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CONTENTS

CoverTitlePageCopyrightDedicationEpigraphAuthor’sNoteonSourcesPrologue

PARTI

1941

ChapterOne:AnOfficeforUngentlemanlyWarfareChapterTwo:TertiaOptioChapterThree:SurpriseAttackinKoreaChapterFour:SpecialForcesChapterFive:RuinandRuleinGuatemalaChapterSix:Kings,Shahs,Monarchs,andMadmenChapterSeven:TheKGB’sOfficeofLiquidAffairsChapterEight:GreenLightChapterNine:TheSpecialGroup

PARTII

1961

ChapterTen:AnAssassinationCapabilityChapterEleven:JFK,KIAChapterTwelve:TheStudiesandObservationsGroupChapterThirteen:KillorCaptureChapterFourteen:GreenBeretsChapterFifteen:RevengeChapterSixteen:ColonelQaddafi’sLibya

PARTIII

1981

ChapterSeventeen:Reagan’sPreemptiveNeutralizationChapterEighteen:ParachuteAssassins,SaddamHussein,andOsamabinLadenChapterNineteen:OperationLoveStormChapterTwenty:CarlostheJackalChapterTwenty-One:TheEngineer

PARTIV

2001

ChapterTwenty-Two:WarinAfghanistanChapterTwenty-Three:PoketheBearChapterTwenty-Four:WarinIraqChapterTwenty-Five:ImadMugniyahChapterTwenty-Six:TheMoralTwilightZoneChapterTwenty-Seven:JustWarChapterTwenty-Eight:TheHiddenHand

EpiloguePhotosAcknowledgmentsDiscoverMoreAbouttheAuthorAlsobyAnnieJacobsenBibliographyNotes

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Iamtiredandsickofwar.Itsgloryisallmoonshine.Itisonlythosewho have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks andgroansofthewoundedwhocryaloudforblood,forvengeance,fordesolation.Warishell.

—GeneralWilliamTecumsehSherman(attributed,1863)

AUTHOR’SNOTEONSOURCES

This is a nonfiction book about complex individuals working in treacherousenvironmentspopulatedwithkillers,connivers,andsaboteurs.InreportingthisbookIsatforhundredsofhourswithsourceswhorecountedtomesituationsofsheerpandemoniumandchaosentwinedwiththehumanwilltosurviveandtheintellectualchallengeofnotgivinguphope.

Some interviews took place in sources’ homes, others in the anonymity ofroadsidediners.Oneinterviewtookplaceonhorsebackupinthemountains,anoff-the-grid location where that particular source felt comfortable speaking.Halfwayintoourouting,aswewereridingalongintheotherwisequietforest,we heard screaming—unmistakably a woman’s voice. A figure on horsebackrounded the bend, the terrified rider hanging on for dear life as her horsegalloped out of control, reins dangerously askew. My source, a CentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA)paramilitaryoperator,leaptoffhishorse,positionedhimself in thewide path, and deftly grabbed the reins of the thousand-poundanimal as it charged by. I knew he had a backgroundwith horses, but it wasextraordinarytowitnesshowquicklyandintuitivelyhebroughtadramaticandpotentiallydangeroussituationundercontrol.

“Thereyougo,ma’am,”mysourcesaidto thebreathlessrider,handingthereinsbacktoher.Heaskedifsheneededfurtherassistance,whichshedeclined.InthechaosoftheactionhisshirtcameuntuckedandInoticedhecarriedaSIGSauerP320semiautomaticpistolathisback,nearhisbuttocks.Hecheckeditforsafetyandclimbedbackonhishorse,andwerodeon.

Reporting a book about the shadowworld ofCIA covert-action operationsrequiresdetermining firstwhocanbe trustedand thenhow to fact-check theirstories.Covertactionis,byitsverynature,designedandorchestratedtoremainhiddenfrompublicscrutiny.Themajorityofthecovert-actionoperationsaroundtheworldthatIdescribewereorchestratedtobeplausiblydenied.Andyetforty-twomen andwomenwith firsthandknowledge of these events allowedme to

interviewthemforthisbook.Dozensofotherindividualswhoplayedancillaryrolesintheactionwerealsointerviewed.

Everyprimarysourcecametomebyreferral,whichishowI’vereportedandwritten four previous nonfiction books. To verify facts, I reviewed sources’military service records, exceptional performance awards, medals, passports(realandpseudonymous),identificationcards,journals,diaries,andmore.Howtofact-checksources’stories?TheCIAanditsintelligencecommunitypartnersguard their secrets through a complex array of codewords, cover stories, andoperational names.ThroughFreedomof InformationAct (FOIA) requests andpreexistingdeclassificationefforts,Iaccessedthousandsofpagesofdocumentsfrom the CIA, the Departments of Defense and State, and other governmententities,housed in theNationalArchivesandelsewhere,cited in thenotesandbibliography. And this book would not exist without the work of otherjournalists,scholars,andhistorianswhosebooks,monographs,papers,andnewsarticlesIhavedulycited.

Thoseinterviewedforthisbookservedthirteenpresidents(sevenDemocrats,sixRepublicans)fromFranklinRoosevelt toBarackObama.Theyinclude twosurvivingmembersof theOfficeofStrategicServices(OSS);eight individualswhoservedtheCIAattheSeniorIntelligenceService(SIS)level,equivalenttoanambassadorattheStateDepartmentorageneralattheDefenseDepartment;eleven chiefs of station from countries on five continents; numerous chiefs ofbasewhoserved insomeof theworld’smostdangerousoutposts, including inSudan, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan; nineteen operators from the SpecialActivities Division (SAD), Ground Branch; and an attorney at the CIA whowrotescoresofclassifiedPresidentialFindings, startingwith thoseon the Iranhostage crisis, and was uniquely helpful in clarifying Executive Office–leveldecisionmaking.Everyoperationreportedinthisbook,howevershocking,waslegal.Othersourcessharedinformationwithmeonbackground,toassistinmyunderstandingofthesubjectmatterbutwithoutdirectattributiontothem.

PROLOGUE

Somemightsaythisisabookaboutassassination,butreallyitisabookaboutcovert action,TertiaOptio, the president’s third option when the first option,diplomacy,isinadequateandthesecond,war,isaterribleidea.Allcovertactionisclassified,designedtobeplausiblydenied,andbecauseofthisitissometimescalled the president’s hidden hand. The most extreme of all hidden-handoperationsinvolveskillingaleaderorprominentperson,andthisbookfocusesonthatact.

Thepresident’sthirdoptionwasborninthewakeofWorldWarII,andthosewhocreated itdid so toavertWorldWar III.With itsethos inunconventionalwarfare, the Central Intelligence Agency officers and operators who conductcovertactionwereoriginallycalledthepresident’sguerrillawarfarecorps.

The same legal construct that allowed national-security advisors forPresidents Eisenhower and Kennedy to plot to kill foreign leaders like FidelCastro also allowed Presidents Bush and Obama to create a system in whichprominent people can be placed on a kill-or-capture list, to be targeted andkilled.Thisauthority remains ineffect today.Targetedkilling isnot limited tohigh-technology drone strikes. The president’s guerrilla warfare corps killsenemiesmanoamano,inclose-quarterscombatwhennecessary.Thegroupthathas theauthority toconduct these lethaloperationsoutsideawarzone,on theground, is the CIA’s Special Activities Division. One of its most lethalcomponentsiscalledGroundBranch.

TheoriginsoftheSpecialActivitiesDivision,includingitsGroundBranch,lie in the CIA’s precursor agency, the Office of Strategic Services, andspecificallyitsSpecialOperations(SO)Branch,aguerrillawarfarecorpswhosegoalwastokillNazis—tosabotageandsubvert theThirdReich.Themottoofoneunit,theOSSJedburghs,was“Surprise,Kill,Vanish.”

TheOSSwasmodeledafterawartimeBritishorganization,alsoclassified,

calledSpecialOperationsExecutive(SOE).Theideathatmostpeoplefindhand-to-hand killing repugnant but mechanized killing somehow more palatable iscentraltothisbook.

FromtheearlydaysoftheOSSSpecialOperationsBranchtothepresent-dayactivities of the CIA’s Ground Branch, the most ruthless and risky lethaloperationshaveevolvedandtransformed.Over thedecades,killinga leaderorprominentpersonundertherubricofcovertactionhasbeencalledmanythingsby those who plan and oversee operations but never assassination, becauseassassinationisillegal.KillingaleaderorprominentpersonatthebehestofthepresidentislegalunderTitle50oftheU.S.Code.

President Dwight Eisenhower’s advisors discussed “eliminating” foreignleaders, and they set up a Health Alteration Committee to “neutralize” or“disable” certain people. They spoke in riddles to uphold the construct ofplausibledeniability,Congresslaterfound.PresidentJohnF.Kennedy’sadvisorsformalizedkillingandcalled itExecutiveAction.ToPresidentRonaldReagantheconstructbecame“pre-emptiveneutralization”—eliminatingterroristsbeforethey had a chance to strike again. Under President GeorgeW. Bush the term“lethaldirectaction”wasused.UnderPresidentBarackObama,killingterroristsbecame known publicly as “targeted killing.” The question arises, how doeskillinganyonepersonadvanceU.S.foreignpolicyobjectives?Thisbookaimsto shine some lightonhowandwhycertain leaders andprominentpeoplearetargetedandkilled.

Intheearlydaysofcovertactiontherewasnooversight; inthemid-1970s,after the Church Committee hearings produced a report called “AllegedAssassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,” oversight was given toCongress,where it remains today.Covert-actionorders are formalizedbyCIAlawyersinaPresidentialFinding,orMemorandumofNotification(MON),tobesignedby thepresident. JohnA.Rizzo, formerchief legalofficer for theCIA,who served seven presidents andwrote scores of these covert-action findings,including theMemorandumofNotification that authorized lethal direct actionagainstterroristsasofSeptember17,2001,whichremainsineffecttoday,goesonrecordinthisbook.

WilliamD.Waugh,oneoftheoldestlongest-servingcovert-actionoperatorsin theUnitedStatesandahighlydecoratedU.S.ArmyGreenBeret,makesupthecoreof thisbook.His isanextraordinary lifespentdedicated toperfectingtheartofcovertaction.CovertactionisassignedtotheCIAinpeacetimebutrunjointlybytheDefenseDepartmentduringwar.

Because foreign governments, nonstate actors, and lone-wolf assassinsregularly try to kill America’s commander in chief, it is important to alsounderstandhowdeterrenceagainstassassinationistheothersideofthecovert-action coin. This part of the narrative is told through the lens of Lewis C.Merletti,thenineteenthdirectoroftheU.S.SecretServiceandaformermemberof theCounterAssault Team (CAT), the paramilitary force of theU.S. SecretService. LikeWaugh,Merletti’s unconventional-warfare expertise comes fromhiscombatexperiencesinVietnamasaGreenBeret.

I first started thinking about assassination in 2009, when I was working as areporterfortheLosAngelesTimesMagazine.Asourcevisitedmyhomeontheway back from theMiddle East.Heworked in counterterrorism; thatwas theextentofwhathecouldsayabouthisemploymentsituation.Iknewhimtobeanexpertweaponshandler;healmostalwaystraveledwithguncases.Andyetthecommemorative medallion he showed me from his most recent travels read:“AmericanEmbassy:Kabul,Afghanistan.”Nothinginhisareaofexpertisewasrelated to diplomacy, as far as I knew, butwe both understood itwas best toleaveitatthat.

My two sons were young at the time, and dozens of G.I. Joes—from theRevolutionaryWar era to the twenty-first century—filled ourCalifornia houseand yard. At the boys’ request, the source painstakingly identified G.I. Joes’uniqueweapons:Confederate rifleswithbayonets,M1Garands,AK-47s,M16rifles.Later,thesourceaskedifitwasokaytoshowmyboystworealfirearms,foreducationalpurposes.Hewasa licensedweaponssafety instructorandhadtwicetakenmeshooting.Isaidyes.

Watching carefully as he showedmy children a sidearm and a compactedsniper rifle, I noticed that there was one case he never opened. Later thatevening,Iaskedhimprivatelywhatwasinside.Heopenedit,revealingalargeserratedknife.

“What’sthatfor?”Iasked,almostimmediatelyrealizingmymistake.“Sometimesajobrequiresquiet,”hesaid.Heclosedthecase.Neitherofussaidanotherword.That was the moment I realized the obvious: the United States kills its

enemiesnotonlyinhigh-technologydronestrikesbutalsoatcloserange.Ilaterlearned fromanother source thatmyhouseguestworked for theCIA’sSpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch.

Thisencounterstayedwithme,asdidtheideaofclose-quarterskilling,and

my reaction to it. I could imaginemy houseguest killing anAl-Qaeda fighterusingasniperrifle,buttheideaofhimcuttingsomeone’sthroat,orthrustingitin a man’s ribs, gave me pause. Why? And why is all covert action secret,classified—designedforthepresidenttodenyandthepublictoneverknow?

MysourceneverspokeofhisworkintheMiddleEast,notbeforeheshowedme the knife and not after. It was understood that his work was classified.Hiddenprogramsarenotoriousplacestocoverupfailure, toconcealegregiousmistakes. Iwondered ifdispatchingparamilitaryoperatorsaround theworld toconductlethalcovert-actionoperationswasalltoooftenarecipefordisasteror,instead,mostlyaweaponizedstrength.

Is killing a person decreed by the president to be a threat toU.S. nationalsecurityrightorwrong?Moralorimmoral?Honorableordishonorable?Ifoundanswersinwritingthisbook.Ihopereadersfindtheirs.

PARTI

1941

CHAPTERONE

AnOfficeforUngentlemanlyWarfare

ItwasthefirstSundayinDecember1941,andtheboysellingpopcornbehindthe concession stand at the Strand Theatre in Bastrop, Texas, had just turnedtwelve.HisnamewasWilliamDawsonWaugh,buteveryonecalledhimBilly.

Shortlyafter2:00p.m.,SheriffEdCartwrightwalkedintothetheaterwithaterrible look on his face. He told Billy Waugh to run upstairs, have theprojectionistshutoffthefilm,andturnonthelights.Takingthestairstwoatatime,Waughdidas instructed.Fromhighabove in theprojectionist’sboothhewatched as the room full of moviegoers squinted and complained about themovie being interrupted. Then Sheriff Cartwright walked onto the stage andeveryonefellsilent.

“Listenup,”thesheriffsaid.“TheJapanesejustattackedPearlHarbor.”TheU.S.PacificFleetwasdestroyedandthousandsofAmericansweredead.Whatwould happen next was anyone’s guess, the sheriff said, but it would befoolhardy to rule out the possibility of another attack. Sheriff Cartwright toldeveryonetogohomeandcovertheirwindowswithblackoutmaterial.Listentotheradioandstayinformed.

Billy Waugh stayed behind, watching the moviegoers file out. After hefinishedcleaningup,hewenthometothehousewherehelivedwithhismother,Lillian, a part-time schoolteacher, and his older sister Nancy. The next day,CongressdeclaredwaronJapan.Threedaysafterthat,AdolfHitlerdeclaredwaron the United States, and Congress then declared war on Germany and Italy.WithAmericaatwararoundtheworld,BillyWaughmadeavowtohimself:onedayI’llgotowar,too.

