Ibid.

56 “Mogadishu disaster”: Shultz, “Showstoppers.”

56 “check off boxes”: Ibid.

57 began briefing: Ibid.

57 SECRET: Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War, p. 14.

57 “for fifteen minutes”: Jamie McIntyre, “Rumsfeld Versus Shelton,” Line of Departure (blog), Military.com, February 25, 2011, www.lineofdeparture.com/tag/rumsfeld-shelton/.

57 “learn the right lessons”: Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War, p. 15.

57 “allies and friends”: Douglas J. Feith, War and Decision; Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism (New York: Harper, 2009), p. 51.

57 “Forget about ‘exit strategies’”: Donald H. Rumsfeld, “A New Kind of War,” New York Times, September 27, 2001.

58 “No one amongst those people”: Author interview, Malcolm W. Nance, May 2011.

58 seven hundred covert operatives: Jennifer Kibbe, “The Rise of the Shadow Warriors,” Foreign Affairs 83 (2) (March–April 2004): 112.

58 “paramilitary expertise”: Author interview, Vincent Cannistraro, August 2010. All information and statements attributed to Vincent Cannistraro come from the author’s interview.

58 “bunch of pansies”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), May 2011.

59 were cautioning against: Transcript, NewsHour, PBS, March 26, 2004. Colin Powell: “I recommended to the president that our focus had to be on al-Qaida, the Taliban and Afghanistan. Those were the ones who attacked the United States of America on 9/11.”

59 “no choice”: Transcript, “Secretary Rumsfeld News Briefing in Brussels,” December 18, 2001.

59 draw up a list: Seymour Hersh, “Manhunt: The Bush Administration’s New Strategy in the War Against Terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002.

60 “exploring targets”: Memorandum to President George W. Bush, no subject, September 23, 2001, www.rumsfeld.com/library/.

4: The Boss: Ali Abdullah Saleh

61 Yemen’s leader: Robert F. Worth, “For Yemen’s Leader, a Balancing Act Gets Harder,” New York Times, June 21, 2008.

61 “The Boss”: Gregory D. Johnsen, “The Boss Falls. Then What?” New York Times, March 24, 2011.

61 “We would drive around”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (Ret.), February 2011. All information and statements attributed to Colonel Lang come from the author’s interview. Details about Colonel Lang’s background are from the author’s interview.

62 coordinated and funded: Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013), p. 7.

62 “sent to Afghanistan”: “An Interview with President Ali Abdullah Saleh,” New York Times, June 28, 2008.

62 safe haven: Worth, “Balancing Act Gets Harder.”

62 “political pluralism”: “An Interview with President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”

62 Islamic Jihad: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Vintage Books, 2006), p. 365.

62 southern secessionists: Robert F. Worth, “Yemen’s Deals with Jihadists Unsettle the U.S.,” New York Times, January 28, 2008.

62 against Shiite Houthi rebels: Author interview, former US counterterrorism official, January 2011.

62 “They were the thugs”: Author interview, Ali Soufan, January 2011.

62 five hundred pounds of explosives: William Branigin, “Two Sentenced to Die for USS Cole Attack,” Washington Post, September 30, 2004.

63 “charged and destroyed”: Diana Elias, “Video Offers Strong Bin Laden-USS Cole Link,” ABCNews.go.com, June 19, 2001.

63 aides had written: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 333.

63 “50 million machine guns,” “the most hostile environment”: Ibid., p. 365.

63 had to pull out completely: Ibid.

63 “death threats”: Ali H. Soufan, “Closing the Case on the Cole,” op-ed, New York Times, October 11, 2010.

63 Saleh’s government: Soufan does note in his op-ed that the FBI team “left Yemen with most of the terrorists locked up” but says that they were soon released by the government.

63 “No one in the Clinton White House”: Soufan, “Closing the Case on the Cole.”

63 “great victory”: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 374.

63 “denied them access”: Walter Pincus, “Yemen Hears Benefits of Joining U.S. Fight; Officials Discuss up to $400 Million in Aid,” Washington Post, November 28, 2001.

64 “Those who make war”: Transcript, President George W. Bush radio address, September 15, 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/us/after-the-attacks-the-president-s-message-a-different-battle-awaits.html.

64 put Yemen on a list: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011), p. 30.

64 “graveyard for the invaders”: Jonathan Mahler, “The Bush Administration vs. Salim Hamdan,” New York Times Magazine, January 8, 2006.

64 held talks: “Issues of Interest; Yemeni-American Relations,” website of the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Washington, DC, accessed December 1, 2012, www.yemenembassy.org/issues/ymusrelshp/index.htm.

64 “principal partner”: Ibid.

64 Ritz Carlton: Author interview, Yemeni official, January 2013.

64 presented with an aid package: Pincus, “Yemen Hears Benefits of Joining U.S. Fight.”

65 “counterterrorism camp”: Philip Smucker and Howard LaFranchi, “Anti-US strike Shakes Yemen; Three US aid Workers Slain in a Hospital,” Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 2002.

65 permission for the CIA to fly drones: Dana Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved in Aiding Yemen on Strikes,” Washington Post, January 27, 2010.

65 “knew how to survive”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010.

65 “expressed his concern”: “Issues of Interest; Yemeni-American Relations.”

65 ordered his forces to raid a village: Gregory D. Johnsen, “The Expansion Strategy of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” CTC Sentinel, September 2009, pp. 8–11.

66 nine hundred military and intelligence personnel: Robert Schlesinger, “In Djibouti, US Special Forces Develop Base amid Secrecy,” Boston Globe, December 12, 2002.

66 establish operational capacity: Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved.”

5: The Enigma of Anwar Awlaki

67 “Uncle Saleh, I am here”: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. All statements and information attributed to Saleh bin Fareed come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

67 “We should be concerned”: Audio recording of Anwar al Awlaki lecture, “Lessons from the Companions Living as a Minority,” JIMAS Conference, University of Leicester, August 2002.

68 “given permission”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Islamic Education of Shaikh Anwar al Awlaki,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, August 12, 2008.

68 traveled to Saudi Arabia: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, January and August 2012.

68 “air went out of the balloon”: Chitra Ragavan, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story: A Skirt-Chasing Mullah Is Just One More Mystery for the 9/11 Panel,” US News and World Report, June 13, 2004, www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/040621/21plot.htm.

68 “support a criminal prosecution”: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Philip Zelikow, Executive Director; Bonnie D. Jenkins, Counsel; Ernest R. May, Senior Advisor), The 9/11 Commission Report (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), p. 517.

68 warrant issued: “Justice Department Response to Fox News Regarding Colorado 2002 Awlaki Matter,” FoxNews.com, May 21, 2010. For the warrant itself, see www.scribd.com/doc/29510870/Al-Awlaki-Arrest-Warrant.

68 resolved the issue: The letter from the Justice Department, published by FoxNews.com, says he “corrected” the mistake.

68 “We were ecstatic”: Joseph Rhee and Mark Schone, “How Anwar Awlaki Got Away,” ABCNews.go.com, November 30, 2009.

68 up to ten years in prison: Ibid.

69 TECS II: Journalist Paul Sperry obtained information from the TECS II system concerning Awlaki; see www.sperryfiles.com/images/1-3.jpg.

69 “Give it another shot”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, September 2012. All quotations from Nasser al Awlaki come from interviews the author conducted between January and September 2012, unless otherwise noted.

69 intelligence memo: 9/11 Commission Report, p. 517.

69 filed a motion: Catherine Herridge, The Next Wave: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda’s American Recruits (New York: Crown Forum, 2011), p. 95.

69 “having a bad reputation”: Joseph Rhee, “U.S. Attorney Defends Decision to Scrap Awlaki Arrest Warrant,” ABCNews.go.com, December 7, 2009.

69 arrived at JFK Airport: TECS II “Incident Log” entry concerning arrival of Anwar at John F. Kennedy Airport, October 10, 2002, accessed March 2012, sperryfiles.com, www.sperryfiles.com/images/1-4.jpg.

69 “ANTI-TERRORIST PASSENGER”: Database entry following a “Secondary Inspection” of Awlaki upon his arrival at JFK Airport, October 10, 2001, accessed March 2012, sperryfiles.com, www.sperryfiles.com/images/1-1.jpg.

69 registering as active: Catherine Herridge, “Mueller Grilled on FBI’s Release of al-Awlaki in 2002,” FoxNews.com, March 8, 2012.

70 three hours: TECS II “Incident Log” entry, October 10, 2002.

70 “He is a match”: Joseph Rhee and Mark Schone, “How Anwar Awlaki Got Away,” ABCNews.go.com, November 30, 2009.

70 luggage was searched: Database entry following a “Secondary Inspection,” October 10, 2001.

70 number was invalid: TECS II “Incident Log” entry, October 10, 2002.

70 track down Ammerman: Ibid.

70 worked the Awlaki case: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 91.

70 “We did not find a link”: Ibid.

70 “no explanation”: Ibid., p. 93.

70 “WARRANT HAD BEEN REMOVED”: TECS II “Incident Log” entry, October 10, 2002.

70 not actually removed until: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 96.

70 “thanks for their [patience]”: TECS II “Incident Log” entry, October 10, 2002, p. 2, obtained by Paul Sperry, www.sperryfiles.com/images/1-5.jpg.

70 “I got an apology”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Spilling out the Beans; Al Awlaki Revealing His Side of the Story,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

70 another charismatic preacher: Susan Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided al-Qaeda,” Washington Post, February 27, 2008.

71 lead lecturer: Jerry Markon, “Muslim Lecturer Sentenced to Life,” Washington Post, July 14, 2005.

71 cancer gene research: Milton Viorst, “The Education of Ali al-Timimi,” Atlantic Monthly, June 2006.

71 “anthrax plots”: Mary Beth Sheridan, “Hardball Tactics in an Era of Threats,” Washington Post, September 3, 2006.

71 one of the lead investigators: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 84.

71 “I don’t think anyone wants me talking”: Ibid., p. 217.

71 “trying to cultivate”: Ibid., p. 216.

71 “even talked to the guy”: Author interview, Edward MacMahon, July 2012.

71 trying to set him up: Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path from Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” New York Times, May 8, 2010.

71 ultimately convicted: Eric Lichtblau, “Scholar Is Given Life Sentence in ‘Virginia Jihad’ Case,” New York Times, July 14, 2005.

72 wearing a wire: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 85.

72 “authority for this request”: Author copy of filing.

72 “a national security issue”: Author interview, Edward MacMahon, July 2012.

72 “had Awlaki released”: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 85.

72 “pounced on the tips”: Sheridan, “Hardball Tactics in an Era of Threats.”

72 “Is there any connection”: Press release from Representative Frank Wolf, “Wolf Asks FBI Why Aulaqi Was Released from Custody in 2002,” May 24, 2010, http://wolf.house.gov/press-releases/wolf-asks-fbi-why-aulaqi-was-released-from-custody-in-2002/.

73 “pages of blankness”: Herridge, The Next Wave, p. 206.

73 government witnesses: Jerry Markon, “Views of Va. Muslim Leader Differ as Terror Trial Opens,” Washington Post, April 5, 2005.

73 “How did Aulaqi end up”: Wolf, “Wolf Asks FBI Why Aulaqi Was Released from Custody in 2002.”

74 “plan to attempt a recruitment”: Author interview, former senior FBI counterterrorism agent, July 2012.

74 “how he got out”: Ragavan, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story.”

6: “We’re in a New Kind of War”

75 “godfather of terror”: Philip Smucker and Howard LaFranchi, “Anti-US Strike Shakes Yemen; Three US Aid Workers Slain in a Hospital,” Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 2002.

75 meeting with tribal officials: Ibid.

75 multiple mobile phones: Seymour M. Hersh, “Manhunt: The Bush Administration’s New Strategy in the War Against Terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002.

75 “compound under surveillance”: Michael DeLong, with Noah Lukeman, Inside CentCom: The Unvarnished Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 70.

75 MQ-1 Predator drone: Hersh, “Manhunt.”

75 live video feed: Dina Temple-Raston, The Jihad Next Door: The Lackawanna Six and Rough Justice in the Age of Terror (New York: PublicAffairs, 2007), p. 196.

75 “high-speed Predator chase”: DeLong, Inside CentCom, p. 70.

75 driving off in a convoy: Temple-Raston, The Jihad Next Door, p. 195.

75 “We’re right over here”: Ibid., p. 196.

76 “We didn’t want publicity”: DeLong, Inside CentCom, pp. 70–71.

76 twenty-five yards: Ibid., p. 71.

76 DNA samples: Temple-Raston, The Jihad Next Door, p. 196.

76 US citizen: Dana Priest, “U.S. Citizen Among Those Killed In Yemen Predator Missile Strike,” Washington Post, November 8, 2002.

76 unindicted co-conspirator: James Risen and Marc Santora, “Threats and Responses: The Terror Network; Slain in Yemen Tied by U.S. to Buffalo Cell,” New York Times, November 10, 2002.

76 “card-carrying member”: Matthew Purdy and Lowell Bergman, “Where the Trail Led: Between Evidence and Suspicion; Unclear Danger: Inside the Lackawanna Terror Case,” New York Times, October 12, 2003. The other six men all pled guilty to terrorism-related charges and served time in federal prison. They have since been released. See Mary Friona and Claudine Ewing (WGRZ-TV), “Lackawanna Six: Ten Years Later,” wgrz.com, September 14, 2012.

76 “international killers”: Greg Miller and Josh Meyer, “U.S. Drops Bomb in Yemen, Kills Six al-Qaida Operatives,” Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2002.

76 “out of business”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers,” November 4, 2002.

77 “high-tech resources”: Mark Hosenball and Evan Thomas, “The Opening Shot; in a Show of Superpower Might, the CIA Kills a Qaeda Operative in Yemen and His American Ally,” Newsweek, November 18, 2002.

77 “successful tactical operation”: Transcript, CNN International, November 5, 2002.

77 “highly pissed”: Hosenball and Thomas, “The Opening Shot.”

77 “major problems”: DeLong, Inside CentCom, p. 71.

77 “it is so difficult”: Philip Smucker, “The Intrigue Behind the Drone Strike; Yemen Official Says US Lacks Discretion as Anti-terror Partner,” Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 2002.

77 truck bomb: DeLong, Inside CentCom, pp. 70–71.

77 “I hope so”: Hosenball and Thomas, “The Opening Shot.”

77 “deliberate killing”: Amnesty International, “Yemen/USA: Government Must Not Sanction Extra-judicial Executions,” November 8, 2002.

78 “constitutional questions”: Transcript, Fox News Sunday, Fox, November 10, 2002.

78 “Assassination as a norm”: Dana Priest, “CIA Killed U.S. Citizen in Yemen Missile Strike; Action’s Legality, Effectiveness Questioned,” Washington Post, November 8, 2002.

78 outside of Afghanistan: Chris Woods, “‘OK, fine. Shoot him.’ Four Words That Heralded a Decade of Secret US Drone Killings,” Bureau of Investigation Journalism, November 3, 2012.

78 “rules of engagement”: Miller and Meyer, “U.S. Drops Bomb in Yemen.”

78 “best way”: Transcript of President Bush’s prepared remarks radio address, November 16, 2002.

78 upgrading and expanding: Robert Schlesinger, “In Djibouti, US Special Forces Develop Base amid Secrecy,” Boston Globe, December 12, 2002. “The base has been transformed since the first US soldiers arrived, taking over a former French installation that was in advanced disrepair. Many of the old buildings were razed, replaced with a growing number of tents and hard buildings. Hesko barriers—wire and canvas structures filled with dirt—line roads, some of which are paved, many of which are bumpy gravel. The base has two gyms and the old French pool is close to being renovated. Where midday meals were once the military’s pre-packaged Meals Ready to Eat, four hot meals are now served daily.”

78 “where the action is”: Ibid.

79 “we can speak about”: Ibid.

79 fully operational: Agence France-Presse, “US Anti-Terror Chief Meets President of Troubled Yemen,” December 22, 2002.

79 more than four hundred soldiers: Transcript, “Joint Task Force Horn of Africa Briefing,” January 10, 2003.

79 “we’re relentless”: Mark Fineman, “New Phase of War on Terror Moves to E. Africa; American Military Presence Is Beefed Up as Navy Vessel Becomes a Mobile Forward Base,” Los Angeles Times, December 21, 2002.

79 Christmas decorations: Ibid.

79 “If they stumble”: Ibid.

79 met with President Saleh: “US Anti-Terror Chief Meets President of Troubled Yemen.”

79 “coordination”: Ibid.

79 “hunting for Qaeda members”: Patrick E. Tyler, “Yemen, an Uneasy Ally, Proves Adept at Playing Off Old Rivals,” New York Times, December 19, 2002.

79 “Needless to say”: Transcript, “Secretary Rumsfeld Town Hall Meeting at Camp Lemonier [sic], Djibouti,” December 11, 2002.

7: Special Plans

81 “gravest error”: Barton Gellman and Thomas E. Ricks, “US Concludes bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Flight; Failure to Send Troops in Pursuit Termed Major Error,” Washington Post, April 17, 2002.

81 “deep background”: Richard Sale, “Embarrassed Rumsfeld Fired CIA Official,” United Press International, July 28, 2004.

81 “assigned to another position”: Bob Woodward and Dan Eggen, “Aug. Memo Focused on Attacks in U.S. Lack of Fresh Information Frustrated Bush,” Washington Post, May 19, 2002.

81 Rumsfeld who had Black fired: Sale, “Embarrassed Rumsfeld Fired CIA Official.”

81 Black was replaced: Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus, “Station Chief Made Appeal to Destroy CIA Tapes; Lawyer Says Top Official Had Implicit Approval,” Washington Post, January 16, 2008.

81 zealous promoter: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., with Bill Harlow, Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives (New York: Threshold Editions, 2012), Preface, p. xiii. “I am certain, beyond any doubt, that these techniques, approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government… shielded the people of the United States from harm and led to the capture and killing of Usama bin Ladin.”

81 visiting the Agency: Dana Priest and Walter Pincus, “Some Iraq Analysts Felt Pressure from Cheney Visits,” Washington Post, June 5, 2003.

81 significant push-back: Bryan Burrough, Evgenia Peretz, David Rose, and David Wise, “The Path to War,” Vanity Fair, November 2004, p. 228.

81 “no credible information”: January 2003 CIA report, “Iraqi Support for Terrorism,” excerpted in “Report of an Inquiry into the Alternative Analysis of the Issue of an Iraq-al Qaeda Relationship,” by Senator Carl Levin, October 21, 2004.

82 “contradict the CIA’s own analyses”: Robert Dreyfuss, “The Pentagon Muzzles the CIA,” American Prospect, November 21, 2002.

82 “It’s [Feith’s] shop”: Transcript, “Department of Defense Press Briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Gen. Richard B. Myers, Chairman, JCS,” October 24, 2002.

82 “helping us sift”: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, “Pentagon Sets Up Intelligence Unit,” New York Times, October 24, 2002.

82 justification for an invasion of Iraq: Seymour M. Hersh, “Selective Intelligence: Donald Rumsfeld Has His Own Special Sources—Are They Really Reliable?” New Yorker, May 12, 2003.

82 “do it a lot better”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson (Ret.), May 2011.

82 Libby, made repeated trips: Julian Borger, “The Spies Who Pushed for War,” Guardian, July 17, 2003.

82 Newt Gingrich: Ibid.

82 William Luti: Franklin Foer and Spencer Ackerman, “The Radical; What Dick Cheney Really Believes,” New Republic, November 20, 2003.

83 taken a year to produce: Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007), p. 6.

83 commandeer a conference room: Ibid., pp. 3–4.

83 “hell-bent”: Rodriguez, Hard Measures, p. 125.

83 “unprecedented”: Ray McGovern, “Cheney Chicanery,” CommonDreams.org, July 29, 2003.

83 “‘alternative’ assessment”: Senator Carl Levin, “Report of an Inquiry into the Alternative Analysis of the Issue of an Iraq–al Qaeda Relationship,” October 21, 2004, p. 10.

83 Feith edited his reports: Ibid., pp. 16–24.

83 “conveyed a perception”: Ibid., p. 23.

83 “deprived of the opportunity”: Ibid., p. 24.

84 “unusual”: Ibid., p. 14.

84 discredited intelligence: Ibid., p. 15.

84 CIA attempts to discredit”: Ibid.

84 “questionable intelligence reports”: Ibid., p. 16.

84 “operational relationship”: Stephen F. Hayes, “Case Closed: The U.S. Government’s Secret Memo Detailing Cooperation Between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden,” Weekly Standard 9 (11), November 24, 2003.

8: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape

85 Some of the FBI personnel were disgusted: Ali Soufan, “My Tortured Decision,” New York Times, April 22, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html.

85 detained more than 3,000: James Risen and David Johnston, “Bush Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists,” New York Times, December 15, 2002.

85 “It is not going right”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Intel,” May 5, 2002, rumsfeld.com.

86 “Defense Department task”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, General Myers copied, “Subject: Finding Terrorists,” May 31, 2002, rumsfeld.com.

86 rescue, resisting: “About the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency,” United States Joint Forces Command, accessed September 5, 2012, www.jpra.mil/site_public/about/about.htm.

86 “totalitarian evil nation”: Transcript, documentary film, Torturing Democracy, an interview with Malcolm Nance, produced by Sherry Jones, co-produced by Carey Murphy and Washington Media Associates, in association with the National Security Archive (interview November 15, 2008).

86 During training: Documents provided in confidence to the author, as well as interviews with SERE participants and former instructors, November 2009 and January 2012; see also Jane Mayer, “The Experiment: The Military Trains People to Withstand Interrogation—Are Those Methods Being Misused at Guantanamo?” New Yorker, July 11, 2005.

86 “enemy torture methods”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011. All information and statements attributed to Malcolm Nance are from the author’s interview.

86 regimes and terror groups: Ibid.

86 running the interrogation, not harsh enough: Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition). “By October 2002, an internal JSOC assessment of interrogations at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, and [Gitmo] found that the resistance techniques of enemy combatants ‘outmatched’ the interrogation techniques of US forces. Higher [HQ] was not satisfied with the results, and JSOC picked up the rope.”

86 “From the beginning”: Colonel Steven Kleinman, prepared testimony for the Senate Armed Services Hearing, “The Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody,” September 25, 2008. The following quotes from Kleinman are from his prepared testimony.

87 reverse-engineered: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, Executive Summary at xiv, November 20, 2008.

87 “flagrantly violated the laws of war”: Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, “Prepared Statement: Senate Armed Services Committee ‘Military Commissions,’” December 12, 2001.

87 “exploitation”: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 6.

88 “neither reliable nor accurate”: JPRA memorandum to Pentagon’s Office of the General Counsel, “Operational Issues Pertaining to the Use of Physical/Psychological Coercion in Interrogation: An Overview,” July 2002, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/pdf/JPRA-Memo_042409.pdf.

88 “detainee resistance”: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, Executive Summary, at xiv.

88 “exploitation plan”: Ibid.

88 receiving training: Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, “Harsh Tactics Readied Before Their Approval,” Washington Post, April 22, 2009.

88 “effects of waterboarding,” “list of SERE techniques,” Richard Shiffrin: Senate Armed Services Committee Report, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, Executive Summary, at xiv.

88 “mind-control experiments”: Mark Mazzetti, “Ex-Pentagon Lawyers Face Inquiry on Interrogation Role,” New York Times, June 17, 2008.

88 same information: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 31.

88 National Security Council: Peter Finn and Joby Warrick, “2002 Document Referred to Extreme Duress as ‘Torture,’ Warned of Techniques’ Unreliability,” Washington Post, April 25, 2009.

89 “even death”: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, Office of the Assistant Attorney General, “Memo for Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President; Re: Standards for Conduct for Interrogation under 18 USC, sections 2340-2340 A,” August 1, 2002.

89 legal justification: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, Office of the Assistant Attorney General, “Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency,” August 1, 2002.

89 “deniability”: Transcript, “Hard Measures,” interview by Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes, CBS, April 29, 2012.

89 specific interrogation techniques: Joby Warrick and Dan Egan, “Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002,” Washington Post, December 9, 2007.

89 never briefed: Paul Kane, “Pelosi Denies Knowing Interrogation Techniques Were Used,” Capitol Briefing (blog), Washington Post, April 23 2009, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/04/pelosi_denies_knowing_interrog.html. However, under continued public pressure, Pelosi further admitted that later, after she had left the Intelligence Committee, an aide informed her of their use; see Deirdre Walsh, “Source: Aide told Pelosi Waterboarding Had Been Used,” CNN.com, May 12, 2009.

89 claimed otherwise: Warrick and Egan, “Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002.”

89 Some were snatched: International Committee of the Red Cross, “ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen ‘High Value Detainees’ in CIA Custody,” February 2007. The following descriptions of inhumane treatment in US custody are from the Red Cross report.

90 “ten different sites”: Ibid., p. 6.

90 “experimenting”: Ibid., p. 31.

91 “designated unlawful combatants”: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 3, “Interrogations and Intelligence.”

91 reporting to the White House: Greg Miller, “Cheney OK’d Harsh CIA Tactics,” Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2008.

91 Copper Green, Matchbox: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 3, “Interrogations and Intelligence.”

91 legal definition of covert action: Title 50 US Code, Section 413b, “Presidential Approval and Reporting of Covert Actions.”

91 prevent scandals: Richard A. Best Jr., “Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions,” Congressional Research Service, December 27, 2011.

92 “clandestine operations”: Joint Publication 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, November 8, 2010 (As Amended Through November 15, 2012).

92 “Traditional Military Activities”: Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, H.R. 1455, July 25, 1991. “It is the intent of the conferees that ‘traditional military activities’ include activities by military personnel under the direction and control of a United States military commander (whether or not the U.S. sponsorship of such activities is apparent or later to be acknowledged) preceding and related to hostilities which are either anticipated (meaning approval has been given by the National Command Authorities for the activities and or operational planning for hostilities) to involve U.S. military forces, or where such hostilities involving United States military forces are ongoing, and, where the fact of the U.S. role in the overall operation is apparent or to be acknowledged publicly. In this regard, the conferees intend to draw a line between activities that are and are not under the direction and control of the military commander. Activities that are not under the direction and control of a military commander should not be considered as ‘traditional military activities.’”

92 no real-time oversight rights: Seymour M. Hersh, “Preparing the Battlefield; The Bush Administration Steps Up Its Secret Moves Against Iran,” New Yorker, July 7, 2008.

92 “Preparing the Battlespace,” Advance Force Operations: Michael Respass, “Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace,” Strategy Research Project, US Army War College, July 4, 2003.

92 work-around: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R. Rep. No. 111-186 (2009) (accompanying H.R. 2701).

93 delegating military assets: 50 United States Code, Section 413b, “Presidential Approval and Reporting of Covert Actions.”

93 “organize for a manhunt,” “develop a plan”: Seymour M. Hersh, “Manhunt: The Bush Administration’s New Strategy in the War Against Terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002.

93 five-year plan: Rowan Scarborough, “Billions Needed to Fight al Qaeda; General Requests More Troops, Too,” Washington Times, September 24, 2002.

93 outpaced the military’s abilities: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, “Ranks and Growing Pains in Taking Key Antiterror Role,” New York Times, August 2, 2004.

94 “actionable intelligence”: Hersh, “Manhunt.”

94 “intelligence wasn’t good enough”: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011).

94 “fighting generals”: Hersh, “Manhunt.”

94 “those who support them”: “Fact Sheet on New Counter-Terrorism and Cyberspace Positions; National Director and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism General Wayne Downing (U.S. Army Ret.),” Office of the Press Secretary, October 9, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011009.html.

94 “blacker/lower visibility force”: Memo from General Wayne Downing to Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Special Operations Forces Assessment,” November 9, 2005, www.rumsfeld.com.

94 “bypassed Special Operations Command”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), May 2011.

95 “That’s dangerous”: Ibid.

95 “Gray Fox”: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 8, “The Activity.”

95 mirrored the capabilities: Barton Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain; New Espionage Branch Delving into CIA Territory,” Washington Post, January 23, 2005.

95 handed over to the CIA: Linda Robinson, “Moves That Matter; in the Intelligence Wars, a Pre-emptive Strike by the Pentagon Surprises Many in Congress,” US News and World Report, August 12, 2002.

95 Project Icon: Barton Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain; New Espionage Branch Delving into CIA Territory,” Washington Post, January 23, 2005.

95 “new clandestine teams”: Josh White and Barton Gellman, “Defense Espionage Unit to Work with CIA,” Washington Post, January 25, 2005; Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.”

95 Strategic Support Branch: Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.”

95 transferred Gray Fox: Seymour M. Hersh, “The Coming Wars,” New Yorker, January 24, 2005.

96 “emerging target countries,” “without detection”: Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.” The following details about “internal Pentagon documents” and the Strategic Support Branch come from the Washington Post.

96 “viewed the CIA as a weak sister”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012.

97 lose their Geneva Convention status: Colonel Kathryn Stone, “‘All Necessary Means’—Employing CIA Operatives in a Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces,” USAWC Strategy Research Project (U.S. Army War College, 2003).

97 officially run: Barbara Starr, “Pentagon Runs Clandestine Intelligence-Gathering Infrastructure,” CNN.com, January 24, 2005.

97 Strategic Defense Initiative: Kerry Gildea, “Rumsfeld Adviser Brings Precise Analytical Approach to DoD Post,” Defense Daily, January 31, 2001.

97 special projects: Official Department of Defense biography, “Dr. Stephen A. Cambone; Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence,” January 13, 2006.

97 special assistant: Ibid.

97 “The effort has to be global”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to unnamed recipient(s), “Memorandum 9/23/01,” www.rumsfeld.com.

97 “Capabilities”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Capabilities,” September 23, 2001, www.rumsfeld.com.

97 “Opportunity”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Opportunity,” September 26, 2001, www.rumsfeld.com.

97 “They are all cast in the same mode”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (Ret.), September 2010. All statements and information attributed to Patrick Lang are from the author’s interviews.

98 “increase the total number”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Increase Special Forces,” January 15, 2002, www.rumsfeld.com.

98 free up as many shooters: Memo from Stephen A. Cambone to Donald Rumsfeld, “Subject: Conventional Forces/Special Forces,” September 16, 2002, www.rumsfeld.com/library/.

98 “preliminary pre-clearance”: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 21.

98 “Combat Applications Group”: Marc Ambinder, “Delta Force Gets a Name Change,” TheAtlantic.com, posted October 10, 2010.

98 “number of steps”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers,” January 7, 2003.

98 new portfolio: Thomas E. Ricks, “Rumsfeld Stands Tall After Iraq Victory,” Washington Post, April 20, 2003.

99 report directly: DoD Directive 5143.01, issued November 23, 2005, “Subject: Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (US-D(I)),” www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/d5143_01.pdf.

99 “center of gravity”: Spencer Ackerman, “Rumsfeld’s Intelligence Takeover,” New Republic, June 10, 2004.

99 “Rumsfeld wasn’t an evil man”: Author interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, June 2012.

99 original member: Biography of Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (Ret.), www.kingdomwarriors.net/about.php. Kingdom Warriors is a ministry founded by General Boykin and Dr. Stuart K. Weber.

99 “saw great opportunities”: Memorandum for the record prepared by Bonnie D. Jenkins, counsel on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (9/11 Commission), “Interview of Major General William Boykin,” November 7, 2003, www.archives.gov/research/9-11/commission-memoranda.html. The following characterizations and quotes from Boykin come from Jenkins’s description of the interview.

99 “dangerous for U.S. foreign policy”: Jennifer D. Kibbe, “The Rise of the Shadow Warriors,” Foreign Affairs 83 (2) (March–April 2004): 102.

100 “It kinda went wild”: Author interview, Vincent Cannistraro, August 2010.

100 “shown a propensity”: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R. Rep. No. 111-186 (2009) (accompanying H.R. 2701).

100 “thrown under the bus”: Author interview, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, August 2010. All information and statements attributed to Colonel Macgregor come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

100 famous tank battle: Richard J. Newman, “Renegades Finish Last: A Colonel’s Innovative Ideas Don’t Sit Well with the Brass,” US News and World Report, July 20, 1997.

101 “By entering the friendly country”: Stone, “‘All Necessary Means.’”

9: The Troublemaker: Stanley McChrystal

102 son of an Army general: Dexter Filkins, “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War,” New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009.

102 enrolled at West Point: Ibid.

102 “troublemaker”: Evan Thomas, “McChrystal’s War,” Newsweek, September 25, 2009.

102 mock raid: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 161.

102 graduated: “Biography of General Stanley McChrystal,” Council on Foreign Relations, 2010, www.cfr.org/afghanistan/biography-general-stanley-mcchrystal/p19396. Information about McChrystal’s education and military assignments comes from the biography, unless otherwise noted.

102 “I missed Panama”: Thomas, “McChrystal’s War.”

102 revolutionized: Hastings, The Operators, pp. 171–172.

102 “I’ve never shot anyone”: Thomas, “McChrystal’s War.”

103 “My Ranger peers”: Dalton Fury, “The Pope,” Small Wars Journal, May 14, 2009. All quotations of Dalton Fury come from this essay.

103 “the Rangers were just as skilled”: Ibid.

103 Military Fellowship Selection Board: “Overview of the Studies Program, 1998–99,” Council on Foreign Relations.

104 “It is military reality”: Stanley A. McChrystal, “Memorandum to the President,” in Humanitarian Intervention: Crafting a Workable Doctrine: Three Options Presented as Memoranda to the President, Project Director Alton Frye, Council Policy Initiative, Council on Foreign Relations (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2000), pp. 56, 62.

104 forward headquarters: “Combined Joint Task Force 82,” GlobalSecurity.org, accessed June 1, 2012, www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/cjtf-180.htm.

104 ran a “hybrid organization”: Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan—and the Path to Victory (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), p.29.

104 task force’s mission: Dr. Donald P. Wright, James R. Bird, Steven E. Clay, Peter W. Connors, Lieutenant Colonel Scott C. Farquhar, Lynne Chandler Garcia, and Dennis F. Van Wey, A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001–September 2005 (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2010), pp. 209–210.

104 interrogating prisoners, night raids: Ibid., p. 220.

104 “blueprint for the war against terrorism”: Elizabeth Neuffer, “Fighting Terror; Afghanistan on the Front Lines: In US Strategy, Myriad Hazards; Some See Tactics Bolstering Role of Local Warlords,” Boston Globe, July 7, 2002.

104 prisoner abuse scandal: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, pp. 151–152 (2008).

104 tried in connection: Lianne Hart, “Afghan Detainee’s Leg Was ‘Pulpified,’ Witness Says,” Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2005.

105 director of intelligence: “Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, USA, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency,” Defense Intelligence Agency, accessed August 10, 2012, www.dia.mil/about/leadership/director.html. Information about General Flynn’s military career is from his official biography, unless otherwise noted.

105 hard-partying surfer: Hastings, The Operators, p. 27.

105 “equipped with low density systems”: Second Lieutenant Ethan T. Vessels, “Pillar of Intelligence Training: The 111th MI Brigade,” Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin 21 (4) (October 1995), at www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/mipb/1995-4/vessels.htm.

105 “The super secret”: William Arkin, “Secret Soldiers: Will Our Military Be Dominated by Forces Shielded from Scrutiny?” op-ed, Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2003.

105 one thousand personnel: Josh White, “US Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Study Finds,” Washington Post, December 1, 2004.

105 “among the first troops”: Dana Priest and William Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State (New York: Little, Brown, 2011), p. 235.

106 “There were a lot of us”: Hastings, The Operators, p. 90.

106 “made more difficult”: Transcript, “HBO History Makers Series with Stanley McChrystal,” interview with Tom Brokaw, Council on Foreign Relations, October 6, 2011.

106 “the daily lie,” “I don’t benefit,” “not the best use”: Allison Stevens, “Lawmakers Split About Benefits of Private Briefings on Status of Iraq War,” Congressional Daily Monitor, April 9, 2003.

107 “My staff goes”: Ibid.

107 “They simply give us the facts”: Ibid.

107 “more extensive”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—[Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria] Clarke and Maj. Gen. McChrystal,” April 4, 2003.

107 “very focused targeting”: Transcript, “Special Targeting Procedures,” Foreign Press Center Briefing with Major General McChrystal, April 3, 2003.

107 “I would anticipate”: Eric Schmitt and Bernard Weinraub, “A Nation at War: Military; Pentagon Asserts the Main Fighting Is Finished in Iraq,” New York Times, April 15, 2003.

107 one meal, twelve miles: Dexter Filkins, “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War,” New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009.

107 Talladega Nights, Bud Lite Lime: Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, July 8, 2010.

107 “unique warrior”: Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012. All information and statements attributed to Andrew Exum are from the author’s interview.

108 Janet Reno: Marc Ambinder, “The Night Beat: Obama Borrows the Military Back,” TheAtlantic.com, June 23, 2010.

108 “epitome of a warrior”: Author interview, former Special Operations staffer, March 2011.

108 “McChrystal is stubborn”: Dalton Fury, “The Pope,” Small Wars Journal, May 14, 2009. The following quotations of Dalton Fury come from his essay.

109 “A third generation soldier”: Carl Prine, “McChrystal Clear,” Line of Departure (blog), Military.com, June 3, 2012.