ThedayPearlHarborwasbombedinasurpriseattackremainedimprintedon

his mind. By that time, 1941, BillyWaugh knew more about war than mosttwelve-year-oldboys.He’dbeenabsorbinginformationfromthenewsreelsthatplayed before StrandTheatre films.Hitler’s campaign,Blitzkrieg, or lightningwar,astoundedhim.Thisideaoftotalwar,ofall-outvictoryatanyhumancost,wasmind-bogglingandfrightening.

“It is not right that matters, but victory,” Hitler told his generals. “Actbrutally!…Beharshandremorseless…thesuccessofthebest[is]bymeansofforce…”

Ofall the tacticsandtechniquesbeingusedbytheNazis in the invasionofwesternEurope,itwastheboldnessoftheparatrooperunit(Fallschirmjäger)thatleft Billy Waugh thunderstruck. Newsreel films showed Nazi commandosleaping out of airplanes andparachuting into thewar theater to launch deadlysurprise attacks. Then there was the paraglider attack at the Belgian fortressEben Emael, once considered the most impenetrable fortress in the world.Seventy-eightNaziparatroopers,pilotingglidersandarmedwithflamethrowers,landed on the rooftop of the fortress, and overtook 650Belgian defenders—avictory from which the Belgian Army never recovered. One month after theNaziscapturedEbenEmael,theU.S.ArmycreateditsownparatrooperdivisioninFortBenning,Georgia,thefirstinAmericanhistory.

EverysparemomentBillyWaughhad,inbetweenschoolandthethreepart-time jobs he worked—as a paperboy, stock boy, and popcorn popper—hegathered information about theseU.S. paratroopers.Themost important itemsforasuccessfulparachute jump,he learned,were theboots.Theywere tall, tomid-shin,withrawhidelacesandstitchingacross thetoe.BillyWaughbecamefocusedonowningapairofhisown.Hisalcoholicfatherhaddiedofcirrhosisofthe liverwhenBillywas ten.Themoneyhe earned fromhis after-school jobswent to hismother, to help pay for the family’s living expenses.Now,with acleargoalinmind,hebeganskimmingnickelsanddimesoffhisearnings.Whenhefinallysavedupsevendollars,hehitchhikedthirtymilestoAustinandboughthimself a pair of paratrooper boots. Elated, he felt a step closer to one daybecomingaU.S.paratrooper.Theworldwasallright.

AcrosstheAtlantic,warragedinEurope.ItwasMay27,1942,andintheCzechtownofHolešovice theNazigeneral riding inanarmor-platedMercedes-Benzhad been targeted for assassination. SS-Obergruppenführer ReinhardHeydrichwasaJanus-likecreature:blond,blue-eyed,andbeautiful,hisskinsmoothandpale like thatofaporcelaindoll,buthewasalsoamonster,cruelandsadistic

beyondmeasure.Hisownboss,AdolfHitler,describedHeydrichasamanwithan iron heart. A secret unit insideBritish intelligence sought to kill him. TheassassinationplotwascalledOperationAnthropoid.

Concealed on a hillside not far from where Heydrich was driving hisMercedes,twoBritish-trainedassassinslayinwait.JanKubišandJosefGabčík,bothCzechnationalsintheirmidtwenties,weremembersofaclassifiedBritishcommando unit that existed inside the British Secret Intelligence Services,Section6—MI6.Onlyanelitefewwereawarethatthesecommandounitswerepart of an underground paramilitary army working under the bland-soundingcovernameSpecialOperationsExecutive.KubišandGabčíkhadbeenassignedto SOE’s Division D, for destruction, and their work was based onunconventional-warfaretactics,alsocalledguerrillawarfare.

The existenceofSOEwas a sourceof great controversywithin theBritishmilitary establishment. Most British generals believed war was first andforemost about chivalryandhonor.That itmustbe fought in adherence to thelawsofwar.Whilenosingledocumentcanbe identifiedas theancient sourcefromwhich the lawsofwarhaveevolved,modern-daycodesof conduct stemfrom the Lieber Code, a set of 157 rules written by lawyer and universityprofessor Francis Lieber during the American CivilWar. Issued on April 24,1863, by President Abraham Lincoln as General Orders No. 100, these rulesweretoserveasauniformcodeofconductgoverningthebehavioroftheUnionArmy, the Confederate Army, and the armies of Europe. They were laterexpandeduponinHagueConventionresolutionsof1899and1907.Rule148oftheLieberCodeexplicitlyprohibitedassassination.“Civilizednationslookwithhorroruponoffersof rewards for theassassinationofenemiesas relapses intobarbarism,” Lieber wrote. Guerrilla fighters were labeled “insidious” enemiesandthereforenotentitledtotheprotectionsoftheLawsofWar.

War, like sport,was tobeagentleman’sgame.Guerrillawarfarewasmostungentlemanly, based as it was on treacherous principles like sabotage andsubversion.SabotageduringWorldWarIImeantblowinguptrains,bridges,andproductionplantsbehindenemylines—situationsinwhichcivilianswouldlikelybe killed. Subversion, or undermining the authority of an occupying force,required a host of dirty tricks and deceptive acts, including assassination. ButPrimeMinisterWinstonChurchillbelievedthatSOEDivisionDwasnecessary,and he personally approved of every mission it undertook. Because guerrillawarfare in general, and SOE operations in particular, were consideredungentlemanly, the SOE became known as Churchill’s Ministry of

UngentlemanlyWarfare.CommandoslikeKubišandGabčíkweretrainedtoinfiltrateenemy-occupied

territory,performhit-and-runoperations,andthendisappear.Theshort-termgoalof their efforts was to create paranoia among Nazi officials and emboldenunderground resistance movements. The long-term goal of the SOE was topreparethebattlefieldforanupcomingAlliedinvasion.

In Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrichwasincharge.HewasalsooneofthemostinfluentialandpowerfulgeneralsinthevastNaziwarmachine.HeydrichreporteddirectlytoHeinrichHimmler,theambitious,sadisticReichsführerwhoseevilknewnobounds.HeydrichcreatedandsupervisedtheEinsatzgruppen,exterminationsquadswhose3,000membersshotandkilledmorethanonemillionmen,women,andchildrenduringthewar.He served as one of the main architects of the Final Solution and personallyinitiatedthedeportationandmassmurderofEuropeanJews.In1942,hewasatthetopofSOE’skilllist.

At SOE, the Heydrich assassination operation was handled jointly by twomen,MajorGeneralSirColinMcVeanGubbins,adecoratedWorldWarIheroand SOE’s director of operations, and FrantišekMoravec, the former chief ofCzechmilitaryintelligence, thenlivinginEnglandinexile.AswithmostSOEcommandos, Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík had been handpicked for bravery,cunning, and a willingness to ruthlessly kill. “The whole art of guerilla [sic]warfareliesinstrikingtheenemywhereheleastexpectsit,andyetwhereheismostvulnerable,”Gubbinsinstructedhismen.“Inflictthemaximumamountofdamageinashorttimeandgetaway.”

TheSOEconsideredassassinationanecessarydarkart,awaytoweakentheNazis’ impenetrableholdonpower.Asuccessfuloperation requiredmonthsofplanningbyGubbinsandMoravec,followedbymonthsofintensetrainingandrehearsing byKubiš andGabčík.Much of thework took place in a classifiedSOE facility in Scotland code-named Training Center STS 25. Here, theassassins trained in guerrilla warfare tactics including hand-to-hand combat,sharpshooting, cover and concealment, and the manufacture of homemadebombs.Theylearnedmapreadingandcodedeciphering.Howtoslit thethroatofasentryorguardwithoutmakingasound.Finallygiventhegreenlight,KubišandGabčíkwereflowninundercoverofdarknessbyaBritishpilotandacrewof five.They jumpedout of the aircraft over a village just east ofPrague andparachuted in behind enemy lines. Safely on the ground, the two commandosmet upwith resistance fighters who hid them from discovery until theywere

readytostrike.OnMay27,1942,themomentarrived.There, inNazi-occupiedHolešovice,Kubiš andGabčík laycamouflaged in

thegrass.They’darrivedtothetargetareaonbicycles,nowstashedinanearbygrove of trees. Each man had a pistol in his pocket. Gabčík carried a Stensubmachinegun.Kubišheldtheassassinationweapon:anantitankgrenadethathadbeenspeciallymodifiedbyBritishexplosivesexpertCecilClarke.Thesmallbomb needed to be powerful enough to shatter the armored plating onHeydrich’sMercedes,soastokillhim,butlightenoughtobeaccuratelythrownbyJanKubiš.

High on the hill above the assassins, a signal mirror flashed. Heydrich’sMercedeshadbeenspottedbyalocalCzechaccomplice,JosefValčik.Soonthecar would round the corner and approach where Kubiš and Gabčík wereconcealed.Theplanninghadbeenmeticulouslymappedout.Thegeographyofthe landwas such that atmid-hill, the road twisted in ahairpin turn,meaningHeydrich’s chauffeur would be forced to brake and slow down. Kubiš andGabčíkwouldhaveafive-secondwindowtokillReinhardHeydrichandflee.

Asthecarmadeitswaydownthehill,theassassinscouldseethatthetopofHeydrich’sMercedes 320ConvertibleBwas openwide.Opportunity at hand,Gabčík stood up, released the catch on his Sten submachine gun, and rushedtoward the sharpest point in the road’s curve. As the Mercedes braked anddecelerated,Gabčíktookaimandfired,bracinghimselfforapowerfulexplosionofgunfire.Instead,acatastrophicmisfire.Nothingbuttheimpotentclickoftheweaponasitfailedtofire.Gabčík,nowstandingthereintheroad,wasmortallyexposed.

Heydrich’s driver screeched to a full stop. SS-Oberscharführer JohannesKleinwas an imposingNazi chauffeur and bodyguard. Six foot three, hewastrained in the art of tactical military driving. Had he followed Third Reichprotocol,Kleinwouldhaveacceleratedandspedaway.ButHeydrichapparentlyorderedKlein tostop thecar.WithGabčíkstill standingnext to theMercedes,Heydrich pulled his Luger from its holster, stood up in the convertible, andbeganshootingatGabčík.WhatReinhardHeydrichfailedtorealizewasthatasecondSOE-trainedassassinwasnearby.

JanKubišmoved into action. Following protocols learned overmonths ofSOEcommando training,he stepped forwardandhurled the incendiarydeviceintoHeydrich’sMercedes. In thechaosof themoment,hemissed. Instead, thebombexplodedagainstthecar’srightrearfender,sendingglassandmetalshardsflyingthroughtheair.ReinhardHeydrichwashitbydebris.Notrealizinghe’d

beenwounded,Heydrich got out of the car and continued firing.Ditching hisfaultysubmachinegun,Gabčíkreturnedfirewithhispistol.Enraged,Heydrichlumbered towardhisassassinasGabčíksoughtcoverbehinda telephonepole.Asthesmokefromthecarbombcleared,Kubišemergedbleedingfromaheadwound.Onewitnessdescribedbloodpouringdownhis forehead intohis eyes.KleinexitedthecarandbeganfiringatKubiš.Improbably,thebodyguard’sgunalsojammed,affordingKubištimetoflee.

Gabčíkremainedpinneddownbehindthetelephonepole,engagedinalethalexchange of gunfire with Heydrich. But as Heydrich charged, still firing atGabčík,hesuddenlyanddramaticallycollapsedintheroad.Thedebrisfromthebombhadpenetratedhisskinandlodgedinhisorgans.AdolfHitler’spowerfuldeputylaystrickenonthepavement,unabletomove.

“Get that bastard!”Heydrich shouted atKlein, pointing in the direction ofGabčík as he fled. The chauffeur chased the assassins across a field, leavingHeydrichwrithinginpainontheroad.KubišandGabčíkescaped.

HeydrichwasrushedtonearbyBulovkaHospital,wherethreeoftheNazis’most senior doctors came to his aid. Theodor Morrell, Hitler’s personalphysician, Karl Brandt, Nazi health commissioner, and Karl Gebhardt, chiefsurgeonof theWaffen-SS, concluded thatHeydrich’s diaphragmwas torn andthat grenade fragments were embedded in his spine—not necessarily life-threateninginjuries.ButthethreephysiciansoverlookedthefactthattinybitsofhorsehairfromtheupholsteredseatsoftheMercedeshadlodgedintoHeydrich’sspleen.Justafewdayslater,onJune4,1942,themanwiththeironheartdiedfromsepticemia,orbloodpoisoning.

When Hitler learned of Heydrich’s assassination, he became enraged.Privately,heblamedReinhardHeydrichforhisowncarelessdeath.“Sinceitisopportunitywhichmakes not only the thief but also the assassin, such heroicgesturesasdriving inanopen,unarmoredvehicleorwalkingabout thestreetsunguardedarejustdamnedstupidity,whichservestheFatherlandnotonewhit,”HitlersaidonthedayHeydrichdied.“ThatamanasirreplaceableasHeydrichshouldexposehimselftounnecessarydanger,Icanonlycondemnasstupidandidiotic.”Publicly,Hitlerdemandedrevenge.Thattheassassinshadbeenabletoescape and go into hiding was an outrageous insult to the Third Reich. AtHeydrich’s funeral inBerlin,Hitlerorderedhisministers inPrague to find theassassins,orelse.

The reprisals were brutal, indiscriminate, and far-reaching. “The barbaricidea was to terrify the Czech people by completely destroying a village at

random,” said FrantišekMoravec, former chief of Czechmilitary intelligenceand the man who’d trained the assassins. Northeast of Prague, the GestapocordonedoffLidice,roundedupall173maleinhabitants,andexecutedtheminthevillagesquare.ThreehundredwomenandchildrenweresenttoRavensbrückconcentrationcampforextermination.Thehousesinthevillageweresetonfire,then bulldozed over so no trace remained. “The operation was executed withsuch thoroughness that even the personswho happened to be absent from thevillageonthenightofthedestructionweregraduallylocatedandexecuted,”saidMoravec.

A reward of one million reichsmarks was offered for information on theassassins’whereabouts.AlocalNazicollaboratornamedAloisKralrevealedthatJanKubišandJosefGabčíkwerehidinginthebasementofaRussianOrthodoxchurch in Prague. Nazi commandos stormed the church, and when theydetermined that Kubiš and Gabčík were located in the tunnels below, theyflooded the basement with water. Kubiš tried to fight his way out but wasmortally wounded. Gabčík, knowing he would soon be killed or captured,swallowed a cyanide pill given to him by the SOE. Both men’s bodies wererecoveredandburiedinamassgrave.

ThereprisalsdidnotendinLidice.Fivedayslater,NazisrazedLežákyafterashortwaveradiotransmissionwasfoundtohavebeensentfromthevillagetothe British. All thirty-three residents and their children were killed. Thefollowingweek,115peopleaccusedofbeingmembersof theCzechresistancewereexecuted.Heydrich’ssuccessor,SSGeneralKurtDaluege,boastedthatinretaliation for killing Reinhard Heydrich, 1,331 Czech citizens were executedand another 3,000 Jews exterminated.Was it worth it? Five thousand Czechs“paidwiththeirlivesforthedeathofasingleNazimaniac,”Moraveclamentedafterthewar.

In1945,aftertheGermanssurrendered,MoravecreturnedtoPraguetospeakwithAloisKral,imprisonedandawaitingtrialforNazicollaboration.

“Greetings, brother,”Kral said sarcastically toMoravecwhen the twomenmet.

“Brother?”askedMoravec,astonished.“I killed twoCzechs.You killed five thousand.Which of us hangs?”Kral

asked.ItwasKralwhowas hanged;GeneralMoravecwatched the execution.By

then,CzechoslovakiahadbecomepartoftheCommunistSovietbloc.Aftertheexecution, as Moravec walked away, he stopped to ask a question of a

communist functionary—aCzech national—aman familiarwith theHeydrichcase.

“Will you please tell me where Kubiš and Gabčík are buried?” Moravecasked.

“Nowhere,”cametheabruptanswer.“Therearenograves.Youfoot-kissersof the British are not going to have that excuse to build a statue and hangwreaths.CzechheroesareCommunists[now].”

Andsoitgoes.Warsarefought.Onesidewins,theothersideloses.Somegohome.Othersbecomecasualties.FreedfromNazirule,theCzechslivedunderacommunist-ledgovernmentthatansweredtoanothertyrant,JosefStalin.

Forthesecondtimeinadecade,FrantišekMoravecfledhiscountry,thistimeforAmerica.There,theformerheadofCzechmilitaryintelligencetookajobasanadvisortotheU.S.DepartmentofDefense,whereheworkeduntilsufferingaheart attack in1966.Hedied in theparking lot of thePentagon, seated in thefrontseatofhiscar.

To the SOE, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich was necessary andjustified.ThespectaclekillingofatopNazigeneralpokedholesinthearmorofthe Nazi war machine. To the general Czech population, it made the strongappear weak. Inside the Third Reich, the meticulously planned and executedassassinationoperationgaverisetofearandparanoiaamongotherNaziofficials.WhenWinston Churchill was briefed on Operation Anthropoid, he expressedapproval.WhenU.S.PresidentFranklinRooseveltaskedwhethertheBritishhadahandinHeydrich’sassassination,Churchillissaidtohavewinked.

InWashington,DC,aretiredWorldWarIgeneralandrecipientoftheMedalofHonornamedWilliamJ.DonovanhadbeentryingforyearstogetPresidentRoosevelt to authorize an unconventional-warfare organization modeled afterSOE.TwoweeksafterReinhardHeydrich’sassassination,Donovangothiswish.As per Executive Order 9182, the Office of Strategic Services was born, aclosely held secret at the time but now famously known as the wartimepredecessor of theCIA.Under the authority of the JointChiefs of Staff,OSSwouldwork in partnershipwithSOE.William J.Donovanwasmadedirector,andwithindaysofitscreation,recruitingforOSSwasinfullswing.

AtFortPolkinLouisiana,U.S.ArmyofficerAaronBank,40,wasrestlessandbored.IthadbeenseventeenmonthssincethesneakattackonPearlHarborandthe same amount of time sinceBank had requested troop assignment.Hewasburning toseecombat,but in theeyesof theU.S.Army,AaronBankwas too

old. And so instead, he’d been assigned to a railroad battalion, overseeingsoldiers lay tracks connecting Fort Polk toCampClaiborne, fiftymiles away.“Myspiritswerelowwithsuchunrewardingduties,”hetoldafriend.

One day in the spring of 1943, passing the adjutant’s tent, Bank spotted anotice on a bulletin board. The army was looking for volunteers. The noticeread:“Likelihoodofadangerousmissionguaranteed.”KnowledgeofFrenchoranotherEuropeanlanguagewastheonlyrequirement,butvolunteerswouldneedtoqualifyasparatroopers.

“Mypulsequickened,”Banklaterrecalled,“arayofhopeappeared.”FluentinFrenchandeagertojumpoutofairplanes,Banksignedup.Afewdayslater,he received orders. He was to report to the Q Building in Washington, DC,wearingcivilianclothes.AaronBankdidnotyetknowit,buthe’dbeenassignedtotheOSS,toitsSpecialOperationsBranch,theAmericanequivalentofSOE’sDivision D. The mandate of the Special Operations Branch was to “effectphysicalsubversionoftheenemy,”inthreedistinctphases:infiltrate,preparethebattlefield, and conduct sabotage and subversion. Bank was assigned to theFrenchOperationalGroupforOperationJedburgh.

InitialtrainingtookplaceatasecretfacilityinPrinceWilliamForestPark,inVirginia,thatwentbythecodenameAreaB.Volunteerslearnedrightawaythekindsofcommandooperationstheywerebeingpreparedfor.“Eitheryoukillorcapture, or you will be killed or captured,” the Jedburghs were told, aninstructionthatwasemphasizedbytheFairbairn-SykesOSSstilettoknifeissuedtomembers.Thisdouble-edgedweapon,designedexclusivelyforsurpriseattackand killing, resembled a dagger. Its foil grip and slender blademade for easypenetrationintoaman’sribcage.HowbesttousethenowlegendaryFairbairn-Sykes stiletto inhand-to-handcombatwas taught to the JedburghsbyLt.Col.William E. Fairbairn, one of the knife’s designers. “In close-quarters fightingthereisnomoredeadlyweaponthantheknife.Anentirelyunarmedmanhasnocertaindefenseagainstit,”Fairbairnexplained.OfFairbairn’straining,ayoungrecruitnamedRichardHelmshadthistosay:“Withinfifteenseconds,Icametorealize thatmyprivatepartswere inconstant jeopardy.”HelmswouldonedayserveastheeighthdirectorofCentralIntelligence.

Inadditiontotheartofknifefighting,Jedburghslearnedpistolshootingandgrenadethrowing.Howtokillamanwithapenciltothethroat,howtogarrotean enemy with piano wire. In evade-and-escape training they practiced ropeclimbing and map reading, how to cross a raging river and scale a cliff. Tomaster the art of sabotage, the Jedburghs learned to constructbombspowerful

enough to blow up bridges, canal locks, and industrial plants. To infiltrateterritorylacedwithlandmines,theypracticedonanobstaclecourselacedwithsmallexplosivechargesandcalledDemolitionTrail.Traineesweretoldtokeeptheir heads down and stay low. The only injury recorded was sustained by ayoungofficerwhobrokehisjawandlostseveralteethinasmallexplosion.Theinjured commando, William J. Casey, would one day serve as the sixteenthdirectorofCentralIntelligence,underPresidentRonaldReagan.

TheOSS trained its agents towork fromamind-set thatwasdiametricallyopposed to U.S. Army doctrine at the time. Conventional warfare was baseduponfrontalassaultagainstanenemy’smainlineofresistance.Oncolossaltankbattles, combined with air power, and army ground force assault. Guerrillawarfare—also called unconventional warfare and irregular warfare—was theopposite. Close-quarters combat and throat slitting were par for the course.Whereas infantry soldiers followed strict orders within a chain of command,Jedburghswere trained in the art of self-reliance. Theywere volunteering formysterious,oftensoloassignmentsinvolvingimprovisationontheground.OSSchief William Donovan believed in the necessity of guerrilla warfare, asentimentheconveyedtoPresidentRoosevelt,inaletterhousedattheNationalArchives.“Myobservationisthatthemorethebattlemachinesareperfected,thegreater the need in modern warfare of men calculatingly reckless withdisciplineddaring,whoaretrainedforaggressiveaction,”Donovansaid.“Itwillmeanareturntoouroldtraditionofthescouts,theraiders,andtherangers,”heinsisted in a reference to the unconventional-warfare tactics used during theAmericanRevolution.

To understand and embrace OSS-style guerrilla warfare was to rejectpreconceivednotionsofhonor,chivalry,andfairplayasthegentleman’swayofwar.“WhatIwantyoutodoisgetthedirtiest,bloodiest,ideasinyourheadthatyou can think of for destroying a human being,” SOE’s founder, GeneralGubbins,educatedtheJedburghs.“ThefightingI’mgoingtoshowyouisnotasport.It’severytime,andalways,fighttothedeath.”

Aftersixweeks,AaronBankandfifty-fiveAmericanJedburghsweresenttoEngland formore advanced training, this timewith their British, French, andBelgiancounterparts.On theScottish shoresofLochnanCeall, at aVictorianlodgecalledArisaigHouse,theJedburghslearnedhowtooperateunderextremeduress, how to stay awake for days on end, hike one hundred miles, raid abuilding,seizeasmalltown.Finally,inalastphaseoftraining,themultinationalJedburgh teamswere sent to amanor house in Cambridgeshire calledMilton

Hall.OneofthelargestprivatehomesinEngland,themanorhadbeendonatedto thecausebyLordandLadyFitzwilliam.OilportraitsofFitzwilliamfamilyancestorsdatingbackto1594hungonthewalls.Inthemassivesunkengardens,theJedburghspracticedmartialarts.Intheconverteddairybarnstheylearnedtodecode cipher, feigndeafness, use sign language, and transmitMorse code. Inthemanor’sgrandlibrarytheywatchedNazipropagandafilms,awaytobecomefamiliarwithhowtheenemymoved,spoke,anddressed.MiltonHallservedasakindoffinishingschoolforcommandos,oneofthelaststopsbeforeembarkingondangerousmissionsthatmanywouldnotsurvive.JanKubišandJosefGabčíktrainedatMiltonHallshortlybeforeleavingontheirmissiontokillHeydrich.

The final phase of Jedburgh training involved parachuting infiltrationtechniques,taughtinAltrincham,Manchester,atafacilitycode-namedSTS-51.Thisthree-dayeducationalcourseincludedthreeliveparachutejumps.Thefirst,indaylight,wasoutofaballoonflying700feetofftheground.Thesecondwasoutofanairplaneflyingatanaltitudeofroughly500feet.Thethirdservedasadry run for insertion behind enemy lines; in the dead of night, commandosjumpedoutofaplaneflyingatroughly1,500feet.

OnJune5,1944,theeveoftheNormandyinvasion,thefirstJedburghteam,code-namedTeamHugh,parachutedintoNazi-occupiedFrancewithinstructionsfrom Prime Minister Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze.” Ninety-twoJedburghteamswouldfollow,includingoneledbyAaronBank,nowadvancedtochiefofguerrillaoperationsinFrance.ThemissionoftheseJedburghteamswastoblowupinfrastructure,killNazis,anddisappearwithoutatrace.InthiswaytheofficialmottooftheJedburghsbecame“Surprise,Kill,Vanish.”

InTexas,BillyWaugh learnedabout theNormandy invasion from the radioathis grandmother’s house. Winnie Waugh lived directly across the street, andwheneverBillyhadthechance,helistenedtoprogramslikeGILiveandThisIsOurEnemy.OntheafternoonofJune6,1944,NBCRadioannouncedtheD-Dayinvasion ofNazi-occupiedFrance.Then came the newsreels of theNormandyinvasion.ThemostamazingfootagewasoffifteenhundredairplanesdroppingthousandsofAmericanparatroopers intoFrance, their silk canopies filling theskies likeballoons.ToBilly, theseoperationsweremythic,andwhenheheardthat recruiting stations in Los Angeles, California, allowed boys of fifteen topass forolderand join thewar,hedecided to runawayandbecomeacombatsoldier.

BillyWaughpackedabagandhittheroad,hitchhikingwestoutofBastrop.

Hemadeit650miles,toLasCruces,NewMexico,wherehewasstoppedalongHighway80byapoliceofficer.Whenhefailedtoproduceidentification,hewasarrestedfortruancyandputinjail.Thepolicesaidthey’dreleasehimonlyifhecouldproduceenoughmoneytobuyabusticketbackhome.Withnochoicebuttocallhismother,BillyWaughpickedupthephone.Hismotheragreedtowirehimbusfareifhepromisedtofinishhighschool.Billykepthisword.Thiswarwould endwithout him, but hewas now determined to become aU.S.Armyparatrooperfirstthingafterhighschool.

In Europe, as part of a plan called Operation Foxley, the British SpecialOperationsExecutive conceived ofways to assassinateAdolfHitler.One plotcalledforasnipertoshootHitlerduringhismorningwalkaroundtheBerghof,his residence in theBavarianAlps, using aMauserKar 98kwith a telescopicsight.AnotherplaninvolvedsendingasinglecommandointoNaziGermanytopoisonHitler’sfoodwithanunidentifiedtoxin,code-named“I.”Inathirdplot,commandoswouldattacha suitcase fullof explosivesunder theFührer’s traincar. But the laws of war forbade assassination, and many British generalsworried that such a high-profile assassination could open the door to a warcrimestrial.

Noteveryoneagreed.Onthepro-assassinationsidewasAirViceMarshalA.P. Ritchie, who told colleagues that the German people viewed Hitler as“something more than human.” To Ritchie, it was “this mystical hold which[Hitler]exercisesovertheGermanpeoplethatislargelyresponsibleforkeepingthecountry togetherat thepresent time.” Inabidforassassination,heargued,“Remove Hitler and there is nothing left.” But Vice Marshal Ritchie was aminority voice. Decades earlier, in 1907, forty-four nations had met at TheHaguetoformalizethelawsofwarashadbeenoriginallywrittenintheLieberCode. In Laws and Customs ofWar on Land (Hague, IV), assassination wasfurtherdefinedtoincludeanyformof“treacherouskilling.”Wartimekillinghadsharpdistinctions,theauthorswrote,citingbyexampletwocontradictorywaystokill ageneralorking—oneconsidereda treacherouswar crime, theother alawfulkilling.Asoldierisforbiddentosneakintothetentofageneralorkingdisguised as, say, a peddler. But if that soldier is in uniform, and is part of asmall attacking force, thenhe is allowedandencouraged tokill thegeneralortheking.Onesoldierisa“vileassassin,”theother“abraveanddevotedsoldier,”according to theHagueConvention.Thereasonfor thedistinction, theauthorswrote,wastodiminishthe“evilsofwar.”

Andso—despitehowarbitrarythisandotherprohibitionsseemedtosome—theBritishSOE’splanstoassassinateHitlerwerescrapped.TherewasnowayanSOEcommandocouldoperateinsideNaziGermanywearingauniformoftheBritishArmy, it was argued. But over at theOffice of Strategic Services, theboldnessofOperationFoxley inspired theOSSchief of secret intelligence foroperationsinEuropetodeviseaHitlerassassinationplotofhisown.ThechiefwasayoungAmerican lawyer turnedcommandonamedWilliamJ.Casey, thesameyoungmanwho’dbrokenhisjawandlostseveralteethontheDemolitionTrailwhiletrainingforOSSSpecialOperationsatAreaB.

ToCasey’seye,ifOSSwasgoingtodefytheLawsandCustomsofWaronLandinordertoassassinateHitler,whystumbleoveraruleregardinguniforms?His audaciously deceptive plan, calledOperation Iron Cross, was to insert anOSS commando teamdisguised as enemy soldierswearingNazi uniforms.Tolead this five-manOSS team,whichwouldbepopulatedout by abattalionofturncoatNazis,BillCaseychoseAaronBank.ThetwomenhadtrainedtogetherbackatPrinceWilliamParkinVirginia,atAreaB.