109 “I like Stan”: Author interview, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, August 2010. All statements and information attributed to Colonel Macgregor come from the author’s interview.

110 “great crusade against Islam”: Author interview with retired military officer, July 2010.

110 Catholic convert: James Dao, “Aftereffects: The Overseer—Man in the News; at the Helm in Shattered Iraq: Lewis Paul Bremer III,” New York Times, May 8, 2003.

110 “Our retribution”: L. Paul Bremer III, “Crush Them; Let Us Wage Total War on Our Foes,” op-ed, Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2001.

110 “running the occupation”: Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, with Malcolm McConnell, My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope (New York: Threshold Editions, 2006), pp. 6–7.

111 “paramount authority figure”: Ibid., p. 2.

111 brainchild: Ibid., p. 37. Bremer describes Defense Secretary Rumsfeld as giving him his “marching orders” to proceed with de-Baathification, with Feith doing the groundwork.

111 “Order 1”: Naomi Klein, “Baghdad Year Zero,” Harper’s, September 2004.

111 “450,000 enemies”: David Rieff, “Blueprint for a Mess,” New York Times Magazine, November 2, 2003.

111 “We are going to fight them”: Transcript, Interview with L. Paul Bremer III, Breakfast with Frost, BBC, June 29, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/3029904.stm.

111 “My fellow Americans”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln,” May 1, 2003.

111 were killed: Ann Scott Tyson, “Anatomy of the Raid on Hussein’s Sons,” Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2003.

111 “the phrase ‘guerrilla war’”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers,” June 30, 2003.

111 “classical guerrilla-type campaign”: Brian Knowlton, “Top US General in Iraq Sees ‘Classical Guerrilla-Type’ War,” New York Times, July 16, 2003.

112 “significant terrorist threat”: Alissa J. Rubin, Mark Fineman, and Edmund Sanders, “Iraqis on Council to Get Guards,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2003.

112 United Nations headquarters: Sameer N. Yacoub (AP), “Huge Explosion Rocks UN Headquarters in Iraq,” USA Today (USAToday.com), August 20, 2003; CBS/AP, “Baghdad Bomb Crude but Deadly,” CBSNews.com.

112 alleged: Associated Press, “CIA Feels al-Qaida Tape on Iraq Is Probably Authentic,” NBCNews.com, April 7, 2004. The United States and the UN both cited the August 2003 attack in their sanctions against Zarqawi and his group. In a 2004 audiotape, a man claiming to be Zarqawi took credit for the UN attack. An unnamed agency official told journalists that the tape was “probably authentic.”

112 “determined adversaries”: Transcript, remarks as delivered by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Veterans of Foreign Wars event, San Antonio, TX, August 25, 2003.

113 withdraw all remaining: Edith M. Lederer, “Annan Orders U.N. Cutbacks in Iraq Staff,” Associated Press, September 25, 2003.

113 traveled to Afghanistan: Mary Anne Weaver, “The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,” Atlantic, July–August 2006.

113 indicted in absentia: “Jordan Says Major al Qaeda Plot Disrupted,” CNN.com, April 26, 2004.

113 medical treatment: Brian Ross, “CIA Questions Saddam’s Ties to al Qaeda,” ABCNews.go.com, October 5, 2004.

113 “some al-Qaeda leaders”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President on Iraq,” Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7, 2002.

113 “deadly terrorist network”: Transcript, Colin Powell address before the United Nations Security Council, February 5, 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/world/threats-responses-powell-s-address-presenting-deeply-troubling-evidence-iraq.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.

113 was a dubious one: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Postwar Findings About Iraq’s WMD Programs and Links to Terrorism and How They Compare with Prewar Assessments, S. Report 109-331, p. 63 (2006).

113 $25 million bounty: “U.S. Raises Zarqawi Reward to $25m,” CNN.com, July 1, 2004.

113 pledge allegiance: Weaver, “The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.”

114 “They killed huge numbers”: Author interview, Gareth Porter, September 2010.

114 September 16, 2003, fifteen countries: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, pp. 236–237.

114 “the nexus”: Advance Questions for Lieutenant General Bryan D. Brown, USA Nominee for Commander, accessed August 10, 2012, www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2003_hr/brown.pdf.

114 “capturing, killing, or deterring”: Donald Rumsfeld, memorandum for Gen. Richard Myers, Paul Wolfowitz, Gen. Peter Pace, and Douglas Feith, “Subject: The Global War on Terrorism,” October 16, 2003, published in full by USAToday.com, May 20, 2005.

115 consumer product: Lisa Burgess, “Buyers Beware: The Real Iraq ‘Most Wanted’ Cards Are Still Awaiting Distribution,” Stars and Stripes, April 17, 2003.

115 “forward commander”: John Barry and Michael Hirsh, “The Hunt Heats Up,” Newsweek, March 14, 2004.

115 “‘grow up to be 007’”: Barton Gellman, “Person of the Year 2011; Runners-Up; William McRaven: The Admiral,” Time, December 14, 2011.

115 constituent SEAL teams: Ibid.

115 debauched parties: Ibid.

115 “The SEALS were happy”: Ibid.

116 “some questionable activities”: Barry and Hirsh, “The Hunt Heats Up.”

116 “end of his career”: Gellman, “Person of the Year 2011.”

116 twenty-one months: Orr Kelly, Brave Men—Dark Waters: The Untold Story of the Navy SEALs (Novato, CA: Pocket Books, 1992), p. 235.

116 “task unit”: “Admiral William H. McRaven, Commander, United States Special Operations Command, United States Navy,” United States Navy, accessed August 5, 2012, www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=401. Information about Admiral McRaven’s subsequent assignments comes from his official biography.

116 first graduate: Amanda D. Stein, “USSOCOM McRaven Honors Longtime NPS Professor During SGL,” Naval Postgraduate School, June 11, 2012, www.nps.edu/About/News/USSOCOM-McRaven-Honors-Long-time-NPS-Professor-During-SGL.html.

116 “the smartest SEAL that ever lived”: Gellman, “Person of the Year 2011.”

116 fractured his pelvis: Ibid.

117 principal author: Ibid.

117 vetting and assembling: Author interview, confidential source, June 2012.

10: “Their Intention and Our intention is the Same”

118 secluded airstrip: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

118 powerful warlords: Emily Meehan, “Notes from a Failed State: Entry 2,” Slate, August 19, 2008.

118 smuggling mira: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011. See also, Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Mohamed Abdoulaye M’Backe, and Brynjulf Mugaas, “Report of the Panel of Experts on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1425 (2002),” Panel of Experts on Somalia, United Nations Security Council, March 25, 2003, p. 39.

118 Bluebird Aviation: Ibid. Many journalists have documented the smuggling business run by Bluebird Aviation. See Donald G. McNeil Jr., “Correspondence/Touring Somalia: When All Else Fails (Like the State), Take the Drug Flight into Town,” New York Times, February 3, 2002.

118 “American intelligence”: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011. Quotations from Mohamed Afrah Qanyare come from the interview with the author, unless otherwise noted.

119 simultaneous attacks: Dexter Filkins, “Terror in Africa: Attacks in Mombasa; Kenyans Hunting Clues to Bombing; Toll Rises to Thirteen,” New York Times, November 30, 2002.

119 Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582: Tim Butcher, “Missiles Launched at Holiday Plane as Bombers Bring Carnage to Hotel,” Telegraph, November 29, 2002.

119 later indicted: United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 2000, cns.miis.edu/reports/pdfs/binladen/indict.pdf.

119 assembling a team: Johan Peleman, Edward Howard Johns, Pavanjeet Singh Sandhu, and John Tambi, “Report of the Panel of Experts on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1474 (2003),” UN Security Council, published November 4, 2003, pp. 29–30.

119 weapons black market: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia: Losing Hearts and Minds?” Africa Report No. 95, July 11, 2005, p. 8.

119 Tariq Abdullah: Ibid.

119 traced back to him: Marc Lacey, “Threats and Responses: African Investigation; Kenya Clears Fishermen, Saying They Had No Ties to Attackers,” New York Times, December 14, 2002.

119 principal intermediary: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia.”

119 escaped to Somalia: J. Peleman, E. H. Johns, P. S. Sandhu, and J. Tambi, “Report of the Panel of Experts on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council resolution 1425 (2002),” UN Security Council, published March 25, 2003, pp. 29–30.

120 Mennonite missionaries, keeping the books: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

120 once or twice a week: Ibid.

120 US team: Sean D. Naylor, “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets,” Army Times, November 14, 2011.

120 “The airport is inland”: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

120 network of surveillance: Naylor, “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

120 pay him $100,000–$150,000: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

120 “non-traditional liaison partners”: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI2425 from Ambassador William Bellamy, US Embassy Nairobi, “Somalia: A Strategy for Engagement,” June 2, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06NAIROBI2425.html.

120 “Operation Black Hawk”: Naylor, “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

121 Radical Islam was new: Dr. Ken Menkhaus, “Political Islam in Somalia,” Middle East Policy 9 (1) (March 2002). Menkhaus writes, “Despite—or perhaps because of—the fact that it is the only country in the Horn of Africa which is almost entirely Muslim, Somalia has not historically been home to the same level of radical Islamic political activity as has been the case in neighboring, religiously divided states.”

121 “Either you are with us”: President Bush, “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People,” Washington, DC, September 20, 2001.

121 “We are with you”: Author interview, Ismail Mahmoud Hurre, June 2011.

121 groups and individuals, “disrupt the financial support”: Executive Order 13224, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, September 23, 2011, www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/122570.htm.

121 largely disbanded: International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Divided Islamists,” Africa Briefing No. 74, May 18, 2010, pp. 3–4.

121 insurrection: David Chazan, “Who Are al-Ittihad?” BBC.co.uk, November 30, 2002.

122 assassinations in Ethiopia: International Crisis Group, “Somalia: Countering Terrorism in a Failed State,” Africa Report No. 45, May 23, 2002, p. 10.

122 Task Force 150: Michael R. Gordon, “Threats and Responses: The Operations; U.S. Turns Horn of Africa into a Military Hub,” New York Times, November 17, 2002.

122 “not a question of ‘if’”: “US Chides German Minister,” BBC.co.uk, December 20, 2001.

122 “a funny report”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld,” December 19, 2001.

122 “ripe for misuse”: Alan Sipress and Peter Slevin, “Powell Wary of Iraq Move; U.S. Eyes Somalia in Continuing Al Qaeda Hunt,” Washington Post, December 21, 2001.

122 “rebuilding its infrastructure”: Ambassador William Bellamy, “Somalia: A Strategy for Engagement.”

122 “terror cells being in Somalia”: Associated Press, “U.S. Concerned About Terrorist Activity in Somalia,” Navy Times, December 12, 2001.

122 “Identifying Somalia as a terrorist base”: Simon Reeve, “News Analysis; U.S. Returning to a Nightmare Called Somalia,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 16, 2001.

123 “People mention Somalia”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz and Rear Admiral Stufflebeem,” December 10, 2001.

123 “small potatoes”: Karl Vick, “Al Qaeda Ally in Somalia in Tatters; Only Remnants Remain of Potential U.S. Target,” Washington Post, February 24, 2002.

123 “There’s no need”: Ibid.

123 between ten and twelve: Ibid.

123 “abysmal”: Ibid.

123 “bring the full resources”: Author interview, former task force member, March 2011.

124 team on standby: Naylor, “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

124 removed from the Somali equation”: Ambassador William Bellamy, “Somalia: A Strategy for Engagement.”

124 included in a 1998 indictment: United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 2000, cns.miis.edu/reports/pdfs/binladen/indict.pdf.

124 “cut the head off”: John J. Goldman, “Testimony Shines Light on Bid [sic] Laden’s Terror Strategy,” Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2001.

124 250 jihadists: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Vintage Books, 2006), p. 214.

124 “The youth were surprised”: John Miller, “Greetings, America. My Name is Osama Bin Laden,” Esquire, February 1, 1999.

124 “never heard of bin Laden”: Reeve, “U.S. Returning to a Nightmare Called Somalia.”

125 Operation Gothic Serpent, Garrison, contingent’s commander: Michael Smith, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008), pp. 179–180.

125 “This ragged place”: Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (Ret.), with Lynn Vincent, Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom (New York: FaithWords, 2008), p. 276.

125 ramping up: Smith, Killer Elite, p. 189.

125 retired: “Pillars of Success: William F. Garrison (BBA ’66),” The University of Texas-Pan American, accessed November 20, 2012, http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/dua_2011/alumni_home/awards/pillars_of_success/2008/#.UO0VRxzKZcQ.

125 exactly two days, injuries: Haroun M. Hassan, “Gen. Mohamed Aidid, Self-Proclaimed Somali President, Is Dead,” Associated Press, August 2, 1996.

125 five members: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 305.

125 electric shock: Andrew Higgins and Christopher Cooper, “CIA-Backed Team Used Brutal Means to Break Up Cell in Albania,” Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2001.

125 “a language they will understand”: Wright, The Looming Tower, pp. 305–306.

125 Ten Most Wanted List: Dan Eggen, “Bin Laden, Most Wanted for Embassy Bombings?” Washington Post, August 28, 2006.

125 payback: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 308.

125 eighth anniversary: Phil Hirschkorn, “Embassy Bombings Jury Asks for Even More Evidence,” CNN.com, May 14, 2001.

125 “all the means at our disposal”: Philip Shenon, “Bombings in East Africa: In Washington; Focus on Suspects in Past Attacks,” New York Times, August 8, 1998.

126 “not inconsistent,” arresting: Joint Inquiry Briefing by Staff on US Government Counterterrorism Organizations (Before September 11, 2001) and on the Evolution of the Terrorist Threat and U.S. Response: 1986–2001, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, June 11, 2002.

126 “was much easier”: Richard H. Shultz Jr., “Showstoppers: Nine Reasons Why We Never Sent Our Special Operations Forces After al Qaeda Before 9/11,” Weekly Standard 9 (19), January 26, 2004.

126 “Don’t let these SOF guys”: Ibid.

126 scouting missions: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia.”

126 Operation Infinite Reach: James Risen, “To Bomb Sudan Plant, or Not: A Year Later, Debates Rankle,” New York Times, October 27, 1999.

126 half of Sudan’s medications: European Sudanese Public Affairs Council, “‘Confused, Inconclusive and Contradictory’: An Assessment and Analysis of the American Government’s ‘Evidence’ for the Cruise Missile Attack on Sudan,” September 1998, www.espac.org/al_shifa_pages/al-shifa_1.asp.

126 “long-term struggle”: Transcript, “Terrorism on Trial,” NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, February 5, 2001.

127 “small slice of Mogadishu”: Author interview, Ismail Mahmoud Hurre, June 2011.

127 “a low-to-invisible”: General Wayne A. Downing (Ret.), Forward to report by Clint Watts, Jacob Shapiro, and Vahid Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” The Harmony Project, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, July 2, 2007.

127 fly from Nairobi, ground rules: Naylor, “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

127 reluctant to pull the trigger: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

127 captured in spring 2003: Human Rights Watch, “Off the Record: US Responsibility for Forced Disappearances in the ‘War on Terror,’” June 2007.

127 Mohamed Dheere: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia.”

127 two secret prisons: Human Rights Watch, “Off the Record: US Responsibility for Forced Disappearances.”

127 home of a Somali militant, Sudani: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia.”

128 According to Isse: Paul Salopek, “‘Nobody Is Watching’; America’s Hidden War in Somalia,” Chicago Tribune, November 24, 2008. Information about Isse’s time in US custody comes from this article.

128 “The scramble”: International Crisis Group, “Counter-Terrorism in Somalia.”

128 repatriate them, execute them: Author interview, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

128 “already heinous warlords”: Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011.

128 “may seem unpalatable”: Ambassador William Bellamy, “Somalia: A Strategy for Engagement.”

129 “No mercy”: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

129 “US government was not helping”: Author interview, Ismail Mahmoud Hurre, June 2011.

129 “Jedi Knights”: John Barry and Michael Hirsh, “The Hidden General,” Newsweek, June 25, 2006.

11: “A Defeated Enemy Is Not a Vanquished One”

130 Shortly after 11:00 p.m.: Owen Bowcott and David Pallister, “‘The Message Is: You’re Not Safe Here,’” Guardian, May 13, 2003.

130 Vinnell Corporation, pro-US Saudi billionaire: “One Bombed Compound Owned by Pro-Western Saudi,” CNN.com, May 13, 2003.

130 Al Mohaya housing compound: “Riyadh Attack Death Toll Mounts,” BBC.co.uk, November 9, 2003.

130 campaign against al Qaeda: Evan Osnos, “Al Qaeda Blamed for Saudi Blast; Death Toll at Seventeen; Americans Are Among Wounded,” Chicago Tribune, November 10, 2003.

130 Muhammad Hamdi al Ahdal: “Yemen Arrests a Leading Member of Al Qaeda,” New York Times, November 26, 2003.

130 arrested more than one hundred: Craig S. Smith, “Fire on French Tanker off Yemen Raises Terrorism Fears,” New York Times, October 7, 2002.

130 “There was an interlude”: Yemen: Confronting al-Qaeda, Preventing State Failure, Hearing Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 111th Cong. 53 (2010) (prepared testimony of Gregory D. Johnsen).

131 disillusioned: Author interviews, former Special Operations Forces members, February 2011 and March 2011.

131 Houthi minority launched: Christopher Boucek, “War in Saada: From Local Insurrection to National Challenge,” Carnegie Paper series Yemen: On the Brink, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2010, www.carnegieendowment.org/files/war_in_saada.pdf.

131 special operations forces: See US diplomatic cable 09SANAA2230 from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Subject: Yemen’s Counter Terrorism Unit Stretched Thin by War Against Houthis,” December 17, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2230.html.

131 “eas[ing] the persecution”: “Yemen: Al-Qaeda Fighting Rebels ‘at Government’s Request,’” Adnkronos.com, January 31, 2008.

131 backed up: Author interviews, former US intelligence and military officials, January 2011 and February 2011.

131 $10 million a month: David Hughes, “Yemen’s Problems Are the Region’s Problems,” NATO Review (blog), accessed March 2012, www.nato.int/docu/review/2010/yemen/Yemen_region_problems/EN/index.htm.

132 $2 billion a year: Camille Pecastaing, Jihad in the Arabian Sea (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2011, Kindle edition).

132 indicted in 2003: Attorney General John Ashcroft, prepared remarks, “Indictment for the Bombing of the U.S.S. Cole,” Washington, DC, May 15, 2003.

132 “The Yemeni constitution prohibits”: “An Interview with President Ali Abdullah Saleh,” New York Times, June 28, 2008.

132 “dialogue council”: Barak Barfi, “Yemen on the Brink? The Resurgence of al Qaeda in Yemen,” Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Policy Paper, New America Foundation, January 2010, www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/NAF_YemenOnTheBrink.pdf.

132 “Yemeni state felt an urgent need”: Ane Skov Birk, “Incredible Dialogues: Religious Dialogue as a Means of Counter-Terrorism in Yemen,” Series Developments in Radicalisation and Political Violence, The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, April 2009, http://icsr.info/2009/06/incredible-dialogues-religious-dialogue-as-a-means-of-counter-terrorism-in-yemen/.

132 “gross violations”: Ibid.

132 return to the struggle, discontinued: Barfi, “Yemen on the Brink?”

132 “After the Cole”: Author interview, former US counterterrorism official, January 2011.

132 escaped from prison: Associated Press, “Main Suspects in USS Cole Bombing Escape from Yemeni Prison,” FoxNews.com, April 11, 2003.

133 “Al-Qaeda intends”: Michael Sheuer, “Yemen Still Close to al-Qaeda’s Heart,” Asia Times Online, February 7, 2008.

133 “Our operations”: James L. Pavitt, Deputy Director for Operations on Weapons Mass of Destruction (WMD) Programs, Written Statement for the Record, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, April 14, 2004.

12: “Never Trust a Nonbeliever”

134 give Britain another shot: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, September 2012.

134 among Awlaki’s sponsors: Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad,” The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, London, 2011.

134 “they sought to co-opt”: Ibid. All quotations of Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens come from this paper. The author does not intend to suggest that the organizations named in this chapter in any way condoned or espoused the radical views held by Awlaki later in his life, particularly with regard to jihad. Their support for Awlaki in 2003 seems to have been based on his ability to preach a conservative religious message with charisma and cultural savvy. As former colleagues and family members have noted, this style of preaching was quite novel at the time.

134 “icons of Western Salafism”: Ibid.

134 “forced down the throats”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Introduction [Makkan Period],” You-Tube video, 49:20, from a sixteen-CD lecture series produced by al-Bashir Audio, undated, posted by “Muslim Knight,” September 12, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts36mQfviE.

135 “never, ever trust a kuffar”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Never, Ever Trust the (Kuffar) Non-Believer—Anwar al-Awlaki,” You-Tube video, 13:12, from a series of lectures delivered by Awlaki called “The Life and Times of Umar bin Khattab,” at the East London Mosque in London, United Kingdom, December 2003, posted by “nevertrusttherkuffar,” October 9, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SALh9tTvZ4.

136 “We are watching”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki: Stop Police Terror, Part 1 of 3,” YouTube video, 10:19, from an audio recording of a lecture delivered by Awlaki as part of a London-based campaign called “Stop Police Terror” at East London Mosque on December 26, 2003, posted by “Haqq13,” May 24, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U6wGQkOLBc.

136 “We are arresting people”: “Police Question Terror Suspects,” BBC.co.uk, December 3, 2003.

136 “there is a Guantánamo Bay”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki: Stop Police Terror, Part 3 of 3,” from an audio recording of a lecture delivered by Awlaki as part of a London-based campaign called “Stop Police Terror” at East London Mosque on December 26, 2003, posted by “Haqq13,” May 24, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6JC4hzaTgY.

136 “He became a social figure”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

137 “The Jews and the Christians”: Awlaki, “Never, Ever Trust the (Kuffar) Non-Believer.”

137 “I want to state”: Anwar al Awlaki, transcription of lecture from series, “The Story of Ibn al-Akwa: Sheikh Noor al-Din Shahaada,” produced by Dar Ibn al-Mubarak, 2003, transcription by Meleagrou-Hitchens, found in “As American as Apple Pie.”

137 unable to afford: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, September 2012.

137 “I’ve got a feeling”: Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie.”

13: “You Don’t Have to Prove to Anyone That You Did Right”

138 “tracking and then capturing”: Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, “Pentagon Says a Covert Force Hunts Hussein,” New York Times, November 7, 2003.

138 run by McRaven: John Barry and Michael Hirsh, “The Hunt Heats Up,” Newsweek, March 14, 2004.

138 Special Activities Division, “the Activity”: “Agencies Unite to Find bin Laden,” Washington Times, March 15, 2004.

138 “tightening the sensor-to-shooter loop”: Ibid.

138 given a mission: Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan—and the Path to Victory (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), p. 192.

139 Able Danger: Ibid., p. 17.

139 Shaffer, colleagues claimed: Ibid., p. 178.

139 told the 9/11 Commission: Ibid., pp. 177–179.

139 “conducted clandestine,” “first DIA”: Ibid., pp. 18–19.

139 “Bush administration lunacy”: Ibid., p. 19.

139 “yielded nothing”: Ibid.

139 “more than two-thirds”: Barton Gellman and Dafna Linzer, “Afghanistan, Iraq: Two Wars Collide,” Washington Post, October 22, 2004.

139 “nearly half”: Juan O. Tamayo, “Capture of Saddam Will Not Mean More Forces Available to Find bin Laden,” Knight Ridder Newspapers, December 14, 2003.

140 “Detainees captured by TF-121”: Josh White, “US Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds,” Washington Post, December 1, 2004.

140 “Everyone knows”: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, p. 218 (2008).

140 “gratuitous enemies”: White, “US Generals in Iraq Were Told.”

140 former bodyguard: Details of the operation to capture Saddam Hussein come from Michael Smith, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006), pp. 261–263.

140 “Ladies and gentlemen”: Transcript, “Ambassador Bremer Briefing from Baghdad,” December 14, 2003.

140 $750,000 in hundred-dollar bills: Smith, Killer Elite, p. 262.

140 “I am Saddam Hussein,” “regards”: “‘President Bush Sends His Regards,’” CNN.com, December 15, 2003.

141 Saddam’s temporary home: Eric Schmitt and Carolyn Marshall, “In Secret Unit’s ‘Black Room,’ a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse,” New York Times, March 19, 2006.

141 “look to the future”: Transcript, “Ambassador Bremer Briefing from Baghdad.”

141 “coalition special operations forces”: Ibid.

141 shared a cigar: Barton Gellman, “Person of the Year 2011; Runners-Up; William McRaven: The Admiral,” Time, December 14, 2011.

141 “begin to run out of gas”: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 62.

141 “establishment of an insurgency”: Bob Woodward, State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2006), p. 266.

142 common cause: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Signs That Shiites and Sunnis Are Joining to Battle Americans,” New York Times, April 9, 2004.

142 “exacerbating the insurgency”: Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012. All quotations from Andrew Exum in this chapter come from the author’s interview.

142 barely give his command the courtesy: Author interview, General Ricardo Sanchez, June 2010.

142 The most serious thing”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, May 2011.

143 “tailored down”: Stanley A. McChrystal, “It Takes a Network: The New Front Line of Modern Warfare,” Foreign Policy (March–April 2011). All quotations from General McChrystal in this chapter come from this article.

144 four subunits: Sean D. Naylor, “Special Ops Unit Nearly Nabs Zarqawi,” Army Times, April 28, 2006. The article describes the task force after it has received a new code name, Task Force 145.

145 F3EA: McChrystal, “It Takes a Network.”

145 Copper Green, Matchbox: Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition).

145 Footprint: William M. Arkin, Code Names: Deciphering US Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World (Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2005), p. 369.

145 “weren’t getting anything substantive”: Seymour M. Hersh, “The Gray Zone: How a Secret Pentagon Program Came to Abu Ghraib,” New Yorker, May 24, 2004.

146 “Rumsfeld’s answer”: Jane Mayer, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals (New York: Doubleday, 2008), p. 243.

146 “‘Grab whom you must’”: Hersh, “The Gray Zone.”

146 “just wasn’t right”: Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart, pp. 257–259.

14: “No Blood, No Foul”

147 in one of two structures: Eric Schmitt and Carolyn Marshall, “Task Force 6-26: Inside Camp Nama; in Secret Unit’s ‘Black Room,’ a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse,” New York Times, March 19, 2006.

147 “Nasty-Ass Military Area”: John H. Richardson, “Acts of Conscience,” Esquire, September 21, 2009, www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0806TERROR_102.

147 “don’t make them bleed”: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

147 “adopted the SOP”: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, p. 158 (2008).

147 “included stress positions”: Ibid., pp. 158–159.

148 unlawful combatants: As John Sifton and Marc Garlasco note in a report for Human Rights Watch, in the period during which the task force operated out of Camp NAMA, “U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq were bound by various provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as well as by customary international law.” The administration said publicly that the Geneva Conventions applied to the treatment of Iraqis in detention but could be suspended if the detainee was a foreign fighter. However, according to an internal DoD report cited by the Senate report, the standard operating procedure used by the task force in Iraq was “influenced by the counter-resistance memorandum that the Secretary of Defense approved on December 2, 2002…and incorporated techniques designed for detainees who were identified as ‘unlawful combatant.’” Military personnel who had worked with the task force told the Senate Armed Services Committee and Human Rights Watch that prisoners were denied protections under the Geneva Conventions, including Iraqi nationals. See John Sifton and Marc Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers’ Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq,” Human Rights Watch, July 23, 2006, www.hrw.org/reports/2006/07/22/no-blood-no-foul. See also Terry Frieden, “Justice Dept.: Geneva Conventions Limited in Iraq,” CNN.com, October 26, 2004; and Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 158.

148 would not see lawyers: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

148 ninety days: Spencer Ackerman, “How Special Ops Copied al-Qaida to Kill It,” Danger Room (blog), Wired.com, September 9, 2011, www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mcchrystal-network/.

148 often subjected to: John Sifton and Marc Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers’ Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq,” Human Rights Watch, July 23, 2006, www.hrw.org/reports/2006/07/22/no-blood-no-foul. All information attributed to Human Rights Watch in this chapter comes from this report, unless otherwise noted.

148 “directly from General McChrystal”: Ibid.

148 set foot in Camp NAMA: Ibid.

148 “very necessary”: Ibid.

148 rebuffed: Ibid.

148 up the chain of command: Ibid.

148 special ID: Ibid.

148 “running a country club”: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p.191.

148 “GTMO-ize”: Ibid.

148 “fearful of dogs”: Ibid., pp. 196–197.

148 “can’t tell our chain of command”: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

149 “This is the dark side”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011.

149 “no oversight”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, May 2011.

149 “very high levels”: Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010. All statements attributed to Scott Horton in this chapter come from the author’s interview.

150 “two reasons”: Jonathan S. Landay, “Report: Abusive Tactics Used to Seek Iraq–al Qaida Link,” McClatchy Newspapers, April 21, 2009.

150 “tossed them back”: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 48.

150 “You saw the French”: Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012. All quotations of Andrew Exum in this chapter come from the author’s interview.

151 withdrew its interrogators: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

151 voicing their warnings: Ibid.

151 arrived at Camp NAMA: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 191.

151 “filtration site”: Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010.

151 four interrogation rooms: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152 “this is the treatment”: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.” All quotations of “Jeff Perry” in this chapter come from this report.

152 interrogations there often incorporated: Ibid.

152 One former prisoner: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152 described heinous acts: Brigadier General Richard P. Formica, “Article 15-6 Investigations of CJSOTF-AP and 5th SF Group Detention Operations,” November 8, 2004, pp. 20–21, 30; declassified June 7, 2006, released by the Department of Defense on Friday, June 16, 2006, www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/operationandplans/Detainee/OtherDetaineeRelatedDocuments.html.

152 beat prisoners with rifle butts, spit in their faces: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152 “beating the shit out of”: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

153 “pissed in a bottle”: “CID Report—Final—0016-04-CID343-69355,” Army Criminal Investigative Command Report into allegations of detainee abuse at Camp NAMA, Baghdad International Airport, August 4, 2004, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups via FOIA, www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/030705/9135_9166.pdf.

153 interrupt non-harsh interrogations: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

153 “to leverage”: Ibid.

153 arrived at Camp NAMA: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 173.

153 “fundamental systemic problems”: Ibid., p. 173.

153 They told Kleinman: Ibid.

153 described a chaotic situation: Ibid.

153 ordered to do so: Ibid., p. 181.

153 “I walked into the interrogation room”: Ibid., p. 176.

154 “cleared hot to use SERE methods”: Ibid., p. 179.

154 “unlawful order,” Kleinman was told: Ibid., p. 180.

154 trying to break: Ibid., pp. 181–182.

154 “Concept of Operations”: Ibid., p. 184.

154 “friction was developing”: Ibid.

154 “sleep lightly”: Ibid., p. 186.

155 special operators as interrogators: Ibid., p. 193.

155 “It’s just that simple”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011. All quotations of Malcolm Nance in this chapter come from the author’s interview.

155 “out of the hands of”: Human Rights Watch, “Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division,” September 23, 2005, www.hrw.org/node/11610/section/1.

155 complaining to Langley: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

156 “more aggressive”: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 159.

156 unmarked helicopters, goggles: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

156 “harsh interrogation [was] approved”: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

156 nondisclosure agreements: Ibid.

157 “disaster waiting to happen”: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 162.

157 Fashad Mohammad: Hina Shamsi, “Command’s Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Human Rights First, 2006, www.humanrightsfirst.org/our-work/law-and-security/we-can-end-torture-now/commands-responsibility-detainee-deaths-in-u-s-custody-in-iraq-and-afghanistan/. The Medical Examiner’s report cited was obtained by Human Rights First: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Final Autopsy Report for Autopsy No. ME-04-309 (Fashad Mohammad), November 22, 2004.

157 Manadel al Jamadi: MG George R. Fay, “AR 15-6 Investigation of the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility and 205th Military Intelligence Brigade,” completed August 23, 2004, p. 53. The report states that “CIA representatives” brought a man to Abu Ghraib early on November 4, 2003. He had been “captured by Navy SEAL Team 7 during a joint-121/CIA mission.” The report goes on to describe the circumstances of the man’s death. Subsequent reporting revealed that the man’s name was Manadel al-Jamadi. See David Cloud, “Seal Officer Hears Charges in Court-Martial in Iraqi’s Death,” New York Times, May 25, 2005.

157 “needs to be reined in”: Josh White, “U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds,” Washington Post, December 1, 2004.

158 “pored over intelligence”: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

158 “over a hundred ‘high value detainees’”: “Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq During Arrest, Internment and Interrogation,” ICRC, February 2004, http://military.piac.asn.au/sites/default/files/documents/document-03.pdf.

159 list of complaints: Memorandum from Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby to Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen A. Cambone, “Alleged Detainee Abuse by TF 6-26 Personnel,” June 25, 2004, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, available at www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/t2596_0297.pdf.

159 scribbled a handwritten letter: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

159 “no pattern of misconduct”: Ibid.

159 “subject of this investigation”: Army Criminal Investigation Command memorandum concerning allegations of abuse at Camp Nama, May 31, 2004, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/030705/9117_9134.pdf.

159 thirty-four task force members: Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

159 “did not see any form of oversight”: Author interview, former Air Force interrogator, June 2012.

160 changed the letterhead: Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 167.

160 eventually investigated: Seymour M. Hersh, “The General’s Report: How Antonio Taguba, Who Investigated the Abu Ghraib Scandal, Became One of Its Casualties,” New Yorker, June 25, 2007.

160 Rumsfeld’s congressional testimony: Captain Ian Fishback to Senator John McCain, “A Matter of Honor,” September 16, 2005, published by the Washington Post, September 25, 2005.

161 “For 17 months”: Ibid. All quotations of Captain Fishback come from this letter.

161 denied permission: John H. Richardson, “Acts of Conscience,” Esquire, September 21, 2009, www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0806TERROR_102.

161 “lapses of discipline”: General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Ret.), My Share of the Task: A Memoir (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2012), pp. 201–202.

161 moved the task force: Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

15: The Death Star

162 “the Death Star”: Mark Urban, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq (London: Little, Brown, 2010), p. 82. Other characterizations of the JOC come from Urban’s book.

162 “experiment in intel crowdsourcing”: Spencer Ackerman, “How Special Ops Copied al-Qaida to Kill It,” Danger Room (blog), Wired.com, September 9, 2011, www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mcchrystal-net-work/all/.

163 killed in an ambush: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Enraged Mob in Fallujah Kills Four American Contractors,” New York Times, March 31, 2004.

163 “Kick ass!”: Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez, with Donald T. Phillips, Wiser in Battle: A Soldier’s Story (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), pp. 349–350.

163 “Thugs and assassins”: Transcript, “Defense Department Operational Update Briefing,” April 20, 2004.

163 “arrogance and hubris”: Urban, Task Force Black, p. 40.

163 body was discovered: Associated Press, “Body Found on Baghdad Overpass Identified as That of American,” USAToday.com, posted May 11, 2004.

163 video appeared online: CBS/AP, “CIA: Top Terrorist Executed Berg,” CBSNews.com, posted May 13, 2004. The video was also posted with the title “Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American Infidel with His Own Hands.”

164 “Jihadi Advanced University”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011.

164 money poured in: Jonathan Masters and Greg Bruno, “Al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Council on Foreign Relations, updated March 20, 2012, www.cfr.org/iraq/al-qaeda-iraq/p14811.

164 “media spotlight”: Author interview, Richard Rowley, September 2011.

164 Enron executive: “Jim Steele, Counselor to US Ambassador for Iraqi Security Forces,” Premiere Speakers Bureau, accessed August 2012, http://premierespeakers.com/jim_steele/bio.

164 senior Iraq job: Jon Lee Anderson, “The Uprising: Shia and Sunnis Put Aside Their Differences,” New Yorker, May 3, 2004.

165 key “counterinsurgency”: Peter Maass, “The Salvadorization of Iraq: The Way of the Commandos,” New York Times Magazine, May 1, 2005.

165 called to testify: Christopher Drew, “Testimony on Contras Still Haunts Colonel,” Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1991.

165 “Salvador Option”: John Barry and Michael Hirsh, “‘The Salvador Option,’” Newsweek, January 7, 2005.

165 “good lesson,” “cut off their hands”: Rod Nordland, “Iraq’s Repairman,” Newsweek, July 5, 2004.

165 Special Police Commando Unit: Maass, “The Salvadorization of Iraq.”

165 “embracing a new strategy”: Ibid.

165 “Vital months”: Urban, Task Force Black, pp. 52–53.

166 “smart and cunning”: John Barry and Michael Hirsh, “The Hunt Heats Up,” Newsweek, March 14, 2004.

16: “The Best Technology, the Best Weapons, the Best People—and Plenty of Money to Burn”

167 Joint Prioritized Effects List: Nick Davies, “Afghanistan War Logs: Task Force 373—Special Force Hunting Top Taliban,” Guardian, July 25, 2010.

167 leadership targeting cell: Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan—and the Path to Victory (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), p. 32.

167 fake documents, Chris Stryker: Ibid., p. 24.

167 “started to roll into Bagram”: Ibid., p. 195.

168 large operations center, “Death Star”: Ibid, p. 196.

168 didn’t sit well: Ibid., p. 197.

168 “the intel indicates,” “it’s not an option”: Ibid., p. 116.

169 secret deal: Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes, Qaeda Grows in Pakistan,” New York Times, June 30, 2008.

169 “violate the sovereignty of Pakistan”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011.

169 Rules of Engagement: Scott Lindlaw (AP), “U.S. OK’d Troop Terror Hunts in Pakistan,” Washington Post, August 23, 2007.

169 34 percent increase: Jennifer D. Kibbe, “Rise of the Shadow Warriors,” Foreign Policy, (March–April 2004).

170 “protect U.S. citizens and interests”: Communication from the President of the United States: A Supplemental Consolidated Report, Consistent with the War Powers Resolution, To Help Ensure That the Congress Is Kept Fully Informed on U.S. Military Activities in Support of the War on Terror, Kosovo, and Bosnia Herzegovina, Pursuant to Pub. L. 93-148, H. Doc. 110-5, December 15, 2006.

170 fifteen to twenty such countries: Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, “Secret Order Lets US Raid al Qaeda,” New York Times, November 8, 2008.

170 drafted in 2003: Documents provided to the author in confidence; author interview, Special Operations source, November 2009.

170 “you can go after him”: Author interview, Special Operations source, November 2009.

170 “bureaucratic drag”: Documents provided to the author in confidence.

170 Military Liaison Elements: Thom Shanker and Scott Shane, “Elite Troops Get Expanded Role on Intelligence,” New York Times, March 8, 2006.

170 “certain to increase significantly”: Ibid.

171 “I don’t interpret it that way at all”: Barton Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain; New Espionage Branch Delving into CIA Territory,” Washington Post, January 23, 2005.

171 “seventy-two-hour heads up,” new guidelines: Ibid.

171 “Why aren’t they telling us?”: Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.”

171 insert language: Michael Smith, Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America’s Most Secret Special Operations Team (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006), p. 268; author interview, Special Operations source, January 2011.

171 “There are a lot of things in NSPD-38”: Author interview, Special Operations source, January 2011.

172 “pretty plainly illegal”: Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010.

172 “Preparation of the Battlespace”: Memorandum from Donald Rumsfeld for General Dick Myers, Doug Feith; CC: General Pete Pace, Steve Cambone, “Preparation of the Battlespace,” September 2, 2004, www.rumsfeld.com/library/.

172 nascent stage: John Sifton, “A Brief History of Drones,” Nation, February 27, 2012.

172 “Unblinking Eye”: Michael T. Flynn, Rich Juergens, and Thomas L. Cantrell, “Employing ISR; SOF Best Practices,” Joint Forces Quarterly 50 (July 2008).

173 “Continuous Clandestine Tagging”: Doug Richardson, SOAL-T WSO, “US Special Operations Command; Continuous, Clandestine, Tagging, Tracking and Locating (CTTL),” PowerPoint presentation prepared for USSOCOM, September 5, 2007.

173 “bioreactive taggant”: Author interviews, Hunter (pseudonym), June 2012; Richardson, “US Special Operations Command.”

174 “JSOC is awesome”: “On the Record; Excerpts from Bob Woodward’s Oval Office Interviews with President George W. Bush, May 20–21, 2008,” Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/war-within/audio/.

174 press commanders: Bob Woodward, The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006–2008 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 13.

174 “I don’t even know how many”: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 173.

174 JSOC liaison offices: Mark Urban, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq (London: Little, Brown, 2010), p. 53; Shanker and Shane, “Elite Troops Get Expanded Role.”

174 “Department of Defense is very eager”: Shanker and Shane, “Elite Troops Get Expanded Role.”

175 “It’s not a good idea”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (Ret.), September 2010.

175 “why not go hammer?”: Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012.

175 behind-the-scenes scuffle: Mazzetti and Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes.”

175 “would never cooperate”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011. All statements and information attributed to Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

175 “biggest folly”: Mazzetti and Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes.”

176 CIA took advantage of the disorder: Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition), chap. 10, “Widening the Playing Field.”

176 “SCREEN HUNTER”: Ibid.

176 “first among equals”: Mark Mazzetti, “C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden,” New York Times, July 4, 2006.

177 “hurting because of Iraq”: Mazzetti and Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes.”

177 “boys with toys”: Ibid.

177 “They choppered in”: Greg Miller, “War on Terror Loses Ground,” Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2008.

177 “violated Pakistani airspace”: Rahimullah Yusufzai, “Forty-Six Killed in North Waziristan Fighting; Military Claims Killing Forty-one Foreign Militants,” accessed April 10, 2012, www.pakdef.info/forum/printthread.php?t=6012&p-p=25&page=15.

177 including Pakistan’s Frontier Corps: Author interview, former Blackwater executive, November 2009.

177 Forward Operating Bases: Erik Prince, speech given January 2010, author copy of audio.

178 Blackwater SELECT: James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, “C.I.A. Said to Use Outsiders to Put on Drones,” New York Times, August 20, 2010.

178 “Vibrant Fury”: Matthew Cole, Richard Esposito, and Brian Ross, “Mercenaries? CIA Says Expanded Role for Contractors Legitimate,” ABCNews.go.com, December 11, 2009.

178 “secondary in importance”: Letter, Ayman al Zawahiri to Musab al Zarqawi, July 9, 2005, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on October 11, 2005, www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2005/zawahiri-zarqawi-letter_9jul2005.htm.

179 “make you an example,” Askariyya Mosque: Seth G. Jones, Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qaeda Since 9/11 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), p. 249.

179 alliance with the occupation: John Ward Anderson, “Iraqi Tribes Strike Back at Insurgents,” Washington Post, March 7, 2006.

179 found, fixed and finished: Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti, and Richard A. Oppell Jr., “How Surveillance and Betrayal Led to a Hunt’s End,” New York Times, June 9, 2006. Details of the Zarqawi raid can be found in this article.

17: “A Lot of It Was of Questionable Legality”

This chapter is based on a series of interviews in 2010 and 2011 with “Hunter,” a Special Operations source. Hunter is a pseudonym created to protect the identity of the source.

180 home of JSOC’s intelligence wing: See Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition), chap. 8, “The Activity.”

18: The Imprisonment of Anwar Awlaki

184 “could not get a scholarship”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Nasser al Awlaki come from the author’s interviews, in January, August and September 2012, unless otherwise noted. Details about Anwar from this period come from the author’s interviews with Nasser and other members of the family, unless otherwise noted.

184 study at Iman University: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, January and August 2012; Sudarsan Raghavan, “Cleric Linked to Fort Hood Attack Grew More Radicalized in Yemen,” Washington Post, December 10, 2009.

185 tribal dispute: Susan Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided al-Qaeda,” Washington Post, February 27, 2008.

185 prison in Sana’a: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

185 confiscated: Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque.”

185 “look after” Anwar: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

185 “first nine months”: Transcript, “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki,” Cageprisoners, December 31, 2007, www.cageprisoners.com/our-work/interviews/item/159-moazzam-begg-interviews-imam-anwar-al-awlaki.

186 “I was held at the request”: Transcript, “Interview with In Focus News, California,” by Saaqib Rangoonwala, posted by “SoldierOfAllah” on Shaykh Anwar’s Blog, October 13, 2011, http://anwar-awlaki.blogspot.com/2011/10/interview-with-in-focus-news-california.html. This is not the same domain name once used by Anwar al Awlaki.

186 “began asking me questions”: Transcript, “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki.”

186 “at the request of the United States”: Christof Heyns, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions,” submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, May 27, 2011, p. 395.

186 “did not object”: Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path from Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” New York Times, May 8, 2010.

186 meeting between Negroponte: Author interview, former Yemeni government minister, January 2012. Details of the meeting are from the author’s interview.

186 “Bandar Bush”: Ian Black, “Prince Bandar bin Sultan—Profile,” Guardian, October 10, 2012.

186 some 750,000 people: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012.

186 “asked us to keep him in jail”: Ibid. All information and statements attributed to bin Fareed come from the author’s interview.

187 Saleh visited Washington: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012; also see “Visits by Foreign Leaders of Yemen,” Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, accessed December 15, 2012, http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/yemen. President Saleh visited the US from April 29 to May 7, 2007.

187 stayed for two days: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

187 “summoned to an office”: Shaykh Harith al Nadari, “My Story with al-Awlaki,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

187 Yemeni intelligence insisted: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

187 “There was some pressure”: Transcript, “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki.”

188 “detention as a blessing”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Book Review 3: In the Shade of the Quran by Sayyid Qutb,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, June 22, 2008, www.anwar-alawlaki.com.

188 “they took everything away”: Transcript, “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki.”

188 studying in Colorado: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), p. 20.

188 “numb to faith”: David Von Drehle, “A Lesson in Hate; How an Egyptian Student Came to Study 1950s America and Left Determined to Wage Holy War,” Smithsonian Magazine, February 2006.

188 arrested, put in jail: Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 33.

188 his most influential texts: Ibid., pp. 33–34.

188 Qutb was hanged: Ibid., p. 37.

189 “so immersed”: Awlaki, “Book Review 3.”

189 “particularly mean Prison Head”: Anwar al Awlaki blog post, “Book Review 9: English Novels,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, August 6, 2008, anwar-alawlaki.com.

189 “staple breads”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Food Reviews from Behind Bars,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, August 21, 2008, anwar-alawlaki.com.

189 “Before my imprisonment”: Transcript, “Interview with In Focus News.”

190 “alleged spiritual advisor”: US diplomatic cable 07SANAA2333, from Deputy Chief of Mission Angie Bryan, US Embassy Sana’a, “Yemeni-American Awlaqi Released from ROYG Custody,” December 18, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/12/07SANAA2333.html.

190 “kidnapping for ransom”: “Treasury Designates Anwar al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” press release, US Department of the Treasury, July 16, 2010.

19: “America Knows War. They Are War Masters.”

191 first approached by the CIA: Author interview, Yusuf Mohamed Siad, June 2011.

191 Lower Shabelle: Ken Menkhaus, “Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping,” International Security 31 (3) (winter 2006–2007): 74–106, 85, www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/isec.2007.31.3.74.

191 trafficking operations: Bruno Schiemsky, Melvin E. Holt Jr., Harjit S. Kelley, and Joel Salek, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1587 (2005),” UN Security Council, October 4, 2005, pp. 23–24.

191 “They offered me money”: Author interview, Yusuf Mohamed Siad, June 2011. All quotations of Indha Adde come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

192 five specific terrorists: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI2425, from Ambassador William Bellamy, US Embassy Nairobi, “Somalia: A Strategy for Engagement,” June 2, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06NAIROBI2425.html. “Fazul [Abdullah Mohammed], [Saleh Ali Saleh] Nabhan, [Abu Talha] el-Sudani, [Ahmed] Abdi [Godane] and [Aden Hashi] Ayrow must be removed from the Somali equation.”

192 “start an open war in Mogadishu”: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI1484, from Ambassador William M. Bellamy, US Embassy Nairobi, “Ambassador to Yusuf: Alliance Against Terror Not Directed at TFG,” April 4, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/04/06NAIROBI1484.html.

193 small, regional Islamic courts: Cedric Barnes and Harun Hassan, “The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts,” Journal of Eastern African Studies 1 (2) (July 2007).

193 twelve courts united: Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011.

193 receiving shipments: Schiemsky et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia,” p. 15. The Monitoring Group reported that “another State in the region provided support to the opposition and the Oromo National Liberation Front [a Somali nationalist guerrilla group operating along the border] in the form of arms. That State provided arm[s] to opposition allies including Sheik Yusuf Indohaadde… Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys… and other[s] for the purpose of countering support provided to the TFG by Ethiopia.” The country being reported was confirmed to be Eritrea by subsequent UN and other reports.

193 supporting the CIA’s warlords: Schiemsky et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia,” pp. 20–21.

193 “whole mess started from that point”: Author interview, Ali Mohamed Gedi, June 2011.

193 officially announcing: “Somali Warlords Battle Islamists,” BBC News, February 21, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4735614.stm.

193 endorsed the US campaign: Mark Mazzetti, “Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge,” New York Times, June 8, 2006.

193 “work with responsible individuals”: Emily Wax and Karen DeYoung, “U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia,” Washington Post, May 17, 2006.

194 “suitcases filled with dollars”: Salim Lone, “Destabilizing the Horn,” Nation, January 22, 2007.

194 “This war is easy”: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011. All quotations from Mohamed Afrah Qanyare are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

194 “some of the most violent”: Wax and DeYoung, “U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia.”

194 “clandestine third-country”: Schiemsky et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia,” p. 15.

194 “rallying to the cause”: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI1261, from Leslie Rowe, Deputy Chief of Mission US Embassy Nairobi, “Worst Combat in Five Years Put at USG Doorstep,” March 20, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/03/06NAIROBI1261.html.

194 “thwarted counterterrorism efforts”: Mazzetti, “Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge.”

194 “join the jihad”: Mohamed Olad Hassan (AP), “Ethiopian Troops off to Somalia,” News24.com, November 11, 2006.

194 “killing [of] prayer leaders”: Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011. Quotations of Aynte come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

195 “end to the warlords’ ruthlessness”: Author interview, Sheikh Ahmed “Madobe” Mohammed Islam, June 2011.

195 “promise of order and security”: International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Islamists,” Africa Report No. 100, December 12, 2005.

196 “We share no objectives”: Simon Robinson, “Somalia’s Islamic Leaders Deny a Link to Terror,” Time, June 6, 2006.

196 sometime in 2003: Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, “The Anatomy of al Shabaab,” unpublished paper, June 2010, www.radiodaljir.com/audio/docs/TheAnatomyOfAlShabaab.pdf.

196 explosives expert, financing: Clint Watts, Jacob Shapiro, and Vahid Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, July 2, 2007, Appendix B: Cast of Characters from the Horn of Africa, pp. 131–132, www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/al-qaidasmisadventures-in-the-horn-of-africa.

197 1972 or 1974: Profile of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, United Nations Security Council al-Qaida Sanctions List, accessed August 14, 2012, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2012/sc10755.doc.htm. Fazul reportedly possessed other documents stating that his date of birth was in 1976 and 1971. Fazul was removed from the sanctions list on August 12, 2012.

197 Fazul grew up: Watts, Shapiro, and Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” pp. 89–90.

197 “got confirmed”: Ibid., p. 93. The authors cite a letter sent from Fazul to his brother Omar in 1991.

197 first mission: United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., S(9) 98 Cr. 1023, Indictment, p. 16.

197 Fazul claimed: Watts, Shapiro, and Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” p. 94.

198 renting the house: Ibid., p. 96.

198 relocated his family: Ibid., pp. 94–95.

198 learned it from CNN: Ibid., p. 95.

198 resulted in raids: Ibid.

198 operate out of Liberia: Ibid., p. 97.

198 regularly travel to Somalia: Ibid., p. 98.

199 contracted Mohamed Dheere: Ibid., p. 99; Desmond Butler, “Threats and Responses: Terrorism; Three-Year Hunt Fails to Net Qaeda Suspect in Africa,” New York Times, June 14, 2003.

199 Internet café, “Fazul was too smart”: Sean D. Naylor, “Years of Detective Work Led to al-Qaida Target,” Army Times, November 21, 2011.

199 intercepted communications: Watts, Shapiro, and Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” p. 99.

199 “most wanted fugitives”: International Crisis Group, “Counterterrorism in Somalia: Losing Hearts and Minds?” Africa Report No. 95, July 11, 2005, p. 9.

200 “the special group”: International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Islamists,” Africa Report No. 100, December 12, 2005, p. 11.

200 Italian cemetery: Ali, “The Anatomy of al Shabaab,” p. 28.

200 “headline-grabbing assassinations”: Ibid.

201 video teleconferences: Naylor, “Years of Detective Work Led to al-Qaida Target.”

201 took control of Mogadishu: “Islamic Militia Claims Mogadishu,” CNN.com, June 5, 2006.

201 “wonderful piece of news”: Transcript, “Islamic Militia Takes Control of Somali Capital,” NewsHour, PBS, June 6, 2006.

202 “establish a friendly relationship”: Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, letter to governments and international organizations, “The Union of Islamic Courts in Mogadishu Break the Silence,” June 6, 2006, www.hiiraan.com/news/2006/jun/somali_news6_7.aspx.

202 “invite an investigative team”: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI2640, from Ambassador William Bellamy, US Embassy Nairobi, “Islamist Advances, Prospects for Dialogue, but Still No Admission of the Al Qaida Presence,” June 15, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06NAIROBI2640.html. The cable includes the text of a letter sent from Sheikh Sharif on June 14.

202 “litmus test”: Ibid.

202 “moderate”: See US diplomatic cable 07NAIROBI5403, from Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, US Embassy Nairobi, “Somalia—Sheikh Sharif and the Future Role of Islamic Courts Moderates,” January 1, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/01/07NAIROBI5403.html.

202 “contemplate killing Sharif”: Jon Lee Anderson, “The Most Failed State,” New Yorker, December 14, 2009.

202 “onto everybody’s radar screen”: Author interview, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, March 2011. All quotations of Gartenstein-Ross are from the author’s interview.

202 “There is instability in Somalia”: Transcript, “President’s Remarks to the Travel Pool at Laredo Border Patrol Sector Headquarters,” June 6, 2006.

203 insane maze of roadblocks: Mohammed Olad Hassan, “Life Under Somalia’s Islamists,” BBC.news.co.uk, July 11, 2006.

203 ports and the airport: “Mogadishu’s Port Reopened,” AlJazeera.com, August 23, 2006.

203 felt safer: Xan Rice, “Mogadishu’s Miracle: Peace in the World’s Most Lawless City,” Guardian, June 25, 2006.

203 US officials acknowledged: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI3441, from Economic Counselor John F. Hoover, US Embassy Nairobi, “Horn of Africa, State-USAID Humanitarian Cable Update Number 8,” August 8, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/08/06NAIROBI3441.html.

203 “some semblance of order”: Author interview, Ismail Mahmoud Hurre, June 2011.

203 “rally with Ethiopia”: Memorandum from “Ennifar” (likely Azouz Ennifar, Deputy Special Representative for UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea), “Meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,” June 26, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/wiki/US_encouraged_Ethiopian_invasion_of_Somalia:_UN_meeting_memo_with_Jenday_Frazer,_Secretary_of_State_for_African_Affairs,_2006.

204 training its notorious Agazi: Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Ethiopian Campaign Routed Islamic Militants in Somalia,” International Herald Tribune, February 23, 2007.

204 began setting up shop: Thomas P. M. Barnett, “The Americans Have Landed,” Esquire, June 27, 2007, www.esquire.com/features/africacommand0707.

204 Task Force 88: Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Used Base in Ethiopia to Hunt al Qaeda,” New York Times, February 23, 2007.

204 ratchet up its rhetoric: See Stephanie McCrummen, “Interview with Meles Zenawi,” WashingtonPost.com, December 14, 2006.

204 went on national radio: Author interview, Mohamed Afrah Qanyare, June 2011.

204 “reconnaissance missions”: US Diplomatic cable 06ADDISABABA1904 from Vicki Huddleston, Chargé d’Affaires, US Embassy Addis Ababa, “Corrected Copy—Ethiopia: GOE Says No Incursion in Somalia,” July 12, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/07/06ADDISABABA1904.html.

205 “Shabab was a sideline organization”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011. Quotations of Malcolm Nance come from the author’s interview.

205 “We warn all the nations”: Osama bin Laden, transcript of audio recording, July 2, 2006, translation from The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), accessed December 2010, www.memri.org/report/en/print1872.htm.

206 privately warned their superiors: US diplomatic cable 06NAIROBI2618, from Ambassador William Bellamy, US Embassy Nairobi, “Jowhar Falls,” June 14, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/06/06NAIROBI2618.html. “The UN has reports that an Ethiopian brigade positioned along the Somali border has been reinforced with armor and helicopters, sparking fears about an Ethiopian incursion to Somalia. Such a move could lead to greatly expanded conflict and could ultimately cause the TFIs to fail. In this light, we advise a high-level call to Ethiopia to dissuade movement of troops into Somalia…squadron of armor and MI-24 Hind B helicopters.”

206 “Jihad in Allah’s way”: Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, “Islamists Declare Jihad (Holy War) on Neighboring Ethiopia Following the Fall of Key Town to Ethiopian-back[ed] Somali Government Forces,” October 10, 2006, video and transcription from Reuters.

206 “executive order” written in Arabic: US diplomatic cable 06ADDISABABA3212, from Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, US Embassy Addis Ababa, “Somali Prime Minister Gedi Highlights Foreign Extremist Support for ICU,” December 6, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/12/06ADDISABABA3212.html.

207 John Abizaid: US diplomatic cable 06ADDISABABA3240, from Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, US Embassy Addis Ababa, “Ethiopia: Meles Alters Stance on Military Action,” December 8, 2006, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/12/06ADDISABABA3240.html; Xan Rice and Suzanne Goldenberg, “How US Forged an Alliance with Ethiopia over Invasion,” Guardian, January 12, 2007.

207 “chance of a lifetime”: Alex Perry, “Somalia on the Edge,” Time, November 29, 2007.

207 “They are terrorists”: David Gollust, “US Says al-Qaida Elements Running Somali Islamic Movement,” Voice of America, December 14, 2006.

207 “Growing Al-Qaeda Menace”: Julie Hollar, “Rediscovering Somalia; Press Downplays U.S. Role in Renewed Crisis,” Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, March 1, 2008, http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/rediscovering-somalia/.

207 “a safe haven”: Ibid.

207 “here in East Africa”: Transcript, Newsroom, CNN, January 6, 2007.

207 “hard and fast views”: Karen DeYoung, “U.S. Sees Growing Threats in Somalia,” Washington Post, December 18, 2006.

207 “idiotic”: Ibid.

207 “making a bad bet”: Ibid.

208 across the Somali border: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Ethiopian Warplanes Attack Somalia,” New York Times, December 24, 2006.

208 40,000–50,000 troops: David Axe, “Wikileaked Cable Confirms U.S.’ Secret Somalia Op,” Danger Room (blog), Wired.com, December 2, 2010, www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/wikileaked-cable-confirms-u-s-secret-somalia-op/; Scott Baldauf, “In Somalia, Foreign Intervention Won’t Resolve Al Shabab Threat,” Christian Science Monitor, September 2, 2010. Axe reports that “some 50,000 Ethiopian troops” participated in the invasion; the Christian Science Monitor reports 40,000.

208 “attack Addis Ababa”: Xan Rice, “Somali Hardliner Calls for Foreign Jihadists,” Guardian, December 23, 2006.

208 “The warlord era”: Stephanie McCrummen, “Somali Islamic Fighters Flee Toward Kenya,” Washington Post, January 2, 2007.

208 demonstrations broke out: Reuters, “Anti-Ethiopian Protests Rock Mogadishu,” Toronto Star, January 6, 2007.

20: Prison Break

210 escaped, maximum security prison: Mark Trevelyan (Reuters), “Jailbreak in Yemen Stirs Concern Abroad; Inside Job Seen in Qaeda Escape,” Boston Globe, February 10, 2006.

210 later boasted: Wuhayshi later recounted the escape in an article for an Arabic-language publication, which was later translated by Gregory D. Johnsen. See Nasir al-Wuhayshi, “The New Leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen Relates the Details of the Escape of al-Qaeda Members from an Intelligence Prison,” al-Ghad, June 25, 2007.

210 “serious problem”: Barbara Starr, “Yemen Prison Break Raises Alarms at Sea,” CNN.com, February 7, 2006.

210 “Saleh knows how to play the game”: Author interview, former US counterterrorism official, January 2011. All statements and quotations attributed to the former US counterterrorism official are from the author’s interview.

210 “They play it for survival”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010.

211 “an inside job”: Sam Kimball, “Whose Side Is Yemen On?” Foreign Policy, August 29, 2012.

211 “would seem impossible”: Ibid.

212 major expansion of Camp Lemonnier: Joseph Giordono, “U.S. Military Plans to Expand Camp Lemonier in Djibouti; Lease to Provide for More Housing and Security,” Stars and Stripes, July 9, 2006.

212 “Some teams use the base”: Ibid.

212 President Bush’s top aide: US diplomatic cable 07SANAA1989, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Townsend-Saleh Meeting Provides Opening for Additional CT Cooperation,” October 30, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/10/07SANAA1989.html. Details of Saleh’s meeting with Townsend come from this cable.

212 “Despite the Somalia UN arms embargo”: “Security Council Committee on Somalia and Eritrea Issues List of Individuals Identified Pursuant to Paragraph 8 of Resolution 1844 (2008),” Department of Public Information, UN Security Council, April 12, 2010, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/sc9904.doc.htm.

213 “way over their heads”: Author interview, former US military official, February 2012.

213 “put a great deal of pressure”: Yemen: Confronting al-Qaeda, Preventing State Failure, Hearing Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 111th Cong. 53 (2010) (prepared testimony of Gregory D. Johnsen).

213 hardened jihadist: Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), p. 163.

214 “become more strident”: Gregory D. Johnsen, “Al-Qaeda in Yemen Reorganizes Under Nasir al-Wahayshi,” Terrorism Focus 5 (11) (March 18, 2008), www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4796.

21: Hot Pursuit

215 first basement-level recruit: “Robert M. Gates; Secretary of Defense,” accessed September 10, 2012, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/gates-bio.html.

215 “was close to many figures”: Lawrence E. Walsh, “Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters; Volume I: Investigations and Prosecutions,” August 4, 1993, p. 223.

215 US-fueled war in Afghanistan: Yaroslav Trofimov, “Soviets’ Afghan Ordeal Vexed Gates on Troop-Surge,” Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2009.

216 “direct action authorities”: Committee on Armed Services, Afghanistan, S. Hrg. 110-269 (2007) (testimony of Lieutenant General Douglas E. Lute).

216 “pushing hard”: Sean D. Naylor, “Spec Ops Raids into Pakistan Halted,” Army Times, September 26, 2008.

216 “Pakistanis looked the other way”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011.

216 grown by 60 percent: Ann Scott Tyson, “New Plans Foresee Fighting Terrorism Beyond War Zones,” Washington Post, April 23, 2006.

217 “bitter disagreements”: Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde, “Amid U.S. Policy Disputes, Qaeda Grows in Pakistan,” New York Times, June 30, 2008.

217 “unprovoked and cowardly”: Kamran Haider, “Pakistan Condemns ‘Cowardly’ US Attack; Eleven Dead,” Reuters, June 11, 2008.

217 approved a secret order: Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, “Bush Said to Give Orders Allowing Raids in Pakistan,” New York Times, September 10, 2008.

217 “Bill rapidly expanded operations”: Author interview, Special Operations source, August 2010.

218 Angoor Adda: Christina Lamb, “Playing with Firepower,” Sunday Times (London), September 14, 2008.

218 “two dozen suspected Qaeda fighters”: Schmitt and Mazzetti, “Bush Said to Give Orders Allowing Raids in Pakistan.”

218 according to local villagers: Lamb, “Playing with Firepower.”

218 “gross violation of Pakistan’s territory”: US diplomatic cable 08ISLAMABAD2907, from Ambassador Anne Patterson, US Embassy Islamabad, “GOP Condemns Alleged ISAF September 3 Incident in South Waziristan,” September 3, 2008, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/09/08ISLAMABAD2907.html.

22: “Every Step Taken by the US Benefited al Shabab”

219 near Dire Dawa: Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, “Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda,” New York Times, November 9, 2008.

219 “It’s kinetic”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011.

219 unarmed US Predator drone: David Axe, “Hidden History: America’s Secret Drone War in Africa,” Danger Room (blog), Wired.com, August 13, 2012, www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/somalia-drones/all/.

219 strafed the convoy: Jeffrey Gettleman, “More Than Fifty Die in U.S. Strikes in Somalia,” New York Times, January 9, 2007.

219 Reports suggested: Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Used Base in Ethiopia to Hunt Al Qaeda,” New York Times, February 23, 2007.

219 “al Qaeda leader”: Gettleman, “More Than Fifty Die in U.S. Strikes in Somalia.”

219 bloodied passport: Gordon and Mazzetti, “U.S. Used Base in Ethiopia to Hunt Al Qaeda.”

220 “near the Kenyan border”: US diplomatic cable 07ADDISABABA90, from Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, US Embassy Addis Ababa, “Scenesetter for Deputy USTR Allgeier’s Visit to Ethiopia,” January 12, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/01/07ADDISABABA90.html.

220 took credit: “US Somali Air Strikes ‘Kill Many,’” BBC.co.uk, January 9, 2007.

220 “Qaeda Clobbered”: Andy Soltis, “Qaeda Clobbered; U.S. Somalia Raid Kills Embassy Fiend,” New York Post, January 11, 2007.

220 randomly killed: Alex Perry, “Somalia on the Edge,” Time, November 29, 2007.

220 “no combatants amongst them”: Aaron Glantz, “U.S. Air Strikes in Somalia Condemned for Killing Innocent Civilians,” OneWorld US, January 20, 2007.

220 “paying the price”: Anne Penketh and Steve Bloomfield, “US Strikes on al-Qa’ida Chiefs Kill Nomads,” Independent (London), January 13, 2007.

221 US-designated terrorist: “Individuals and Entities Designated by the State Department Under E.O. 13224,” Bureau of Counterterrorism, US Department of State, December 17, 2012, www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/143210.htm.

221 “helped the Americans easily trace us”: Author interview, Sheikh Ahmed “Madobe” Mohammed Islam, June 2011. All quotations of Madobe are from the author’s interview.

222 “The Ambassador told Sharif”: US diplomatic cable 07NAIROBI5403, from Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, US Embassy Nairobi, “Sheikh Sharif and the Future Role of the Islamic Courts Moderates,” January 2, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/01/07NAIROBI5403.html.

222 “preferable to co-opt”: US diplomatic cable 07ADDISABABA311, from Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, US Embassy Addis Ababa, “PM Meles Highlights Land Reform as Key to Clan Reconciliation and Political Stability in Somalia,” February 1, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/02/07ADDISABABA311.html.

222 escaped from Somalia to Kenya: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Somali Islamists’ No. Two Leader Surrenders in Kenyan Capital,” New York Times, January 23, 2007.

222 “working with the CIA”: Author interview, Ali Mohamed Gedi, June 2011.

222 In Yemen: “Somali Islamist Travels to Yemen,” BBC.co.uk, February 8, 2007.

222 “at least 150”: Human Rights Watch, “Why Am I Still Here? The 2007 Horn of Africa Renditions and the Fate of Those Still Missing” (2008). All information about renditions attributed to Human Rights Watch comes from this report.

223 sent to Guantánamo: Human Rights Watch, “Why Am I Still Here?” p. 4. Kenyan national Mohammed Abulmalik was arrested in Mombasa in February 2007 and ultimately ended up in the prison in Guantánamo Bay.

223 left his family: Clint Watts, Jacob Shapiro, and Vahid Brown, “Al-Qaida’s (Mis) Adventures in the Horn of Africa,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, July 2, 2007, Appendix B: Cast of Characters from the Horn of Africa, p. 99.

223 “as the lions eat their prey”: Lydia Khalil, “Foreign Fighters Face Obstacles Joining the Somali Jihad,” Terrorism Focus 4 (24) (July 25, 2007), www.jamestown.org/single/?-no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=4326.

224 “help of all these foreign fighters”: Author interview, Yusuf Mohamed Siad, June 2011. Quotations of Indha Adde come from the author’s interview unless otherwise noted.

224 went underground: Garowe Online, “Islamists Do Not Recognize ‘Colonial Government,’ Says War Chief,” Biyokulule.com, December 10, 2007; “US Warns Eritrea over ‘Terrorism’; Asmara Told to Stop Supporting Somalia Fighters to Avoid ‘Terrorism Sponsor’ Label,” AlJazeera.com, September 9, 2007.

224 receiving support: Matt Bryden, Gilbert Charles Barthe, Charles Lengalenga, and Ignatius Yaw Kwantwi-Mensah, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1811 (2008),” UN Security Council, December 10, 2008, p. 25.

224 snipers, disproportionate fire: Human Rights Watch, “Shell-Shocked: Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu,” August 13, 2007, www.hrw.org/reports/2007/08/12/shell-shocked.

224 “like goats”: Amnesty International, “Routinely Targeted: Attacks on Civilians in Somalia,” May 6, 2008, www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR52/006/2008.

224 large proportion of those: Ibid.

224 Some 6,000 civilians: Ibid. The report cites estimates from Somalia-based Elman Human Rights Organization, and the UN, respectively.

224 335,000 Somali refugees: “Somalia—Complex Emergency, Situation Report No. 1, Fiscal Year 2008,” USAID, December 20, 2007, http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/countries/somalia/template/fs_sr/somalia_ce_sr01_12-20-2007.pdf.

224 “major problem”: Author interview, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, March 2011. All quotations from Gartenstein-Ross come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

225 “break that they were looking for”: Author interview, Abdirahman, “Aynte” Ali, June 2011. All quotations from Aynte come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

225 four-day battle: Salad Duhul (AP), “Somali Fighting Kills 381; Government Warns of New Offensive,” Deseret News, April 2, 2007.

225 dragged Ethiopian soldiers: “Crowd Drags Ethiopian Corpse, Echoing 1993 Brutality,” CNN.com, November 8, 2007.

225 Toyota Land Cruiser: “Somali Prime Minister Survives Bomb Attack,” CNN.com, June 3, 2007.

225 “tremendous success”: “Interview: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,” by Alex Perry, Time, September 6, 2007, www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1659420,00.html.

226 officially designated: “Designation of al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, US Department of State, February 26, 2008, www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/102446.htm.

226 missile strikes: Agence France-Presse, “US Missile Strike Targets ‘Al-Qaeda Leader’ in Somalia,” March 3, 2008; Jeffrey Gettleman and Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Forces Fire Missiles into Somalia at a Kenyan,” New York Times, March 4, 2008.

226 five Tomahawk cruise missiles: Stephanie McCrummen and Karen DeYoung, “U.S. Airstrike Kills Somali Accused of Links to Al-Qaeda,” Washington Post, May 2, 2008.

226 weeks of surveillance: Eric Schmitt and Jeffrey Gettleman, “Qaeda Leader Reported Killed in Somalia,” New York Times, May 2, 2008.

226 bodies of sixteen people: McCrummen and DeYoung, “U.S. Airstrike Kills Somali Accused of Links to Al-Qaeda.”

226 bio of their slain leader: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, “The Strategic Challenge of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab,” Middle East Quarterly (fall 2009), www.meforum.org/2486/somalia-al-shabaab-strategic-challenge#_ftn22.

226 “short-term disruption”: US diplomatic cable 08NAIROBI1363, from Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, US Embassy Nairobi, “Somalia—Ayrow’s Demise,” June 3, 2008, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/06/08NAIROBI1363.html.

226 agreement signed in Djibouti: United Nations Security Council Department of Public Information, “Security Council, in Presidential Statement, Welcomes Signing of Djibouti Agreement on Reconciliation by Parties to Somalia Conflict,” UN Security Council press release, September 4, 2008.

227 refused to discuss: Author interview, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, June 2011.

227 “favorite puppet”: Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, “The Anatomy of al Shabaab,” unpublished paper, June 2010, www.radiodaljir.com/audio/docs/TheAnatomyOfAlShabaab.pdf.

227 indigenous diversity: Ibid., p. 28.

227 sense of empowerment: Ibid., p. 20.

228 diplomatic “visits”: International Crisis Group, “Somalia: To Move Beyond the Failed State,” Africa Report No. 147, December 23, 2008, p. 12.

228 lengthy negotiations: Ibid., pp. 12–13.

228 dismantling of roadblocks: Mark Bradbury, “State-Building, Counterterrorism, and Licensing Humanitarianism in Somalia,” briefing paper, Feinstein International Center, October 2010.

228 “a caricature”: International Crisis Group, “Somalia: To Move Beyond the Failed State,” p. 14.

228 reminiscent of the Taliban: Ibid.

228 “the only organization”: Committee on Foreign Relations, Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia: A Ticking Time Bomb, S. Prt. 111-40, p. 16 (2010).

228 “far more popular”: Ali, “The Anatomy of al Shabaab,” p. 37.

229 “Fight on, Champions”: Khaled Wassef (CNET), “Bin Laden Urges Somalis to ‘Fight On,’” CBS.com, March 19, 2009.

23: “If Your Son Does Not Come to Us, He Will Be Killed by the Americans”

230 discovered a US spy drone: US diplomatic cable 07SANAA473, from Chargé d’Affaires Nabeel Khoury, US Embassy Sana’a, “Unmanned USG Aircraft Washes Ashore, Official Media Reports Downed Iranian ‘Spy Plane,’” April 2, 2007, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/04/07SANAA473.html. Descriptions of the drone incident are based on this cable.

230 floating prison: David Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor, “US Accused of Holding Terror Suspects on Prison Ships,” Guardian, June 1, 2008.

230 against oil and gas facilities: Hassan M. Fattah, “Suicide Attacks Foiled at Two Oil Sites, Yemen Says,” New York Times, September 16, 2006.