After the war, Aaron Bank recalled Bill Casey describing Operation IronCrosstohimasthemostimportantassassinationoperationofthewar.TheOSShad recently captured, turned, and trained 175 German POWs. These men,formerlyavowedNazis,werenowwillingtoworkfortheOSS.Inthewinterof1945theplanwastohaveAaronBank,afour-manOSSteam,andthecapturedNazisparachuteinbehindenemylines,posingasWehrmachtsoldiers.Theteam,called the OSS Iron Cross Mountain Infantry, would hike through themountainous terrain, locate Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest hideaway, ambush the Nazileader, and kill him. But to command such a unit deep in enemy territoryinvolved extreme risk. The drop zone chosen would be deep within the InnValley, inAustria.Therewouldbenobackupair support, no infantry army tocall.Allitwouldtakewasonedouble-crosser,oneNaziPOWstillsecretlyloyaltoHitler,andthemissionwouldunravel.Inalllikelihood,theOSSteamledbyAaronBankwouldbeexecutedonthespot.

Setting aside worry over the Hague resolution against treacherous killing,BillCaseywasconcernedaboutacertainruleofengagement(ROE)issuedbySupremeAlliedCommanderGeneralDwightD.Eisenhower, towhomhewasfiercely loyal.GeneralEisenhower had forbidden theU.S.Army and theOSSfrom recruiting andhiringNaziPOWs for anykindofmission.Casey, skilledlawyerthathewas,appreciatedloopholes.ByencouragingthecapturedNazisto“volunteer”fortheIronCrossMountainInfantrymission,hecreatedalegalgo-

aroundthatallowedhimtoproceed.As chief of OSS Special Operations in Europe, Bill Casey had authorized

dozens of teams air-dropped into this area. But he remained cautious aboutinserting the Iron CrossMountain Infantry, because he knew the area aroundEagle’s Nest to be heavily guarded by elite Nazi commandos. Still, CaseyauthorizedBanktobeginpreparingtheteamandawaitfurtherinstructions.

AtanundisclosedEuropeanlocation,Bankledcommandotraining,teachingNaziturncoatsnewinfiltrationtechniques,includinghowtoextractindividualsfromarmoredcarsandhowtostormamock-upofthetarget.TheplotadvancedtothepointwhereBankwasgivenalargesumofcashwithwhichtopaybribes,andasmallgoldringtobarterforhisfreedomintheeventhewasseparatedandcaptured. Each OSS operator was given a cyanide capsule, as Jan Kubiš andJosefGabčíkhadbeen.

TheprospectofkillingAdolfHitlercausedAaronBanktolieawakeatnightthinking “wild thoughts, world shattering in scope,” he later wrote. If Bank’sOSS team succeeded in killing Adolf Hitler it would be the end of the war,because theGermanGeneralStaffwould surely surrender.Withnoone left tocommandthearmy,wroteBank,“Thiswouldbetheonlytimein[history]thatfiveguyswouldberesponsibleforendingamajorwar.”

Bank continued to train the IronCrossMountain Infantry.He andhismenconducted a dangerous dry run over the drop zone, practicing reconnaissanceandexfiltration techniques.Thenhewaited.Andwaited.The anticipationwasexcruciating.StormshungovertheAlps,firstfordays,thenweeks.ItwasApril1945. Finally, Aaron Bank was flown to Supreme Headquarters AlliedExpeditionaryForce,inParis,foraclassifiedbriefingwithGeneralEisenhower.The U.S. Army had moved infantry soldiers into the Inn Valley. There werebootsonthegroundnow,closinginaroundEagle’sNest.OperationIronCrosswascanceled.Bankwasdevastated.TokillorcaptureHitlerwastheopportunityofalifetime.Inaflash,itwasgone.

On May 7, 1945, the Nazis surrendered at a brief ceremony inside aschoolhouseinReims,France.GeneralWalterBedellSmith,Eisenhower’schiefofstaff,officiatedthehistoricendoftheThirdReich.Threemonthslater,afterthe United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,ImperialJapansurrenderedunconditionallytotheAllies,endingWorldWarII.

Six weeks later, on October 1, 1945, President Truman signed an orderabolishing the OSS. Truman disliked William Donovan and his band ofungentlemanlywarriors.Inacurtmemorandum,thepresidentthankedDonovan

forhis serviceandwishedhimwell.ToPresidentTruman’seye,Americawasthe new standard-bearer of democratic ideals. The U.S. military was themightiest in the world. Soldiers of a democracy do not fight guerrilla wars.Gentlemendonotslitthroats.

InBastrop,Texas,BillyWaughtookpartineveryvictoryparade.He’dstandonthecornerwhentheparadebegan,wavinghisflagatthewarheroes.Thenhe’dduckawayfromthecrowds,racethroughanalleyway,andgetbacktothestreet,inadvanceofthemarchingmen.He’drepeatthisactionallmorningorafternoonuntil theparadeended.Twolocalmarineswoundedin thewarwereespeciallyinterestingtohim.Onehadawoundtotheheadandtheotherworeacastonhisleg.

“WheneverIwasnearthem,”remembersWaugh,“inastreetorastore,Ifeltawedtobeintheirpresence.Iadmiredtheirstrengthandnobility.”

Onemonthaftergraduating fromhighschool,BillyWaugh joined theU.S.Armyasaparatrooper.HewasofftoFortBenning,inGeorgia,tolearnhowtojumpoutofairplanes.Hiswholelifewasinfrontofhimanditfeltgreat.

CHAPTERTWO

TertiaOptio

Six months passed. One night in April 1946, America’s ambassador to theSovietUnion,GeneralWalterBedellSmith,was riding inhischauffeur-drivenlimousine headed to theKremlin,where hewas set tomeetwith Josef Stalin.Temperedyet tenacious, the formergeneralwasamanwellversed inmilitaryoperations.Duringthewar,BedellSmithservedasEisenhower’schiefofstaff.Wartimecolleaguescalledhim“Ike’shatchetman.”GeneralEisenhowercalledhim “the greatest general manager of the war.” An all-around intimidatingfigure, Bedell Smith was rarely one to express unease, and yet here he was,feelingapprehensiveaboutwhatlayahead.HeservedasPresidentTruman’stopdiplomatnow,and the issueathandwashownot togo towarwith theSovietUnion.

“Ibelievedmyselfmoreorlessimmunetoexcitement,butImustconfessIexperienced a feeling of tension as the hour for the interview approached,”Bedell Smith later recalled. “I thought the meeting might be a stormy one.”WorldWarIIhadbeenoverforlessthanayear,andalreadyStalinwasthenewnemesisoftheWesternworld.

Stalin was paranoid and power-mad. As premier of the Soviet Union, heruledbyterror.Sincehisrisetopowerintheearly1920s,he’dstarvedandkilledmillions of his own people and personally oversaw the assassination of rivalswho threatened him, including Leon Trotsky, an early architect of the Sovietstate,whomhehadordered tobekilled inCoyoacán,Mexico, in1940.Stalinassassinated writers and philosophers unwilling to peddle propaganda, andscientistsandengineerswhofailedtosolvehistechnologyproblems.In1937,hehadeightofhis toparmygenerals executed in theGreatPurge.DuringWorld

War II, he had been one of America’s most powerful allies, which made itnecessarytolookbeyondhiscrimesandwinthewar.Now,fromtheperspectiveof theStateDepartmentofficials towhomWalterBedellSmith reported, JosefStalinwasnolongerbehavingasafriend.

TheU.S. embassy carmoved quickly downArbat Street through the soot-stainedsnow,theAmericanflagsattachedtoitsantennaewhippinginthenightair.ThisroutetotheKremlinwasalongoneofthemostheavilypolicedstreetsin theworld, but because the car’s occupants enjoyeddiplomatic privileges, itneverhadtostop;all thetrafficlightsremainedgreenasBedellSmith’sdriverhurtledalong.

Sittingaloneinthebackseat,theambassadorreadandrereadpagesofnotesprepared for him by the StateDepartment. “Possible Points to Be Stressed inConversationwithStalin,”itsheaderread.Justafewdaysprior,BedellSmith’schargé d’affaires at the embassy inMoscow, a career diplomat namedGeorgeKennan, had advised PresidentTruman on the threat posed by Stalin, inwhatwould become known as the Long Telegram. Stalin knew only the “logic offorce,”Kennansaid.TheSovietswereonthemove,devouringterritoryaroundtheglobe.TheUnitedStateshadonlyoneoption.Stalinhadtobestopped.

BedellSmith’smissionwastofindouthowmuchmorelandStalinintendedtograb.Tolookatamapmadetheproblemself-evident.Russia’shumanlossesinWorldWar II had been colossal,with some twentymillion dead.Butmoretroubling for theWest were its territorial gains. During the war, Stalin’s RedArmy tookpossessionofalmosthalfofEurope, thenkeptmuchof itafter theNaziscapitulated. In1946,powercame innumbers;military strengthwasstillabout a nation’s potential army size. The U.S. population was around 140million.Stalinruledover200millionRussiansandanother100millionpeoplelivingbeyondthecountry’straditionalbordersinthelandthathadbeengrabbed.Tomakemattersevenmorethreatening,theUnionofSovietSocialistRepublics(USSR)was getting bigger by the season. The question Bedell Smith neededansweredwassimplebutuncomfortable:HowmuchfurtherwasStalingoingtogo?

TheembassycardepositedBedellSmithattheKremlin’smaingate,andtheambassadorwas taken inside toStalin’spersonalofficebuilding.BedellSmithwasescorteduptothethirdfloor,downalong,austerecorridor,andintoahigh-ceilinged,wood-paneledconferenceroom.TheresatStalin,hisbacktothewall,facingBedellSmithasheentered.BehindthedictatorhungmassiveoilportraitsdepictingthegreatRussianmarshals,mostofthemonhorseback.BedellSmith

spotted Suvorov and Kutuzov, “two military strategists noted for theirexpansionistviews.”

Once seated,BedellSmith spoke first, throughan interpreter.HediscussedthemostpressingissuesfromhisStateDepartmentnotes,watchingStalinashetook exaggerated draws on a long, thin cigarette. By the time Bedell Smithfinishedtalking,Stalinhadpickeduparedpencilandbegunwriting—pointstolaterdebate,BedellSmithfirstassumed.Butuponcloserinspection,itwasclearthat Josef Stalin was doodling. The ambassador was stunned. “His drawings,repeatedmanytimes,lookedtomelikelopsidedheartsdoneinred,withasmallquestionmarkinthemiddle.”Stalinenteredtheconversationbymakingapointaboutoil.Iranianoil.

“Youdon’tunderstandoursituationwithregardstooilandIran,”Stalinsaid,suggesting that he could answer the ambassador’s questionswith a singularlycrypticpoint. “TheBakuoil fieldsareourmajor sourceof supply.Wearenotgoing to risk our oil supply.”The SovietUnion needed a greater share in theexploitation of the world’s oil, Stalin said, and the competition for theseresourceswasasignificantpointof contentionbetweenRussia and theUnitedStates.AsBedellSmithconsideredhisresponse,Stalintooktheopportunitytobringupamorepersonalmatter.Lately,GreatBritainandtheUnitedStateshadbeen“teamingupagainstRussiaandplacingobstaclesinherpath,”Stalinsaid.

BedellSmithwascaughtoffguard.DidStalin“reallybelievethattheUnitedStatesandGreatBritainareunitedinanalliancetothwartRussia?”heasked.

“Da,”Stalinrepliedinalong,slowbreath.Yes.“Imustaffirminthestrongestpossibleterms,thatisnotthecase,”theU.S.

ambassador insisted. Except it was true. British primeminister Churchill hadstatedasmuchjustonemonthbefore,duringaspeechatWestminsterCollegeinFulton, Missouri. “An iron curtain has descended across the [European]Continent,”Churchillfamouslydeclared.“[From]Warsaw[to]Berlin…allthesefamouscities,andthepopulationsaroundthem,lieinwhatImustcalltheSovietsphere,andallaresubjectinoneformoranothernotonlytoSovietinfluencebuttoaveryhighand,inmanycases,increasingmeasureofcontrolfromMoscow.”Churchill had comparedStalin to a puppetmaster.This infuriatedStalin.Likemost tyrants, he resented any person who suggested that his popularity wasbasednotonadorationbutfear.

StalinhadhatedChurchillfordecades.“In1919…Churchilltriedtoinstigatewar against Russia, and persuaded theUnited States to join him in an armedoccupation against parts of our territory,” Stalin remindedAmbassadorBedell

Smith, adding, “Lately he’s been at it again.” Stalin called the Westminsterspeech“anunfriendlyact,”andsaidthatitwas“anunwarrantedattackupontheU.S.S.R.”HepointedoutthattheUnitedStateswouldneverstandbypassivelyifsuchaninsultwashurledinitsdirection.“ButRussia,astheeventsofthepastfewyearshaveproved,isnotstupid,”Stalinforewarned.“Wecanrecognizeourfriendsfromourpotentialenemies.”

AmbassadorBedellSmithwasinabind.HeneededananswerforPresidentTruman,soheaskedStalindirectly,“HowfarisRussiagoingtogo?”

Stalin paused. Stopped doodling the red hearts and the question marks.LookingdirectlyatWalterBedellSmith,herepliedinamonotone,“We’renotgoingtogomuchfurther.”

Butwhat,exactly,did“muchfurther”mean?Thatwastheenigmaof1946.Stalinendedtheinterviewandtheambassadorwasshownthedoor.

Eleven months later the United States drew a line in the sand, declaringcommunismtheenemyofdemocracy.OnMarch12,1947,inadramaticspeechto a joint sessionofCongress,PresidentTrumanwarned theAmericanpeoplethatMoscowhad tobe stopped.“Itmustbe thepolicyof theUnitedStates tosupport free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation,” Truman said.Without American help, darkness and cataclysmwould descend in the world,and“disordermightwellspreadthroughouttheentireMiddleEast.”Inadisplayofnear-unanimoussupport,themembersofCongresstooktotheirfeet.FortwominutesPresidentTrumanenjoyedhisfirststandingovationsincetheendofthewar. The speech marked the beginning of the Truman Doctrine, AmericanforeignpolicydesignedtoconfrontandcounterSovietgeopoliticalexpansion.

Congress passed the National Security Act of 1947, restructuring the U.S.militaryandintelligenceagenciesandcreatinganational-securityapparatusforthemodern era. The act officially established theCentral IntelligenceAgencyandtheWhiteHouseNationalSecurityCouncil(NSC).Anditgavewaytoanunconventional-warfaredivisionforthepresidenttocommand,onhisauthorityandhis alone.Thisunitwasdesigned tobecovert.GeorgeKennancalled it aguerrillawarfarecorpsforthecommanderinchief.Covertactionwouldbecomethepresident’shiddenhand,visibleonlytothoseinhisinnercircle.

The National Security Council directed the CIA to take control of thesehidden-handoperations,officiallycalledcovert-actionoperations,underTitle50authority of the U.S. Code. The Department of Defense would work under aseparate authority calledTitle 10,whichoutlines the role of the armed forces.

Thisdistinctionremainsineffecttoday.During a National Security Council meeting in December of 1947, the

president’s advisors clarified that the CIA’s covert-action authority wouldinclude“preventativedirectactionthroughparamilitaryactivities”asameansofcountering “the vicious covert activities of theUSSR.” “Direct action”wouldbecomeakeyphraseattheCIA,onethatalloweditsofficersandoperatorsTitle50authoritynot available to anyoneelse in theUnitedStatesunless expresslydirectedbythepresident.