230 chief criminal investigator: Gregory D. Johnsen, “Is Al-Qaeda in Yemen Regrouping?” Terrorism Focus 4 (15) (May 30, 2007), www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4174.

230 audiotaped message: Yemen: Confronting al-Qaeda, Preventing State Failure, Hearing Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 111th Cong. 53 (2010) (prepared testimony of Gregory D. Johnsen).

231 convoy of Spanish tourists: Ahmed al-Hajj (AP), “Suicide Attacker Kills Nine at Yemen Temple,” Washington Post, July 2, 2007. According to Johnsen in his Senate testimony, the death toll was ultimately higher than originally reported.

231 went home to his family: Author interviews, family members, January 2012.

231 “I would like to travel”: “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki,” Cageprisoners, December 31, 2007, www.cageprisoners.com/our-work/interviews/item/159-moazzam-begg-interviews-imamanwar-al-awlaki.

231 “truth of the matter”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Lies of the Telegraph,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 27, 2008.

231 “a few opportunities”: “Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki,” Cageprisoners, December 31, 2007.

231 “In the old times”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Assalamu alaykum all,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, May 31, 2008.

232 “Do You Like Cheese?”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Do You Like Cheese?” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, November 25, 2008.

232 “If you are a person”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Is the Franklin Morphing into the Washington?!” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, October 6, 2008.

232 “do not try to infiltrate”: Anwar al Awlaki, “A Question About the Method of Establishing Khilafa,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, August 29, 2008.

233 “an interesting assortment of sins”: Awlaki, “Is the Franklin Morphing into the Washington?!”

233 “There is good reason to believe”: Susan Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided al-Qaeda,” Washington Post, February 27, 2008.

233 believed to have been recorded: Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad,” The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2011, p. 55.

233 first operational leader: International Crisis Group, “Saudi Arabia Backgrounder: Who Are the Islamists?” Middle East Report No. 31, September 21, 2004, p. 13.

234 “Whenever you see the word terrorist”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Constants on the Path of Jihad,” 2005.

234 “al Awlaki crosses this bridge”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010. All quotations of Nakhleh come from the author’s interview.

234 “The Americans were very, very angry”: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. All quotations of bin Fareed come from the author’s interview.

234 “He was harassed”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Awlaki come from this interview, unless otherwise noted.

235 “surveillance and harassment”: Shaykh Harith al Nadari, “My Story with al-Awlaki,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

235 go to Ataq: Author interviews with family members, January 2012.

235 “you put me in jail”: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012.

235 the family’s small village: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, August 2012.

235 telling friends and family: Ibid.

235 kamikaze attack: Shane Bauer, “U.S. Embassy Hit in Yemen, Raising Militancy Concerns,” Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2008.

236 “This attack is a reminder”: Agence France-Presse, “Bush Says Yemen Attack Shows Need to Fight Extremists,” September 17, 2008.

236 met in Qatar: Nominations Before the Senate Armed Services Committee: Hearings on the Nominations of Gen. David D. McKeirnan; LTG. Raymond T. Odierno; LTG Walter L. Sharp; Gen. David H. Petraeus; Hon. Nelson M. Ford; Joseph A. Benkert; Sean J. Stackley; Frederick S. Celec; Michael B. Doley; Gen. Norton A. Schwartz; and Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, Day 3, Before the Armed Services Committee, 110th Congress, 145 (2008) (testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus).

236 “It just reminds us”: Athena Jones, “Obama Discusses Yemen Attack,” National-Journal.com, September 17, 2008.

236 “seems to have stabilized”: Michael Sheuer, “Yemen’s Role in al-Qaeda’s Strategy,” Terrorism Focus 5 (5) (February 7, 2008), www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4708&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=246&no_cache=1.

236 “US money starts flowing”: Author interview, former senior counterterrorism official, January 2011.

237 “targeting and then killing people”: Author interview, former JSOC aide, 2010.

237 “There was no such thing”: Associated Press, “McCain, Obama Spar over Al Qaeda in Iraq,” CBSNews.com, June 18, 2009.

237 “the least of the two evils”: Anwar al Awlaki. “Voting for the American President,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, October 31, 2008.

238 “very little difference”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Part 2: Voting for the American President,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-awlaki.com, November 3, 2008.

238 “an al-Qaeda supporter”: Gordon Rayner, “Muslim Groups ‘Linked to September 11 Hijackers Spark Fury over Conference,’” Telegraph, December 27, 2008.

238 “This is a baseless claim”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Lies of the Telegraph,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 27, 2008.

238 plot to attack Fort Dix: Evan Kohlmann, “Investigating Ft. Hood: Anwar al-Awlaki’s ‘Constants on the Path of Jihad,’” Counterterrorism Blog, November 9, 2009, http://counterterrorismblog.org/2009/11/investigating_ft_hood_anwar_al.php.

238 traveled to Somalia: Andrea Elliott, “A Call to Jihad, Answered in America,” New York Times, July 11, 2009.

239 “fills our hearts”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Salutations to the al-Shabab of Somalia,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 21, 2008.

239 “beloved Sheikh Anwar”: “Al-Shabaab: Reply to the Greeting and Advice of Sheikh Anwar,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 27, 2008.

239 “The illegal state of Israel”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Meaning of Gaza,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 28, 2008.

240 “There are many soldiers”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar Awlaki, December 17, 2008, published by Intelwire on July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

240 “condenses the Al Qaeda philosophy”: Scott Shane, “Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror,” New York Times, November 18, 2009.

240 did not speak Arabic: Wesley Yang, “The Terrorist Search Engine,” New York, December 5, 2010.

241 “little surprise”: Kohlmann, “Investigating Ft. Hood.”

241 “he preaches in English”: Author interview, Joshua Foust, January 2011.

241 “call from the pulpits”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Yemeni-American Jihadi Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki in First Interview with al-Qaeda Media calls on Muslim US Servicemen to Kill Fellow Soldiers,” transcription of interview with Al-Malahem Media, May 23, 2010, by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2480.htm.

242 “The US has come to the conclusion”: Anwar al Awlaki, “A New Year: Reality and Aspirations,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, December 31, 2008.

242 “Jihad will carry on”: Ibid.

24: “Obama Is Set to Continue the Course Set by Bush”

244 “I am opposed to”: Barack Obama, “Transcript: Obama’s Speech Against the Iraq War,” October 2, 2002, transcript available via NPR.org, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99591469.

244 “Let’s be the generation”: Barack Obama, “Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s Announcement Speech,” February 10, 2007, transcript available via Associated Press, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/10/AR2007021000879.html.

244 “harshest interrogation techniques”: Scott Shane, David Johnston, and James Risen, “Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations,” New York Times, October 4, 2007.

245 “This is an example”: Transcript, “Barack Obama on MSNBC,” October 4, 2007, transcript available via NYTimes.com, www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/us/politics/04obama-text.html?pagewanted=all.

245 “governed by fear”: “Oct. 30 Democratic Debate Transcript,” October 30, 2007, transcript available via MSNBC.com, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21528787/ns/politics-the_debates/t/oct-democratic-debate-transcript/#.UPeUQhzKZcR.

245 “a terrible mistake”: Associated Press, “Obama Says He Might Send Troops to Pakistan,” NBCNews.com, August 1, 2007.

245 “You don’t broadcast”: Andy Merten, “Presidential Candidates Debate Pakistan; McCain, Clinton Criticize Obama for Threatening to Order Attacks,” NBCNews.com, February 28, 2008.

245 “the right strategy”: “Feb. 26 Democratic Debate Transcript,” February 26, 2007, transcript available via MSNBC.com, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23354734/ns/politics-the_debates/t/feb-democratic-debate-transcript/#.UPeVjBzKZcR.

245 “John McCain likes to say”: Obama Blasts McCain, Lays Out His Own Agenda,” CNN.com, August 28, 2008.

246 “reassuring”: Karl Rove, “Thanksgiving Cheer from Obama; He’s Assembled a First-Rate Economic Team,” Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2008.

246 “I am gobsmacked”: Max Boot, “Obama’s Picks,” Commentary, posted November 11, 2008, www.commentarymagazine.com/2008/11/25/obamas-picks/.

246 “continue the course”: Michael Goldfarb, “Obama the Realist,” Weekly Standard (blog), November 26, 2008, www.weekly-standard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/11/obama_the_realist_1.asp.

247 “we need to look forward”: Transcript, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC, January 11, 2009.

247 “take down a lot of those policies”: Transcript, Face the Nation, CBS, May 10, 2009.

25: Obama’s Signature Strikes

248 “message we are sending”: Jake Tapper, Jan Crawford-Greenburg, and Huma Khan, “Obama Order to Shut Gitmo, CIA Detention Centers,” ABCNews.go.com, January 22, 2009.

248 Hayden briefed him: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 39.

248 The first strike: Reprieve, “Complaint Against the United States of America for the Killing of Innocent Citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the UN Human Rights Council,” February 23, 2012, http://reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2012_02_22_PUB_drones_UN_HRC_complaint.pdf?utm_source=Press+mailing+list&utm_campaign=89f3db0a75-2012_02_23_drones_UN_complaint&utm_medium=email. The complaint was filed on behalf of the victims of different strikes, including Ejaz Ahmad, whose relatives were among those killed and injured by the strike in question.

248 The second struck: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 39.

248 “five al Qaeda militants,” “Good”: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), p. 93.

248 straight to the president: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 40.

248 between seven and fifteen: “Obama 2009 Pakistan Strikes,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, August 10, 2011, www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/obama-2009-strikes/.

249 One boy, loss of an eye: Reprieve, “Complaint Against the United States of America.”

249 “wrong house”: “Obama 2009 Pakistan Strikes.”

249 “pro-government peace committee”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 40.

249 first the new president had heard: Ibid., pp. 40–41.

249 added a constraint: Ibid., p. 42.

249 But he didn’t: Obama has reportedly made other small changes to the signature strike protocol, such as bringing the State Department, namely, the ambassador in Islamabad, into the process. Adam Entous, Siobhan Gorman, and Julian E. Barnes, “U.S. Tightens Drone Rules,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2011.

249 “crash course”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 120.

249 “tutorial”: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011), p. 232.

250 most of the ExOrds: Ibid., p. 245.

250 “reached a tacit agreement”: R. Jeffrey Smith, Candace Rondeaux, and Joby Warrick, “Two U.S. Airstrikes Offer a Concrete Sign of Obama’s Pakistan Policy,” Washington Post, January 24, 2009.

250 “fully endorsed”: Woodward, Obama’s Wars, p. 93.

250 “all the key personnel”: Jane Mayer, “The Predator War: What Are the Risks of the C.I.A.’s Covert Drone Program?” New Yorker, October 26, 2009.

250 “the real [secret]”: Woodward, Obama’s Wars, p. 6.

250 “number one goal”: Peter Bergen, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden—from 9/11 to Abbottabad (New York: Crown, 2012), p. 116.

250 “detailed operation plan”: Jake Tapper, “Chapter Six: The President Takes Aim,” in Terry Moran, Martha Raddatz, Nick Schifrin, Brian Ross, and Jake Tapper, Target: Bin Laden—the Death and Life of Public Enemy Number One, ABCNews.go.com, June 9, 2011.

250 Scores of civilians: “Obama 2009 Pakistan Strikes.”

250 “After the prayers”: Agence France-Presse, “US Drone Fires on Taliban Territory,” National (UAE), June 24, 2009.

251 “among the mourners”: Mayer, “The Predator War.”

251 father-in-law’s house: Ibid.

251 “target boxes”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 121.

251 as many drone strikes: “2009: The Year of the Drone,” Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative, New America Foundation, accessed December 17, 2012, http://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones/2009.

251 “hidden bases”: James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, “C.I.A. Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones,” New York Times, August 20, 2009.

251 “With an ACCM”: Author interview, US military intelligence source, October 2009. All information from and quotations of the “military intelligence source” come from the author’s interview.

253 introduced legislation: Transparency and Accountability in Military and Security Contracting Act of 2007, S. 674, 110th Cong. (2007).

26: Special Ops Want to “Own This Shit Like They Did in Central America in the ’80s”

254 prisoner number 372: Associated Press, “Report: Ex-Gitmo Detainee Now al-Qaeda’s No. 2 in Yemen,” USAToday.com, January 23, 2009.

254 “al Qaeda travel facilitator”: Memorandum from DoD Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants at US Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Said Ali Jabir al Khathim al Shihri, “Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the Case of Said Ali Jabir al Khathim al Shihri,” June 16, 2005, accessed December 18, 2012, http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/372-said-ali-al-shihri/documents/1/pages/411#3.

254 went missing: Robert F. Worth, “Freed by the U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief,” New York Times, January 22, 2009.

254 “By Allah”: Agence France-Presse, “Former Guantanamo Detainee Elevated to Senior Qaeda Rank,” January 23, 2009.

255 “transformed al Qaeda in Yemen”: Barak Barfi, “Yemen on the Brink? The Resurgence of al Qaeda in Yemen,” Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative Policy Paper, New America Foundation, January 2010, p. 5.

255 “85 Most Wanted”: Ibid., p. 8.

255 “deteriorated significantly”: Associated Press, “U.S. Report Says Pakistan Terror Attacks Up,” USAtoday.com, April 30, 2009.

255 “I don’t think there’s any doubt”: Hearing to Receive Testimony of Afghanistan, Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, 111th Cong. p. 63 (December 2, 2009) (testimony of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State).

255 “toothpaste in a tube”: Annual Threat Assessment Hearing, Before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 111th Cong. (February 25, 2009) (testimony of Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence).

256 “a very persistent enemy”: Transcript, “Media Roundtable with CIA Director Leon E. Panetta,” February 25, 2009, transcript from Federal News Service.

256 “immediate threat”: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), p. 8.

256 “adequate plans”: Ibid., p. 35.

256 “establishing new safe-havens”: Dan Pfeiffer, “The Same Old Washington Blame Game,” The White House Blog, December 30, 2009, www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/12/30/same-old-washington-blame-game.

256 Almost half: Worth, “Freed by the U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief.”

256 Khobar Towers: Pam Benson, “Obama to Name John Brennan to Lead CIA,” Security Clearance (blog), CNN.com, January 7, 2013, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/07/obama-to-name-john-brennan-to-lead-cia/.

257 “direct and immediate”: “Profile: John O. Brennan,” Who Runs Gov, Washington-Post.com, accessed December 15, 2012.

257 released 176 of the men: “Yemen Frees 176 al-Qaeda Suspects,” AlArabiya.net, February 9, 2009.

257 South Korean tourists: “Tourists Die in Yemen Explosion,” BBC.co.uk, March 15, 2009.

257 “repeatedly rebuffed”: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA495, from Chargé d’Affaires Angie Bryan, “Saleh Shows No Flexibility on GTMO Detainees,” March 23, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/03/09SANAA495.html. The author relies on this cable for details of the meeting.

257 “praised Yemen’s efforts”: Saba (Yemen), “Yemeni Leader Receives Letter from US President,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, March 16, 2009.

257 addressed the Guantánamo situation: Bryan, “Saleh Shows No Flexibility on GTMO Detainees.”

258 “We are not obedient soldiers”: Kevin Peraino, “Our Main Enemy Is Al Qaeda,” Newsweek, April 17, 2009.

258 “know how to deal with us”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011. All quotations of Lang come from the author’s interview.

258 pushed hard: Gareth Porter, “True Believer: Petraeus and the Mythology of Afghanistan,” Truthout, December 20, 2012.

258 “Success against the extremist networks”: General David H. Petraeus, Commander US Central Command, “The Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategic Review and the Posture of U.S. Central Command,” prepared statement for Senate Armed Services Committee, April 1, 2009.

258 approved a plan: “Yemen,” excerpt from General David H. Petraeus, Commander US Central Command, statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategic Review and the Posture of US Central Command, March 16, 2010, www.centcom.mil/yemen/.

258 “inability of the Yemeni government”: Petraeus, “The Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategic Review and the Posture of U.S. Central Command,” April 1, 2009.

259 advised President Obama, under Petraeus’s command: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” Atlantic, May 25, 2010, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/obama-gives-commanders-wide-berth-for-secret-warfare/57202/.

259 boarded a Yemeni Air Force helicopter: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA1015 from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Saleh Sees Foreign Hand Behind Yemen’s Internal Woes,” May 31, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/05/09SANAA1015.html. The author relies on this cable for details of the meeting.

260 US military recruiting center: CNN Wire Staff, “Man Pleads Guilty to Recruiting Center Killing, Gets Life,” CNN.com, July 25, 2011.

260 literature by Anwar Awlaki: Kristina Goetz (Commercial Appeal, Memphis), “Muslim Who Shot Soldier in Arkansas Says He Wanted to Cause More Death,” Knox-news.com, November 13, 2010.

260 “If you ever get out”: James Dao, “Suspect’s Lawyer Outlines Defense in Killing of Soldier,” New York Times, June 4, 2009.

260 he was investigated: Pierre Thomas, Richard Esposito, and Jack Date, “Recruiter Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Extremist Locations,” ABCNews.go.com, June 3, 2009.

260 told police officials: Steve Barnes and James Dao, “Gunman Kills Soldier Outside Recruiting Station,” New York Times, June 1, 2009.

260 “a jihadi attack”: “Arkansas Recruiting Center Killing Suspect: ‘This Was a Jihadi Attack,’” CNN.com, January 22, 2010.

260 “might be trying to link himself”: James Dao, “Man Claims Terror Ties in Little Rock Shooting,” New York Times, January 21, 2010.

261 “recklessness cloaked in righteousness”: Remarks by Richard B. Cheney, American Enterprise Institute, May 21, 2009, www.aei.org/article/foreign-and-defense-policy/regional/india-pakistan-afghanistan/remarks-by-richard-b-cheney/.

261 “doubled down on Bush policy”: Author interview, Joshua Foust, January 2011.

261 “These guys are scalpels”: Author interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, February 2011.

262 fly drones and US helicopters: US diplomatic cable 09STATE72112, from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to US Embassy in Sana’a, “Eliciting Yemeni Cooperation for Arms Smuggling Interdiction Efforts,” July 9, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/07/09STATE72112.html. The author relies on this cable for details of Ambassador Seche’s talking points.

262 laying the groundwork: US diplomatic cable 08SANAA1947, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Saleh Tells Petraeus: ‘No Restrictions’ on CT Cooperation,” August 9, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09SANAA1430.html. The author relies on this cable for details of the meeting.

262 deployed his nephew: Gregory D. Johnsen, “The Expansion Strategy of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” CTC Sentinel, January 3, 2010, www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-expansion-strategy-of-al-qaida-in-the-arabian-peninsula-2.

262 posting a video online: Ibid.

263 “I worry about safe havens”: Transcript, “Defense Language Institute All Hands Call,” Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA, August 10, 2009, www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1230.

263 “got free training”: Author interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, December 2010.

27: Suicide or Martyrdom?

264 “Today the world turns upside down”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Suicide or Martyrdom?” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, January 22, 2009.

264 “the greatest terrorists of all”: Anwar al Awlaki, “An Offer to Retract and Unite,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, February 14, 2009.

264 “speaking to you from Yemen”: Anwar al Awlaki, “State of the Ummah—Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki,” YouTube video (audio), 48:51, from a lecture delivered by Anwar al Awlaki via teleconference on March 1, 2009, posted by “Moahroah,” July 3, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIpxw2tupdQ.

265 “when the president was calling me”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

265 positioning their vehicles: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, August 2012.

265 “what the president wants”: Ibid.

266 “I will not allow the Americans”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

266 “It was a heated discussion”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, September 2012.

266 “You and the Americans”: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012.

266 “What am I accused of?”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Anwar al-Awlaki May 2010 Interview Video,” transcript of interview with Al-Malahem Media, released May 23, 2010, translation from Public Intelligence, May 26, 2010, http://publicintelligence.net/anwar-al-awlaki-may-2010-interview-video/.

266 “Unguided Rockets into Israel?”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, January 16, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

266 “This can assure privacy”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, February 16, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html. This was from the first of four e-mails Hasan sent on February 16.

267 “$5,000.00 scholarship”: Ibid., from the third of four e-mails Hasan sent on February 16.

267 “I pray this message reaches you”: Anwar al Awlaki, e-mail to Nidal Hasan, February 16, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

267 “looking for a wife”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, February 16, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html. This was from the fourth of four e-mails Hasan sent on February 16.

267 “Thanks for the offer”: Anwar al Awlaki, e-mail to Nidal Hasan, February 22, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

267 “I know your busy”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, March 7, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

267 “the issue of ‘collateral damage’”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, May 31, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.

268 “The first face to face fight”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Army of Yemen Confronts the Mujahideen,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, August 1, 2009.

268 “Surprise of the Season?”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Could Yemen Be the Next Surprise of the Season?” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlai.com, October 7, 2009.

269 “If we go back to 2001 or 2002”: Author interview, Abdul Rezzaq al Jamal, January 2012.

269 “I lived in the US”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Anwar Al Awlaki’s Posthumous Call to Jihad (Part 1),” YouTube video, 12:48, from an address delivered by Anwar al Awlaki in March 2010 and produced by Al-Malahem Media, posted by “ClarionProductions,” December 21, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOcFKofJ5PA.

28: Obama Embraces JSOC

270 fewer than one hundred: Joshua Partlow, “In Afghanistan, Taliban Leaving al-Qaeda Behind,” Washington Post, November 11, 2009.

270 “a coup attempt”: Agence France-Presse, “UN Somalia Envoy Accuses Islamist of Coup Attempt,” May 13, 2009.

270 highly produced videos: Agence France-Presse, “Somali Terror Group Raps in English for Recruits,” March 31, 2009.

270 Syrian immigrant: Abu Mansuur al-Amriiki, “The Story of an American Jihaadi, Part One,” accessed May 17, 2012, http://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/omar-hammami-abc5ab-mane1b9a3c5a-br-al-amrc4abkc4ab-22the-story-of-an-american-jihc481dc4ab-part-122.pdf. For details of Omar Hammami’s life, the author relied on his autobiography, published online under the nom de guerre Abu Mansuur al-Amriiki, unless otherwise noted.

271 “I made it my goal”: Andrea Elliott, “The Jihadist Next Door,” New York Times Magazine, January 27, 2010.

271 “a multinational counterterrorism team”: Ibid.

271 federal, terror-related charges: Associated Press, “American Is Charged in U.S. for Activities in Somalia,” Washington Post, February 14, 2007.

271 a potential asset: Elliott, “The Jihadist Next Door.”

271 “Oh, Muslims of America”: Ibid.

271 450 foreign fighters: Agence France-Presse, “Lawless Somalia Draws Influx of Foreign Fighters,” March 27, 2009.

271 “The only reason”: Omar Hammami, “A Converted American Who Joined Al Qaeda,” YouTube video, 3:12, from a CNN broadcast featuring an excerpt of the Shabab-produced recruitment video “Ambush at Bardal,” posted by “shahzadkhan007,” July 22, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvEdB9riTI0.

271 “If you can encourage”: Omar Hammami, “Two Americans in Shabaab,” YouTube video, 3:38, from the Shabab-produced video “Ambush at Bardal” released March 31, 2009, posted by “RabieAbuBakr,” April 15, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMU9Vgix6Eo.

271 “We’re calling all the brothers”: “Somali Terrorist Group Releases Recruitment Video Featuring ‘the American,’” Anti-Defamation League, September 8, 2009, www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/al_shabaab_video_the_american.htm.

271 key al Shabab leaders: In 2012, Hammami and al Shabab had an apparent falling out, with Hammami charging in two online videos that “friction” with other leaders had put his life in danger. Al Shabab denied the allegations, calling Hammami “narcissistic,” and accused him of “sowing disunity” among the mujahedeen. See Omar Hammami, “urgentmessage,” YouTube video, 1:09, posted by “somalimuhajirwarrior,” March 16, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAr2srINqks; The Middle East Media Research Institute, “In Second Urgent Message, American Al-Shabab Commander Hammami Confirms Major Schism Between Somali and Foreign Al-Shabab Fighters, Urges Al-Qaeda Leadership to Intervene,” translation of online video message from Omar Hammami, October 19, 2012, www.memri.org/report/en/print6766.htm; HSM Press Office, “Abu Mansur Al-Amriki: A Candid Clarification,” statement from Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen posted on their Twitter feed, December 17, 2012, www.twitlonger.com/show/kcjrkc.

271 Shirwa Ahmed: Pierre Thomas and Jason Ryan, “Feds Probing Possible Minn. Terror Group,” ABCNews.go.com, November 25, 2008.

272 “fight terrorism with lethal force”: Daniel Volman, “Obama, AFRICOM, and U.S. Military Policy Toward Africa,” Working Paper No. 14, Program of African Studies, Northwestern University, 2009. Volman cites Senator Obama’s written responses to a questionnaire given to the 2008 presidential candidates by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. The questionnaire—but not the responses—can be found at, www.afjn.org/focus-campaigns/other/other-continental-issues/82-general/399-presidential-town-hall-meeting-africa-questionnaire.html.

272 “just a failed state”: Hillary Clinton during confirmation hearing, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, January 13, 2009, transcript by CQ Transcriptions, released via NYTimes.com, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13text-clinton.html?pagewanted=1&r=0.

272 arms shipments: Marina Litvinsky and Jim Lobe, “Somalia: U.S. Confirms Arms Shipments to Bolster Besieged Gov’t,” Inter Press Service News Agency, June 25, 2009.

272 better paid: Roland Marchal, “The Rise of a Jihadi Movement in a Country at War; Harakat Al-Shabaab al Mujaheddin in Somalia,” National Centre for Scientific Research, March 2011, p. 8. Al Shabab reportedly paid its recruits’ salaries far more regularly than other Somali actors, including the government, although the stated salaries themselves could be comparably modest.

272 double-suicide attacks: Edmund Sanders, “Eleven African Soldiers Killed in Somalia,” Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2009.

272 “unprecedented level”: “Somali Militants Kill Eleven Burundian Soldiers in Mogadishu,” Pana Press, February 23, 2009.

273 “heaviest of its kind”: Mohamed Ibrahim, “Fighting in Somalia Kills at Least Fifteen,” New York Times, February 24, 2009.

273 “walking slowly”: Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, “Obama Team Mulls Aims of Somali Extremists,” Washington Post, April 11, 2009.

273 at least twenty cases: Andrea Elliott, “A Call to Jihad, Answered in America,” New York Times, July 11, 2009.

273 cracked down substantially: Maalik Eng, “Somalia Piracy Falls to Six-Year Low as Guards Defend Ships,” Shabelle Media Network, October 22, 2012.

273 for-profit fishery: Johan Peleman, Edward Howard Johns, Pavanjeet Singh Sandhu, and John Tambi, “Report of the Panel of Experts on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1474 (2003),” UN Security Council, November 4, 2003, p. 32.

273 illegal waste dumping: “Report of the Secretary-General on the Protection of Somali Natural Resources and Waters,” United Nations Security Council, October 25, 2011, pp. 12–13.

273 Somali coastguard: Najad Abdullahi, “‘Toxic Waste’ Behind Somali Piracy,” AlJazeera.com, October 11, 2008.

274 counter-piracy training: “American Crew Regains Control of Hijacked Ship, One Pirate in Custody,” FoxNews.com, April 8, 2009.

274 a secured safe room: Chip Cummins and Sarah Childress, “On the Maersk: ‘I Hope if I Die, I Die a Brave Person,’” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2009.

274 maneuvered the Alabama’s rudders: “Crewman’s E-mail Gives Harrowing Details of Hijacking,” CNN.com, April 20, 2009.

274 FV Win Far 161: Jay Bahadur, The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World (New York: Pantheon Books, 2011, Kindle edition).

274 US Defense Department contractor: Mark Mazzetti and Sharon Otterman, “U.S. Captain Is Hostage of Pirates; Navy Ship Arrives,” New York Times, April 8, 2009.

274 since the early 1800s: James Bone, “Maersk Alabama Crew Return to US to Tell of Somali Pirate Ordeal,” Times Online (London), April 18, 2009.

274 deployment of a destroyer: Mazzetti and Otterman, “U.S. Captain Is Hostage of Pirates.”

274 taken hostage: Ibid.

274 Two other ships: “More Pirates Searching for Lifeboat, Official Says,” CNN.com, April 10, 2009.

274 “virtually immediately”: Scott Wilson, Ann Scott Tyson, and Stephanie McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies’; Precision Volley by Navy SEALs Ended a Five-Day Ordeal for an American Seaman, but Piracy Off Somalia Continues,” Washington Post, April 14, 2009.

274 first authorization: Transcript, Larry King Live, CNN, April 12, 2009.

274 tried to escape: Wilson, Tyson, and McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies.’”

274 threw into the ocean: Mark Owen, with Kevin Maurer, No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (New York: Dutton, 2012), p. 94.

275 second authorization: Transcript, Larry King Live, CNN, April 12, 2009.

275 “the first time I know of”: Author interview, Marc Ambinder, December 2010. All quotations of Marc Ambinder come from the author’s interview.

275 deploy to the Horn of Africa: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 89.

275 based at Manda Bay: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” TheAtlantic.com, May 25, 2010.

275 “They’re deadly accurate”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton, March 2011.

275 Three shots: Wilson, Tyson, and McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies,’”

276 publicly used the name: Marc Ambinder, “SEAL Team Six v. the Pirates,” theAtlantic.com, April 12, 2009. The White House provided a backgrounder to journalists, which stated that President Obama called military officials after the operation, including “Vice Admiral William McRaven, Commander Joint Special Operations Command.”

276 “The President personally invited”: Author interview, Special Operations source, August 2010.

277 bold attack: Alex Perry, “Behind the Suicide Bombing in Somalia,” Time, June 19, 2009.

277 Mogadishu’s police chief: Associated Press, “Somali Police Chief Among Seventeen Dead in Clashes,” MSNBC.com, June 17, 2009.

277 few hundred yards: Jeffrey Gettleman, “In Somalia, a Leader Is Raising Hopes for Stability,” New York Times, September 16, 2009.

277 “weakened by the rebel forces”: Al Arabiya/Agencies, “Somalia Seeks Foreign Military Aid amid Crisis,” AlArabiya.net, June 20, 2009.

277 shipment of forty tons: Mary Beth Sheridan, “U.S. Has Sent Forty Tons of Munitions to Aid Somali Government,” Washington Post, June 27, 2009.

277 “best hope we’ve had”: Transcript, “Remarks with Somali Transitional Federal Government President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,” August 6, 2009.

277 “a number of actions and initiatives”: John O. Brennan, “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans,” prepared remarks, Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 6, 2009, www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-john-brennan-center-strategic-and-international-studies.

29: “Let JSOC Off the Leash”

278 received a phone call: “Saudi Prince Spoke to Bomber on Phone Before Attack,” Reuters, September 2, 2009.

278 fled the kingdom: Al Arabiya/Reuters, “Qaeda Names Man Who Tried to Kill Saudi Prince,” AlArabiya.net, August 30, 2009.

278 recruited: Abdullah Al-Oreifij (Saudi Gazette), “Saudi Interior Ministry Names Suicide Bomber in Attack on Prince,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, August 31, 2009.

278 “I need to meet”: “Saudi Prince Spoke to Bomber on Phone Before Attack.”

278 pick him up: Al Arabiya/Reuters, “Qaeda Names Man.”

278 “Asiri said”: Richard Barrett, “Al-Qaida and Taliban Status Check: A Resurgent Threat?” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, September 29, 2009, transcript by Federal News Service, www.teachingterror.net/resources/AQ%20Status%20check.pdf. All quotations and information attributed to Barrett come from these remarks.

278 one-pound bomb: CBS/AP, “Saudi Bombmaker Key Suspect in Yemen Plot,” CBSNews.com, November 1, 2010.

279 Asiri’s brother: “Profile: Al-Qaeda ‘Bomb Maker’ Ibrahim al-Asiri,” BBC.co.uk, May 9, 2012.

279 delivering a personal letter: US diplomatic cable 09JEDDAH343, from Consul General Martin R. Quinn, US Consulate in Jeddah, “Presidential Assistant Brennan’s Sept. 5 Discussion with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif,” September 11, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09JEDDAH343.html.

279 “I met with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef”: Transcript, interview with Gloria Borger, State of the Union with John King, CNN, January 4, 2010.

279 “We’re very concerned”: Transcript, Meet the Press, NBC, January 3, 2010.

279 “There was no indication”: Ibid.

279 sat face to face: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA1669, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Brennan-Saleh Meeting September 6, 2009,” September 15, 2009. Released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09SANAA1669.html. Details of this meeting between Brennan and President Saleh come from this cable.

280 subsequent classified cable: Ibid.

280 “doesn’t mean a damn thing”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.

281 “initiative to help Yemen”: Reuters, “US Offers Yemen Help in ‘Fight Against Terrorism,’” AlArabiya.net, September 7, 2009.

281 authorizing plans: Author interviews, Special Operations sources, May–July 2010.

281 “Not enough people”: “Al Qaeda Extends to Somalia, Yemen,” Washington Times, September 10, 2009.

281 “under more pressure”: Eight Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland, Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, 111th Cong. (September 30, 2009) (testimony of Michael Leiter, Director, National Counterterrorism Center), video available at www.senate.gov/fplayers/I2009/urlPlayer.cfm?fn=gov-taff093009&st=840&dur=8355.

281 “witnessed the reemergence”: Ibid.

282 convened a meeting: Sunlen Miller, “A Look at the President’s Meetings on Afghanistan and Pakistan,” ABCNews.go.com, November 10, 2009.

282 seven-page secret order: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” TheAtlantic.com, May 25, 2010.

282 permission slip: Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast,” New York Times, May 24, 2010.

282 “more systematic and long term”: Ibid.

282 “reluctant to allow such an expansion”: Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth.”

283 intelligence gathering: Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions.”

283 “cannot or will not be accomplished”: Ibid.

283 “The temptation for the leadership”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.

283 “Pentagon is already empowered”: Author interview, Special Operations source, May 2010.

284 “insulate the president”: Author interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, May 2010.

284 discreet trip to Yemen: “Yemen, U.S. Talks on Cooperation in Military, Combating Terror Fields,” President Saleh website, October 4, 2009, www.presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&nsid=7743.

284 “cooperation between the U.S. and Yemen”: “Senior Military Official Visits Yemen,” press release from the US embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, October 4, 2009, http://yemen.usembassy.gov/smov.html.

284 “implementation of some special operations”: Muhammad al Ahmadi, “Al Qaeda to Respond to Obama’s Strategy in Yemen,” al-Ghad, December 6, 2009.

284 “We’re developing geostrategic principles”: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), pp. 227–228.

30: Samir Khan: An Unlikely Foot Soldier

285 Soldier Readiness Processing Center: Ana Campoy, Peter Sanders, and Russell Gold, “Hash Browns, Then Four Minutes of Chaos,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2009.

285 prosecuted for war crimes: Brooks Egerton, “Fort Hood Captain: Hasan Wanted Patients to Face War Crimes Charges,” Dallas Morning News, November 17, 2009.

285 complained to friends: James McKinley Jr. and James Dao, “Fort Hood Gunman Gave Signals Before His Rampage,” New York Times, November 8, 2009.

285 “It’s getting harder”: Dana Priest, “Fort Hood Suspect Warned of Threats Within the Ranks,” Washington Post, November 10, 2009.

285 imminent deployment: Staff and wire reports, “Suspect Was to Deploy to Afghanistan,” Army Times, November 5, 2009.

286 “did not alert”: Scott Shane and James Dao, “Investigators Study Tangle of Clues on Fort Hood Suspect,” New York Times, November 14, 2009.

286 “ordered nor pressured”: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Cleric Says He Was Confidant to Hasan,” Washington Post, November 16, 2009.

286 “is a hero”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing,” Imam Anwar’s blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, November 9, 2009.

286 “not recruited by Al-Qaida”: “MEMRI TV Clip No. 3240: AQAP Video Features American-Yemeni Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Calling On American Muslims to Either Leave or Follow the Example of Nidal Hassan,” transcript of AQAP-produced video featuring Anwar al Awlaki, November 2011, transcript from Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), December 20, 2011, www.memritv.org/clip/en/3240.htm.

286 “undertake a full review”: Transcript, “Weekly Address: President Obama Calls for Comprehensive Review of Events Leading to Tragedy at Fort Hood,” November 14, 2009.

286 “most destructive terrorist attack”: Agence France-Presse, “Army Base Shooting Was ‘Terrorist Attack’: US Lawmaker,” November 18, 2009.

286 call for preemptive strikes: Jordan Fabian, “Lieberman: Yemen Will Be ‘Tomorrow’s War’ If Pre-emptive Action Not Taken,” Briefing Room (blog), The Hill, December 27, 2009, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73651-lieberman-yemen-will-be-tomorrows-war-if-preemptive-action-not-taken.

287 Wild West Domains: Author search, August 2011, http://who.is/whois/anwar-alawlaki.com/.

287 “They shut down my website”: Anwar al Awlaki, interview with Al-Malahem Media, aired May 23, 2010, transcript provided by MEMRI, www.memrijttm.org/clip_transcript/en/2480.htm.