TheCIA’sgeneralcounsel,LawrenceHouston,requestedclarification.Howmuch autonomy would the CIA have in conducting these covert-actionoperations? “Lackof such specificdirectionmaybe consideredaweakness inthe National Security Act of 1947 that deserves further consideration by theCongress,” Houston wrote. The following month, National Security CouncilDirective10/2(NSC10/2)providedtheclarificationHoustonhadsought.Anewofficewas to be created inside theCIA, called theOffice of Special Projects,wherecovertactionswouldbeplannedandexecuted inpeacetime. In timesofwar, the CIA was to coordinate its covert operations with the DefenseDepartmentandtheJointChiefsofStaff.“‘Covertoperations’areunderstoodtobeallactivities…whichareconductedorsponsoredbythisGovernmentagainsthostileforeignstatesorgroups,”accordingtothedirective,“…butwhicharesoplanned and executed that if uncovered, the U.S. Government can plausiblydisclaimanyresponsibilityforthem.”Whiletheconceptofwillfulignorancehasinsulatedcountlesscommandersandkings fromembarrassmentandscandal, itwas in this moment that the president’s National Security Council made theconceptofplausibledeniabilityanofficialconstruct.PlausibledeniabilitywouldhereafterallowU.S.presidentstosaytheydidn’tknow.

For the first time in American history, the president had at his disposal asecret paramilitary organization, authorized by Congress, to carry out hidden-hand operations to protect U.S. national-security interests around the world.BeforeNSC10/2,thereweretwowaysinwhichU.S.foreignpolicyandnationalsecuritywerepursued.Thefirstoptionwasdiplomacy;thesecond,war.Covertaction was now the president’s third option, or TertiaOptio, after diplomacyfailed and aTitle 10military operationwas deemedunwise.OnSeptember 1,1948, theOffice ofSpecial Projects changed its name to themore innocuous-sounding Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) and got to work. “The neworganization’sactivitiesmightwellenhancepossibilitiesforachievingAmericanobjectives bymeans short of war,” said GeorgeKennan, co-architect of NSC

10/2 along with James Forrestal, the nation’s first secretary of defense.According toa reportwrittenby theNationalSecurityCouncil,keptclassifiedfor fifty-five years, the CIA’s Office of Policy Coordination would now beresponsible for covert-action paramilitary operations including “guerrillamovements…undergroundarmies…sabotageandassassination.”

Initsfirsttwoyearsofexistence,theCIA’scovertoperationsconcentratedonanticommunist partisan groups inEurope and theEastern bloc.Then, on June25,1950,theunthinkablehappened.ThearmyofNorthKorea,backedbySoviettanksandChineseintelligence,invadedSouthKorea,withthegoalofreunitingthedividedcountryundercommunistrule.

TheentireWesternworldwascaughtoffguard.TheCIAhadfailedtoforeseeanattack that theU.S.national-securityapparatus fearedcouldbe theopeningsalvoofWorldWarIII.TheUnitedNationscalledupontheinvadingcommunisttroops to cease fighting andwithdraw to the 38th parallel.When the invadersrefused, the UN Security Council looked to its members for help. “I haveorderedUnitedStatesAirandSeaforcestogivetheKoreangovernmenttroopscover and support,”PresidentTrumanannounced from theWhiteHousepressroom.Afterjustfiveyearsofpeace,thecountrywasatwaragain.Behind-the-linesparamilitaryoperationswereneeded toaugmentconventional forces.TheCIAsurgedaheadwithplanstotakethelead.

CHAPTERTHREE

SurpriseAttackinKorea

Thatthenation’snewintelligenceagencyhadfailedtoanticipatetheinvasionofanallybycommunistforcesputtheCIAinacompromisedposition.PresidentTruman blamed leadership and decided that CIA director Admiral RoscoeHillenkoetterhad togo.Toreplacehim,hecalleduponGeneralWalterBedellSmith,whowasphysicallyunwell.ThestressofhavingservedasambassadortoMoscowhadleftBedellSmithwithasevereulcer,andhe’drecentlyundergonemajor surgery at Walter Reed to have two-thirds of his stomach removed.PresidentTrumanhadpreviouslyofferedhimthejobasCIAdirector,apositionhe had graciously turned down.Now,with theUnitedStates atwar inKorea,PresidentTruman’srequestbecameanorder,andBedellSmithbecamethenewdirectoroftheCIA.

Withaformidablefigurenowatthehelm,theCIA’scredibilityandaccesstoresources dramatically expanded.According toCIA documents kept classifiedfor nearly fifty years, “Korea became a testing ground for the support ofconventionalwarfarewith unconventional efforts,” or black operations behindenemylines.WalterBedellSmithhadnoexperienceincovertoperations,sohelookedtooutsideexperts.Hechosethemunwisely,helaterlearned.

Withblackoperationsnowat thefore, theCIAcalledupontheexperienceandtalents of the Office of Strategic Services, dismantled by Truman in October1945.Itsmembershadhardlydisappearedfrompublicservice.AtthestartoftheKoreanWar,one-thirdoftheCIA’stotalpersonnelhadpreviouslyservedintheOSS.“Iknownothingabout thisbusiness,”BedellSmithconfided toAdmiralSidneySouers,theCIA’sfirstdirector.“IneedaDeputywhodoes.”Forthejob

of deputy director of plans, a euphemism for director of covert operations, hechoseveteranOSSofficerandfutureCIAdirectorAllenDulles.Inturn,DullesfilledthepositionsbelowhimwithveteransoftheOSS.

Frank Wisner, formerly the OSS station chief in Romania, assumedresponsibilityforOfficeofPolicyCoordinationoperationsandstaff.Wisner,or“Wiz,”ashewasknownamongcolleagues,wasacomplexindividual,obsessedwith rolling back Soviet gains. A former Olympic runner, he was nowoverweightandoutofshapefromyearsofheavydrinkingandwomanizing.Hewas under pressure from the FBI for having had a wartime affair with aRomanianprincesssuspectedofbeingaSovietspy.Hismercurialbehaviorwaswrittenoffbycolleaguesandfamilyalikeaspartofhispersonality.“Heseemedtobeonlyhalfwithus, alwayspondering some insoluble riddle,” saidhis sonGraham.“Nevertheless,hedominatedeveryconversationwithanextraordinarymixtureofwit, charm,humor,andsouthernpower.”Whatnooneknewat thetimewasthatFrankWisnerwasintheearlystagesofmentalillnessandwouldeventuallyendhisownlifewithashotgunblastinthemouth.Fornow,hewasincharge of planning and overseeing paramilitary action in Korea, sendinghundreds, perhaps thousands, of goodmen to their deaths.TheblackmarkheleftontheAgencystillhauntstheCIAtoday.

WalterBedellSmithmistrustedFrankWisner,buthewasstuckwithhim.InKorea,Wisnerandhisteambeganplanningcovert-actionoperations.OneofthefirstwasanoperationtoinfiltrateanagentintoPyongyangtoassassinateNorthKorea’scommunistdictator,KimIlSung.TheoperationwassosensitiveitwaspersonallyhandledbyWisner’sdeputychiefofCIAcovertoperations,aformerOSSofficernamedHansV.Tofte.

TheenigmaticHansToftewasanAmericancitizenborninDenmark.Atfirstglance,heappearedhighlyqualifiedforthejob.FluentinJapanese,Russian,andChinese,hehadlivedoverseasinhistwentiesandbeenrecruitedbytheBritishSecret Intelligence Services in the early years of thewar.When theOSSwascreated, Toftewas assigned to its SpecialOperations division.He had trainedJedburghcandidatesBillCaseyandAaronBankinguerrillawarfareatAreaB.Inserted into thewar theater by parachute, he fought theNazis behind enemylines, in Italy andYugoslavia,withvalor.ThekingofDenmarkknightedhim.ButlikeFrankWisner,somethinghadhappenedtoHansTofteinthefiveyearssincetheendofWorldWarII.Hischaractertransformed.By1950,Toftewasaliar and a thief.Was it post-traumatic stress? Hubris? Too much booze? Thedanger of covert-action operations, and the plausible deniability construct in

which they exist,was that itmade it possible for ignoble actions to be easilyconcealed.

Like Frank Wisner, Tofte would ultimately experience a tragic downfall.Fired from the CIA for stealing classified information, he would dieimpoverished,hisreputationinruins.Butfornow,asdeputychiefofCIAcovertoperationsinKorea,ToftewasinchargeofrunningtheassassinationplottokillKoreanpresidentKim IlSung.Todo this, he oversaw sixCIAoperatorswhoworkedoutofahotelroominTokyo.

There were classified reasons why the CIA feared Kim Il Sung. To theintelligence community, he was the most dangerous kind of despot, a Sovietpuppet. The CIA believedKim Il Sung to be a “top-ranking traitorwho isn’tevenwhohesaidhe[is],”accordingtoadossierentitled“TheIdentityofKimIlSung.”Theman’srealnamewasKimSung-ju,analystsconcluded.Orphanedasachild,hewassaidtohave“killedafellowstudent”whileinhighschool.Thecircumstancesof themurderwerechronicledinhisCIAfile:“Needingmoney,he stole it from [a] classmate, was caught, [and] fearing possible disclosure,killedhis classmate,” thedossier read. Itwasaround this time that theorphanKimSung-juwas identified by communist intelligence agents as someone thepartycouldblackmailintouse.

The realKim IlSunghadbeenagenuinewarhero, a courageousguerrillafighterwho’dbattledJapaneseinvadersinthePaektuMountainregionofKoreaduring World War II. According to information in the CIA dossier, Stalin’sassassins killed the war hero and “disappeared him.” This enabled Stalin’sminions to steal thewar hero’s identity and give it to the orphan boy,with acaveat.Theimpostor?KimIlSungwouldnowactasMoscow’spuppet.

In thefallof1945,whenStalinappointedamannamedKimIlSung tobesecretary general of the North Korea Communist Party, the identity theft wascomplete.“Specific instructions [were]given to the leadersof that regime thatthere should be no questions raised about Kim [Il Sung]’s identity,” the CIAlearned. If the story were indeed true, North Korea’s new leader was anexceptionallydangerouskindoftyrant,fundamentallybeholdentotheKremlin.IfKimIlSungdidnotdoexactlyasinstructedbythePolitburo,hisbackgroundasamurderousorphan,notawarhero,couldberevealed.

NorthKoreawasoneofthepoorestcountriesintheworld,andKimIlSungwas dependent upon Russian patronage for his country’s most basic needs.Everythinghedidwasnowinservice tohiscommunistmasters, including thesiege and subsequent land grab of South Korea. The CIA’s Office of Policy

CoordinationputNorthKoreanpresidentKim IlSung at the topof oneof itsearliestknowntargetedkilllists.

HansToftereceivedacablefromWashington.Anassassinhadbeenchosenfor the job.ToftewastoreceivetheCIAcovert-actionoperator inTokyo, thenoversee his infiltration into Pyongyang. “The man [was] a Cherokee Indiancode-namedBuffalo,”ToftetoldhistorianJosephGouldenafterthewar.AshadReinhard Heydrich’s assassins, Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík, Buffalo hadvolunteeredforthejob.“He’dbeenaskedinWashington,‘HowwouldyouliketokillKimIlSung?’Andhehadacceptedthemissionwithgreatpride,”Tofterecalled.

Toftereceivedinstructionstomeettheassassin“nearthewalloftheImperialPalace inTokyo,at sunset”atadesignated time,ona specificday.Carryingabriefcase full of cash from his office’s unvouchered funding authority, Toftehandedover“aconsiderableamountofmoney”toBuffalo,helaterrecalled.Themissionfailed,hesays,andBuffalowasneverheardfromagain.

The idea that a Native American Indian, an assassin for the CIA, couldsimplymakehiswaytoPyongyanginthemiddleofawarandblendinamongthe locals therewas ambitious and foolhardy. It also set a precedent forwhatwould eventually become known as lethal direct action—targeted killing—directedagainsta specificpersoneither inpeacetimeorwar.While theHagueresolution prohibited assassination, Title 50 covert-action authority madetargeted killing legal, intended to counter “the vicious covert activities of theUSSR.” The fabricated identity ofKim Il Sungwas a case in point, a Sovietcovert act of deception directed against the United States. Through NorthKorea’ssupremecommander,StalincouldentangletheUnitedStatesinawarontheKoreanPeninsula.

TheOffice of PolicyCoordination began insertingCIA paramilitary teamsdeepinsideKorea,behindenemylines.Theteams,ledbyAmericansandmadeup of anticommunist Korean and Chinese nationals, were air-dropped intohostile territory to conduct sabotage and subversion, including hit-and-runassassinations, similar to what the OSS had done during World War II. Theresults were disastrous, as explained by the man assigned to lead the CIA’sparachute infiltration efforts, a former OSS Jedburgh named John “Jack”Singlaub. In 2016, Singlaub, ninety-six, recalled thesewartime tragedieswithclarityandstoicism.

“OneoftheimpossibleimperativesofwarinAsiawasthatWesternerscouldnever simplydisappearbehindenemy lines into thecivilianpopulationsaswe

had [done] inNazi-occupied Europe,” Singlaub said. “Thiswas a tremendouschallenge in Korea and an equally difficult problem in Vietnam.” He wasreferringtothefuturewarinwhichhewouldalsoplayasignificantrole,runningcovert-actionoperationsfortheCIA.SinglaubwouldrisetothepositionofU.S.Armymajorgeneral.

In1951,JackSinglaubservedasCIAdeputychiefofstationinSeoul.Heandhis colleaguesworked out of the newly renovatedTraymoreHotel downtown.TheircoverwasthattheywerewithanadvisoryorganizationcalledtheSpecialOperationsGroup(SOG),JointAdvisoryCommission,Korea(JACK),8132ndArmyUnit.ThecovernamepaidhomagetotheOSSSpecialOperationsBranch,and the unit became known simply as JACK. JACK’s first commander,Singlaub’s boss, was the CIA’s chief of station in Seoul, Ben Vandervoort, alegendaryparatroopcommanderwho’dlostoneeyefightingNazisinHolland.AmonthafterSinglaubarrived,VandervoortwascalledbacktoWashington,muchto Singlaub’s dismay. His replacement was a former CIA operative and armycolonelnamedAlbertR.Haney,amanwhoseintegritywouldalsocomeunderfire,ashadWisner’sandTofte’s.

Following a blueprint created by the OSS, the CIA’s Office of PolicyCoordinationsought toorganizeananticommunistguerrillaforceitcouldtrainand equip for partisan warfare behind enemy lines in Korea. OPC officerscombed through refugee camps in South Korea looking for local fightersqualified for paramilitary service, including North Korean and Chinesenationals.BackinAmerica,dozensofcollegegraduateswerebeingrecruitedbytheCIAtoleadthesecovert-actionoperationsintheFarEast.Oneoftheyoungrecruits was Donald P. Gregg, who was studying cryptanalysis—the study ofhidden information systems—at a liberal arts college inMassachusetts.GreggwouldeventuallyworkfortheCIAforthirty-oneyears.

Gregganddozensofothernewofficers-in-trainingweresenttoaclandestineirregular-warfarefacilityrunbytheCIAontheislandofSaipan,atinydotinthePacificOcean2,000miles southeast ofSeoul.There, hundreds of youngmaleKorean and Chinese refugees recruited from war camps underwent weeks oftraininginguerrillawarfare tactics.“Wewerefollowingin thefootstepsof theOSS,”saysGregg,wholaterbecameU.S.ambassadortoSouthKorea.

But unlike veteran covert-action officer Jack Singlaub, DonGregg had noexperiencefightingwars, letaloneusingunconventional-warfaretacticsbehindenemy lines. He’d only recently graduated fromWilliams College and barely

knewwhereKoreawasonthemap.“Wedidn’tknowwhatweweredoing,”hesaysofhisexperiencesonSaipan.“Iaskedmysuperiorswhatthemissionwasbut they wouldn’t tell me. They didn’t know.We were training Koreans andChinese and a lot of strange people,”Gregg recalled. The problem facing theCIAinKoreawastwofold:WhoexactlyweretheindigenousforcestheAgencywastraining,andcoulditbeassumedthatthey,too,wereinpursuitofAmericangoals?AgreatmajorityspokenoEnglish.Anequalnumberwereilliterate.Howcould theCIAidentifya traitorundersuchcircumstances?Howwouldanyoneknow if a recruit or volunteer was in fact a spy sent by the North KoreanPeople’sArmyortheInternalSecurityForces?

JackSinglaubhadhisownsetofworries,morepracticalthantheoretical.HisOPC colleagues Frank Wisner and Hans Tofte were anxious to begin air-droppingteamsofCIAoperatorsandtheirlocalforcesintoNorthKorea,behindenemy lines. As the man overseeing air-insertion tactics, Singlaub felt thispressure.Healsoworriedaboutgettingthemensafelyintothewarzone.“TheChinesewerewellawareofourairdropoperationsandhadlearnedtorecognize[the sound] of low-flying transport planes that had an open door,” he recalls.Singlaubfeltitwouldbesafertoair-droptheoperatorsintoenemyterritoryfromhigher up. This would give them a greater chance of successful clandestineinsertion,hebelieved.

CIAcovert-actionoperationswerebeingrunoutofaforwardoperatingbase(FOB)onYong-doIslandinsouthwesternKorea,anditwastherethatSinglaubbegan testing his new idea. “Parachuting was my specialty from the OSSJedburghdays,”herecalls.HeborrowedaB-26lightbomberaircraft fromtheairforce,reriggedthebombbayasajumpplatform,andwentoutforatest.“Itold thepilot tokeephisairspeedclosetonormalfor levelflight, thenjumpedassumingthesamepositionI’dusedtojumpintoNazi-occupiedFrance.”Oncehe was out of the aircraft, he pulled his parachute and floated down to theground.“Thetestdemonstratedwecouldusebombersforagentdrops,”hesays.The success sparked another idea, away to get a team in evenmore secretly.Whatif,hethought,insteadofpullinghisripcordrightaway,heinsteadallowedhisbodytofallthroughtheair,reachingterminalvelocity—roughly122mphor54 meters per second—and then pull? This was long before the days ofskydiving, back when “the military had very clear protocols about how itsparatroopers jumped,”Singlaubclarifies.Whathewanted todonowwasfree-fall, then pull his rip cord, say, one thousand feet above the ground. Whileinherentlymoredangerousthanastaticlinejump,free-fallingmeanttheenemy

waslesslikelytoseeanagent’sparachuteashefloatedtoearth.To test this idea, Singlaub borrowed anL-19BirdDog from the air force.

Accompanied by airborne specialist Captain John “Skip” Sadler, he made aseriesoftestjumps,leapingoutoftheaircraftandhavingSadlerrecordthetimebeforehisparachuteblossomed.Aftereachtest,Singlaubwaitedlongeronthenext jump, therebygettingcloser to thegroundeachsuccessive time.“Objectsonthegroundcameintosharpfocuswithinathousandorsofeet.Iwatchedanobjectontheroadbelowchangefromablurreddottowhatlookedlikeachild’stoy,toanactualU.S.Armyjeepwithawhitestarstenciledonitshood.Ipulledtheripcord.”Singlaub’sparachuteopenedandhisfeethitthesand.“Neitherofus realized at the time that we’d invented the concept of high-altitude low-opening(HALO)parachutedrops,rightthereovertheHanRiverinKorea.”TheHALO jump has since become the most effective means of inserting covert-actionoperatorsintodeniedterritoryandbehindenemylines.In2019,itisstillthemethodofchoice.

In Washington, DC, a battle over covert-action operations was under waybetween the CIA and the U.S. Army. When war broke out on the KoreanPeninsula,therewasnospecialoperationsforces(SOF)capabilityattheDefenseDepartment.“Themilitaryresponsewashesitant,skeptical,indifferent,andevenantagonistic”withregardtoallaspectsofunconventional,orirregular,warfare,saysretiredcolonelandU.S.ArmyhistorianAlfredH.PaddockJr.MostmilitaryleadersatthePentagonwantednopartoftheseungentlemanlyblackoperations.“Guerrillawarfarewasfrownedupon,”saysSinglaub.

There were two notable exceptions. Leading a small group of guerrillawarfarepioneersinsidethemilitaryestablishmentin1951wereGeneralRobertA.McClure,formerdirectorofthePsychologicalWarfareDivisionduringWorldWarII,andColonelRussellW.Volckmann,aformerU.S.Armycaptainwho’dled the only non-OSS guerrilla operations during the war, in the Philippines.WhatgaveGeneralMcClureandColonelVolckmannmomentumintheireffortswas thatbothmenhad the earof their formerboss,GeneralEisenhower, nowservingastheU.S.Armychiefofstaff.

AsperNationalSecurityCouncilDirective10/2,covertactionwastobethesoleresponsibilityof theCIAduringpeacetime.Koreawasdifferent.Thiswaswar, McClure and Volckmann agreed. “To me, the military has the inherentresponsibility [in] time of war to organize and conduct special forcesoperations,”Volckmanntoldhiscommandinggeneral.“Ifeelthatitisunsound,

dangerous, and unworkable to delegate these responsibilities to a civilagency”—that is, theCIA.GeneralMcCluretookasimilarposition.“Ibelievethe Army should be the Executive Agent for guerrilla activities,” he told thearmychiefofstaff.“IamnotgoingtofightwithCIAastotheirresponsibilitiesinthosefields.”

In an attempt to alleviate the conflict, the Joint Chiefs of Staff created anarmy organization to work with JACK, called CCRAK (pronounced “sea-crack”). In CCRAK documents located in the National Archives, theorganization’s original acronym is revealed: Covert, Clandestine and RelatedActivities in Korea, an on-the-nose description of the U.S. Army’s secretguerrillawarfareunitinKorea.AshappenedattheCIA,thenamewasquicklychanged to somethingmore innocuous.CCRAKbecameCombinedCommandReconnaissance Activities, Korea. An operations base was set up onBaengnyeongIsland,offthecoastofSouthKorea,neartheNorthernLimitLine.The unit assigned to work with the CIA’s JACK was originally called theGuerrillaSection,8thArmyMiscellaneous,butthisnamewasalsodeemedtoorevealing; it was changed to the United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea(UNPIK).

That the army was vying for power over covert operations infuriated theCIA’s Frank Wisner. The CIA informed the Department of Defense of itsdispleasure.“Mr.Wisner,asheadofOPC,wouldlikeittobeclearlyunderstoodthatthisunderstandingisreachedontheassumptionthattheArmyiscreatingaSpecialForcesTrainingCommandforitsownpurposesandnotattherequestofCIA,” Agency officials wrote, in a now declassified memo. Theirs was atemporary wartime gesture of cooperation. “The CIA [is] not going to placeitself inthepositionofgivingtheArmyanexcusetojustifythecreationof itsown unconventional warfare capability.” Once the war was over, Agencyofficialsdemandedthatcovert-actionauthoritybereturnedtotheCIA.

TheaversiontoriskwasperhapsthesinglegreatestdiscrepancybetweentheCIA and the Pentagon. The CIA was about taking chances. Its officers andoperators were trained to act as the president’s hidden hand. Covert-actionoperationsaremeanttoremainforeverhiddenfrompublicscrutiny.Intheeventonebecomesknown,plausibledeniabilitybecomesthegoal.Attheoppositeendof the spectrum is the U.S. military, an organization that follows strictproceduresandprotocols.Itsclassifiedandclandestineoperationsmightbekeptsecretforaperiodoftime,buteventuallytheyaremeanttoberevealed.“Oneofthe biggest obstacles I faced in Korea,” says Singlaub, “was the Pentagon’s

worrythatthese[paramilitary]unitsmightbecaptured,brokenbyphysicalandpsychological torture, and turned against us for propaganda purposes.”UnlikeCIAofficers,thePentagon’ssoldiersarenotexplicitlytrainedhowtolie.

JACKandCCRAK’sguidingprincipalswere,however,ultimatelythesame.EachorganizationwasbornoftheOSS,withfoundationsinguerrillawarfare.Amanualentitled“PsyWar040CIA”wasgiventobothsetsofoperatorstostudyand learn from. “Hit and run; these are the guerilla’s [sic] tactics,” its authorsexplained. “Primary objective; the killing and capture of personnel… snipinganddemolitions.Initiativeandaggressivenesstemperedbycalmjudgementwillbeencouraged.Avoidtryingtowinthewarbyyourself.”

Colonel Douglas C. Dillard, a twenty-six-year-old infantry officer fromGeorgia, was put in charge of delivery and resupply of these joint CIA-armyairborne operations, code-named AVIARY. The missions were kept classifieduntil 2009. Although some took place early in the Korean War, the scale ofoperations rose dramatically starting in February of 1952. “One ofAVIARY’sfirstmissionsendedindisaster,”ColonelDillardrecalledin2009.

Itwasthewinterof1952,aperiodoftimeknownastheSecondKoreanWinter,now twentymonths into thewar.Adismal lullhadsettledover thebattlefield,with fighting diminished to violent, small-unit clashes and struggles over keyoutpostpositionsalong the front linesofKorea’shilly landscape.HundredsofAmericanshadbeencapturedandwerebeingkeptunderbrutalconditionsinsidePOWcamps.The jointCIA-armymission on the night of February 18, 1952,was designed to air-drop paramilitary operators who would gatherreconnaissanceonaPOWcampandthenexfiltratebyground.

The missions were dangerous. Territory above the 38th parallel wasnotoriously inhospitable. Unlike with the OSS Jedburgh airdrops into France,there’d be a very limited greeting party on the ground, maybe one or twoanticommunistpartisanagents.Radiocommunicationdidnotexist in theouterreaches of this landscape, so agents were dropped in with homing pigeonsstrapped to their legs.Thiswasoften theironlymeansofcommunicatingwiththeirCIAandU.S.Armyhandlersinthesouth:asinglehomingpigeontoletthehandlerknowthey’dmadeitsafelyin.“Therateofreturnwasincrediblylow,”recallsCIAhistorianJohnP.Finnegan.

New tradecraft techniqueswere constantly being developed and tested.Onthis mission the covert-action operators wore enemy uniforms and carriedChinese-made weapons. “They could impersonate enemy patrols and, if

necessary,shoottheirwaybacktoUNlines,”Dillardexplained.Buttherewasamuch bigger problem facing the unit. “One everyone knew about and fewwantedtodiscuss,”saysSinglaub.“Howdoyoutrustthattheindigenousagentsyouarepayingwillnottryandkillyou?”Atraitorintheranksalmostcertainlymeantdeath.

Itwas theearlymorninghoursofFebruary19,1952, andair forcecaptainLawrenceE.BurgerwaspilotingaC-47,southofWonsan,NorthKorea.Therewere two missions on deck, both covert-action operations, both parachuteinfiltrations of American, Korean, and Chinese national paramilitary teamsbehindenemy lines.Given the limitsonusableaircraft, itwascommon to runmorethanonemissionperflight.MasterSergeantDavisT.Harrisonstoodinthedoor with the four anticommunist Chinese agents he was running, preparingthemforastaticlinejump.ThepartisanshadbeenculledfromarefugeecampdownsouthandtrainedforactionbyCIAparamilitaryofficers.Theyallstoodinthedoorwayreadytojump.

Threeof theChineseguerrilla fighterswerebig; onewas small.Eachmanstood theproperdistance from thenext, ripcordsattached to thestatic line. Itwas best to have the smallest man jump first, Sergeant Harrison later told amilitary investigation board, “but this particular manmade such a fuss aboutjumping out last,” and the situation gaveHarrison pause. ButHarrison didn’tspeakChinese,andthepartisanagentdidn’tspeakEnglish—anongoingproblemwithcovertoperations insideJACK.Thegeneral rule in thesekindsof intensemomentswastobeflexible.Thinkfast.

Seated inside the aircraft, Sergeant Harrison observed Private First ClassDeanH.Crabb,hisfellowcovert-actionoperator.Crabbwasseatednexttothefour anticommunist guerrilla fighters working under his authority. This teamwould bemaking the next jump even deeper behind enemy lines, almost onehundredmilesnorthofwhatwasabouttobethefirstairdrop.

Itwas1:45a.m.,pitchdarkoutsideandwellbelowzero.SergeantHarrisonscannedthegrounddownbelowforasign.Thewaysignalingworkedouttherewas that when anticommunist partisans on the ground heard the airplaneapproach,theywouldignitesmallfiresinsidemetalbucketstobrieflyilluminatethe drop zone. Harrison stared down into the darkness below. The snowwasfierce.Therewerebigwinds,freezingtemperatures,andthethreatofantiaircraftfirefromenemyforcesontheground.Atlast,hespottedafaintclusterofsignalfires.

Harrison alerted the pilot, Captain Burger. This mission was now a go.

CaptainBurgerbankedtheaircraftandmadeawidecircle,loweringhisaltitudeastheCIA’sAVIARYteampreparedtojump.ThefirstChinesepartisanmovedtothedoor.Harrisongavetherebelfighterthego-aheadtojumpandwatchedasthemanleaptoutintotheair.Thesecondmanquicklyjumped.Whenthethirdman hesitated, Harrison knew intuitively that something was terribly wrong.Insteadofjumping,themanreachedintohispocketandpulledoutagrenade.Heyankedthepin,rolleditintotheseatingareaoftheaircraft,andleaptoutintothenightair.

Davis T. Harrison was instantly blown out of the aircraft. Assistantjumpmaster Corporal George Tatarakis was also jettisoned from the burningplane.DeanCrabbandhisteamoffourChinesepartisanswerekilledinstantlyby shrapnel and blast. Captain Burger struggled with the crippled aircraft,orderinghissix-mancrewtobailoutwhileheworkedtokeeptheaircraftsteady.Themen, later identified asRowden,Layer,King,Dick, andHaley, somehowmanagedtobailout.CaptainBurgerstayedatthecontrolsoftheairplaneuntilitcrashedintoamountainrangebelow.