287 landed in Sana’a: Transcript, “Grand Jury Focuses on NC Man Tied to Jihad Magazine,” Morning Edition with Steve Inskeep, NPR, August 18, 2010.

287 “He’s a Christmas child”: Author interview, Sarah Khan, April 2012. All information and quotations attributed to Sarah Khan come from the author’s interview.

287 Samir’s grandparents’ house: Ibid.

287 classmates recall: Matthew Chayes, Anthony M. Destefano, Robert E. Kessler, Greg Lacour, and Victor Manuel Ramos, “Samir Khan, al-Qaida Figure, Grew Up on Long Island,” Newsday, October 7, 2011; Timothy Bolger, “Slain al Qaeda Mouthpiece Samir Khan’s Westbury Roots,” LongIsland-Press.com, October 6, 2011.

288 “a practicing Muslim”: Michael Moss and Souad Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers,” New York Times, October 15, 2007.

288 Islamic Thinkers Society: Ibid.

288 “Does he think like them?”: Chayes et al., “Samir Khan, al-Qaida Figure, Grew Up on Long Island.”

288 first of several interventions: Robbie Brown and Kim Severson, “Second American in Strike Waged Qaeda Media War,” New York Times, September 30, 2011.

288 “If you give Satan an inch”: Chayes et al., “Samir Khan, al-Qaida Figure, Grew Up on Long Island.”

288 community college: Moss and Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers.”

288 debates with fellow attendees: “American Editor Brings US Savvy to Jihad Outreach,” Morning Edition, NPR, October 12, 2010.

289 retiring blogs: Alice Fordham, “A ‘Proud Traitor’: Samir Khan Reported Dead Alongside Aulaqi,” Checkpoint Washington (blog), Washington Post, September 30, 2011.

289 Muslimpad: Moss and Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers.”

289 top 1 percent: Ibid.

289 “scholars of Islam”: “About,” The Ignored Puzzle Pieces of Knowledge, revolution.muslimpad.com.

289 Zachary Chesser: “Alleged American Jihadists—Connecting the Dots,” CNN.com, October 10, 2012.

289 “unlikely foot soldier”: Moss and Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers.”

289 “brought great happiness to me”: Ibid.

289 told a local news station: Ibid.

290 hired a lawyer: “American Editor Brings US Savvy to Jihad Outreach.”

290 following him closely: Michael Moss, “What to Do About Pixels of Hate,” New York Times, October 21, 2007.

290 “shut [Khan] down”: Fordham, “A ‘Proud Traitor.’”

290 “FBI dispatched a spy”: Samir Khan, “I Am Proud to Be a Traitor to America,” Inspire 2 (fall 2010), published October 2010. All excerpts of Khan’s writing come from this article, unless otherwise noted.

290 invited an Imam: Moss and Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers.”

290 “a moderate Muslim”: Steven Stalinsky and R. Sosnow, ”The Life and Legacy of American al-Qaeda Online Jihad Pioneer Samir Khan—Editor of al-Qaeda Magazine ‘Inspire’ and a Driving Force Behind al-Qaeda’s Push for ‘Lone-Wolf’ Terrorist Attacks in the West,” Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), September 28, 2012, www.memri.org/report/en/print6713.htm#_edn39.

290 “became very much convinced”: Chayes et al., “Samir Khan, al-Qaida Figure, Grew Up on Long Island.”

290 “I tried to bring arguments”: Moss and Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at US Viewers.”

290 already received an invitation: Steve Inskeep, “Grand Jury Focuses on NC Man Tied to Jihad Magazine,” Morning Edition, NPR, August 18, 2010.

291 “How could anyone claim sanity”: Abu Yazeed, “Samir Khan: The Face of Joy,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012. The author claims to be publishing a “last will” left by Samir Khan on his hard drive.

291 first met Anwar Awlaki: Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, “The Danish Biker and the Trail That Led to al Qaeda’s Most Wanted,” CNN.com, October 24, 2012.

291 Murad Storm: Ibid.

291 first armed robbery: Ray Weaver, “Former Biker Infiltrated al-Qaeda,” Copenhagen Post, October 8, 2012.

292 Bandidos: Ibid.

292 converted to Islam, moved to Yemen: Ibid.

292 named him Osama: Ibid.

292 video from 2005: Cruickshank and Lister, “The Danish Biker and the Trail That Led to al Qaeda’s Most Wanted.”

292 student at Iman University: Ibid.

292 “talked freely”: Ibid.

292 “not what I thought”: Weaver, “Former Biker Infiltrated al-Qaeda.”

292 claimed he approached: Cruickshank and Lister, “The Danish Biker and the Trail That Led to al Qaeda’s Most Wanted.”

292 saw me as his friend”: Ibid.

292 “materials and electronic equipment”: Ibid.

292 “discussed the terrorist attacks”: Ibid.

292 “part of a conspiracy to get Anwar”: E-mail sent to author from Awlaki family, December 2012.

293 married a second Yemeni wife: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, August 2012.

293 “companion in hiding”: Cruickshank and Lister, “The Danish Biker and the Trail That Led to al Qaeda’s Most Wanted.”

293 “There are two things”: Duncan Gardham, “Morten Storm: A Radical Life,” Telegraph, December 3, 2012.

293 launched an assault: Cruickshank and Lister, “The Danish Biker and the Trail That Led to al Qaeda’s Most Wanted.”

293 “overjoyed”: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary, 12:11, December 16, 2012.

293 “The idea was to find someone”: Ibid.

293 “That was the plan”: Weaver, “Former Biker Infiltrated al-Qaeda.”

31: Blowback in Somalia

294 plastic surgery: Profile of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, United Nations Security Council al-Qaida Sanctions List, accessed August 14, 2012, https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2012/sc10755.doc.htm.

294 “senior trainer”: US diplomatic cable 09NAIROBI1395, from Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, US Embassy Nairobi, “Somalia—the TFG, Al-Shabaab, and Al Qaeda,” July 6, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/07/09NAIROBI1395.html.

294 burst through the door, Wilson Airport: Author interview, Clara Gutteridge, July 2011.

294 “They put a bag on my head”: Author copy of written testimony of Ahmed Abdullahi Hassan.

294 taken to a secret prison: Author interview, Clara Gutteridge, July 2011.

295 “former personal assistant”: Author copy, Kenyan intelligence report, October 2010.

295 “CIA no longer operates”: Leon E. Panetta, “Message from the Director: Interrogation Policy and Contracts,” Central Intelligence Agency, April 9, 2009, https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/directors-statement-interrogation-policy-contracts.html.

295 “United States provided information”: Author interview, US official, July 2011.

295 “right-hand man”: Author interview, Somali intelligence official, June 2011.

295 took off in helicopters: Sean D. Naylor, “JSOC Closes Chapter on al-Qaida Leader: Somalia Raid Nets Body of Man Wanted in Bombing,” Army Times, September 18, 2009.

295 regular trips: Bill Roggio, “Commando Raid in Somalia Is Latest in Covert Operations Across the Globe,” Long War Journal, September 15, 2009.

295 According to witnesses: Ewen MacAskill, “Somali Insurgents Vow Revenge for US Killing of Leader,” Guardian, September 15, 2009.

295 collected at least two: Jeffrey Gettleman and Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Kills Top Qaeda Militant in Southern Somalia,” New York Times, September 14, 2009.

295 “any alleged operation”: MacAskill, “Somali Insurgents Vow Revenge.”

295 al Shabab confirmed: Gettleman and Schmitt, “U.S. Kills Top Qaeda Militant in Southern Somalia.”

296 “I am a firm believer”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011. All quotations of Malcolm Nance come from the author’s interview.

296 “like summary executions”: Naylor, “JSOC Closes Chapter on al-Qaida Leader.”

296 “The truth is closer to the opposite”: Ibid.

296 free to interrogate the prisoners: Author interview, Somali intelligence official, June 2011.

296 “Hassan’s case suggests”: Statement, legal team of Ahmed Abdullahi Hassan, July 2011.

297 at least seven US citizens: Bobby Ghosh, “Domestic-Terrorism Incidents Hit a Peak in 2009,” Time, December 23, 2009.

297 issued his update: Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast,” New York Times, May 24, 2010.

298 “purely military solution”: Peter Spiegel, “Gates Says Somalia Government Is Key to Problem,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2009.

298 “National Security Council”: Johnnie Carson, prepared testimony, “Developing a Coordinated and Sustainable Strategy for Somalia,” Hearing of Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, May 20, 2009, www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2009/123729.htm.

298 “following the course”: Daniel Volman, “Obama Administration Budget Request for AFRICOM Operations and for Security Assistance Programs in Africa in FY 2010,” African Security Research Project, May 2009, http://concernedafricascholars.org/african-security-research-project/?p=18. The figures of US budget requests for FY 2010 come from Volman’s report.

298 government of the Seychelles: Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller, “U.S. Assembling Secret Drone Bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Officials Say,” Washington Post, September 20, 2011.

298 “It would be a mistake”: Volman, “Obama Administration Budget Request for AFRICOM Operations.”

298 expanded to 5,200: “Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1872 (2009),” United Nations Security Council, October 2, 2009.

299 post-Ramadan offensive: Mohammed Ibrahim and Jeffrey Gettleman, “African Union Base in Somalia Is Hit,” New York Times, September 17, 2009.

299 two UN Land Cruisers: Details of the attack are from ibid.

299 single deadliest attack: Malkhadir M. Muhumed (AP), “Death Toll Rises to Twenty-one in Somalia Suicide Attack,” Seattle Times, September 17, 2009.

299 “We have got our revenge”: Ibrahim Mohamed, “Suicide Car Bombers Hit Main AU Base in Somalia,” Reuters, September 17, 2009.

299 speaking English: Ibid.

299 was a US citizen: Jeffrey Gettleman, “American Helped Bomb Somalia Base, Web Site Says,” New York Times, September 25, 2009.

299 established in 2002: “Overviews,” Benadir University website, www.benadiruniversity.net/Overviews.aspx.

299 video of the ceremony: Author copy, video of graduation ceremony at Benadir University, December 2009. Many details of the attack are from the video.

300 five Somali government ministers: “Somalia Ministers Killed by Hotel Suicide Bomb,” BBC.co.uk, December 3, 2009.

300 higher education minister: Stephanie McCrummen, “Attack at Graduation Ceremony Kills Nineteen in Somali Capital,” Washington Post, December 4, 2009.

300 health minister: Allie Shah, “Minneapolis Surgeon Feels Calling Back to Somalia,” Star Tribune, December 19, 2009.

300 “Suddenly, the hall shook”: Abdinasir Mohamed, “‘I Looked to My Right and Saw a Colleague Dead and Bleeding,’” Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2009.

300 “national disaster”: Associated Press, “Bomber Dressed as Woman Kills Twenty-two Somalis,” FoxNews.com, December 3, 2009.

300 “We beg the world”: McCrummen, “Attack at Graduation Ceremony.”

300 Danish citizen: “Somalia Suicide Bomber ‘Was from Denmark,’” BBC.co.uk, December 10, 2009.

301 “did not mastermind that explosion”: Ibrahim Mohamed, “Somali Rebels Deny They Carried Out Suicide Bombing,” Reuters, December 4, 2009.

301 “The struggle against violent extremism”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” West Point Military Academy, December 1, 2009.

301 “Perhaps the most profound issue”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President at the Acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2009.

302 “superb,” “tough”: Tweet from CBS White House Correspondent Mark Knoller (@markknoller), December 11, 2009, http://twitter.com/markknoller/status/6567810262.

302 “liberal president”: Margaret Talev, “Unlikely Support: GOP Loved Obama’s Nobel Speech,” McClatchy Newspapers, December 11, 2009.

302 “most explicitly pro-war speech”: Glenn Greenwald, “The Strange Consensus on Obama’s Nobel Address: Why Did So Many Liberals and Conservatives Both Find So Much to Cheer in the President’s Foreign Policy Speech?” Salon.com, December 11, 2009.

32: “If They Kill Innocent Children and Call Them al Qaeda, Then We Are All al Qaeda”

303 three alleged AQAP members: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 199.

303 just forty-five minutes: Ibid.

303 some seventy-five officials: Ibid., p. 200.

303 “near the village of al-Majalah”: Ibid., p. 199.

303 “heavy pressure exerted”: Ibid., p. 210.

304 BlackBerry started ringing: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. All information and quotations attributed to bin Fareed are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

304 read a press release: “‘Dozens Killed’ in Yemen Raids,” AlJazeera.com, December 18, 2009.

304 arrived in southern Yemen: Paula Dear, “Britain’s Long Relationship with Yemen,” BBC News Magazine, January 12, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8441263.stm.

304 Crown colony: Ibid.

304 British withdrew: Ibid.

305 but he had overslept: Phil Hirschkorn, “Who Was Fahd al-Quso?” CBSNews.com, May 7, 2012.

305 “People saw the smoke”: Author interview, Muqbal, January 2012. All quotations of Muqbal come from the author’s interview.

306 “I was making bread”: Author interview, female survivor, January 2012.

306 fourteen women and twenty-one children: Amnesty International, “Yemen: Cracking Down Under Pressure,” August 25, 2010.

306 three more people were killed: Chris Woods, “The Civilian Massacre the US Neither Confirms Nor Denies,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, March 29, 2012.

306 “We were only exposed to Western media”: Author interview, Kamal Sharaf, January 2012. All quotations of Kamal Sharaf come from the author’s interview.

306 his relationship, through marriage: Ibid.

306 US Treasury Department–designated: Specially Designated Nationals List, Office of Foreign Assets Control, US Department of the Treasury, January 17, 2013, www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/t11sdn.pdf.

307 tried on a suicide vest: See, for example, Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013), pp. 235–238.

307 “Special Access Program”: Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Robert F. Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents,” New York Times, August 14, 2010.

307 US-Yemen joint operations center: Dana Priest, “US Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved in Aiding Yemen on Strikes,” Washington Post, January 27, 2010.

307 surveillance aircraft: Woods, “The Civilian Massacre the US Neither Confirms Nor Denies.” According to Woods, local residents had noticed a “spotter plane” overhead well before the strike.

307 another strike: Kimberly Dozier, “U.S. Leading Assaults on al Qaeda in Yemen,” CBSNews.com, January 3, 2010.

308 preparing for strikes: Robert F. Worth, “Yemen Says Strikes Against Qaeda Bases Killed Thirty-Four,” New York Times, December 17, 2009.

308 a big fish: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA2250, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Yemen Abuzz with Talk of CT Operations; Attention Slowly Turns to U.S. Role,” December 21, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2250.html.

308 “an imminent attack”: Brian Ross, Richard Esposito, Matthew Cole, Luis Martinez, and Kirit Radia, “Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists,” ABCNews.go.com, December 18, 2009.

308 “JSOC operation with borrowed Navy subs”: Author interview, military source, November 2010.

308 “successful pre-emptive operations”: Ian Black, “Yemen ‘Kills Thirty-four al-Qaida Members in Raids,’” Guardian, December 17, 2009.

308 “carried out simultaneous raids”: Embassy of the Republic of Yemen; Office of Media and Public Affairs, Washington, DC, “Press Statement,” December 24, 2009.

308 “thank him for his cooperation”: “Obama Hails Yemen’s Efforts in Fighting Terror in Phone Call to President Salih,” Yemen News Agency (SABA), December 17, 2009.

308 Hosni Mubarak also phoned: “Saleh Receives Phone Call from Egyptian President,” Yemen News Agency (SABA), December 17, 2009.

308 questioned whether Yemen: Amnesty International, “Yemen: Cracking Down Under Pressure.”

308 BLU 97 A/B cluster bomblets: Ibid. Details of the bomblets and munitions are also from the Amnesty International report.

308 Yemen’s arsenal: Kim Sengupta, “US Cruise Missile Parts Found in Yemeni Village Where Fifty-two Died,” Independent (UK), June 7, 2010.

309 “We’ve actually done quite a bit”: Gordon Lubold, “Yemen’s Air Strike on Al Qaeda May Signal New US Focus,” Christian Science Monitor, December 24, 2009.

309 “largely nomadic, Bedouin families”: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA2251, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “ROYG Looks Ahead Following CT Operations, but Perhaps Not Far Enough,” December 21, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2251.html.

309 gathering of tribal leaders: Author interview, Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. The author relies on bin Fareed’s account for his description of the tribal gathering.

311 “Al Qaeda’s war in Yemen”: Johnsen, The Last Refuge, pp. 255–256.

311 another cruise missile attack: Robert Worth, “Is Yemen the Next Afghanistan?” New York Times Magazine, July 6, 2010.

311 on-the-ground investigation: Author copy, Yemen Parliamentary Investigation. Details of the delegation’s findings are from this report.

312 were puzzled: Author interviews, Yemeni journalists and security analysts, January 2012.

312 “the involvement of the United States”: Eric Schmitt and Robert F. Worth, “US Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion,” New York Times, December 27, 2009.

312 sent a cable from Sana’a: Ambassador Stephen Seche, “ROYG Looks Ahead Following CT Operations, but Perhaps Not Far Enough.”

312 Pentagon would not respond: Amnesty International, “Yemen: Cracking Down Under Pressure.”

312 “military strike of this kind”: Ibid.

312 “cited strained resources”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

312 $100,000 to pay off the victims: Ambassador Stephen Seche, “ROYG Looks Ahead Following CT Operations, but Perhaps Not Far Enough.”

312 “conducted very methodically”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

313 “If I were Catholic”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 210.

313 “non-stop until we eradicate this disease”: Ambassador Stephen Seche, “ROYG Looks Ahead Following CT Operations, but Perhaps Not Far Enough.”

313 “stay quiet”: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA2274, from Chargé d’Affaires Angie Bryan, US Embassy Sana’a, “ROYG Acknowledges US Intel Assistance in AQAP Strikes, Makes Case Before Parliament,” December 27, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2274.html.

313 “intelligence aid from Saudi Arabia”: Ahmed al-Haj (AP), “Yemen Claims Thirty Killed in Raid on Qaida Hide-Outs,” Guardian.co.uk, December 24, 2009.

313 “It was cruise missile strikes”: Dozier, “U.S. Leading Assaults on al Qaeda in Yemen.”

313 taken into custody and interrogated: David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, “Threats Led to Embassy Closings in Yemen, Officials Say,” New York Times, January 3, 2010.

33: “The Americans Really Wanted to Kill Anwar”

314 “He called me at three o’clock”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All information and quotations attributed to Nasser al Awlaki come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

314 US forces carried out an air strike: Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Robert F. Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents,” New York Times, August 14, 2010.

314 According to official accounts: Sudarsan Raghavan and Michael D. Shear, “US-aided Attack in Yemen Thought to Have Killed Aulaqi, Two al-Qaida Leaders,” Washington Post, December 25, 2009.

314 “Yemeni and foreign oil targets”: Reuters, “Army Kills Dozens of Suspected Al-Qaeda Members,” France24.com, December 24, 2009.

314 “a huge victory”: Christopher Boucek, “Airstrike in Yemen Targets Terror Operatives,” interview with Jeffrey Brown, News-Hour, PBS, December 24, 2009.

314 “doesn’t really change anything”: Dana Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved in Aiding Yemen on Strikes,” Washington Post, January 27, 2010.

315 “escaped the brunt of criticism”: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA2250, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Yemen Abuzz with Talk of CT Operations; Attention Slowly Turns to U.S. Role,” December 21, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/12/09SANAA2250.html.

315 “far from his house”: CBS/AP, “Ft. Hood Suspect’s Cleric Killed in Yemen?” CBSNews.com, December 24, 2009.

315 Shaye’s interview was tough: “Transcript of interview with al-Awlaki,” from Al Jazeera interview with Anwar al Awlaki, December 23, 2009, released via NBC News, December 23, 2009, www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34579438/ns/us_news-tragedy_at_fort_hood/t/transcript-interview-al-awlaki/.

317 singing Christmas carols: Peter Baker, “Obama’s War over Terror,” New York Times Magazine, January 4, 2010.

317 Northwest Airlines Flight 253: “Investigators Cross Globe Looking for Details of Plane Bombing Suspect,” FoxNews.com, December 27, 2009.

317 Abdulmutallab’s father: Seth G. Jones, Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qaeda Since 9/11 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), p. 345.

317 “every teacher’s dream”: “Profile: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, BBC.co.uk, October 12, 2011.

317 studying Arabic: Peter Kenyon, “Going Radical: Yemen a Turning Point for Christmas Bomb Suspect,” Morning Edition, NPR, February 19, 2010.

317 enrolled in college: Mark Hosenball, “The Radicalization of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,” Newsweek, January 1, 2010.

317 traveled to the United States: Dan Eggen, Karen DeYoung, and Spencer S. Hsu, “Plane Suspect Was Listed in Terror Database After Father Alerted US Officials,” Washington Post, December 27, 2008.

317 Islamic institute in Texas: Tom Abrahams, “Terror Suspect Attended Classes in Houston,” KTRK-TV Houston, http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7193124.

317 “the real Islam”: Andrew Gregory, “Syringe Bomber Umar Abdulmutallab Chilling Text Messages to Dad,” Mirror (UK), January 1, 2010, www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/syringe-bomber-umar-abdulmutallab-chilling-191630.

317 US Embassy in Nigeria: Jill Dougherty, “Official: Dad Warned U.S. of Son but ‘No Suggestion’ of Terrorist Act,” CNN.com, December 28, 2009.

317 “extreme religious views”: “Father of Terror Suspect Reportedly Warned U.S. About Son,” FoxNews.com, December 2, 2009.

318 “Explosive device”: Ron French, “Inside Story of Terror on Flight 253,” Detroit News, March 18, 2010.

318 cited as evidence: Peter Bergen, “Analysis: Similar Explosive on Plane Used in Saudi Attack,” CNN.com, December 27, 2009.

318 sent on a suicide mission: Victor Morton, “Awlaki Personally Blessed Detroit Attack,” Washington Times, December 29, 2009.

318 “voice-to-voice communication”: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Investigators Scrutinize Yemeni American Cleric’s Ties to Plane Suspect,” Washington Post, January 1, 2010.

318 “He was watering trees”: Author interview, Mullah Zabara, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Mullah Zabara come from the author’s interview.

318 one of his “students”: Transcript, “Interview: Anwar al-Awlaki,” AlJazeera.com, February 7, 2010.

318 sources in Shabwah: Author interviews, tribal members, January 2012.

318 “Yes, there was some contact”: Transcript, “Interview: Anwar al-Awlaki,” AlJazeera.com.

319 “technical error”: Peter Baker and Scott Shane, “Obama Seeks to Reassure US After Bombing Attempt,” New York Times, December 28, 2009.

319 AQAP released a video: Matthew Cole, Brian Ross, and Nasser Atta, “Underwear Bomber: New Video of Training, Martyrdom Statements,” ABCNews.go.com, April 26, 2010.

320 “season for second-guessing”: Mark Hosenball, “The Radicalization of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,” Newsweek, January 1, 2010.

320 “The Obama administration came in”: Transcript, Fox News Sunday, Fox News, December 27, 2009.

320 “trying to pretend we are not at war”: Mike Allen, “Dick Cheney: Barack Obama ‘Trying to Pretend,’” Politico, December 30, 2009.

320 “in the hands of the law enforcement people”: Sam Stein, “Bush Waited Six Days to Discuss Shoe Bomber with No GOP Complaints,” Huffington Post, March 18, 2010.

320 “it makes us less safe”: Allen, “Dick Cheney: Barack Obama ‘Trying to Pretend.’”

320 “A lot of the knuckleheads”: Baker, “Obama’s War over Terror.”

321 “Our nation is at war”: Transcript, “Inaugural Address,” January 20, 2009, The American Presidency Project, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html?pagewanted=all.

321 “We have a growing presence there”: Transcript, Fox News Sunday.

321 “Are we sending troops into Yemen?”: Transcript, Admiral Mike Mullen at the Naval War College, January 8, 2010, www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1312.

321 “We’ve known throughout this year”: Olivia Hampton, “Obama: No U.S. Troops to Somalia, Yemen,” Agence France-Presse, January 11, 2010.

321 “steadily growing military elements”: “Report of Inspection; Embassy Sanaa, Yemen,” US Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of the Inspector General, June 2010, http://oig.state.gov/documents/organization/145254.pdf.

321 authority to approve all personnel: “NSDD-38: Staffing at Diplomatic Missions and Their Overseas Constituent Posts,” text of NSDD-38, June 2, 1982, released by the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation, April 26, 2005, www.state.gov/m/pri/nsdd/.

322 more than two dozen: Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved in Aiding Yemen on Strikes.”

322 operating its own drones: David S. Cloud (Tribune), “White House Considers Yemen Drone Strikes, Officials Say,” Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2010.

322 “After the December thing”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Dr. Nakhleh come from the author’s interview.

322 another round of meetings: US diplomatic cable 10SANAA4, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “General Petraeus’ Meeting with Saleh on Security Assistance, AQAP strikes,” January 4, 2010, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/01/10SANAA4.html. Details of the meetings between Saleh and Petraeus come from this cable.

323 “100 percent Yemeni forces”: Haley Sweetland Edwards, “US Lends Firepower to Yemen Fight,” Global Post, January 24, 2010.

323 “it is believed by most Yemenis”: Ibid.

323 take matters into their own hands: Author interviews, Special Operations sources, 2010 and 2011.

323 “Given the unsettled situation”: Peter Finn, “Return of Yemeni Detainees at Guantanamo Bay Is Suspended,” Washington Post, January 5, 2010.

323 “unconscionable”: Ibid.

323 “The instability in Yemen”: Transcript, “Remarks with Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani After Their Meeting,” Washington, DC, January 4, 2010.

324 more air strikes: Robert F. Worth, “Senior Qaeda Figures Killed in Attack, Yemen Says,” New York Times, January 15, 2010.

324 formally designated: Transcript, press statement from Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, “Designations of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Senior Leaders,” January 19, 2010.

324 took similar action: “U.N. Security Council Sanctions al Qaeda’s Yemen Wing,” Reuters.com, January 19, 2010.

324 “support the U.S. effort”: Transcript, Philip J. Crowley, “Designations of Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Senior Leaders.”

324 killed senior AQAP figures: Hammoud Mounasser, “Yemen Air Strikes Pound Qaeda Leader’s Home: Military,” Agence France-Presse, January 20, 2010.

324 local leader Ayad al Shabwani: The first strike was not in Marib but reportedly killed al Shabwani; the second reportedly hit near his home.

324 “seventeen raids inside Marib”: “Airstrikes Target al-Qaida in Yemen,” Voice of America, January 19, 2010.

34: “Mr. Barack Obama… I Hope That You Reconsider Your Order to Kill… My Son”

325 “Both the CIA and the JSOC”: Dana Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved in Aiding Yemen on Strikes,” Washington Post, January 27, 2010.

325 “a very dubious legality”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, September 2010.

325 “Obviously, if U.S. forces are fighting”: Glenn Greenwald, “Presidential Assassinations of U.S. Citizens,” Salon.com, January 27, 2010.

326 “terrorist No. 1”: Adam Entous, “U.S. Targets American-Born Cleric in Yemen: Officials,” Reuters, April 6, 2010.

326 “a decision to use lethal force”: To Prohibit the Extrajudicial Killing of United States Citizens, and for Other Purposes, H.R. 6010, 111th Cong. (July 30, 2010). Representative Kucinich cites the statement in his bill. It was not included in the public record of Blair’s testimony before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on February 3, 2010.

326 “There is some unease about this approach”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010.

326 “We are very pleased”: Priest, “U.S. Military Teams, Intelligence Deeply Involved.”

326 write directly to Obama: Author copy of letter from Nasser al Awlaki to President Barack Obama.

35: One Night in Gardez

328 nomination had been held up: Yochi J. Dreazen, “Lawmakers Hold Up a Top General’s Nomination,” Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2008.

328 McChrystal was instrumental: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” Atlantic, May 25, 2010, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/obama-gives-commanders-wide-berth-for-secret-warfare/57202/.

328 heated debate: “Sharp Division Inside White House on Afghanistan, Analyst Says,” CNN.com, October 5, 2009.

328 advocated for a shift: Peter Baker, “How Obama Came to Plan for ‘Surge’ in Afghanistan,” New York Times, December 5, 2009.

328 “I don’t foresee the return”: Transcript, interview with General James Jones on State of the Union with John King, CNN, October 4, 2009.

329 “a fairly good relationship”: Author interview, confidential source, December 2010.

329 surge in Afghanistan: Karen DeYoung and Scott Wilson, “Obama to Send 34,000 Troops to Afghanistan,” Washington Post, December 1, 2009.

329 “Disrupt, dismantle and defeat”: Transcript of President Barack Obama remarks, “Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” West Point Military Academy, West Point, New York, December 1, 2009.

329 “I was somewhat stunned”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, May 2011.

329 “The Kabul Command”: Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010.

330 McChrystal made it clear: Spencer Ackerman, “Special Operations Chiefs Quietly Sway Afghanistan Policy,” Washington Independent, November 9, 2009.

330 “heavy COIN presence”: Ibid.

330 “They’re focusing on the main population”: Ibid.

330 embracing its core tenets: General Stanley McChrystal, Commander ISAF (COMISAF) Initial Assessment (Declassified), released September 21, 2009, accessed December 1, 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092100110.html.

330 “essential to [the] credibility”: Hearing to Consider the Nominations of Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN for Reappointment to the Grade of Admiral and to be Commander, U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Lieutenant General Douglas M. Fraser, USAF to be General and Commander, U.S. Southern Command; And Lieutenant General Stanley A. McChrystal, USA, to be General and Commander, International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces, Afghanistan, Day 5, Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 111th Cong. (June 2, 2009) (testimony of General Stanley McChrystal).

330 significantly reduced air strikes: Dexter Filkins, “U.S. Tightens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan,” New York Times, June 21, 2009.

330 ninety-seven Afghan civilians: Dan De Luce, “We Failed to Follow Bombing Rules: Pentagon,” Agence France-Presse, June 8, 2009.

330 “any entry into an Afghan house”: Memorandum, from International Security Assistance Force Headquarters, Kabul, Afghanistan, July 6, 2009, www.nato.int/isaf/docu/official_texts/Tactical_Directive_090706.pdf. The memo contains unclassified excerpts of a tactical directive sent out by McChrystal on July 2, 2009.

330 1,000 Special Operations Forces: Rowan Scarborough, “Pentagon Quietly Sending 1,000 Special Operators to Afghanistan in Strategy Revamp,” FoxNews.com, June 5, 2009.

331 SOF teams set to mowing down: Associated Press, “Analysis: Gen. Petraeus Promotes Special-Ops Success to Show Part of Afghan War US Is Winning,” FoxNews.com, September 3, 2010.

331 “By any objective reckoning”: Author interview with Gareth Porter, September 2010.

331 more than 2,000 people: Nick Davies, “Afghanistan War Logs: Task Force 373—Special Forces Hunting Top Taliban,” Guardian, July 25, 2010.

331 increased fourfold: Julian E. Barnes, “U.S. Steps Up Special Operations Mission in Afghanistan,” Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2009.

331 “This is Gen. McChrystal’s play”: Ibid.

331 own detainee operations: Kimberly Dozier (AP), “Afghanistan Secret Prisons Confirmed by U.S.,” Huffington Post, April 8, 2011.

331 Field Detention Sites: Anand Gopal, “America’s Secret Afghan Prisons,” Nation, January 28, 2010.

331 ninety-six hours: Ibid.

331 nine weeks: Dozier, “Afghanistan Secret Prisons Confirmed by U.S.”

331 Black Jail: Alissa J. Rubin, “Afghans Detail Detention in ‘Black Jail’ at U.S. Base,” New York Times, November 28, 2009.

331 forced nudity, environmental manipulation, solitary confinement: Dozier, “Afghanistan Secret Prisons Confirmed by U.S.”

331 being beaten: Rubin, “Afghans Detail Detention in ‘Black Jail’ at U.S. Base.”

331 record number: Joshua Partlow, “July Becomes Deadliest Month for U.S. Troops in Nearly Nine-Year Afghan War,” Washington Post, July 31, 2010.

332 enter their areas of responsibility: Author interviews, Afghan police commanders, October 2010.

332 “U.S. and NATO presence”: Matthew Hoh, letter of resignation to Ambassador Nancy J. Powell, Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources, U.S. Department of State, September 10, 2009, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/ssi/wpc/ResignationLetter.pdf.

332 “sent ripples”: Karen DeYoung, “U.S. Official Resigns over Afghan War,” Washington Post, October 27, 2009.

332 “If he really wanted to affect policy”: Ibid.

332 “need to be killed”: Author interview, Matthew Hoh, September 2010. All quotations attributed to Matthew Hoh are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

333 McChrystal knew how to promote: Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, July 8, 2010.

333 “facilitators,” “suspected militants”: Open Society Foundations and The Liaison Office, “The Cost of Kill/Capture: Impact of the Night Raid Surge on Afghan Civilians,” September 19, 2011.

334 important promotion: Jerome Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid in Afghanistan That Killed Five,” Times (UK), March 13, 2010.

334 newborn son: “Man Loses Five Family Members in Disputed NATO Raid,” CNN Afghanistan Crossroads (blog), CNN.com, April 6, 2010.

334 sixth day of a child’s life: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010.

334 two dozen people, three musicians: Jerome Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid in Afghanistan,” Times Online (UK), April 5, 2010.

334 “We invited many guests”: Author interview, Mohammed Tahir, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Mohammed Tahir are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

334 not ethnic Pashtun: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010. Details about the family and the night of the raid are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

334 main light: “Man Loses Five Family Members in Disputed NATO Raid.”

334 lasers scoping the grounds: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010.

335 both hit by sniper rounds: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

335 “When my father went down”: Author interview, Abdul Ghafar, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Abdul Ghafar are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

335 “When I ran outside”: Author interview, Mohammed Sabir, October 2010.

335 pregnant: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010. Early press reports, namely, the reporting of Jerome Starkey, also stated that two of the women were pregnant.

335 sixteen children among them: Richard A. Oppel Jr., “U.S. Admits Role in February Killing of Afghan Women,” New York Times, April 4, 2010.

336 prepared burial shrouds: Jerome Starkey, “Nato Accused of Cover Up over Killing of Pregnant Women,” Scotsman, March 13, 2010.

336 handcuffing them: Author copy of “briefing note” by United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Human Rights unit, dated February 14, 2010.

336 barefoot, on a brutal winter morning, their hands tied: Ibid.

336 assaulted by the US and Afghan team: Ibid. According to the UNAMA briefing note, “The same witness reported having seen at least 10 people, including the 65 year old house owner, being seriously assaulted by US and Afghan Forces.”

336 “They told us that they were informed”: Author interview, Hajji Sharabuddin, October 2010.

337 “suffered from cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment”: UNAMA briefing note. All information attributed to the UN is from this report, unless otherwise noted.

338 “hidden in an adjacent room”: “Joint Force Operating in Gardez Makes Gruesome Discovery,” ISAF Joint Command, February 12, 2010, accessed December 1, 2012, www.dvidshub.net/news/45240/joint-force-operating-gardez-makes-gruesome-discovery#.UOLyVBzKZcQ.

338 “criminals and terrorists”: “Afghan, International Force Kills Enemy Fighters,” American Forces Press Service, February 12, 2010.

338 men, women and children, medical support: “Joint Force Operating in Gardez Makes Gruesome Discovery.”

338 “It has the earmarks”: “Bodies Found Gagged, Bound After Afghan ‘Honor Killing,’” CNN.com, February 12, 2010.

338 Paktia Province police chief: Rob Norland, “Afghanistan: Different Accounts Offered About Civilian Deaths,” New York Times, February 13, 2010.

338 deep cuts and puncture wounds: Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Abdul Waheed Wafa, “Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid,” New York Times, April 5, 2010.

338 inaccurate, falsified tip-off: Lemar Niazai, “Intelligence Official Among Five Killed by NATO Troops,” Pajhwok Afghan News, February 12, 2010.

339 “We strongly condemn this”: Amir Shah, “NATO: Raid Killed Militants; Family Says Civilians,” Associated Press, February 12, 2010.

339 barred from entering: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

339 “wouldn’t let us come near”: Laura King, “Probe Targets Elite Unit; an Inquiry into a Raid That Killed Five Afghan Civilians May Shed Light on the Role of U.S. Special Forces,” Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2010.

339 top criminal investigator: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

339 “extraordinary and intriguing story”: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Jerome Starkey come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

340 denied having been a part of: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

340 “This operation was a mistake”: Starkey, “Nato Accused of Cover Up over Killing of Pregnant Women.”

340 should have left information: Ibid.

341 “You don’t have to be fired upon”: Starkey, “Nato ‘Covered Up’ Botched Night Raid.”

341 “categorically false”: “ISAF Rejects Cover Up Allegation,” International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), March 13, 2010, accessed December 12, 2012, www.dvidshub.net/news/46637/isaf-rejects-cover-up-allegation#.UOL9RhzKZcQ.

341 “Called up rival outlets”: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 294.

341 “The tapes, do not exist”: Jerome Starkey, “U.S.-led Forces in Afghanistan Are Committing Atrocities, Lying and Getting Away with It,” Nieman Watchdog (blog), March 22, 2010, www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00440.