MasterSergeantDavisHarrisonandCorporalGeorgeTatarakis,bothwearingparachutes,pulledtheirripcordsbeforehittingtheground.Bothlandedsafely,asdidthefivemembersofthecrew.EveryonebutHarrisonwascapturedbytheNorthKoreanArmy.Harrison evaded capture for twenty-four hours, sneakingintoahouseandaskingforhelp.Thefamilyofferedhimsanctuarybut,whilehewassleeping,notified theNorthKoreanArmy,whichcameand tookHarrisonaway.Eachofthecovert-actionoperatorsandtheaircrewdiedorwerekilledinPOWcampsinthenorth.Harrison’sbodywasrepatriatedafterthewar.

The mission was but one of dozens of disastrous operations, all keptclassified for decades, the great majority of which amounted to a tragicintelligence failure. Thousands of anticommunist foreign fighters and theirAmericanhandlersweredroppedintoNorthKorea,nevertoreturn.Thesewere“suicidemissions,” concluded Peter Sichel, CIA station chief in Hong Kong.Many of the operatives recruited by the Office of Policy Coordination fromrefugeecampsturnedouttobedoubleagents.

If program organizers Frank Wisner, Hans Tofte, and Albert Haney werenaive to the double cross in the beginning, declassified documentsmake clearthatasearlyaseightmonthsintothewar, theyunderstoodwhatwasgoingon.Theirintelligencewasthin,spurious,orfeigned.Butthetriocontinuedwingingit, sending volunteer operators to their graves. They reportedmission successinsteadofabjectfailure.TheresultwasthedeathofwhattheCIAnowconcedes

amountedtohundreds,perhapsthousands,ofmenandwomen.AtthePentagon,GeneralMcClureandColonelVolckmannblewthewhistle

internally. But the damage could of course not be undone. The experience“transformed McClure’s reservations into outright suspicions about the CIA’smotives,”wroteAlfred Paddock.HansToftewas replaced inKorea by careerCIAofficerJohnL.Hart.Uponreviewingclassifieddocuments thatToftekeptin his office, Hart became outraged and notified CIA director Walter BedellSmith. “The results of our investigation surpassed our most pessimisticexpectations,” he later explained, countless intelligence reports merely“fabricatedbypeoplelivinginSeoul.”

BedellSmithsenthisdeputy,LoftusBecker,toSeoultotelltheCIA’sJohnHart that the Agency could not afford a scandal.With its reputation “not yetestablished,” Becker told Hart the CIA “simply could not admit to otherbranches of government—least of all to the highly competitive U.S. militaryintelligenceservices—itsinabilitytocollectintelligenceonNorthKorea.”Hart’sreports were classified. So were Operation AVIARY’s catastrophic losses.Devastatedbythedeception,LoftusBeckerresigned.TheNorthKoreancovert-actionoperationswouldremainasecretfailurefordecades.

Haney, Tofte, andWisnermoved on to a new covert-action operation, thistimeinGuatemala.TheCIAhadfailedinKoreabecauseitenteredthegametoolateandhadnoreliablenetworkofagentsontheground.InGuatemala,theplanwas to be preemptive. Fix things before they happened. This doctrine wouldbecomeknownasregimechange.

GeneralMcClurewrote tohis commander,GeneralCharlesBolte,withhisanalysisofthesituation.“IwouldtaketheopportunitytobringyouuptodateontheArmy/CIArelationship,”McClureexplained.“InrecentconferencesatCIA,Ihaveheard[itsaid],‘Sincewearenowafourthservicemanyoftheactivitiesforwhich theArmywas planning should be transferred toCIA, including thecommand of military forces designed for guerrilla warfare in time of war.’NeedlesstosayIamveryunhappyaboutitbothbecauseIquestiontheabilityofCIA and second, because I have never believed the Joint Chiefs intended toabrogate their responsibilities for theactivecommandofmilitaryoperations intimeofwar.”

At theCIA,WalterBedellSmithwasalsoconcerned. Ina letter toLudwigLee Montague, his advisor on the National Security Council staff, Smithexpressed fear that his covert-action deputies Allen Dulles and FrankWisnercouldleadtheCIAinto“someillconceivedanddisastrousmisadventure.”But

thehorsewasalreadyoutofthebarn.TheCIA’scovert-actionoperationbudgethad expanded to become three times the size of the Agency’s budgets forintelligenceandespionagecombined.ItwasaCatch-22.TheCIAneededtotrainandequippartisansinordertoformaguerrillawarfarecorpsontheground.Thisunderground army was a necessary component in supplying the CIA withintelligence that would keep its agents from being killed. But in reality, theamountofintelligencethatcouldbegarneredfrominsideatotalitarianstatelikeNorthKoreawasclosetonil.“Thepossibilityofrecruitingandrunninganysuchsources was as improbable as placing resident spies on the planet Mars,”lamented former OSS officer Richard Helms, Frank Wisner’s deputy and afuturedirectorofCentralIntelligence.

BedellSmithconsideredcurtailing theCIA’scovert-actionoperations.“Toomanyparamilitaryoperations[pose]adistinctdangertoCIAasanintelligenceagency,”he toldhisstaff.Somethinghad tochange,or,hefeared,“the[covertaction] operational tail will wag the intelligence dog.” But Bedell Smith wasfiercely loyal to the Agency that he was in charge of, and in a letter to theNationalSecurityCouncil,onthesubjectofcovertaction,heconveyedafarlessdramatic position. “At certain times in the past we have been importuned byGeneralMcClure’speopletoprovidethemwithdetailedinformationconcerningguerrillagroupsofwhichwemayhavesomeknowledge,”hewrote.“WehaveconsistentlydeclinedtofurnishthisinformationtoGeneralMcClurebecausetheinformationrequestedimpingesdirectlyuponsecretoperationsinwhichwearecurrentlyengagedandforwhich,atthistime,wearesolelyresponsible.”Inhissummary,BedellSmithplayedthesecrecycard.

InaCIAanalysisofitsKoreanWaroperations,keptclassifiedforfiftyyears,theAgencymadeitclearthatitunderstooditsparamilitaryoperationstobe“notonlyineffectivebutprobablymorallyreprehensibleinthenumberofliveslost.”TheAVIARYmissionsweredoomedfromthestart,itconcluded.TheCIAhadnoreliablewaytodiscernitsenemiesfromitsfriends.“Theamountoftimeandtreasureexpendedwasenormouslydisproportionate”tothatwhichwasgained.

JACK’sclassifiedmissionsinKoreawerewaterunderthebridge.Bytheendof thewar, theCIA’sOffice of PolicyCoordination had built an organization“capableofexecutingcovertactiononaworldwidescale.”Anuntoldnumberofcovert-actionoperationswouldnowbegin.

While JACK and CCRACKwere running dangerous black operations behindenemylines,a traditionalwarwasalsobeingfoughtbyU.S.Armysoldierson

theground.Theoft-citedexampleof thiskindofwarfarewasdemonstrated inthe trenches ofWorldWar I. Korea had become awar of attrition, amilitarystrategy whereby each side wears down the other side through continuous,relentlessloss,grindingdowntheenemy’smorale.Likestagsfightingwiththeirhornslocked,neithersidecouldwin.Theendforeseenbecomesnotvictorybutcollapse.

OneofthefootsoldiersfightingtheKoreanwarofattritionwasBillyWaugh,nowatwenty-one-year-oldplatoonsergeantwiththe187thAirborneRegimentalCombatTeam.He’dearnedhiswingswiththe82ndAirborne,justashe’dsaidhewould.WithhisBrowningBARrifleoverhis shoulderandhisarmybootslaceduptight,Waughremembersthedemoralizingmonotonyhefelt,marchingacrossthefrozenlandboredoutofhismind.“Iwantedaction.Iwantedtofightand IwantedAmerica towin thewar.”Butnoneof thiswashappening inhisinfantryplatoon.

ThewarinKoreawasnotthekindBillyWaughenvisionedforhimself.Hewantedtowinagloriousvictory,liketheoneearnedagainstGermanyandJapan.InKorea, the firstcasualtyofwarWaughremembersseeingwasahalf-frozencivilianlyingfaceup,deadalongthesideoftheroad.“We’dmarchupoveronehillwithgreatexpectationsofmeetingtheenemyandfinallyengaginginfiercecombat,” he remembers. “Instead, from the top of one hill we’d look downacross a treeless landscape and all we’d see was the next hill. It was trenchwarfare. The worst, most baseless form of combat.War by grinding down. Iwantedtoseecombat.Tobebraveunderfire.”

SoonWaughwouldhavehiswish.Duringachanceencounteronatrain,he’dlearn about secret wars being conducted by the U.S. government as covertoperationsbehindenemylines,inwhatwouldbecomeknownas“deniedareas.”BillyWaughwouldspendthenextsevendecades,untilatleast2011,engagedinor training for direct-action, kill-or-be-killed, covert-action operations againstAmerica’senemiesaroundtheglobe.Hewouldtrainandequipguerrillafighters,leadhit-and-runambushes, conduct sabotageagainst enemy infrastructure, andassassinate.TrudgingacrossKorea’sstrippedandfrozenearth,heforesawnoneofthis.AllheknewwasthatGeneralShermanseemedaboutright.Thegloryofwarwasmoonshine.War, at least thiswretchedwarof attrition inKorea,washell.

CHAPTERFOUR

SpecialForces

In 1953, Billy Waugh was transferred to a U.S. military base in Augsburg,Germany.Beforeheleft,hesaveduphisarmymoneyandboughthimselfacar,a sharp-looking 1949 Chevrolet four-door sedan. It was his first car and headoredit.WhenhereceivedorderstotraveltoGermany,hearrangedtohaveitshippedacrosstheAtlanticsohecoulddriveitaroundontheautobahn.Afewweeksafterhearrivedincountry,hisChevyarrived.ThearmynotifiedhimtosaythathisautomobilewasintheportcityofBremerhaven,475milesaway.Onthe train ride there, he noticed two U.S. Army sergeants wearing unusualpatches,withaparachuteandaircraftontheirshoulders.

“Whyareyouwearingthatpatch?”Waughasked.Themensaidthattheywerepartofanewoutfit,inBadTölz.“WherethehellisBadTölz?”heasked.TheysaidthatitwasabouteightymilessoutheastoftheU.S.militarybasein

Augsburg.“Whatdoyoudothere?”Waughasked.Theycouldn’ttellhim,theysaid.NowtheyreallyhadWaugh’sattention.“Doyouhaveanyvacancies?”Waughasked.“WeneedMOSTripleOnes,”oneofthemensaid.“Platoonsergeants.”Waughpointed tohisownshoulder, toaCombat InfantryBadge indicating

that he was MOS 111–eligible. The mysterious men gave him contactinformation.

“Igotmycar,hightaileditbacktoAugsburg,andaskedfora1049,requestfortransfer.Withinaweek,Iwastransferred,badgeandbaggage,toBadTölz.I

signedinatheadquarters,wentstraighttothesnackbar,andintroducedmyselftothesixguyswhowerethere,”remembersWaugh.

“Welcome to the10thSpecialForces,” oneof them said.Thegroupwas aclassifiedU.S.Armyprogramthat trainedsoldiers forunconventionalwarfare.The firstof itskind. Just fourmonthsold, ithadbeennamed the10thSpecialForcessoas todeceive theSoviets into thinking therewerenineotherSpecialForces units ready to engage in sabotage, subversion, and other forms ofguerrilla warfare. Waugh remembers feeling awestruck. “I’d found my truehome.”

If theU.S.Armywent into theKoreanWarwithno formal special operationscapabilities,itcameoutwithaplanforanunconventional-warfareunitforuseinfuturewars.OutragedoveritsstalematewiththeCIAregardingwhocontrolledcovertoperationsinKorea,GeneralMcClurewentdirectlytotheJointChiefsofStaff,determinedtocreateforthearmyaSpecialForcescapabilitylikenootherintheworld.Buttoachievesuccess,saidMcClure,theorganizationshouldstart“modestandaustere.”McClureknewthatunconventionalwarfarewasfrowneduponbymostgeneralsintheDefenseDepartment.Hedidn’twanttojeopardizethepotentialforsuccess.

In its simplest terms, the army’s vision for unconventional warfarewas tosupportresistancemovementsinforeignlands—localguerrillaforcesthatsharedAmerica’spro-Western,anticommunistgoals.AnyresistancemovementthattheU.S. Army would engage with would likely already be militarized andsemiorganized.Buttosaythatunconventionalwarfarecouldeverbedefinedinsimple terms was wishful thinking. Resistance movements were notoriouslyturbulent,almostalwaysledbycharismaticleaderswithbigpersonalities,somenoble, others corrupt. For the U.S. Army to find success in training andequipping theseforeignfighters, itsSpecialForcesoperatorswouldhave tobeflexible,patient,andextremelydisciplined.They’dhavetobeself-reliant,quick-thinking warriors capable of operating in openly hostile territory without thesupportofconventionalmilitaryforcescloseby.Inthewinterof1952,GeneralMcClure secured the necessary blessing of the JointChiefs ofStaff.The 10thSpecial Forces Group would be a small and secret unit. Its soldiers wouldbecomeknownasQuietProfessionals.

Findingtherightvolunteerswasapriority.McClurehadhisadjutantgeneralprepare a roster of ex-OSS officers with commando, ranger, and guerrillawarfare backgrounds. He sent one of his officers to visit with retired general

WilliamDonovanatDonovan’s lawoffice inNewYorkCity.DonovansharedwithMcClure his personal files, containing the names and addresses ofmorethan3,900formersoldierswho’dserved in theOSSduring thewar.Thearmysent out queries to hundreds of these individuals, some active-duty servicemembers, others retired, to see if theywere interested in volunteering for theclandestine unit. Volunteers had to be at least twenty-one years old, airborne-qualified (orwilling to become so), and able to pass a series of physical andpsychologicaltests.EnlistedmenacceptedintoSpecialForceshadtocommittotraining in one or more of five specialty areas: operations and intelligence,engineering,weaponry,communications,andmedicalaid.

OnJune19,1952,thearmyactivateditsfirstunconventional-warfareunitatFortBragg,inNorthCarolina,consistingofoneofficer,onewarrantofficer,andseven enlistedmen.The group’s first commanderwasOSS Jedburgh,ColonelAaronBank.Bytheendofthemonth,122soldiersofallrankswerepresentforduty. In November of the following year, the 10th Special Forces Group(Airborne) received overseas orders and sailed for Europe. They arrived atBremerhavenandthentraveledbytraintoBadTölz.TheirfacilitywasaformerNazitrainingfacilityfortheWaffen-SS.

Thegroup’soriginalmissionwastoconductunconventionalwarfarebehindenemylinesintheeventofaSovietinvasionofEurope,modeledafterwhattheOSSJedburghshadaccomplishedinFrance.Thesesmalltwelve-manunitswerecalledA-DetachmentsorA-Teams.Eachwasmadeupof twoofficersand tennoncommissionedofficers,orNCOs.Every individualon the teamhadtopassmonths of training and a series of grueling tests to become Special Forces–qualifiedandwearthegreenberet.EachA-Teamwouldbecapableofinfiltratinga target by air, land, or sea and exfiltrating stealthily. Each team, led by acaptain,hadmemberstrainedinweapons,demolitionandengineering,medical,communications, and operations and intelligence. Theywould build their ownbases, conduct their own perimeter defense, and be able to operate in hostileterritoryforanindefiniteperiodoftime.Everyoneontheteamwasschooledinatleastoneforeignlanguage.