341 “I don’t want money”: Jerome Starkey, “Survivors of Family Killed in Afghanistan Raid Threaten Suicide Attacks,” Times (London), March 15, 2010.

342 “naming of a newborn child”: Ibid.

342 “I want the killers brought to justice”: Ibid.

342 General McChrystal had decided: Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Rod Norland, “U.S. Is Reining in Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan,” New York Times, March 15, 2010.

342 “ever know how they died”: Ibid.

342 “burn ourselves to death”: Ibid.

343 “joint force firing at the men”: “Gardez Investigation Concludes,” International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF), April 4, 2010, accessed December 12, 2012, www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/gardez-investigation-concludes.html.

344 “soldiers dug bullets out”: Starkey, “US Special Forces ‘Tried to Cover Up’ Botched Khataba Raid.”

344 “There was a mess”: Oppel Jr. and Wafa, “Afghan Investigators Say U.S. Troops Tried to Cover Up Evidence in Botched Raid.”

344 “simply is no evidence”: Ibid.

344 “operational control”: Gareth Porter and Ahmad Walid Fazly, “U.S.: McChrystal’s Special Ops Probe Excluded Key Eyewitnesses,” Inter Press Service News Agency, July 6, 2010.

344 “no evidence of a cover-up”: Ibid.

344 personally travel: Author interviews, Sharabuddin family members, October 2010.

345 “When people come to your gate”: Jerome Starkey, “US Army Chief Begs Afghans to Forgive,” Times (London), April 12, 2010.

345 “an ancient Afghan ritual”: Author interview, Jerome Starkey, October 2010.

345 “Sir, you and I are very different, this awful tragedy”: Jerome Starkey, “US Army Chief Begs Afghans to Forgive.”

345 Almost $30,000: Julius Kavendish, “US Special Forces Apologise for Botched Night Raid,” Independent (UK), April 9, 2010.

346 accepted McRaven’s apology: Nick Shifrin and Aleem Agha, “U.S. Vice Admiral Apologizes for Afghan Deaths,” ABCNews.go.com, April 8, 2010.

347 “those damn acts of war”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton (Ret.), March 2011.

347 “scold you in the morning”: Hastings, The Operators, p. 175.

347 75 percent increase: Phil Stewart, “Civilian Casualties Rising in Afghanistan,” Reuters, May 12, 2010.

347 “In the nine-plus months”: Justin Elliott, “Gen. McChrystal: We’ve Shot ‘An Amazing Number of People’ Who Were Not Threats,” TPMMuckraker, April 2, 2010.

348 1,000 night raids a month: Gareth Porter, “New Light Shed on US’s Night Raids,” Asia Times Online, September 27, 2010.

348 “automatically categorized, as insurgents”: Gareth Porter, “True Believer: Petraeus and the Mythology of Afghanistan,” Truthout, December 20, 2012.

348 “encouraging the people, hatred against Americans”: Author interview, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, October 2010. All quotations attributed to Mullah Zaeef come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

348 since 2005: “Mullah Zaeef Freed from Guantanamo,” Dawn.com, September 12, 2005.

348 longest-running war: Thomas Nagorski, “Editor’s Notebook: Afghan War Now Country’s Longest,” ABCNews.go.com, June 7, 2010.

348 passed the 1,000 mark: James Dao and Andrew W. Lehren, “Grim Milestone: 1,000 Americans Dead,” New York Times, May 18, 2010.

348 more than 900: Gareth Porter, “Petraeus Spin on IED War Belied by Soaring Casualties,” Inter Press Service News Agency, September 9, 2010.

349 “remarkable career in uniform”: Transcript, “Statement by the President in the Rose Garden,” June 23, 2010.

349 pace of night raids increased: Gareth Porter, “True Believer: Petraeus and the Mythology of Afghanistan,” Truthout, December 20, 2012.

349 air strikes resumed: Julian E. Barnes, “Petraeus Resets Afghan Airstrike Rules,” Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2010.

349 civilian death toll mounted: David S. Cloud, “Afghan Civilian Deaths Caused by Allied Forces Rise,” Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2010.

36: The Year of the Drone

350 “There’s no daylight”: Author interview, Hunter (pseudonym), August 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Hunter come from the author’s interview.

351 at least three entities: Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State (New York: Little, Brown, 2012), p. 204.

351 “parallel, more cloistered process”: Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” New York Times, May 29, 2012.

351 little oversight: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 205.

351 “more complex and risky strikes”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

351 At least twice a month: Priest and Arkin, Top Secret America, p. 209.

351 “was really more than one”: Ibid., p. 207.

351 personally signing off: President Obama would not necessarily sign off on every operation right before it happened, but he would sometimes approve the concepts of operations in advance. See Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011), p. 235: “Cognizant that some high-profile terrorist might pop up only briefly and then vanish, [Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates created a system where options for potential types of missions were discussed with the president in advance so that the commander in chief could delegate authority beforehand to strike fleeting targets.”

351 “secret ‘nominations’ process”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

352 “groomed”: Author interview, JSOC sources, June 2012.

352 Terrorist Attack Disruption Strikes: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

352 “conducting the most aggressive”: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 121.

353 “If John Brennan is the last guy”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

353 “Their policy is to take out”: Ibid.

353 “the politically advantageous thing”: Ibid.

354 “perhaps the most remarkable surprise”: Jack Goldsmith, Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), Introduction, p. x.

354 refused to release its findings: Catherine Herridge, “Obama Administration Pressed for Accountability After Americans Killed in Anti-Terror Airstrikes,” FoxNews.com, October 25, 2011.

354 “This is an easy one”: Becker and Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.”

354 This program rests on the personal legitimacy”: Ibid.

354 “where people are being killed”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012.

354 sixty countries to seventy-five countries: Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe, “U.S. ‘Secret War’ Expands Globally as Special Operations Forces Take Larger Role,” Washington Post, June 4, 2010.

354 4,000 people: Ibid.

354 “Special Operations capabilities”: Ibid.

354 “will not merely respond”: Transcript, “Remarks by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan at CSIS,” May 26, 2010.

355 “ongoing unilateral actions”: Author interview, Special Operations source, June 2010.

355 “things that the previous administration”: DeYoung and Jaffe, “U.S. ‘Secret War’ Expands Globally as Special Operations Forces Take Larger Role.”

37: Driving Anwar Awlaki to Hell

356 “We advise you”: Reuters, “Yemen’s al-Qaeda Calls for Jihad Against Jews, Christians,” Times of Oman, February 8, 2010.

356 United States struck again: Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Robert F. Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents,” New York Times, August 14, 2010.

356 “A US strike targeted our brother”: “Al-Jazeera Airs Audio Confirming Al-Qai’dah Deaths in Yemen,” BBC Worldwide Monitoring, May 17, 2010.

356 “Brigade of the martyr”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

356 “ongoing counterterrorism cooperation”: Press release, “Undersecretary of Defense Visits Yemen,” Embassy of the United States, Sana’a, Yemen, March 22, 2010, http://yemen.usembassy.gov/udv3.html.

356 closed-door briefing: Congressional Record—Daily Digest, April 29, 2010, US Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2010-04-29/pdf/CREC-2010-04-29-pt1-PgD460.pdf#page=2.

356 internal e-mail: Author copy of e-mail.

357 president green-lit a strike: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 255.

357 struck a convoy of vehicles: Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam, “Air Strike Kills Yemen Mediator,” Reuters, May 25, 2010.

357 his cousin Ayad: Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes, and Margaret Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2011.

357 “on a mediation mission”: “Yemen Strike Kills Mediator, Tribesmen Hit Pipeline,” Reuters, May 25, 2010.

357 Supreme Security Council apologized: “Air Raid Kills Yemeni Mediator,” AlJazeera.com, May 25, 2010.

357 attacked the main oil pipeline: Ibid.

357 “We think we got played”: Entous, Barnes, and Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike.”

357 “How could this have happened?”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 255.

358 shift from JSOC’s Tomahawk strikes: Entous, Barnes, and Coker, “U.S. Doubts Intelligence That Led to Yemen Strike.”

358 “The drones are flying over Marib”: Jeb Boone, Abdul-Aziz Oudah, and Shuaib M. al-Mosawa, “Marib Sheikh: US Drones Fly over Wadi Abida Every Day,” Yemen Observer, October 28, 2010, www.yobserver.com/front-page/10020035.html.

358 “At the end of the day”: Shane, Mazzetti, and Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.”

358 series of US strikes: Hush Tomlinson, Michael Evans, and Iona Craig, “‘Secret’ US War on al-Qaeda in Yemen Killing Civilians,” Times (UK), December 9, 2010.

358 “It is incredibly dangerous”: Laura Kasinof, “US Cluster Bombs in Yemen: The Right Weapon in Al Qaeda Fight?” Christian Science Monitor, June 7, 2010.

359 bold raid: BBC News, “Yemen Gunmen in Deadly Raid on Aden Security Service HQ,” BBC.co.uk, June 19, 2010.

359 launched a dozen attacks: Christopher Boucek, “The Evolving Terrorist Threat in Yemen,” CTC Sentinel 3 (9) (September 2010).

359 use of “motorbikes in terrorist operations”: “Yemen Bans Motorcycles in Qaida-Infested Abyan,” Xinhua, September 16, 2010.

359 “in retaliation to American cruise missiles”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Message from Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki to the American people,” YouTube video, 14:59, from a videotape released by Al-Malahem Media in March 2010, posted by “0109vip,” March 3, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrdK6m9TKf8.

360 “the agency lacked specific evidence”: David Ignatius, “For Lack of Hard Evidence, a Terrorist Evaded Capture,” Washington Post, March 26, 2010.

360 “the Americans want to kill you”: Transcript, “Interview: Anwar al-Awlaki,” AlJazeera.com, February 7, 2010.

361 “circling our valley twenty-four hours”: Author interview, Saleh bin Fareed, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to bin Fareed are from the author’s interview.

362 “The First and Exclusive Meeting”: “Anwar Al Awlaki Al Malahem Interview [FULL] ENGLISH Translation,” YouTube video, 45:27, from interview with Anwar al Awlaki by Al-Malahem Media, May 23, 2010, posted by “EastLdnMuslima,” March 19, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7o_PQkqntg&playnext=1&list=PLcFlly8jyVa04CYWvx-S9dYvik4J9NiBsy&feature=results_main.

362 “he’s literally middle management”: Author interview, Joshua Foust, January 2011. All quotations and information attributed to Foust come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

363 “I think it’s an exaggeration”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Nakhleh come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

363 “Anwar al Awlaki was not a leader”: Author interview, Abdul Razzaq al Jamal, January 2012.

363 “He never said”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Nasser come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

363 “always been looked at as a preacher”: Charles Fromm, “Yemen Refuses to Hunt al-Awlaki for US,” Inter Press Service, April 13, 2010. http://ipsnorthamerica.net/news.php?idnews=2991.

38: The CIA’s Dating Service

364 messages on websites: Paul Cruickshank, Tim Lister, and Nic Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki,” CNN.com, October 24, 2012.

364 track star in high school: Darko Mar inkovi /VLM, Darko Pavi i, Renata Rašovi / VLM, “Al-Qa’idina teroristica Amina bila je vrsna trka ica na sto metara” [Al Qaeda terrorist Amina was a great 100-meter track star], Vecernji List (vecernji.hr), October 25, 2012.

364 “I was wondering will he search for second wife”: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary, 12:11, December 16, 2012.

364 “overjoyed”: Ibid.

364 suitcase outfitted with a tracking device: Ibid.

364 “If you visit her”: Cruickshank, Lister, and Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki.”

365 international bus station: Ibid.

365 multiple receipts: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary.

365 “done specifically for Sister Aminah”: Ibid.

365 “nervous”: Ibid.

365 “it’s me without the scarf”: Cruickshank, Lister, and Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki.”

365 “Warm weather clothing”: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary.

365 “the Hook,” “the sister”: Ibid.

365 “We sat there, had a barbecue”: Ibid.

365 “Congratulations brother”: Cruickshank, Lister, and Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki.”

366 handcuffed to the briefcase: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary.

366 “Try 007”: Cruickshank, Lister, and Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki.”

366 Multiple sources confirmed: “The Terrorist’s Bride,” Jyllands-Posten documentary.

366 could not bring her suitcase: Ibid.

366 sent Storm a message: Cruickshank, Lister, and Robertson, “The Danish Agent, the Croatian Blonde and the Plot to Get al-Awlaki.”

39: “The Auction of the Assassin”

367 “I don’t support it—period”: Author interview, Representative Dennis Kucinich, February 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Representative Kucinich come from the author’s interview.

368 introduced a bill: To Prohibit the Extrajudicial Killing of United States Citizens, and for Other Purposes, H.R. 6010, 111th Cong. (July 30, 2010).

368 “almost a dozen”: Dina Temple-Raston, “U.S. Turns Up Heat on Internet Imam Awlaki,” Morning Edition, NPR, July 29, 2010.

368 “a very important opportunity”: Author interview, Pardiss Kebriaei, March 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Kebriaei come from the author’s interview.

369 legal partners in Yemen: “Obama Administration Claims Unchecked Authority to Kill Americans Outside Combat Zones; Federal Court Hears Arguments Today in ACLU and CCR Case Challenging Administration’s Claimed Authority to Assassinate Americans It Designates Threats,” Center for Constitutional Rights and American Civil Liberties Union, November 8, 2010.

369 “I will do my best”: Paula Newton, “CNN Exclusive: Al-Awlaki’s Father Says Son Is ‘Not Osama bin Laden,’” CNN.com, January 11, 2010.

369 “involved himself in every aspect”: “Treasury Designates Anwar al-Awlaki Key Leader of AQAP,” U.S. Treasury Department, July 16, 2010.

369 sued the Treasury Department: ACLU and CCR v. Geithner, 1:10-cv-013 (DDC August 3, 2010).

369 allowing the lawyers: “CCR and ACLU Receive License from OFAC to Pursue Challenge to Targeted Killing,” American Civil Liberties Union, August 4, 2010.

369 “The summary use of force”: Nasser Al-Aulaqi v. Barack Obama, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta (“Al-Aulaqi v. Obama et al.”), 1:10-cv-01469-JDB (DDC August 30, 2010).

370 “puts directly at issue”: Al-Aulaqi v. Obama et al., 1:10-cv-01469-JDB (DDC September 25, 2010).

370 “to protect intelligence sources”: Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, 1:10-cv-01469-JDB, “Declaration and Formal Claim of State Secrets Privilege and Statutory Privileges by Leon E. Panetta, Director, Central Intelligence Agency” (DDC September 25, 2010).

370 “exceptionally grave harm”: Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, Case 1:10-cv-01469-JDB, “Public Declaration and Assertion of Military and State Secrets Privilege by Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense” (DDC September 25, 2010).

370 “The government’s sweeping invocation”: Al-Aulaqi Versus Obama, Case 1:10-cv-01469-JDB, “Reply Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss by Jameel Jaffer, Ben Wizner, Jonathan M. Manes, Pardiss Kebriaei, Maria C. LaHood, William Quigley, and Arthur B. Spitzer (DDC October 9, 2010).

371 its own legal framework: Charlie Savage, “Secret U.S. Memo Made Legal Case to Kill a Citizen,” New York Times, October 8, 2011.

371 “loved the idea”: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), pp. 214–215.

372 “set his own legal standard”: Ibid., p. 216.

372 “US targeting practices”: Speech, Harold Hongju Koh, Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, Washington, DC, March 25, 2010, www.state.gov/s/l/releases/remarks/139119.htm.

373 “To the Muslims in America”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Message from Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki to the American People,” YouTube video, 14:59, from a videotape released by Al-Malahem Media in March 2010, posted by “0109vip,” March 3, 2012.

374 “To go from that individual”: Ahmed al-Haj and Brian Murphy (AP), “Al-Awlaki: From Voice for Jihad to al Qaeda Figure,” Washington Times, September 30, 2011.

40: “Martyrdom Is Why We Came Here, My Brother”

375 “He was heartbroken”: Abu Yazeed, “Samir Khan: The Face of Joy,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Abu Yazeed are from this essay.

375 “for what seemed like years”: Samir Khan, “I Am Proud to Be a Traitor to America,” Inspire 2 (fall 2010), released October 2010. All quotations and information attributed to Samir Khan are from this essay.

376 “They came to know”: Author interview, Sarah Khan, April 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Sarah Khan are from the author’s interview.

377 studied Internet technology: Author interview, Sarah Khan, April 2012.

377 “connecting and facilitating disparate groups”: Author interview, Aaron Zelin, August 2012.

378 MI-6: Richard Norton-Taylor, “British Intelligence Used Cupcake Recipes to Ruin al-Qaida Website,” Guardian, June 2, 2011.

378 “‘And inspire the believers to fight’”: “Letter from the Editor,” Inspire 1 (summer 2010), released July 2010.

379 commissioned a dozen cartoons: Stephen Castle, “Mohamed Cartoons Provoke Bomb Threats Against Danish Newspaper,” Independent (UK), February 1, 2006.

379 “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”: “‘Draw Muhammad’ Cartoonist Goes into Hiding at FBI’s Insistence After Assassination Threat,” FoxNews.com, September 16, 2010.

379 “I would like to express my thanks”: Anwar al Awlaki, “May Our Souls Be Sacrificed for You!” Inspire 1 (summer 2010), released July 2010.

380 changed her name and moved: Mark D. Fefer, “On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears from View,” Seattle Weekly, September 15, 2010.

380 “The more the US talked about Inspire”: Author interview, Gregory Johnsen, August 2012.

381 ordered his deputy: Osama bin Laden, letter to Shaykh Mahmud (Attiya Abd al-Rahman), SOCOM-2012-0000003-HT 27, August 27, 2010, released by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, May 3, 2012.

41: The Persecution of Abdulelah Haider Shaye

382 “He was focusing”: Author interview, Kamal Sharaf, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Kamal Sharaf come from the author’s interview.

382 “Abdulelah was threatened many times”: Author interview, Abdulrahman Barman, January 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Abdulrahman Barman come from the author’s interview.

383 “a very smart journalist”: Interview with Mohamed Abdel Dayem, “Jeremy Scahill: Why Is President Obama Keeping Yemeni Journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye in Prison?” Democracy Now!, March 15, 2012. All quotations and information attributed to Mohamed Abdel Dayem come from his appearance on the show.

383 using his paychecks: Author interview, US media source, March 2012.

383 “I was persuaded”: Dexter Filkins, “After the Uprising: Can Protesters Find a Path Between Dictatorship and Anarchy?” New Yorker, April 11, 2011.

384 put in a cell together: Author interview, Kamal Sharaf, January 2012.

384 thirty-four days: Iona Craig, “Yemen: Press Freedom a Distant Hope,” Index on Censorship, October 27, 2010.

384 asked for more time: Nasser Arrabyee, “Yemeni Journalist Sentenced to Five Years for Terror Links,” Nasser Arrabyee (blog), January 18, 2011, narrabyee-e.blogspot.ca.

385 “paced slowly around the white cell”: Craig, “Yemen: Press Freedom a Distant Hope.”

385 “When they hid murderers”: “Yemeni Journalist Accused of Being ‘Media Man’ for Al-Qaeda,” YouTube video, 0:30, from second court appearance, October 26, 2010, posted by “ioniocraig,” October 26, 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J6RgbEx6Zc.

42: The President Can Write His Own Rules

386 “Progress against violent extremists”: Transcript, “Remarks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah al-Qirbi,” London, UK, January 27, 2010.

386 “greatly expanded”: Aaron W. Jost, “A Comprehensive Approach to Yemen,” The White House Blog, September 24, 2010, www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/24. All statements and information attributed to Jost come from the post.

386 “adverse impact on the poor”: “Joint Statement from the Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of Yemen,” New York, September 24, 2010, www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=22916622.

387 “Saleh doesn’t really want us”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.

387 “Security forces have taught the terrorists”: Fawaz al Haidari, “Yemen Army ‘Regains Control’ of Southern Town,” Agence France-Presse, August 25, 2010.

387 “dearth of solid intelligence”: Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti, and Robert F. Worth, “Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents,” New York Times, August 14, 2010.

387 “All Land Rovers”: Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Karen DeYoung, “U.S. Drones on Hunt in Yemen,” Washington Post, November 7, 2010.

388 “For the first time”: Greg Miller, “CIA Sees Increased Threat in Yemen,” Washington Post, August 25, 2010.

388 “mount a more intense”: Adam Entous and Siobhan Gorman, “U.S. Weighs Expanded Strikes in Yemen,” Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2010.

388 “on the upswing”: Miller, “CIA Sees Increased Threat in Yemen.”

388 “The Agency has taken advantage”: Gareth Porter, “Behind Drone Issue, a Struggle to Control Covert Ops,” Inter Press Service, November 10, 2010.

388 “elite U.S. hunter-killer teams”: Julian E. Barnes and Adam Entous, “Yemen Covert Role Pushed; Foiled Bomb Plot Heightens Talk of Putting Elite U.S. Squads in CIA Hands,” Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2010.

388 another offensive against AQAP: Laura Kasinof, “Yemen Goes on Offensive Against al Qaeda,” Christian Science Monitor, September 22, 2010.

389 “discussed cooperation”: “Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer on the Visit of Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan to Yemen,” The White House, September 20, 2010, www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/20/statement-national-security-council-spokesman-mike-hammer-visit-assistan.

389 late-night phone call: Mark Mazzetti and Robert F. Worth, “U.S. Sees Complexity of Bombs as Link to al Qaeda,” New York Times, October 30, 2010.

389 “potential terrorist threat”: David Jackson, “Obama Monitoring Possible Terrorist Plot, Spokesman Says,” USA Today, October 29, 2010.

389 tracking numbers: Eric Schmitt and Scott Shane, “Saudis Warned U.S. of Attack Before Parcel Bomb Plot,” New York Times, November 5, 2010.

389 before arriving at 2:13 a.m.: Vikram Dodd, Richard Norton-Taylor, and Paul Harris, “Cargo Plane Bomb Found in Britain Was Primed to Blow Up over US,” Guardian, November 20, 2010.

389 kept for further tests: Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan, and David Rising (AP), “Race to Find Mail Bombs Zigzagged as Cargo Dodged Screens,” Denver Post, November 7, 2010.

389 Defense Science and Technology Laboratory: Duncan Gardham, “Al-Qaeda Plane Bomb Seventeen Minutes from Going Off,” Telegraph, November 4, 2010.

390 “activation could have occurred”: Dodd, Norton-Taylor, and Harris, “Cargo Plane Bomb Found in Britain Was Primed to Blow Up over US.”

390 “one of the most sophisticated”: Ibid.

390 discovered in Dubai: Scott Shane and Robert F. Worth, “Earlier Flight May Have Been Dry Run for Plotters,” New York Times, November 1, 2010.

390 long-dead historical figures: Ron Grossman and Christi Parsons, “Bomb Plot Becomes Historic Jigsaw Puzzle,” Chicago Tribune, November 4, 2010.

390 emergency landing: Michael Scotto, “JFK-Bound Jet Escorted as Part of Increased Security Following ‘Credible’ Terror Threat,” NY1.com, October 29, 2010.

390 planes being swept: “Terror Probe Leads to Searches in NY, NJ,” NewYork. CBSlocal.com, October 29, 2010.

390 “credible terrorist threat”: Jesse Lee, “President Obama: ‘A Credible Terrorist Threat Against Our Country, and the Actions That We’re Taking,” The White House Blog, October 29, 2010.

390 “We have succeeded”: “Operation Hemorrhage,” Inspire (November 2010), Special Issue, released November 2010.

391 dismissed suggestions: “Dubai Officials Dismiss Claim of Blast on Plane,” CNN.com, November 6, 2010.

391 “maximum losses to the American economy”: Head of Foreign Operations, “The Objectives of Operation Hemorrhage,” Inspire (November 2010), Special Issue, released November 2010.

391 indicted Awlaki in absentia: “Yemen Orders Arrest of al-Awlaki,” AlJazeera.com, November 6, 2010.

391 “How is it that judicial approval is required”: Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, 1:10-cv-01469-JDB, “Memorandum Opinion by Judge John D. Bates” (DDC December 7, 2010).

392 If the court’s ruling is correct”: Charlie Savage, “Suit over Targeted Killings Is Thrown Out,” New York Times, December 7, 2010.

43: Al Qaeda’s “Foothold in Somalia Has Probably Been Facilitated”

393 “agreement for unification”: Text of agreement, “Somali Website Publishes Islamists’ Agreement to Unite with al-Qaidah,” Biyokulule Online, February 2, 2010, www.biyokulule.com/view_content.php?arti-cleid=2511.

393 “United States has launched air strikes”: Committee on Foreign Relations, “Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia: A Ticking Time Bomb,” S. Prt. 111-40, p. 16 (2010).

394 reaching an agreement: “Somalia: Islamist MP Resigns After ‘Cheating’ Ethiopia Jail,” Garowe Online, April 4, 2009.

394 As he tells it: Author interview, Sheikh Ahmed “Madobe” Mohammed Islam, June 2011. All statements and information attributed to Madobe come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

394 Madobe announced: Radio Shabelle, “Hizbul Islam Declare War on Al-Shabab in Southern Somalia,” Mareeg, February 28, 2010, www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=15312&tirsan=3. Fighting between Madobe’s forces and al Shabab had been going on for weeks at this point.

394 “most important source of income”: Matt Bryden, Jörg Roofthooft, Ghassan Schbley, Babatunde Taiwo, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” UN Security Council, July 18, 2011, p. 28.

394 “training and support”: Paul Cruickshank, “Kenya’s High Stakes Shabaab Offensive,” Security Clearance (blog), CNN.com, October 24, 2011, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/24/kenya’s-high-stakes-shabaab-offensive/.

395 Ethiopian Village restaurant: Josh Kron, “Bombers Kill More Than Fifty in Attacks in Uganda Capital,” New York Times, July 11, 2010.

395 halftime: Xan Rice, “Uganda Bomb Blasts Kill at Least Seventy-Four,” Guardian, July 12, 2010.

395 ninetieth minute: “Somali Militants Claim Responsibility for Uganda Bombings,” CNN.com, July 12, 2010.

395 Kyadondo Rugby Club: Vision reporter, “Over Forty Die in Kampala Bomb Blasts,” New Vision (Kampala), July 12, 2010.

395 severed head: Haggae Matsiko, “Uganda: An Unexploded Suicide Vest Found in Makindye, Kampala,” Independent (Kampala), July 13, 2010.

395 “very happy”: “‘Somali Link’ as Seventy-four World Cup Fans Die in Uganda Blasts,” BBC.co.uk, July 12, 2010.

395 “We will carry out attacks”: Xan Rice, “Somali Militants Say They Carried Out Deadly Uganda World Cup Blasts,” Guardian, July 12, 2010.

395 “We thank the mujahideens”: “Al-Shabab Claims Uganda Bombings; Twin Attacks Targeting World Cup Fans in Kampala Kill at Least Seventy-four People,” AlJazeera.com, July 13, 2010.

396 terrorism capital: “Somalia Tops Terror Attack List,” UPI, November 18, 2010.

396 “national emergency”: Executive Order 13536 (April 12, 2010).

396 “These indictments and arrests”: Attorney General Eric Holder, remarks as prepared for delivery at press conference, Washington, DC, August 5, 2010.

396 “most significant military campaign”: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” p. 17.

396 “massive war”: Associated Press, “Militants Slaughter Lawmakers at Somali Hotel,” MSNBC.com, August 24, 2010.

397 laid siege to the Muna Hotel: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” p. 17.

397 tied the remains: Mohamed Olad Hassan and Malkhadir M. Muhumed (AP), “Somalia Suicide Bomber, Gunmen Attack Muna Hotel, Thirty-two Killed,” Huffington Post, August 24, 2010.

397 “This is a particularly outrageous act”: Transcript, Press briefing by Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan,” Vineyard Haven, MA, August 24, 2010.

397 dual car bombing: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” p. 18.

397 week of intense violence: Abdi Sheikh, “Somalia’s al Shabaab Rebels Push Towards Palace,” Reuters, August 25, 2010.

397 deadly roadside bomb: Mohamed Ibrahim, “Somalia: Roadside Bomb Kills Eight Civilians,” New York Times, August 31, 2010.

397 displaced by the fighting: The Editors, “Quick Take: Map of al Shabaab’s Mogadishu Offensive,” Critical Threats, September 23, 2010, www.criticalthreats.org/somalia/quicktake-map-al-shabaabs-mogadishu-offensive.

397 “overdependence of [al Shabab] on child soldiers”: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” p. 18.

44: “Anwar Awlaki…Definitely Has a Missile in His Future”

398 convicted of terrorism-related charges: Iona Craig, “Obama Intervention Puts Yemen Reporter in Jail,” Index on Censorship, February 7, 2011.

398 “failed to meet international standards”: Human Rights Watch, World Report 2011, “Yemen,” www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-yemen.

398 “It has no legal basis”: Author interview, Abdulrahman Barman, January 2012. All statements and information attributed to Abdulrahman Barman come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

398 “Having witnessed his trial”: Author interview, Iona Craig, March 2012. All statements and information attributed to Iona Craig come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

398 “There are strong indications”: “Yemeni Journalist Jailed After Alleging US Involvement in Missile Attack,” Amnesty International, January 19, 2011, www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/yemeni-journalist-jailed-after-alleging-us-involvement-missile-attack-2011-01-19.

398 “It is difficult to overestimate”: Author interview, Gregory Johnsen, March 2012. All statements and information attributed to Gregory Johnsen come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

399 call from President Obama: “Readout of the President’s Call with President Saleh of Yemen,” The White House, February 3, 2011.

399 brief hunger strike: Iona Craig, “Yemen: Shaye Commences Hunger Strike,” Index on Censorship, February 14, 2012.

399 “We remain concerned”: Author interview, Beth Gosselin, March 2012.

400 “Shaye is in jail”: Iona Craig, “US Has ‘Direct Interest’ in Shaye’s Case,” Iona Craig’s Blog, February 21, 2012, http://ionacraig.tumblr.com/post/17969745744/us-ambassador-response-to-shaye-imprisonment.

400 “the threat is constant”: Eric Holder, interview with Pierre Thomas, Good Morning America, ABC, December 21, 2010.

401 “Even if what [Awlaki] is saying”: Author interview, Pardiss Kebriaei, March 2012.

401 “definitely has a missile in his future”: Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011.

401 in missions to kill or capture”: Duncan Gardham and Richard Spencer, “Cargo Bomb Plot: SAS Hunting al-Qaeda in Yemen,” Telegraph, November 2, 2010.

401 “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”: Understanding the Homeland Threat Landscape—Considerations for the 112th Congress, Hearing Before the House Homeland Security Committee, 111th Cong. (February 9, 2011) (testimony of Michael Leiter).

402 “He immediately sent drones”: Author interview, Joshua Foust, January 2011.

45: The Curious Case of Raymond Davis: Act I

403 Big Stone Gap: Mark Mazzetti, Ashley Parker, Jane Perlez, and Eric Schmitt, “American Held in Pakistan Worked with C.I.A.,” New York Times, February 21, 2011.

403 Lahore plate: Raja Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators,’” Daily Times, February 15, 2011, www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\02\15\story_15-2-2011_pg7_17.

403 withdrawal from an ATM: “US Official Raymond Davis on Lahore Murder Charges,” BBC.co.uk, January 28, 2011.

403 pulled in front of him: Declan Walsh, “A CIA Spy, a Hail of Bullets, Three Killed and a US-Pakistan Diplomatic Row,” Guardian, February 20, 2011.

403 Davis was arrested: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’”

404 “our diplomat”: Transcript of White House press briefing by Jake Tapper, “Spending Cuts and an American Imprisoned in Pakistan: Todays Qs for O’s WH—2/15/11,” Political Punch (blog), ABCNews.go.com, February 15, 2011.

404 Vienna Conventions: Charlie Savage, “Pakistan Case Tests Laws on Diplomatic Immunity,” New York Times, February 22, 2011.

404 “technical adviser”: Matthew Cole, Kirit Radia, and Lee Ferran, “American Official Involved in Pakistan Shooting Identified,” ABCNews.go.com, January 28, 2011.

404 not authorized: Asif Chaudhry, “US Official Guns Down Two Motorcyclists in Lahore,” Dawn.com, January 28, 2011.

404 Old Anarkali Bazaar: Walsh, “A CIA Spy, a Hail of Bullets.”

404 “high security zone”: Declan Walsh and Ewen MacAskill, “American Who Sparked Diplomatic Crisis over Lahore Shooting Was CIA Spy,” Guardian, February 20, 2011.

404 transferred out of the jail: Ewen MacAskill and Declan Walsh, “US Gives Fresh Details of CIA Agent Who Killed Two Men in Pakistan Shootout,” Guardian, February 21, 2011.

404 Punjab Rangers: “Rangers Deployed at Kot Lakhpat,” Dawn, February 14, 2011.

404 served another purpose: Ansar Abbasi, “Multiple Security Layers Erected for Raymond Davis,” News International (PAK), February 11, 2011.

404 grainy film: “Raymond Davis Investigation by Punjab Police,” YouTube video, 3:06, from a video shot of Davis’s initial interrogation, broadcast on the Geo News network, posted by “shoaib748,” February 11, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkqBFDk4Zu0.

405 least interesting item: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’” Unless otherwise noted, this inventory is based on the Riaz article, which claims to have reprinted excerpts of the Punjab police report following Davis’s arrest.

405 multiple IDs: Greg Miller and Karen DeYoung, “U.S., Pakistan Officials at Diplomatic Odds in Fatal Shooting,” Washington Post, February 10, 2011.

405 masks: Mazzetti et al., “American Held in Pakistan Worked with C.I.A.”

405 calls to twenty-seven militants: Qaiser Butt, “‘CIA Agent Davis Had Ties with Local Militants,’” Express Tribune, February 22, 2011.

405 religious schools: Brigadier (Ret.) F. B. Ali, “#Update: The Raymond Davis Affair,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), February 19, 2011, http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2011/02/update-the-raymond-davis-affair-fb-ali.html.

405 military institutions: Walsh, “A CIA Spy, a Hail of Bullets.”

405 Department of Defense contractor: Jane Perlez, “Mystery over Detained American Angers Pakistan,” New York Times, February 8, 2011.

405 number at CIA headquarters: Walsh and MacAskill, “American Who Sparked Diplomatic Crisis.”

405 “The accused has concealed”: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’”

405 well known to Pakistan’s spy agency: Asad Kharal, “Retracing the Path: Trailing Raymond Davis,” Express Tribune, February 22, 2011.

406 “Boy, we’re in a world of hurt!”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011.

406 arrived in Pakistan: Kharal, “Retracing the Path.”

406 Special Operations weapons sergeant: Miller and DeYoung, ”U.S., Pakistani Officials at Diplomatic Odds in Fatal Shooting.”

406 left the military: Walsh and MacAskill, “American Who Sparked Diplomatic Crisis.”

406 private security firm Blackwater: Matthew Cole, “Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor, U.S. Officials Say,” ABCNews.go.com, February 21, 2011. Details of Davis’s reported work with the Global Response Staff are from Cole’s reporting.

406 common cover: Mazzetti et al., “American Held in Pakistan Worked with C.I.A.”

406 run its drone bombing campaign: James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, “C.I.A. Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones,” New York Times, August 20, 2009.

406 moved between: Cole, “Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor.”

407 “Davis was ‘vanilla’ Special Forces”: Author interview, former JSOC staffer, March 2011. All statements and information attributed to the former JSOC staffer are from the author’s interview.

407 signed a contract worth $200,000: Munir Ahmed (AP), “Disagreements in Pakistan over Held American; ex-Foreign Minister Disputes Immunity Claim,” Star Tribune, February 16, 2011.

407 “loss and risk management professionals”: Cole, Radia, and Ferran, “American Official Involved in Pakistan Shooting Identified.”

407 address in Las Vegas: Summary of registration, Hyperion Protective Services LLC, business registry database from the website of the Colorado Secretary of State. Screenshot of Colorado registration summary available via Jim White, “Does Raymond Davis Recruit Intelligence Agents in US?” My FDL (blog), My Firedoglake, February 17, 2011, http://my.firedoglake.com/jimwhite/2011/02/17/does-raymond-davis-recruit-intelligence-agents-in-us/.

407 post office box: “The UPS Store--#3627, Las Vegas, NV,” www.theupsstorelocal.com/3627/.

407 “The Blackwater individuals”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Addicott, November 2009. All statements and information attributed to Addicott come from the author’s interview.

407 “make much more money”: Author interview, US military intelligence source, November 2009. All statements and information attributed to the military intelligence source come from the author’s interview.

408 first “black” contract: Robert Young Pelton, Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006), pp. 36–41; author interviews, former Blackwater and intelligence officials, February–September 2006.

408 “That’s not entirely accurate”: Author interview, former Blackwater executive, November 2009. Details of Blackwater’s relationship with Kestral Logistics come from the author’s interview.

408 powerful Pakistani firm: “Kestral Group of Companies,” Kestral Logistics, www.kestral-logistics.com/.

409 “We cannot help you”: Author interview, David McKeeby, November 2009.

409 “no operations of any kind”: Mark Corallo, e-mail to author, November 20, 2009.

409 federal lobbying records: Lobbying records filed on behalf of Kestral-USA, from the Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed December 2012, http://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=submit-SearchRequest.

409 Kestral had hired: Lobbying Report, required under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Quarter 4 of 2009, Roger F. Noriega, with the DC-based consulting firm Vision Americas, on behalf of Kestral-USA.

409 Vision Americas: “Ambassador Roger F. Noriega,” Vision Americas website, accessed December 2012, www.visionamericas.com/noriega.php.

409 Christina Rocca: “Ambassador Christina Rocca,” Vision Americas website, accessed December 2012, www.visionamericas.com/rocca.php.

410 paid Vision Americas $15,000: Lobbying report, filed by Roger F. Noriega, Vision Americas, Quarter 3, 2009.

410 Firecreek Ltd.: See records of Firecreek Ltd.’s lobbying on behalf of Kestral-USA, Lobbying Disclosure Act Database, accessed December 2012, http://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=submitSearchRequest.

410 called it “conspiratorial”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing with Geoff Morrell from the Pentagon,” November 24, 2009.

411 “personal consent, Chief of Army Staff General Kayani”: US diplomatic cable 09ISLAMABAD2449, from Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, US Embassy Islamabad, “Pakistan Army GHQ Again Approves Embedding,” October 9, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/10/09ISLAMABAD2449.html.

411 “forward operating troops”: Author interview, Special Operations source, December 2010.

411 detailed information on refugee camps: US diplomatic cable 08ISLAMABAD3183, from Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, US. Embassy Islamabad, “Taskings for IDP/Refugee Information,” October 6, 2008, released by WikiLeaks, http://cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08ISLAMABAD3183&q=for%20idp-refugee%20information%20taskings.

412 Forward Operating Base Chapman: See Joby Warrick, The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA (New York: Doubleday, 2011).

412 “Patient relationship-building”: Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, “Pakistan Army GHQ Again Approves Embedding.”

412 “well, we don’t”: Times Wire, “Bomb Exposes U.S. in Pakistan,” Tampa Bay Times, February 10, 2010.

412 civil lawsuit: Aliza I. Kassim, “Pakistan Defies U.S. Court in Lawsuit over Mumbai Attacks,” CNN.com, December 30, 2010.

412 blew his cover: Greg Miller and Karin Brulliard, “CIA’s Pakistan Chief Removed,” Washington Post, December 18, 2010.

413 “terrorist threats against him”: Ibid.

413 Davis returned to Pakistan: Kharal, “Retracing the Path.”

46: The Curious Case of Raymond Davis: Act II

414 five CIA security personnel: Asad Kharal, “Retracing the Path: Trailing Raymond Davis,” Express Tribune (PAK), February 22, 2011; Matthew Cole, “Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor, U.S. Officials Say,” ABCNews.go.com, February 21, 2011.

414 also used the house: Author interview, former Blackwater executive, March 2011.

414 gathering intel on the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba: Mark Mazzetti, “A Shooting in Pakistan Reveals Fraying Alliance,” New York Times, March 12, 2011.

414 “area familiarization route”: Cole, “Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor.”

414 “It’s acting without a script”: Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011. All statements and information attributed to Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

414 “blood chit”: Raja Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators,’” Daily Times (PAK), February 15, 2011. The police report describes it as a “chit of the embassy.”

414 “small sheet of material”: Joint Publication 3-50, Personnel Recovery, January 5, 2008, IV-8, www.dtic.mil/dpmo/laws_directives/documents/joint_pu_3_50.pdf.

414 “after all other measure(s)”: Department of Defense memorandum, “Department of Defense Policy on Blood Chits,” July 20, 2006, www.dtic.mil/dpmo/personnel_accounting/documents/dod_policy_on_blood_chits.pdf.

415 crossed “a red line”: Nick Schifrin, “Did Ray Davis Shoot Two Pakistani Agents?” ABCNews.go.com, February 9, 2011.

415 “belonged to the security establishment”: Kamran Yousaf, “Raymond Davis Case: Men Killed in Lahore Were Intelligence Operatives, Says Official,” Express Tribune, February 5, 2011.

415 emphatically denied: “Agencies Rule Out Any Link with Lahore Killing Incident,” News International, February 8, 2011.

415 new chief of station: Rob Crilly, “Raymond Davis ‘Was Acting Head of CIA in Pakistan,’” Telegraph, February 22, 2011.

415 “a blessing in disguise”: Qaiser Butt, “‘CIA Agent Davis Had Ties with Local Militants,’” Express Tribune, February 22, 2011.

416 “Davis’s job”: Ibid.

416 false flag bombings: Ibid.

416 “All countries conduct espionage”: Colonel W. Patrick Lang, comment thread for post by Brigadier (Ret.) F. B. Ali, “#Update: The Raymond Davis Affair,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2011/02/update-the-raymond-davis-affair-fb-ali.html.

416 “a paper-shuffling diplomat”: Mazzetti, “A Shooting in Pakistan Reveals Fraying Alliance.”

417 drawn up plans: Marc Ambinder and D. B. Grady, The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2012, Kindle edition).

417 “detect, disarm, disable, or seize WMD”: Glenn W. Goodman Jr., “Deep Underground Tunnels: Counterproliferation Mission Takes SOF Commandos into Tough New Environments,” Armed Forces Journal, accessed November 2012, www.specialoperations.com/Literature/AFJI/CP.htm.

417 “second phase of the JSOC influx”: Brigadier (Ret.) F. B. Ali, “The Fallout from the Davis Affair,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), March 1, 2011, http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2011/03/the-fall-out-from-the-davis-affair-fb-ali.html.

418 “following a government directive”: Kathy Gannon and Adam Goldman, “Pakistan’s Intelligence Ready to Split with CIA,” Associated Press, February 23, 2011.

418 more than 3,500 visas: Karin Brulliard, “In Aftermath of Shooting, Rising Skepticism About American Presence in Pakistan,” Washington Post, February 22, 2011.

418 “in a diplomatic capacity”: Asad Kharal, “After Davis’ Arrest, US Operatives Leaving Pakistan,” Express Tribune, February 28, 2011.

418 “special Americans”: Ibid.

418 “The ‘official’ version”: Ali, “The Fallout from the Davis Affair.”

418 pierced his stomach: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’”

418 At least two shots: Declan Walsh, “A CIA Spy, a Hail of Bullets, Three Killed and a US-Pakistan Diplomatic Row,” Guardian, February 20, 2011.

419 photographed them: Ibid.

419 license plate: Asif Chaudhry, “US Official Guns Down Two Motorcyclists in Lahore,” Dawn.com, January 28, 2011.

419 slammed into the motorcycle: Walsh, “A CIA Spy, a Hail of Bullets.”

419 made it two miles: Ibid.

419 Faletti’s Hotel: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’”

419 destroyed all government documents: Cole, “Raymond Davis Is CIA Contractor.”

419 “They have flown the coop”: Declan Walsh and Ewen MacAskill, “American Who Sparked Diplomatic Crisis over Lahore Shooting Was CIA Spy,” Guardian, February 20, 2011.

419 called for Davis to be hanged: “Rallies Demand Public Execution of Davis,” Dawn.com, February 12, 2011.

420 “is not correct”: Riaz, “‘Raymond Davis Tried to Trick Investigators.’”

420 ordered held for six days: Karin Brulliard and Aoun Sahi, “U.S. Embassy Demands Release of ‘Unlawfully Detained’ Diplomat Who Shot Two Pakistanis,” Washington Post, January 29, 2011.

420 The United States feared: Peter Bergen, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden—from 9/11 to Abbottabad (New York: Crown Publishers, 2012), p. 171.

420 “Davis incident is a godsend”: “Stuck With You; a Clash Between Spy Agencies Is Boosting the ISI—but Is Doing Pakistan No Favours,” Economist, March 3, 2011.

421 “I can confirm”: “American Kills Two Pakistanis in Lahore: US Embassy Spokesman Says Investigations Underway,” YouTube video, 3:53, footage from broadcast of Pakistan’s Express 24/7 news network, posted by “theexpresstribune,” January 27, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHjR12GGX0.

421 “employee of U.S. Consulate”: Glenn Kessler, “Who Is Raymond Davis?” Washington Post, February 22, 2011.

421 “except in the case of a grave crime”: Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963; created April 24, 1963 (entered into force on March 19, 1967), United Nations.

421 “administrative and technical staff”: Kessler, “Who Is Raymond Davis?”

421 “unresolved queries”: Baqir Sajjad Syed, “FO Did Not Grant Diplomatic Status to Davis: US,” Dawn.com, February 4, 2011.

421 “I want blood for blood”: Babar Dogar (AP), “Shumaila Kanwal, Pakistani Woman, Commits Suicide After U.S. Shooting,” Huffington Post, February 6, 2011.

421 “He was clean”: Rob Crilly, “Widow of Man Shot Dead by US Consul Official Commits Suicide,” Telegraph, February 7, 2011.

422 “The arrest of this guy”: Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai, “Killings Spark CIA Fears in Pakistan,” Newsweek, February 17, 2011.

422 “whatever else they are up to unilaterally”: Philip Giraldi, on comment thread for post by Brigadier (Ret.) F. B. Ali, “#Update: The Raymond Davis Affair,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2011/02/update-the-raymond-davis-affair-fb-ali.html.

422 “We continue to make clear”: Associated Press, “US Ups Pressure on Pakistan over Detained American,” FoxNews.com, February 8, 2011.

422 preparing to recognize: Ahmad Norrani, “Is Presidency Pushing for Backdated Immunity to Raymond?” News International, February 12, 2011.

422 “Our expert opinion”: Shah Mahmood Qureshi, “Raymond Davis Does Not Enjoy Immunity,” YouTube video, 7:40, from coverage of a press conference held by Mr. Qureshi, broadcast on the Express 24/7 network, posted by “MrPoliticians,” February 17, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsF3HpHZdzc.

422 snubbed Qureshi: Karen DeYoung and Karin Brulliard, “U.S.-Pakistan Relations Strained Further with Case of Jailed Diplomat,” Washington Post, February 8, 2011.

422 “principled stance”: Qureshi, “Raymond Davis Does Not Enjoy Immunity.”

422 threatened to withhold: Shaun Tandon, “US Threatens to Cut Pakistan Aid over Shooting,” Agence France-Presse, February 8, 2011.

422 “In an incendiary environment”: Asif Ali Zardari, “As Pakistan Battles Extremism, It Needs Allies’ Patience and Help,” op-ed Washington Post, March 6, 2011.

423 three prisoners: Matthew Cole, “U.S. Fears for Life of Outed CIA Contractor in Pakistan Prison,” ABCNews.go.com, February 22, 2011.

423 tested for poison: Ibid.

423 “I’m not answering any questions”: “New Video of Raymond Davis Interrogation by Punjab Police, Lahore, Pakistan—WatchGeoNews.com,” YouTube video, 1:03, filmed interrogation of Raymond Davis by Punjab police, broadcast on February 15, 2011, posted by “feelpkcom,” February 15, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hye2lLBZfI.

423 “In our view, he acted in self-defense”: Agence France-Presse, “US Defends ‘Diplomat’ Accused of Killing Two in Pakistan,” Dawn, February 1, 2011.

423 met with President Zardari: Jane Perlez, “Pakistan Delays Ruling on Jailed American,” New York Times, February 17, 2011.

423 “We have to, respect the law”: Senator John Kerry, “Kerry Regrets Raymond Davis Killing,” YouTube video, 33:03, Express 24/7 network coverage of John Kerry’s media appearance in Lahore, Pakistan, February 15, 2011, posted by “theexpresstribune,” February 15, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIIXQcOG3tY. Details of the media appearance come from Express 24/7 coverage of the event.

424 “With respect to Mr. Davis”: Transcript, “Press Conference by the President,” February 15, 2011.

424 “argued that disclosure of his specific job”: Mark Mazzetti, Ashley Parker, Jane Perlez, and Eric Schmitt, “American Held in Pakistan Worked with C.I.A.,” New York Times, February 21, 2011.

424 “immediately after the shootings”: Adam Goldman and Kimberly Dozier (AP), “Arrested US Official Raymond Allen Davis Is Actually a CIA Contractor,” Christian Science Monitor, February 21, 2011.

425 “American official”: Waqar Gillani and Jane Perlez, “Pakistan Extends Jailing of American Held in Two Deaths,” New York Times, February 11, 2011.

425 “inventory of gadgets”: Jane Perlez, “Mystery over Detained American Angers Pakistan,” New York Times, February 8, 2011.

425 “It’s one thing”: Glenn Greenwald, “The NYT’s Journalistic Obedience,” Salon.com, February 21, 2011.

425 “the view that his CIA-ness”: Chris Elliott, “Open Door: Dangerous Decisions,” Guardian, February 27, 2011.

425 “Our security personnel”: Mazzetti et al., “American Held in Pakistan Worked with C.I.A.”

425 secret talks: Declan Walsh and Ewen MacAskill, “CIA Spy Escapes Murder Case in Pakistan After US Pays ‘Blood Money,’” Guardian, March 16, 2011.

425 “all the Ray Davises”: Babar Dogar and Chris Brummit (AP), “Contractor Accused of Murder Released in Pakistan,” Huffington Post, March 16, 2011.

426 “one of the most complicated relationships”: Current and Projected National Security Threats to the United States, Hearing Before the Select Committee on Intelligence, 111th Cong. 59 (February 16, 2011) (testimony of Leon Panetta, Director of Central Intelligence).

426 “ready to split with the CIA”: Kathy Gannon and Adam Goldman (AP), “Case of Jailed American Causes Deep Rift in Pakistani Spy Agency’s Relationship with CIA,” Star Tribune, February 24, 2011.

426 refused to sign: Associated Press, “American: I’m Immune from Pakistan Murder Charge,” CBSNews.com, February 25, 2011.

426 “bogus references”: Gannon and Goldman, “Case of Jailed American Causes Deep Rift.”

426 another US security contractor: Declan Walsh, “Pakistan Arrests US Security Contractor as Rift with CIA Deepens,” Guardian, February 25, 2011.

426 “most significant events of the last 20 years”: “Another Mysterious American in Pakistan,” Outpost Washington (blog), Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, February 25, 2011, www.rferl.org/content/pakistan_raymond_davis_america_cia_isi/2321321.html.

426 fled the country: Asad Kharal, “After Davis’ Arrest, US Operatives Leaving Pakistan,” Express Tribune, February 28, 2011.

426 “have been strong”: Walsh, “Pakistan Arrests US Security Contractor as Rift with CIA Deepens.” Some officials claimed to be reviewing “thousands” of visas.

427 “Where do you go to think seriously”: General Jehangir Karamat, “The Oman Retreat,” Pakistan Today, February 26, 2011. Pakistan Today published the “readout” of the meeting in Oman between top US and Pakistani officials.

427 US delegation included: Kevin Baron, “U.S., Pakistan Military Chiefs Hold Secret Talks in Oman,” Stars and Stripes, February 23, 2011.

427 “They will do nothing behind our backs”: Walsh and MacAskill, “CIA Spy Escapes Murder Case in Pakistan After US Pays ‘Blood Money.’”

427 “CIA made no pledges”: Carlotta Gall and Mark Mazzetti, “Hushed Deal Frees C.I.A. Contractor in Pakistan,” New York Times, March 16, 2011.

428 wanted Davis tried and hanged: “CIA Contractor Ray Davis Freed over Pakistan Killings,” BBC.co.uk, March 16, 2011.

428 forcibly took: Huma Imtiaz, “Behind the Scenes of Raymond Davis’s Release,” Foreign Policy, March 16, 2011.

428 charged with murder: Walsh and MacAskill, “CIA Spy Escapes Murder Case in Pakistan After US Pays ‘Blood Money.’”

428 “I and my associate”: “CIA Contractor Ray Davis Freed over Pakistan Killings.”

428 “Now he can go anywhere”: Babar Dogar (AP), “‘Blood Money’ Frees CIA Contractor in Pakistan,” Washington Times, March 16, 2011.

428 “The diyyat provision”: Brigadier (Ret.) F. B. Ali, “The Davis Saga ends,” Sic Semper Tyrannis (blog), March 16, 2011, http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2011/03/the-davis-saga-ends-fb-ali.html.

428 “did not pay any compensation”: Transcript, “Remarks to the Traveling Press,” Cairo, Egypt, March 16, 2011.

428 made the payment: Gall and Mazzetti, “Hushed Deal Frees C.I.A. Contractor in Pakistan.”

428 “special” plane: “Did Davis Board Viper with His Victims’ Heirs?” News International, March 17, 2011.

429 headed for Bagram: Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai, “Blood Money Buys CIA Contractor’s Freedom,” Newsweek, March 16, 2011.

429 US drone strike: “US Drone Strike ‘Kills Forty’ in Pakistani Tribal Region,” BBC.co.uk, March 17, 2011.

47: The Tsunami of Change

430 confiscated his cart: John Thorne, “Bouazizi Has Become a Tunisian Protest ‘Symbol,’” National (UAE), January 13, 2011.

430 refused to meet him: Kareem Fahim, “Slap to a Man’s Pride Set Off Tumult in Tunisia,” New York Times, January 21, 2011.

430 nearby gas station: “Tunisia and the Spark That Launched Uprisings,” 60 Minutes, CBS, February 20, 2011.

430 “The first and probably most important change”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Tsunami of Change,” Inspire 5 (spring 2011), released March 2011.

431 opened fire on the crowd: Adrian Blomfield, “Yemen Protests: Evidence Snipers Shot to Kill,” Telegraph, March 19, 2011.

431 “peaceful youth revolution”: Laura Kasinof, “Yemen General Says Opposition Will Be Ally Against Terrorism,” New York Times, June 22, 2011.

431 “political solution”: Indira A. R. Lakshmanan, “U.S. Facing Loss of Key Ally Against al-Qaeda Group in Yemen,” Bloomberg, March 22, 2011.

431 “I don’t think it’s my place”: Transcript, “Media Availability with Secretary Robert Gates from Moscow, Russia,” March 22, 2011.

432 “The feckless US response”: Author interview, Joshua Foust, March 24, 2011.

432 “could certainly have a negative impact”: Author interview, Gregory Johnsen, March 2011.

432 “Hello, Ammar?”: Author interview, Ammar al Awlaki, August 2012. The author relies on Ammar’s account of the meeting in Vienna.

48: The Fortress in Abbottabad

434 construction on the residence: Peter Bergen, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden—from 9/11 to Abbottabad (New York: Crown Publishers, 2012), p. 3. For readers wishing to study the events leading up to the bin Laden raid and the raid itself, the most comprehensive books thus far on these events are Bergen’s Manhunt and Mark Owen, with Kevin Maurer, No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (New York: Dutton, 2012).

434 narrow openings: Ibid., p. 4.

434 bin Laden unit was shuttered: Transcript, “Hunt for Osama Bin Laden Shifts Gears,” Morning Edition, NPR, July 3, 2006.

435 “number one goal”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 116.

435 “I think we’ll get a call”: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 92.

435 identified by various al Qaeda figures: Michael Isikoff, “How Profile of bin Laden Courier Led CIA to Its Target,” NBCNews.com, May 4, 2011.

435 followed Kuwaiti’s white Suzuki: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 123.

435 “fortress”: Ibid., p. 124.

435 burned their trash: Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper, and Peter Baker, “Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden,” New York Times, May 2, 2011.

435 grew their own vegetables: Bergen, Manhunt, pp. 12–13.

435 twenty-five ways: Ibid., pp. 125–126.

435 “throw in foul-smelling stink bombs”: Ibid., p. 126.

436 false Hepatitis B vaccination program: Saeed Shah, “CIA Organised Fake Vaccination Drive to Get Osama bin Laden’s Family DNA,” Guardian, July 11, 2011.

436 unable to get any DNA samples: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 127.

436 “Anatomy of a Lead”: Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo, “The Man Who Hunted Osama bin Laden,” Associated Press, July 5, 2011. Peter Bergen supplies more details of the memos—the title “Closing In on Usama bin Ladin’s Courier” is also from Bergen, Manhunt, p. 127.

436 “pattern of life” analysis: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 131.

436 “the Pacer”: Bob Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden: Phone Call Pointed U.S. to Compound—and to ‘the Pacer,’” Washington Post, May 6, 2011.

436 “First of all, congratulations”: Ibid., pp. 166–167.

436 “McRaven assigned”: Siobhan Gorman and Julian E. Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided bin Laden Raid,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2011.

437 “Atlantic City”: Ibid.

437 number of other options: Ibid. Also see Bergen, Manhunt, p. 167.

437 feared Davis could be killed: Gorman and Barnes, “Spy, Military Ties Aided bin Laden Raid.”

437 desert in Nevada: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 184.

438 “wild-goose chase”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 5.

438 “almost thirty people in the room”: Ibid., p. 147.

438 “some kind of dream team”: Ibid., pp. 147–148.

438 “speculation was rampant”: Ibid., p. 149.

438 “No fucking way”: Ibid., p. 154.

438 chosen for the operation: Details of the team makeup come from ibid., p. 158.

438 “house in amazing detail”: Ibid., p. 160.

438 “Road to Abbottabad”: Ibid., p. 163.

439 “accustomed to hearing helicopters”: Ibid., p. 173.

439 “On this mission”: Ibid., p. 168.

439 “In terms of difficulty”: Bergen, Manhunt, pp. 185–186.

439 “it helps that he’s from central casting”: Ibid., p. 185.

439 “A lawyer from either”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 177.

440 “What are the odds”: Conversation between Bissonnette and “Jen,” ibid., pp. 182–184.

440 8:20 a.m.: Mark Mazzetti and Helene Cooper, “Detective Work on Courier Led to Breakthrough on Bin Laden,” New York Times, May 2, 2011.

440 “It’s a go”: Tom Donilon, interview for History Channel special, Targeting Bin Laden, broadcast September 6, 2011.

440 “Try not to shoot”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 192.

440 promoted to SOCOM commander: Ibid., p. 275.

440 “And we’ll get Obama reelected”: Ibid., p. 193.

441 moonless night: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 192.

441 delay the raid: Ibid., p. 208.

441 “I couldn’t have any more confidence”: Jake Tapper, “President Obama to National Security Team: ‘It’s a Go,’” Political Punch (blog), ABCNews.go.com, May 2, 2011.

441 Correspondents’ Dinner: “2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” C-Span video, 1:28:17, coverage of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 30, 2011, www.c-spanvideo.org/program/299256-1.

441 “standing room only”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 194.

441 “The story was preposterous”: Ibid., p. 195.

442 given them the green light: Ibid., p. 196.

442 around 8:00 a.m.: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 212.

442 Costco: Nicholas Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden: What Happened That Night in Abbottabad,” New Yorker, August 8, 2011.

442 Multiple pizzerias: Interview with President Barack Obama, “Inside the Situation Room,” Rock Center, NBC, May 2, 2012.

442 At around 1:00 p.m.: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 213.

442 round of golf: Darlene Superville (AP), “Obama’s Golf Shoes a Clue to bin Laden Raid?” NBCnews.com, May 3, 2011.

442 could only seat seven people: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 217.

442 RQ-170 stealth drone, secure communications: Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden.”

442 told to stay put: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 217.

442 inner circle was arguing: Ibid.

442 “I need to watch this”: Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden.”

443 “ended up [on a] folding chair”: Interview with President Barack Obama, “Inside the Situation Room.”

443 11:00 p.m. in Abbottabad: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 214.

443 Black Hawks took off: Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden.”

443 “It was nail-biting time”: Interview with John Brennan, Targeting Bin Laden, History Channel special, broadcast September 6, 2011.

443 rumored to be developing: Christopher Drew, “Attack on Bin Laden Used Stealthy Helicopter That Had Been a Secret,” New York Times, May 5, 2011.

443 “nap of the earth”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 215.

443 “Any time that you’ve got a mission”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton, March 2011.

443 Three MH-47 Chinooks: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 216.

443 Kala Dhaka: Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden.”

443 twenty minutes: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 220.

443 monitored the events: Ibid., p. 216.

49: “We Got Him. We Got Him.”

444 occasional question: Peter Bergen, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden—from 9/11 to Abbottabad (New York: Crown Publishers, 2012), p. 218.

444 ten minutes: Mark Owen, with Kevin Maurer, No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (New York: Dutton, 2012), p. 210.

444 “Several of the houses we passed”: Ibid., pp. 210–211.

444 “Looking down thirty feet into the compound”: Ibid., p. 6.

444 high temperature, weight of the stealth system: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 218.

444 “we’re going in”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 8.

445 “The helicopter shuddered”: Ibid., p. 214.

445 “If any other part of the helicopter”: Ibid., p. 215.

445 “My heart sank”: Ibid., p. 7.

445 “That wasn’t in the script”: Interview with Barack Obama, History Channel special, Targeting Bin Laden, broadcast September 6, 2011.

445 “Those were really intense moments”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 219.

445 “everyone went, like, ‘Whoa’”: Interview with Joe Biden, “Inside the Situation Room,” Rock Center, NBC, May 2, 2012.

445 “We will now be amending”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 220.

446 “His demeanor did not change”: Interview with Ben Rhodes, History Channel special, Targeting Bin Laden, broadcast September 6, 2011.

446 “a cool customer”: Interview with Barack Obama, “Inside the Situation Room,” Rock Center, NBC, May 2, 2012.

446 “We had a sense that”: Interview with Barack Obama, History Channel special, Targeting Bin Laden.

446 “He is dead”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 222.

446 “I spotted a pair of feet”: Ibid., p. 223.

446 “The courier’s AK-47”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 221.

446 another group of SEALs: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 226.

446 they fell out of contact: Nicholas Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden: What Happened That Night in Abbottabad,” New Yorker, August 8, 2011.

446 “big chunks of time”: Transcript, “Obama on bin Laden: The Full ‘60 Minutes’ Interview,” by Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes, CBS, May 4, 2011.

447 “We were really in a blackout situation”: Interview with Barack Obama, Targeting Bin Laden.

447 “were set at ninety-degree angles”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 230.

447 “Khalid”: Ibid., p. 231.

447 “What was Khalid thinking”: Transcript, “Killing bin Laden,” 60 Minutes, CBS, September 9, 2012.

447 fired two suppressed rounds: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 235.

447 “In that second”: Phil Bronstein, “The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden…Is Screwed,” Esquire, February 11, 2013, http://www.esquire.com/features/man-who-shot-osama-bin-laden-0313. The account of the SEAL who shot bin Laden differs from Bissonnette’s in a few key places. “The Shooter,” as he is called in the Esquire piece, says that the women were tackled in the hallway, and that bin Laden was alive and standing in the room when the SEAL shot him in the face. He also claims to have been certain of bin Laden’s identity on sight. In his book, Bissonnette appears to assume that bin Laden was fatally shot as the SEALs were coming up the stairs. The differences are likely attributable to the men’s different positions in the house on the night of bin Laden’s death, and readers are encouraged to review both sources.

447 “We saw the man lying on the floor”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 236.

447 “A hole in his forehead”: Ibid., p. 239.

448 “the American public doesn’t want to know”: Bronstein, “The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden.”

448 “With each swipe”: Owen, No Easy Day., p. 241.

448 “This had been carefully planned”: Ibid., p. 245.

448 questioned the older woman: Ibid., pp. 245–246.

448 “Geronimo E.K.I.A.”: Ibid., p. 247.

448 “We got him”: Interview with Ben Rhodes, Targeting Bin Laden.

449 “I’ve got a Geronimo call”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 225.

449 gather as many of bin Laden’s belongings: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 252.

449 found two guns: Ibid., pp. 248–249.

449 “I saw soldiers emerging”: Qaswar Abbas and Sandeep Unnithan, “How Pak Is Trapped in Web of Deceit,” India Today, May 16, 2011.

449 “We never saw their clothes”: Transcript, Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees, CNN, May 12, 2011.

449 “We all knew the risks of running out of gas”: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 251.

449 “We looked like a gypsy camp”: Ibid., p. 252.

450 the remaining stealth Black Hawk: Ibid., p. 253.

450 $60-million bonfire: Bob Woodward, “Death of Osama bin Laden: Phone Call Pointed U.S. to Compound—and to ‘the Pacer,’” Washington Post, May 6, 2011. The price tag of the helicopter was revealed when Woodward reported President Obama’s retort to the news of a SEAL lying down next to bin Laden’s corpse to measure his height: “We donated a $60 million helicopter to this operation. Could we not afford a tape measure?”

450 1:00 a.m., just before the SEALs took off: Zahid Hussain, Matthew Rosenberg, and Jeremy Paige, “Slow Dawn After Midnight Raid,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2011.

450 “Inform me as soon as our helicopters are out”: Bergen, Manhunt, p. 228.

450 separate routes: Ibid.

450 On the tarmac in Jalalabad: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 262.

450 choppered out to the Arabian Sea: Schmidle, “Getting Bin Laden.”

450 “Traditional procedures for Islamic burial”: Associated Press, “Military Emails Reveal Details of bin Laden Burial,” CBSNews.com, November 22, 2012.

50: “Now They’re After My Son”

451 “Good evening”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President on Osama bin Laden,” May 2, 2011.

451 “did resist the assault force”: Transcript, “Press Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the Killing of Osama bin Laden,” May 2, 2011.

451 seven of the eleven adults: Peter Bergen, “A Visit to Osama bin Laden’s Lair,” CNN.com, May 3, 2012.

451 According to Pakistani officials: Robert Booth, Saeed Shah, and Jason Burke, “Osama bin Laden Death: How Family Scene in Compound Turned to Carnage,” Guardian, May 5, 2011.

451 “The US administration made clear”: Amnesty International, Annual Report 2012, “United States of America,” 2012, https://www.amnesty.org/en/region/usa/report-2012.

452 “nature of the individual he was”: Transcript, “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan,” May 2, 2011.

452 forced to retract: Reuters, “Woman Killed in Bin Laden Raid Not His Wife: White House,” National Post, May 2, 2011.

452 issued a directive: Kimberly Dozier, “McRaven Tells Troops to Pipe Down,” Associated Press, The Big Story (bigstory.ap.org), August 12, 2012.

452 tried to trademark: Ethan Smith and Julian E. Barnes, “Walt Disney Surrenders to Navy’s SEAL Team 6,” Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2011.

452 access to sensitive material: Mark Hosenball, “Senate Panel to Examine CIA Contacts with ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Filmmakers,” Reuters, January 2, 2013.

453 snatched by an amphibious team: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 238.

453 transferred to New York and indicted: United States of America v. Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, indictment 11 CRIM 559 (DC Southern district of New York July 5, 2011), graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/Warsame_Indictment.pdf.

453 endured two months: Charlie Savage, “U.S. Tests New Approach to Terrorism Cases on Somali Suspect,” New York Times, July 6, 2011.

453 provide the ICRC: Executive Order No. 13491, 74 Fed. Reg. 4893, 4893-94 (January 27, 2009).

453 “This is illegal and inexcusable”: “U.S. May Have Violated Domestic and International Law in Capturing and Holding Somali for Months at Sea,” Center for Constitutional Rights, July 7, 2011, http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/u.s.-may-have-violated-domestic-and-international-law-capturing-and-holding-somali-months-sea.

453 anonymously boasted: Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst, “Member of Terrorist Group Brought to US to Stand Trial,” NBCNews.com, July 5, 2011.

453 “I want Awlaki”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 261.

454 “knockout blow,” “running the table”: Ibid., p. 252.

454 ordered John Brennan: Ibid., p. 261.

454 “The hardware was filled”: Ibid., pp. 262–263.

454 “vital details of Awlaki’s whereabouts”: Margaret Coker, Adam Entous, and Julian E. Barnes, “Drone Targets Yemeni Cleric,” Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2011.

454 Dragon Spear aircraft: Martha Raddatz, “US Missiles Missed Awlaki by Inches in Yemen,” ABCNews.go.com, July 19, 2011. Unless otherwise noted, details of the military strikes on May 5, 2011, are from this article.

455 “Speed up!”: Unless otherwise noted, on-the-ground details of this strike are based on the essay by Shaykh Harith al Nadari, “My Story with al-Awlaki,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

455 al Harad brothers: Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013), p. 275.

455 “You can’t see shit”: Author interview, former JSOC planner, October 2012.

455 Suzuki Vitara SUV: Mohammed Jamjoom and Hakim Almasmari, “Yemeni Source: Drone Strike Misses al-Awlaki, Hits Two Supporters,” CNN.com, May 7, 2011.

456 stuck with Awlaki’s truck: Ibid.

456 “We were hoping it was him”: Transcript, CBS Evening News, May 6, 2011.

456 “vehicles were exchanged”: Jamjoom and Almasmari, “Yemeni Source.”

456 “U.S. government has been targeting al-Awlaki”: Transcript, “Deciphering bin Laden’s Messages; Drone Strikes; Targeting Awlaki,” John King, USA, CNN, May 6, 2011.

457 “now they’re after my son”: Tom Finn, “I Fear for My Son, Says Father of Anwar al-Awlaki, Tipped as new Bin Laden,” Observer, May 7, 2011.

51: “It Was Cold-Blooded”

458 “counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President on Osama bin Laden,” May 2, 2011.

458 “did its part”: Asif Ali Zardari, “Pakistan Did Its Part,” op-ed Washington Post, May 2, 2011.

458 “We will not allow”: Sajjad Tarakzai, “Bin Laden Dead as Joyful US Says Justice Is Done,” Agence France-Presse, May 2, 2011.

458 “It was cold-blooded”: Kamran Haider and Augustine Anthony, “No Resistance in ‘Cold-Blooded’ U.S. Raid: Pakistan Officials,” Reuters, May 5, 2011.

458 “an unauthorized unilateral action”: Jane Perlez and David Rohde, “Pakistan Pushes Back Against U.S. Criticism on Bin Laden,” New York Times, May 3, 2011.

458 “unprovoked aggression”: Express/AFP, “Zardari and Gilani Should Resign: Qureshi,” Express Tribune, May 7, 2011.

458 “Every Pakistani wants to know”: “Altaf Asks Military, Govt to Apologise over US Raid,” Dawn.com, May 5, 2011.

458 “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”: “Terms of Engagement with US Be Reviewed: Resolution,” Dawn.com, May 15, 2011.

459 “inconceivable”: Transcript, “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan,” May 2, 2011.

459 1,500 Pakistanis protested: “U.S. Drone Strike in Pakistan; Protests over bin Laden,” Reuters, May 6, 2011.

459 sentenced to thirty-three years: Jon Boone, “Doctor Who Helped US in Search for Osama Bin Laden Jailed for Thirty-three Years,” Guardian, May 23, 2012.

459 “shocking and outrageous”: Senator John McCain and Senator Carl Levin, “Statement by Senators McCain and Levin on Sentencing of Pakistani Doctor Who Assisted in bin Laden Search,” press release, May 23, 2012, www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?ContentRecord_id=7a9e4f17-9a3f-f98a-ad20-f9fb18505c1d&-FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases.

459 “For us, he’s no hero”: Kimberly Dozier and Bradley Klapper, “Pakistan to Talk Counterterrorism with US, Afghans,” Associated Press, September 20, 2012.

459 “Since the killing of the al Qaeda leader”: Master Sergeant Michael O’Connor, “ISAF Mission at Full Speed Following Death of Al Qaeda Leader,” ISAF Headquarters, May 12, 2011.

459 Pakistani soldiers: Salman Masood and Eric Schmitt, “Tensions Flare Between U.S. and Pakistan After Strike,” New York Times, November 26, 2011.

52: “The US Sees al Qaeda as Terrorism, and We Consider the Drones Terrorism”

460 counterterrorism units were pulled away: Margaret Coker, “Rebel General Fights Yemen Regime,” Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2011.

460 laid siege to Zinjibar: Laura Kasinof, “Islamists Seize a Yemeni City, Stoking Fears,” New York Times, May 29, 2011.

460 announced themselves as a new group: Hakim Almasmari and Margaret Coker, “Yemen Unrest Spreads South,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2011.

460 front for Al Qaeda: Author interviews, senior Yemeni officials, January 2012.

460 “The name Ansar al Sharia”: “Online Question and Answer Session with Abu Zubayr Adel al-Abab, Shariah Official for Member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP],” April 18, 2011, translation by Amany Soliman, The International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, http://islamopediaonline.org/sites/default/files/abdu_zubayr_english.pdf.

461 “there could be mortars”: Author interview, General Mohammed al Sumali, January 2012. All statements and information attributed to General al Sumali come from the author’s interview.

461 “heavy artillery pieces”: Madad News Agency, “After Great Attrition of Ali Saleh’s Forces on the Doofos Front; Ansar Al-Shari’ah Announces a New Strategy and Different Tactics for Urban Warfare,” News Report Issue No. 1, September 2011, translation of online news magazine by Ansar Al-Mujahideen English Forum, released via Jihadology, December 26, 2011, http://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/ane1b9a3c481r-al-sharc4abah-in-yemen-22news-report-issue-122-en.pdf.

462 more than 230 Yemeni soldiers: Fawaz al Haidari, “Yemen Says Hundreds Killed in Qaeda Fight,” Agence France-Presse, September 11, 2011.

462 “handed over Zinjibar to these militants”: Author interview, Abdul Ghani al Iryani, January 2012. All statements and information attributed to Iryani come from the author’s interview.

462 did not respond: Author interview, Yemeni government official, January 2012.

463 “political tumult”: Kimberly Dozier (AP), “Al Qaeda Reeling, US Terror Chief Says,” Boston.com, September 2, 2011.

463 declaring an Islamic emirate: Al Bawaba News, “Yemen: Al Qaeda Declares South Province as ‘Islamic Emirate,’” Eurasia Review, March 31, 2011.

463 “Ansar al Sharia has been much more proactive”: Author interview, Gregory Johnsen, January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Johnsen come from the author’s interview.

463 repaired roads, restored electricity: Sasha Gordon, “Abyani Tribes and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen,” Critical Threats, July 25, 2012, www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/gordon-abyani-tribes-and-al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-july-25-2012#_edn21.

463 “brought security to the people”: Author interview, Abdul Rezzaq al Jamal, January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Jamal come from the author’s interview.

464 a gruesome event: “Al Qaeda Severs Boy’s Hand,” Yemen Post, September 25, 2011, http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=4117.

464 beheaded two men: “Islamist Militants Execute Three Men in South Yemen,” Reuters, February 12, 2012.

464 third man executed: Ibid.

464 massive air assault: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), pp. 253–254.

464 “where the real priority is”: Ibid., p. 256.

464 fly supply runs: Author interview, General Mohammed al Sumali, January 2012.

465 decided to pull out: Robert Burns (AP), “U.S. Military Trainers Have Returned to Yemen,” Army Times, May 8, 2012.

465 “They have left”: Author interview, Abu Bakr al Qirbi, January 2012.

465 secret air base: Greg Miller and Julie Tate, “CIA Shifts Focus to Killing Targets,” Washington Post, September 1, 2011. The Washington Post first reported the construction of the base, revealing only that it was somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula. More than a year later, the New York Times confirmed that the base was in Saudi Arabia. See Robert F. Worth, Mark Mazzetti, and Scott Shane, “Drone Strikes’ Risks to Get Rare Moment in the Public Eye,” New York Times, February 5, 2013.

465 Several southern leaders: Author interviews, tribal leaders, January 2012.

465 “Why should we fight them?”: Author interview, Sheikh Ali Abdullah Abdulsalam (Mullah Zabara), January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Mullah Zabara come from the author’s interview.

466 Zabara was assassinated: Nasser Arrabyee, “Al Qaeda Suspects Killed Tribal Leader, Mediator, Political Asylum Seeker,” Nasser Arrabyee (blog), January 10, 2013, http://narrabyee-e.blogspot.com/2013/01/qaeda-suspects-killed-tribal-leader.html.

466 Shihri had died: Press statement from the Supreme National Security Committee in the Republic of Yemen, January 24, 2013.

467 three French aid workers: Agence France-Presse, “Three French hostages Freed in Yemen Head for Home,” November 14, 2011.

468 “We are not generating good will”: Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010.

468 “greatly exaggerated as a threat”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.

53: The Pink House

469 “I salute you and your colleagues”: Hearing to Consider the Nominations of Lt. Gen. John Allen, Vice Adm. William McRaven, and Gen. James Thurman, Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, 111th Cong. (June 28, 2011) (testimony of Admiral William McRaven), video available at www.c-spanvideo.org/program/300255-1.

470 new counterterrorism center: Author interviews, Somali and US intelligence sources, June and July 2011.

470 counterterrorism training program: Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

470 “It makes complete sense”: Author interview, US official, July 2011. All statements attributed to the US official come from the author’s interview.

470 “are here full time”: Author interview, Somali intelligence official, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to the senior intelligence official come from the author’s interview.

471 corrupt and untrustworthy: The corruption of the TFG administration at this time was well documented. See International Crisis Group, “Somalia: The Transitional Government on Life Support,” Africa Report No. 170, February 21, 2011: Despite hopes early on that President Sharif would clean up the government, by early 2011 the ICG [International Crisis Group] reported that “corruption has continued unchecked and is now, by most accounts, more pernicious and serious than ever, presided over by powerful establishment figures and permeating every tier of government,” p. 12.

471 $200 monthly cash payments: Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

471 “do not bother to be in touch”: Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011. Unless otherwise noted, all information and statements attributed to Aynte come from the author’s interview.

471 “Same thing is true for Somalia”: Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Hon. Leon E. Panetta to be Secretary of Defense, Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, 111th Cong. (June 9, 2011) (testimony of Leon E. Panetta).

471 “creating a monster”: Jeffrey Gettleman, Mark Mazzetti, and Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict,” New York Times, August 10, 2011.

472 two white men: Author interview, former prisoner, June 2011.

472 pace around constantly: Author copy of written testimony of Ahmed Abdulahi Hassan.

472 A Somali journalist: Author interview, Somali journalist, June 2011.

472 snatched from flights: Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

472 same building: Author interviews, Somali sources with direct knowledge of NSA operations, June 2011.

472 “The Hole”: See United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, “Somalia: National Security Service Prison (Godka), Mogadishu, Somalia,” January 8, 1998, accessed November 15, 2012, www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3df0bc514.html.

473 “shall close as expeditiously as possible”: Executive Order 13491, 74 Fed. Reg. 4893 (January 27, 2009).

473 “further call into question”: Letter sent by eight organizations to President Obama, “Clarify Alleged CIA Role in Detention and Interrogation in Somalia,” September 6, 2011. Sent by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Center for Victims of Torture, Physicians for Human Rights, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, The Open Society Foundations, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch. Accessed November 10, 2012, www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/20/letter-president-obama-clarify-alleged-cia-role-detention-and-interrogation-somalia.

474 regular shelling: “Somalia: MPs Condemn Amisom for Shelling Mogadishu’s Populated Areas,” Shabelle Media Network, June 6, 2011.

474 “We are like orphans”: Author interview, Mohammed Farah Siad, June 2011.

474 “dual-track”: Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, “State Department: A Dual-Track Approach to Somalia,” speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 20, 2010, video available at http://csis.org/event/state-department-dual-track-approach-somalia.

474 “new label”: Afyare Abdi Elmi, “Dual Track Policy in Somalia Misses the Point,” AlJazeera.com, June 9, 2011.

475 “escalate operations in Somalia”: Gettleman, Mazzetti, and Schmitt, “U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict.”

475 broadcast the execution: “Shabaab al-Mujahideen Announces Execution of ‘CIA’ ‘Cooperator,’” translation of communiqué released by al Shabab on February 3, 2011, coinciding with the broadcast of the execution, Flashpoint Partners, https://flashpoint-intel.com/inteldocument/flashpoint_shabaab-kataib0211.pdf.

476 “I believe that the US should help”: Author interview, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, June 2011.

476 “more resources than al Shabab”: Lauren Sutherland, “Inside Kenya’s Overflowing Refugee Camps,” Nation, August 15, 2011, www.thenation.com/article/162792/inside-kenyas-overflowing-refugee-camps#.

476 “between one third and one half”: Matt Bryden, Jörg Roofthooft, Ghassan Schbley, and Babatunde Taiwo, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” UN Security Council, July 18, 2011, pp. 43–44.

477 barely pay its own soldiers: Katharine Houreld (AP), “Unpaid Somali Soldiers Desert to Insurgency,” Hiiraan Online, April 28, 2010.

478 few months earlier: Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

478 “One night I fired 120 AK-47 rounds”: Author interview, Yusuf Mohamed Siad, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to Indha Adde come from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

478 Originally founded: International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Islamists,” Africa Report No. 100, December 12, 2005.

479 “preach a message”: Ibid.

479 assassinations, desecrating the tombs: Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011; International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Divided Islamists,” Africa Briefing No. 74, May 18, 2010.

479 much debate: Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011.

479 arming and financing: Matt Bryden, Arnaud Laloum, and Jörg Roofthooft, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1853 (2008),” March 10, 2010, p. 12.

479 boots on the ground: Matt Bryden, Jörg Roofthooft, Ghassan Schbley, and Babatunde Taiwo, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1926 (2010),” July 18, 2011, p. 51.

479 formal cooperation agreement: International Crisis Group, “Somalia’s Divided Islamists.”

479 holy man: Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011. The following details about Noor’s background and return to Mogadishu come from the interview with the author.

479 “number one”: Ibid. All information and statements attributed to Noor come from the author’s interview.

480 Mudug: Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011.

480 “appear to be proxies”: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 11.

480 received support: Ibid., p. 269.

480 “most egregious violations”: Ibid., p. 255.

480 “production of narcotic drugs”: Ibid., p. 53.

480 “change the balance of power”: Ibid.

480 “so substantial,” four-wheel drive vehicles, “Philippine army-style”: Ibid., p. 268.

480 “return to the ‘warlordism’”: Ibid., p. 11.

481 close ties to the royals: Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “Private Army Formed to Fight Somali Pirates Leaves Troubled Legacy,” New York Times, October 4, 2012.

481 “pro-business and opportunity”: Kareem Shaheen, “Blackwater Founder Questioned in Abu Dhabi,” National (UAE), August 25, 2010.

481 “harder for the jackals”: Robert Young Pelton, “Erik Prince, an American Commando in Exile,” Men’s Journal, November 2010.

481 “make its mark in Somalia”: Author interview, Western official, December 2010.

481 more than a dozen shipping companies: Philip Ewing, “Blackwater: Thirteen Firms Want Pirate Protection,” Navy Times, October 26, 2008.

481 183-foot vessel: US diplomatic cable 09DJIBOUTI113, from Ambassador James Swan, US Embassy, Djibouti City, “Djibouti Approves Blackwater for Commercial Counter-Piracy Operations,” February 12, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/02/09DJIBOUTI113.html. Other details about the vessel and its equipment come from the cable.

481 “We could put vessels out there”: Author copy of recording, Erik Prince speech, January 2010.

482 250 to 770: Cheryl Pellerin, “Piracy Challenges Maritime Security off Somalia,” America Forces Press Service, January 26, 2011.

482 snatching three young Somali men: “‘US Marines’ Land in Central Somalia, Arrest Suspected Pirate,” Shabelle Media Network, January 21, 2011.

482 “Al Shabab is responsible”: Lolita C. Baldor (AP), “Admiral Calls for Counterterror Approach to Piracy,” Boston.com, January 26, 2011.

482 extorting from the pirates: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 283. “It is the Monitoring Group’s assessment that this arrangement [between the pirates and al Shabab] is local and, to a large extent, clan-based, and no evidence has been found to suggest any broader or more systematic involvement of Al-Shabaab in piracy.”

482 thirty-three years: Press release from the United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, “Somalian Pirate Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 405 Months in Prison for Hijacking Three Ships and for Hostage Taking,” February 16, 2011.

482 SOS: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Somali Pirates Hijack Yacht with Americans Aboard,” New York Times, February 19, 2011.

482 275 miles: “Somali Pirates Seize American Yacht Crew off Oman,” bbc.co.uk, February 18, 2011.

482 supported by helicopters: Kevin Dolak, Luis Martinez, and Jeremy Hubbard, “Warship Tracking Yacht Hijacked by Somali Pirates,” ABCNews.go.com, February 20, 2011.

482 unarmed surveillance drones: Transcript, “DOD News Briefing with Vice Adm. Fox via Telephone from Bahrain on Somali Piracy Aboard the S/V Quest,” February 22, 2011.

482 lethal force: David Jackson, “Obama Notified of Pirate Killings at 4:42 a.m.,” USA Today, February 22, 2011.

483 willingly boarded: Eric Schmitt, “Seizing of Pirate Commanders Is Questioned,” New York Times, February 23, 2011.

483 hand-to-hand combat: Transcript, “DOD News Briefing with Vice Adm. Fox.”

483 too late: Adam Nagourney and Jeffrey Gettleman, “Pirates Brutally End Yachting Dream,” New York Times, February 22, 2011.

483 took credit: “Pirates Could Face Trial in US over American Deaths,” BBC.co.uk, February 23, 2011.

483 fifteen remaining pirates: Hanna Siegel, “Pirates Charged in Death of American Yachters,” ABCNews.go.com, March 10, 2011.

483 inked a deal: Ambassador James Swan, “Djibouti Approves Blackwater for Commercial Counter-Piracy Operations.” Details of the arrangement and the ship come from the cable.

484 “likely oil reserves”: “Somalia,” CIA World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html.

484 counterpiracy/counterterrorism force: Associated Press, “One-Thousand-Man Militia Being Trained in North Somalia,” USA Today, December 1, 2010.

484 later be revealed: Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “Blackwater Founder Said to Back Mercenaries,” New York Times, January 20, 2011.

484 Executive Outcomes: Ibid.

484 offices and shell companies: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 274.

484 Civil Cooperation Bureau: Desmond Tutu, Alex Boraine, Mary Burton, Bongani Finca, Sisi Khampepe, Richard Lister, Wynand Malan, Khoza Mgojo, Hlengiwe Mkhize, Dumisa Ntsebeza, Wendy Orr, Fazel Randera, Yasmin Sooka, and Glenda Wildschut, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, vol. 2, October 29, 1998, pp. 138–139. Lafras Luitingh is described by the commission as a “core member” of the CCB who held the position of “administrative or production manager” on its management board.

484 “seed money”: Ibid.

484 officials from Abu Dhabi: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 274.

484 also hired: Associated Press, “One-Thousand-Man Militia Being Trained in North Somalia.”

484 1,000-member counterpiracy force: Ibid.

484 “You cannot have oil exploration”: Ibid.

484 well under way: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.” The following details of Saracen’s work in Somalia are found pp. 53, 276–279, and 281–282.

485 traveled to Mogadishu: Ibid., p. 275.

485 at least five other private companies: Mohamed Ibrahim and Jeffrey Gettleman, “Parliament Takes on Contractors in Somalia,” New York Times, December 30, 2010.

485 “unknown armed groups”: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 275.

485 demanding the suspension: Ibrahim and Gettleman, “Parliament Takes on Contractors in Somalia.”

485 “opaque web of affiliated entities”: Matt Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea pursuant to Security Council resolution 1926 (2010),” p. 53.

485 “increased tension”: Ibid., p. 282.

485 overcome the scourge of piracy: Katherine Houreld (AP), “Blackwater Founder Secretly Backing Somali Militia,” Salon.com, January 20, 2011.

485 “anything to do with Blackwater”: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Somalia Is Likely to Cut Ties to Mercenaries, Official Says,” New York Times, January 23, 2011.

485 negotiations around the Saracen deal: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 275.

485 suspending Saracen’s operations: Ibid., p. 273.

485 discreetly operating: Author interview, senior Somali official, June 2011.

485 other private security companies: Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 256.

486 “American footprint”: Gettleman, Mazzetti, and Schmitt, “U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict.”

54: “Total Savagery Throughout the Country”

487 $5 million bounty: Malkhadir M. Muhumed and Jason Straziuso (AP), “Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Alleged U.S. Embassy Bomber, Dead: Somali Government,” Huffington Post, June 11, 2011.

487 “We shall redouble our struggle”: Abdi Sheikh, “Somalia’s al Shabaab Vows to Avenge bin Laden,” Reuters, May 7, 2011.

487 “He was criticizing them”: Author interview, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to the “Somali source” come from the author’s interview.

487 finding it increasingly difficult: Author interview, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

488 increased the size of its forces: Abdi Sheikh, “Burundi Sends 1,000 Extra AU Troops to Somalia,” Reuters, March 12, 2011.

488 pushing into al Shabab territory: Agence France-Presse, “Amisom Pinning Back Rebels in Mogadishu,” News24.com, April 7, 2011.

488 new technology: Associated Press, “Pentagon Sends Drones, Anti-Terror Equipment to Counterterror Forces Dealing with Somalia,” FoxNews.com, June 26, 2011.

488 South African passport: Malkhadir M. Muhumed (AP), “Young Somali Soldier: I Killed Top al-Qaida Operative,” NBCnews.com, June 14, 2011.

488 high on khat: Mohamed Odowa, “Fazul’s Last Moments; Soldiers Tell of Shootout That Killed Al-Qaeda Commander,” SomaliaReport.com, June 16, 2011.

489 refused to comply with instructions: Author interviews, Somali militia members at the scene, June 2011, and a senior Somali intelligence official, June 2011.

489 they discovered: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Somalis Kill Mastermind of Two U.S. Embassy Bombings,” New York Times, June 11, 2011.

489 promptly looted the car: Author interview, Somali intelligence official, June 2011.

489 “There was a lot of English and Arabic stuff”: Ibid. All information and statements attributed the Somali intelligence official come from the author’s interview.

489 The men’s bodies were taken: Details of what happened after the raid are from the author’s interview with the Somali intelligence official.

489 “significant blow to Al Qaeda”: Secretary Clinton’s statement to the press, “Death of Harun Fazul,” June 11, 2011, www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/06/165942.htm.

489 “to take over as much land as possible”: Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to Aynte come from the author’s interview.

490 United States carried out a strike: Malkhadir M. Muhumed (AP), “Somalia Says US Forces Snatch Militants Hit in Drone Strike,” Boston.com, July 2, 2011.

490 three more US strikes: Aweys Cadde, “Airstrikes Hit Lower Juba…Again,” SomaliaReport.com, July 6, 2011.

490 “Both at the same time”: Author interview, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, June 2011.

490 “We will continue to pummel”: John Brennan, “Ensuring al-Qa’ida’s Demise,” prepared remarks for delivery at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, DC, June 29, 2011.

490 extreme toll on Somali civilians: Daniel Maxwell and Merry Fitzpatrick, “The 2011 Somalia Famine: Context, Causes, and Complications,” Global Food Security 1 (1) (December 2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2012.07.002.

490 flocking to the violence-rocked capital: Jane Ferguson and Moni Basu, “Amid Famine, Somalis Flock Back to the War-Torn City They Fled,” CNN.com, July 22, 2011.

490 30,000 refugees had arrived: Lauren Sutherland, “Inside Kenya’s Overflowing Refugee Camps,” Nation, August 15, 2011.

490 lost its ability to collect taxes: Dr. Afyare Abdu Elmi and Abdi Aynte, “Somalia: The Case for Negotiating with al-Shabaab,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, January 16, 2012, http://studies.aljazeera.net/ResourceGallery/media/Documents/2012/2/16/2012216134314443734Somalia_The%20Case%20for%20Negotiating%20with%20al-Shabab.pdf.

490 monsoon season hit: Associated Press, “Taxes Hastened Somalia’s Famine, Militant Retreat,” FoxNews.com, October 1, 2011.

491 well-organized retreat: Jeffrey Gettleman and Mohammed Ibrahim, “Shabab Concede Control of Capital to Somalia Government,” New York Times, August 6, 2011.

491 evening of attacks: Mohamed Ahmed and Ibrahim Mohamed, “Somali Government Declares Islamist Rebellion Defeated,” Reuters, August 6, 2011.

491 “completely vacated Mogadishu”: Gettleman and Ibrahim, “Shabab Concede Control of Capital to Somalia Government.”

491 “We shall fight the enemy wherever they are”: “Somalia’s al-Shabab Rebels Leave Mogadishu,” BBC.co.uk, August 6, 2011.

491 “harvest the fruits of peace”: Jeffrey Fleishman and Lutfi Sheriff Mohammed, “Somali Shabab Militants Retreat from Mogadishu,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2011.

491 90 percent of the city: Abdi Sheikh Mohamed Ahmed, “Fighting Erupts in Somali Capital After Rebels Say Leaving,” Reuters, August 7, 2011.

491 20,000 troops: “World Must Aid Somalia at Historic Juncture on Its Road to Stability—UN Envoy,” UN News Centre, August 10, 2011.

491 “Al-Qaeda’s elements in East Africa”: Michael G. Vickers, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, “The Evolution of Al-Qaeda and Associated Movements,” prepared remarks for delivery at a National Defense University symposium, September 13–14, 2011, www.ndu.edu/inss/docuploaded/VICKERS.pdf.

491 fifteen-ton truck: Mohamed Ibrahim and Jeffrey Gettleman, “Truck Bomb Kills Dozens in Somalia’s Capital,” New York Times, October 4, 2011.

491 “This is the biggest attack”: Clar Ni Chonghaile, “Mogadishu Truck Bomb: al-Shabaab Insurgents Claim Responsibility,” Guardian, October 4, 2011.

492 launched an offensive: Jeffrey Gettleman, “African Union Force Makes Strides Inside Somalia,” New York Times, November 24, 2011.

492 “Battle of Daynile”: “The Burundian Bloodbath: Battle of Dayniile,” video, 32:28, propaganda video from al Shabab’s Al-Kata’ib Media Foundation, released November 12, 2011, posted on Vimeo by “Saadaal Wacan,” November 12, 2011, http://vimeo.com/32059413. The author relies on the video for details of Shabab’s treatment of the slain soldiers, and for the statement from Sheik Rage.

492 “Claims of al-Shabab’s imminent collapse”: Christopher Anzalone, “Al-Shabab’s Setbacks in Somalia,” CTC Sentinel 4 (10) (October 2011).

493 series of meetings: Ibid.

493 “To our beloved brothers and sisters”: Jamal Osman, “Al-Qaida Targets Somalia Drought Victims with Cash Handouts,” Guardian, November 1, 2011.

493 “Whoever thinks today”: “Speech of Mujahid Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Al-Zubeyr About the Death of Qaddafi and the Historical Battle of Dayniile,” translation and transcription of speech delivered by Mukhtar Abu al-Zubeyr (aka Ahmed Abdi Godane), posted on the Ansar al-Mujahideen forum on November 17, 2011, www.ansar1.info/show-thread.php?t=36981.

494 “They are not fighting for a cause”: Author interview, Mohamed Ahmed Nur, June 2011.

494 “If you use the drone”: Author interview, Ismail Mahmoud Hurre, June 2011.

494 new drone base in Ethiopia: Craig Whitlock, “U.S. Drone Base in Ethiopia Is Operational,” Washington Post, October 27, 2011.

55: Abdulrahman Vanishes

495 “always thought that it is best”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All statements and information attributed to Nasser al Awlaki come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

495 one of the closest people to my heart: Author interview, Abir al Awlaki, September 2012.

496 “Ibn al Shaykh”: Facebook page of Abdulrahman al Awlaki, screenshot downloaded by author.

496 loved hip-hop music: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, August 2012. The following details about Abdulrahman come from the author’s interviews with family members.

496 Abdulrahman woke up: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. Details about Abdulrahman’s departure come from the author’s interview with Awlaki, unless otherwise noted.

496 had turned sixteen: Author copy of Abdulrahman al Awlaki’s birth certificate.

496 “I am sorry for leaving”: This description of Abdulrahman’s note is based on the recollections of family members.

496 “find his father through him”: Author interview, Saleha al Awlaki, September 2012.

56: Hellfire

498 “The CIA has become more militarized”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012. All information and statements attributed to Philip Giraldi are from the author’s interview.

498 “a mini-Special Operations Command”: Author interview, State Department liaison, November 2012.

498 “be a major player”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, November 2012.

498 interrogation sessions with Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame: Daniel Klaidman, Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 263.

499 small house in Khashef: David S. Cloud, Jeffrey Fleishman, and Brian Bennett, “U.S. Drone Strike in Yemen Kills U.S.-Born Al Qaeda Figure Awlaki,” Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2011.

499 kingdom’s payroll: Mark Mazzetti, Eric Schmitt, and Robert F. Worth, “C.I.A. Strike Kills U.S.-Born Militant in a Car in Yemen,” New York Times, October 1, 2011.

499 seeing drones hovering: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Anwar al-Aulaqi, US-Born Cleric Linked to al-Qaeda, Killed in Yemen,” Washington Post, October 1, 2011.

499 took operational control: Greg Miller, “Strike on Aulaqi Demonstrates Collaboration Between CIA and Military,” Washington Post, September 30, 2011.

499 Operation Troy: “U.S. Officials Warn of Possible Retaliation After al Qaeda Cleric Is Killed,” CNN.com, September 30, 2011.

499 arrived in Ataq: Interview, Nasser al Awlaki, August 2012. All information and statements attributed to Nasser al Awlaki come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted. The details of Abdulrahman’s movements in Shabwah are based on the author’s interview.

499 “I called the family house”: Interview, Saleha al Awlaki, August 2012. All information and statements attributed to Abdulrahman’s grandmother, Saleha, are from the author’s interview.

499 “no qualms”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 264.

500 “Bring it to me and let me decide”: Ibid.

500 “collateral requirements”: Ibid.

500 stayed in the same house: Ibid.

500 finished their breakfast: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Awlaqi Hit Misses Al-Qaeda Bombmaker, Yemen Says,” Washington Post, September 30, 2011.

500 JSOC aircraft and ground forces: David Martin, “Al-Awlaki Strike Plan Included Jets, Special Ops,” CBSNews.com, September 30, 2011.

500 “eleven missiles missed”: Shaykh Harith al Nadari, “My Story with al-Awlaki,” Inspire 9 (winter 2012), released May 2012.

500 “Anwar Awlaki has been killed”: “Anwar al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen,” AlJazeera.com, September 30, 2011.

500 9:55 a.m. local time: “U.S. Officials Warn of Possible Retaliation After al Qaeda Cleric Is Killed.”

500 jambiya dagger: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

501 “Earlier this morning”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President at the ‘Change of Office’ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ceremony,” Fort Myer, VA, September 30, 2011.

501 doubted the official reports: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, April 2012.

502 “when I opened the computer”: Author interview, Sarah Khan, April 2012. All information and statements attributed to Sarah Khan are from the author’s interview.

502 FBI had told his family: Author interview, Sarah Khan, April 2012.

502 “It has been stated in the media”: Tim Funk, “Family of al Qaida Blogger Samir Khan ‘Appalled’ by U.S. Actions,” Charlotte Observer, October 6, 2011.

502 “collateral damage”: Klaidman, Kill or Capture, p. 264.

502 “It was a twofer”: David S. Cloud, Jeffrey Fleishman, and Brian Bennett (Tribune), “U.S. Drones Kill Influential Al-Qaida Operative in Yemen,” Spokesman Review, October 1, 2011.

503 “This is an extraordinary victory”: Tim Mak, “Peter King Praises Obama for al-Awlaki Killing,” Politico, September 30, 2011.

503 “significant and imminent threat”: Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Saxby Chambliss, “Feinstein, Chambliss Release Statement on Death of al-Awlaki,” press release from Senator Feinstein’s website, September 30, 2011, www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=08023496-6f2d-4600-af42-ec-642488cea9.

503 “like Osama bin Laden”: Transcript, “Remarks at the Kumpris Distinguished Lecture Series,” Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, AR, September 30, 2011.

503 “I’m glad they did it”: Craig Whitlock, “U.S. Airstrike That Killed American Teen in Yemen Raises Legal, Ethical Questions,” Washington Post, October 22, 2011.

503 “I do think this was a good strike”: Transcript, State of the Union with Candy Crowley, CNN, October 2, 2011.

503 “This individual was clearly a terrorist”: Michael Martinez, “U.S. Drone Killing of American al-Awlaki Prompts Legal, Moral Debate,” CNN.com, September 30, 2011.

503 “Another al Qaeda Bites the Dust”: Front page of the New York Post, October 1, 2011, retrieved from Nexis.

503 “Remote-Control Really Hits the Splat”: Chuck Bennett, “Remote-Control Really Hits the Splat,” New York Post, October 1, 2003.

503 “One Less Terror Big”: Joseph Straw, Aliyah Shahid, and Larry McShane, “One Less Terror Big: Al Qaeda Loses Leader in Attack,” Daily News (New York), October 1, 2011.

503 “Awlaki was born here”: Martinez, “U.S. Drone Killing of American al-Awlaki Prompts Legal, Moral Debate.”

504 “crossed a dangerous divide”: Representative Dennis Kucinich, “Kucinich on the Extrajudicial Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki: Wrong Legally, Constitutionally and Morally,” press release from Representative Kucinich’s website, September 30, 2011, http://kucinich.house.gov/news/documents-ingle.aspx?DocumentID=262506.

504 “After several unsuccessful efforts”: Glenn Greenwald, “The Due-Process-Free Assassination of U.S. Citizens Is Now Reality,” Salon.com, September 30, 2011.

504 “Remember that there was great controversy”: Transcript, “With Death of Anwar al-Awlaki, Has U.S. Launched New Era of Killing U.S. Citizens Without Charge?” Democracy Now! September 30, 2011.

504 “there isn’t a government on the planet”: Doyle McManus, “Who Reviews the U.S. ‘Kill List’?” Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2012.

505 “There’s a process”: Brian Witte (AP), “Rep. Ruppersberger Discusses al-Awlaki Death,” FederalNewsRadio.com, September 30, 2011.

505 “It’s important for the American people to know”: Author interview, Senator Ron Wyden, March 2012.

57: Paying for the Sins of the Father

507 encouraged him to get out with his cousins: Author interviews, Awlaki family members, January and August 2012. Details of Abdulrahman’s activities on the night of October 14 are from the author’s interviews, unless otherwise noted.

507 seventeen-year-old cousin, Ahmed: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

507 “Some of our relatives went”: Ibid.

507 “military-aged”: Hamza Hendawi (AP), “Yemen: Abdul-Rahman Al-Awlaki, Anwar Al-Awlaki’s Son, Among Al Qaeda Militants Killed in U.S. Drone Strike,” Huffington Post, October 15, 2011.

507 while meeting with Ibrahim al Banna: Ibid.

507 “To kill a teenager is just unbelievable”: Peter Finn and Greg Miller, “Anwar al-Awlaki’s Family Speaks Out Against His Son’s Death in Airstrike,” Washington Post, October 17, 2011.

507 “When he was killed by the US government”: Author interview with Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012. All information and statements attributed to Nasser al Awlaki are from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.

508 “We have seen press reports”: Finn and Miller, “Anwar al-Awlaki’s Family Speaks Out.”

508 “We watched with surprise and condemnation”: Statement released by the Awlaki family, October 2011, available at http://upstatedroneaction.org/word-press/2011/11/23/a-family-mourns/.

508 “People flocked to our house”: Author interview, Abir al Awlaki, August 2012.

509 “I look around the house”: Author interview, Saleha al Awlaki, September 2012.

509 JSOC strike: Greg Miller, “Under Obama, an Emerging Global Apparatus for Drone Killing,” Washington Post, December 27, 2011.

509 “the two kill lists don’t match”: Ibid.

509 was, in fact, still alive: Author interview with a JSOC official, January 2013.

509 closed briefing: Craig Whitlock, “U.S. Airstrike That Killed American Teen in Yemen Raises Legal, Ethical Questions,” Washington Post, October 22, 2011.

509 “These lies and allegations”: Agence France-Presse, “Yemen’s Al-Qaeda Denies Death of Its Media Chief,” October 30, 2011.

510 “I do know this”: Transcript, State of the Union with Candy Crowley, CNN, March 11, 2012.

510 “I’m convinced”: Representative Peter King, interview by Ryan Devereaux, March 2012.

510 “that’s the breaks”: “Romney Rep. Peter King: Presidential Kill List Totally Constitutional,” video, 1:53, Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change interviewing Representative King at an event for the October 22, 2012, presidential debate, WeAreChange.org, October 23, 2012.

510 “you should have a far more responsible father”: “Obama Top Adviser Robert Gibbs Justifies Murder of Sixteen Year Old American Citizen,” YouTube video, 3:26, Sierra Adamson of We Are Change interviewing Robert Gibbs at an event for the October 22, 2012, presidential debate, posted by “wearechange,” October 23, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embed-ded&v=7MwB2znBZ1g.

510 “It is up to the US government to be sure”: Author interview, Nasser al Awlaki, January 2012.

511 “an outrageous mistake”: Karen DeYoung, “A CIA Veteran Transforms U.S. Counterterrorism Policy,” Washington Post, October 24, 2012.

Epilogue

513 “A decade of war”: Transcript, “Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama,” January 21, 2013.

513 US drone strike: Reuters, “U.S. Drone Strike Kills Four in Yemen: Sources,” January 21, 2013.

513 more people had been killed: According to available estimates, in 2012 drone strikes killed at least 246 people in Pakistan, and at least 185 people in Yemen. In Somalia, there were only two confirmed strikes—although operations in Somalia are especially likely to go underreported—killing at least a dozen people. See Chris Woods, Jack Serle, and Alice K. Ross, “Emerging from the Shadows: US Covert Drone Strikes in 2012,” Bureau of Investigative Journalism, January 3, 2013. As of November 2012, there were 166 people in detention at Guantánamo Bay; see Associated Press, “Report Shows U.S. Jails Could House Guantanamo Detainees,” CBSNews.com, November 2012.

513 systematizing the kill list: Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima, and Karen DeYoung, “CIA Drone Strikes Will Get Pass in Counterterrorism ‘Playbook,’ Officials Say,” Washington Post, January 19, 2013.

513 one hundred countries: Admiral William McRaven, Commander, US Special Operations Command, “Posture Statement,” prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee, March 6, 2012.

513 nomination was scuttled: Pamela Hess (AP), “Potential CIA Chief Cites Critics in Ending Bid,” Seattle Times, November 26, 2008.

514 “playbook”: Miller, Nakashima, and DeYoung, “CIA Drone Strikes Will Get Pass.”

514 “now so routine”: Greg Miller, “Plan for Hunting Terrorists Signals U.S. Intends to Keep Adding Names to Kill Lists,” Washington Post, October 23, 2012. The following details of Brennan’s role and the “Disposition Matrix” are from the Washington Post article.

514 “white paper”: Department of Justice white paper, “Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who Is a Senior Operational Leader of Al-Qa’ida or An Associated Force,” obtained by NBC News, released February 4, 2013, http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/020413_DOJ_White_Paper.pdf.

514 “chilling document”: Michael Isikoff, “Exclusive: Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Drone Strikes on Americans,” NBCNews.com, February 4, 2013.

515 “This power is going to be available”: Transcript, “Kill List Exposed: Leaked Obama Memo Shows Assassination of U.S. Citizens ‘Has No Geographic Limit,’” Democracy Now!, February 5, 2013.

515 “I don’t oppose all wars”: Barack Obama, “Transcript: Obama’s Speech Against the Iraq War,” October 2, 2002, transcript available via NPR.org, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99591469.

515 “Ask Osama bin Laden”: Jim Kuhnhenn (AP), “Obama Answers Appeasement Charge: ‘Ask Bin Laden,’” AP Online, December 8, 2011.

515 2012 poll: Scott Wilson and Jon Cohen, “Poll Finds Broad Support for Obama’s Counterterrorism Policies,” WashingtonPost.com, February 8, 2012.

516 “I want to make sure that people understand”: “Obama Addresses Drone Strikes During ‘Hangout,’” YouTube video, 4:04, Obama response to question during Google+ video forum on January 30, 2012, posted by “TheDailyConversation,” January 30, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rPMPMqOjKY.

516 “spinning the number of civilian casualties”: Michael J. Boyle, “The Costs and Consequences of Drone Warfare,” International Affairs 89 (1) (2013).

517 “It’s very important for the president”: Transcript, “Debate Night in America,” CNN, October 22, 2012.

517 “represents a betrayal”: Michael Boyle, “Obama’s Drone Wars and the Normalisation of Extrajudicial Murder,” op-ed, Guardian.co.uk, June 11, 2012.

517 ruled on the request: New York Times v. Department of Justice, and ACLU v. Department of Justice, 1:11-cv-09336-CM, “Corrected Opinion Granting the Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Denying Plaintiffs’ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment by Judge Colleen McMahon” (DCSNY January 3, 2013). The New York Times and the ACLU filed two distinct but similar suits in 2012 that were ultimately combined.

518 “winning or losing”: Donald Rumsfeld, memorandum for Gen. Richard Myers, Paul Wolfowitz, Gen. Peter Pace, and Douglas Feith, “Subject: The Global War on Terrorism,” October 16, 2003, published in full by USAToday.com, May 20, 2005.

519 “adverse strategic effects”: Boyle, “The Costs and Consequences of Drone Warfare.”

519 “there’s no country on Earth”: Transcript, “Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Shinawatra in a Joint Press Conference,” Government House, Bangkok, Thailand, November 18, 2012.

519 “If I had to summarize”: Jeh Charles Johnson, “The Conflict Against Al Qaeda and Its Affiliates: How Will It End?” speech at Oxford University, November 30, 2012, full text of remarks available via Lawfare (blog), www.lawfareblog.com/2012/11/jeh-johnson-speech-at-the-oxford-union/#_ftn1. All statements attributed to Jeh Johnson come from the speech.

519 “secondary parties to murder”: Ravi Somaiya, “Drone Strike Prompts Suit, Raising Fears for U.S. Allies,” New York Times, January 30, 2013.

519 UN commission: Owen Bowcott, “UN to Investigate Civilian Deaths from US Drone Strikes,” Guardian.co.uk, October 25, 2012.

520 “encouraging a new arms race”: Boyle, “The Costs and Consequences of Drone Warfare.”

520 “Western democracies”: Ben Emmerson, “Statement by UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights Concerning the Launch of an Inquiry into the Civilian Impact, and Human Rights Implications of the Use [of] Drones and Other Forms of Targeted Killing for the Purpose of Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency,” news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, January 1, 2012.

520 “We will defend our people”: Barack Obama, transcript, “Inaugural Address,” January 2013.