ThemembersofthisnewgroupcalledSpecialForcespridedthemselvesonbeingacertainbreedofsoldierwithdistincttemperamentsandspecialabilities.“Hard-bitten troopers who were willing to take calculated risks and facechallenges that conventional units need never be concernedwith,” said Bank.Menbornofan“almost inhumanability” toabsorbanystressful situationandcarryonintobattlewithoutlettingmentalconcernsoremotionsgetintheway.

Operatorsneeded tobeextremelycompetitive, self-reliant, stress-resistant,andstoictothepointofarrogant.

MajorGeneralEdwardPartain,anearlymemberofSpecialForces,summeditupthisway:“Intheearlyfifties,SpecialForcesgroupswerenotarecognizedpartoftheArmy.Theywereseenasoutsiders,greatwarriorsbuttheycouldnotlivecomfortablywithinthepeacetimeregimentalsystem.Youhadpeopleofthesortthatyouwishedyoucoulddeepfreezeonthelastbattlefieldandthawoutonthenextbattlefieldofthenextwar.Itwasaroughgroup.”BillyWaughrecallsSpecialForcesoperatorsbeingcalled“snake-eaters,miscreants,androgues”byconventional officers in starched shirts. Many of those recruited for SpecialForcesintheearly1950sweresoldierswhofoughtinWorldWarIIforforeignarmies,inforeigncountries.MenlikeLarryThorne.

Larry Thorne (christened Lauri Törni in Finland) stands out as a SpecialForces legend: fearless,driven,and recklesslydaring.“HewouldhavebeenathomewiththeGreekswhoinfiltratedTroyinsideawoodenhorse,”saidJamesGoodby, former U.S. ambassador to Finland, “the doomed protagonist in themold of ancient Greek heroes.” Thorne began his career as a captain in theFinnish Army Reserves, where he trained army ski troops. When the SovietUnion invaded Finland in November 1939, Törni served as unit commander.Underarduousconditionsandinsubzerotemperatures,Törniandhisunitwereinfiltratedbehindenemylines,wheretheyengagedinhit-and-runoperations,onskis,againstRussiantroops.

TheRedArmyhadmorethanthreetimesasmanysoldiersastheFinns,andwhatshouldhavebeenclearRussianvictoriesinsteadwenttoTörni’sunit.“InreactiontoThorne’sbrave,devastatingraidsbehindSovietlines,theRedArmyplacedapriceonhishead,deadoralive, reputedly theonlyFinnishsoldiersosingled out for bounty,” says his biographer, J. Michael Cleverley. For hisleadershipandbravery,TörniwasawardedtheKnightoftheMannerheimCross,the country’s highest commendation for valor and the equivalent of the U.S.Congressional Medal of Honor. Finland’s relations with the Soviet Unionchangedseveral timesduringthewarandwhenthecountry’s leaders turnedtoNazi Germany for military aid, Törni traveled to Austria for seven weeks oftrainingwiththeWaffen-SS.HereturnedtoFinlandasaFinnishofficerandwasalso recognized as a German Untersturmführer. In 1943 he commanded aguerrilla warfare unit called Detachment Törni. This seventy-man anti-SovietstrikeforcewasaFinnishWaffen-SSbattalion.Asitscommander,LauriTörniworeaNaziuniformandwasawardedtheIronCross.

Afterthewarended,hewasarrestedandchargedwithtreason.Foundguiltyand sentenced to six years, he was incarcerated in Finland’s notorious Turkuprison.ButtheindomitableLauriTörniescapedfromprisonthreetimes,untilhewas transferred to Riihimäki prison, on a small island north of Helsinki. InDecember 1948 he was pardoned by Finnish president Juho Paasikivi andreleased.Butwhenthethreatofadditionalwarcrimechargesresurfaced,Törniassumed the identityof aFinnishmerchant sailer and fled toVenezuelaunderthealiasEinoMorsky.FromVenezuelahesecuredpassageonafreighterheadedtotheUnitedStates.JustafewmilesoutfromtheshoresofMobile,Alabama,Törni leapt overboard and swam to shore, in a classic example of clandestineinfiltrationintoaforeigntarget.

AfugitiveintheUnitedStates,hemadehiswaytoNewYorkCity,changedhis name to Larry Thorne, and worked as a carpenter in Brooklyn andConnecticut. It did not take long for the consummate warfighter to becomerestlessandbored.In1951,hesoughtoutWilliamDonovan,theformerdirectoroftheOSS,andaskedforhishelpjoininganAmericanunconventional-warfareunit.DonovanschooledThorneonthenewlyinstatedLodge-PhilbinAct,whichMassachusetts senatorHenryCabotLodgeJr.hadbeen instrumental ingettingpassed.ItallowedforeignerstojointheU.S.militaryandearncitizenshipiftheyserved honorably for the United States for at least five years. Larry Thornebreezed through U.S. Army basic training and was singled out as a primecandidate for the 10thSpecialForcesGroup.Sent toBadTölz, he became aninvaluablepartoftheunit.“ThorneisoneofthemostdevotedandconscientiousofficersIhaveknown,”wrotehiscommander,“anaggressiveofficerwhoisathis best in a situation which demands physical exertion, direct action, andforceful leadership.” In addition to his physical prowess and irregular-warfareskillset, he spoke English, German, Estonian, Swedish, Norwegian, and ofcourseFinnish.WorkingalongsideLarryThorne,BillyWaughwasamazedbythesoldier’sbreadthoftalent,hisdiscipline,stamina,andconfidence.

At Bad Tölz, Thornewas participating in a thirdmilitary command. He’dfought for theFinns, theNazis, andnow theUnitedStates. “Hewaswhatwecalled a total oner,” explainsWaugh. “Having engaged in clandestine ops forseveralnationsinjustabouteveryenvironmentknowntoman,hecouldadapttostressfulsituationsanywhereintheworld.Mostlyhepreferredgoingatitalone.”In Bad Tölz, Larry Thorne was made captain and became the quintessentialGreen Beret. He was exactly what the Special Forces were looking for in awarfighter.

One example of Thorne’s skill and prowess involved the successfulcompletionofaperilousmissioninIran.In1957,aU.S.ArmyC-130transportplane filled with classified military equipment crashed somewhere in themountains of northern Iran, in uncharted territory.The rescue operation calledforlocatingthecrashsite,gettingateaminthere,recoveringthebodiesandtheclassifiedequipment,andgettingoutundetected.Threepreviouslyorchestratedattempts had all failed when Captain Larry Thorne volunteered for the job.ThorneparachutedintoIranwithatwelve-manteamofGreenBerets.Theunitmade their way up a 14,000-foot peak, recovered all the bodies and theequipment,thenexfiltratedundetectedbytheIranians.

BadTölzwasnotforeveryone;butfor thedisciplinednonconformistswhoembraced unconventional warfare, it was home. Countless foreign languagescouldbeheardspoken in thecoffeeshopandaround the teamrooms.BesidesEuropeanlanguages—French,Polish,Czech—oneheardTurkish,Arabic,Urdu,Farsi, and Pashto. The concept of training guerrilla fighters in other countrieswas at the core of the newU.S. Army Special Forces’ capability. Partnershipwith special units of foreign armies was a primary goal. In service of thismission, Special Forces operators trained with teams in Norway, Germany,Spain, Italy, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. A team led byMajor JosephCallahan traveled to Jordan to establish the first airborne schoolfor the Jordanian Army at the behest of King Hussein. A team led by SteveSnowdentraveledtoTurkeytotrainwhatwouldbecomeknownastheTurkishSpecialForces.AnothergroupwenttoSaudiArabiaandtrained350officersandnoncommissioned officers in a guerrilla force supported byKing Faisal. Fourteams traveled to Iran to train the IranianSpecialForces inmountainwarfare.Another team trained Kurdish tribesmen in the mountains of Iran. One teamwenttoPakistan,wheretheytrainedwiththeirspecialwarfarewarriorsindesertwarfare.

The10thSpecialForcesGroupremainedacloselyguardedsecretuntil1955,whentheNewYorkTimespublishedacrypticarticleaboutthemen,describingthemasa“liberation”forcedesignedtofightbehindenemylines.Aphotographshowedmembersofthegroupwearingtheirgreenberets,theirfacesblackedouttokeeptheiridentitiesconcealed.

TheU.S.ArmySpecialForcesbegantogrow.Hundreds,thenthousands,ofunconventional American warriors volunteered to join this elite group. Theyworkedtirelessly,trainingandequippingguerrillafightersaroundtheglobesoasto keep the threat of Soviet expansion in check. U.S. Army Special Forces

soldiers would eventually fight secret wars alongside many of the foreignfighters they trained.Other times, theywould find themselves fighting againstthem.

CHAPTERFIVE

RuinandRuleinGuatemala

On the wild night of June 16, 1954, a charismatic twenty-six-year-oldArgentinedoctornamedErnesto“Che”Guevarastoodstaringoutthewindowofan apartment inGuatemalaCity, listening tomachine-gun fire andwatching afighter-bomberaircraftfireonciviliansbelow.Hesatdowntopenalettertohismother,awealthyaristocratwhomheadored.Hefeltarush,watchingpeoplediefor a cause, he confided to her. “Even the light [aircraft] bombings have theirgrandeur…thesoundsofitsmachinegun,andthelightmachinegunsthatfiredbackatit,[leaveme]withthemagicsensationofvulnerability.”Atthetime,theyoungdoctorhadnoideathatthejetfighterheobservedwasbeingflownbyanAmerican-trainedmercenarypilotwhowaspartofacovert-actionoperationfortheCIA.Themomenttransformedhim,helatersaid.

LikeanincitingincidentinaShakespeareantragedy,theattackonGuatemalaCity catalyzed Che Guevara into action. Many men dream of leading arevolution,butCheGuevarawouldactuallydoit.HisactionsputhimdirectlyinthecrosshairsofthreeU.S.presidents—Eisenhower,Kennedy,andJohnson.Hewould eventually be assassinated by CIA-trained fighters in themountains ofBoliviain1967.

Che Guevara had come to Guatemala to study medicine amid socialrevolution.Whenhefirstarrived, thecountrywas in the throesofcivilunrest.Guatemala,locatedjustsouthofMexicoinCentralAmerica,hadbeenplaguedby violence and social upheaval since 1944, when university professor JoséArévalobecamethecountry’sfirstdemocraticallyelectedpresident.Forthefirsttimeinitshistory,Guatemalagotaconstitution,anelectedrepresentativebody,andasupremecourt,buttheviolencewasconstant.PresidentArévalosurvived

twenty-fivecoupandassassinationattemptsinhissixyearsinoffice.Fromtheperspective of the White House, political instability of this magnitude madeGuatemala a prime target for Soviet meddling, and in 1950 the U.S. StateDepartmentsentitstopdiplomat,GeorgeKennan,toinvestigate.

After touringLatinAmerica,Kennan took thehard-lineview thatMoscowwas indeed making ominous inroads in the Western Hemisphere. “Here, aselsewhere,”Kennanwroteinasecretreportforthesecretaryofstate,“theinnercoreof the [Soviet] communist leadership is fanatical,disciplined, industrious,andarmedwithaseriesoforganizational techniqueswhichareabsolutelyfirstrate.” In all likelihood, Kennan warned, Moscow’s first conquest in LatinAmericawouldbeGuatemala,whichitcouldthenuseasabeachheadtolauncha takeover of the Americas. Kennan advised the secretary of state thatcommunistinfluenceintheWesternHemispherehadtobecurtailedatanycost.Diplomacywasunlikelytowork,andmilitaryinterventionwasnotplausible,hewrote,which left covert actionas the thirdandbestoption. “Now thisgetsusinto dangerous and difficult waters, where we must proceed with utmostcaution,”advisedthemanwho’dfirstproposedthattheCIAdevelopaguerrillawarfarecorps.

What choice was there? From Albania to Poland, seven governments inEastern Europe were now being ruled by Stalinists, leaders who’d beenemplaced by rigged elections and who maintained power through a deviouspartnership with Moscow’s ironfisted state security services. Moscow’smovement toward Latin America forecast only disaster. Kennan’s report wasreviewed by the president’s National Security Council, whose membersunanimouslyagreed.Covertactionwasthebestwayforward.

Thefollowingyear,inMarch1951,aliberaldemocratnamedJacoboArbenz,sonofaSwissGermanfatherandaGuatemalanmother,waselectedpresident.Inhisinauguraladdress,ArbenzpromisedtomoveGuatemalafrom“abackwardcountrywith a predominantly feudal economy into amodern capitalist state.”Thewayhe intended to do this, he said,wasby limiting influenceby foreigncorporations. Guatemala was a poor nation with an agrarian-based economy.Two percent of the population owned 72 percent of the land. The largestlandowner, also one of the country’s largest employers, was the American-owned United Fruit Company, a banana farming concern. When PresidentArbenz instituted sweeping reforms in farm labor and called for theexpropriation and redistribution of land, including 234,000 acres owned byUnited Fruit, President Truman’s National Security Council took the position

that these anti-Americanmoveswere being engineered byMoscow. The timehadcomeforthehiddenhandoftheUnitedStatestointervene.“It[is]essentialtooursecuritythatwefightfirewithfire,”Kennanobserved.

PresidentTrumancreatedapowerfulnewadvisorycommittee todeterminethe “desirability and feasibility” of covert-action operations. Called thePsychological Strategy Board (PSB), it included the director of CentralIntelligence, the undersecretary of state, and the deputy secretary of defense,with a representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acting as principal militaryadvisor. The informal structure of the PSB allowed for “problem solving” tooccuroutsidethescopeofnormalbureaucraticchannels,insulatingthepresidentfrom potential backlash through plausible deniability. “The working groupshould shy away fromany thought of a ‘Charter’whichwould require formaldepartmentalconcurrence,”suggestedFrankWisner,thenCIAdeputydirectorofplans,inanearlystaffmeeting.Anagreementwasreachedto“developapaperwhichwouldbeinformallyacceptedbytheBoardasindicatingthegenerallineswhich [we] would probably follow.” In the case of Wisner, who wassimultaneously in charge of JACK operations in Korea, the construct ofplausible deniability insulated him personally from consequence, as thehistorical record makes clear. Whether Wisner was aware of his outsizedincompetence during this fateful time, willfully ignorant of it, or mentally illremainsthesubjectofdebate.

What is clear is that the goal of the PSBwas not only to devise and plancovertoperationsbuttomanipulatethepublic’sperceptionofthesehidden-handevents. “Our job is to influence the minds and wills of other people,” boardmembersagreed,notasin“wordwarfare”butthroughparamilitaryactionsthathadreal-worldconsequences.“[We]helpshapeevents[to]includeallelementsofpressureandpersuasion,”PSBdirectorGordonGraytoldthepresident.

ThePSB’splan forGuatemalawas to stageacoupd’étatagainstPresidentArbenz and overthrow him, using a CIA-trained guerrilla fighting force. TheOfficeofPolicyCoordinationwasincharge,asinKorea.ThemanchosenbytheCIA to lead the mutiny and be installed as Guatemala’s new, pro-AmericanpresidentwasaformerGuatemalanmilitaryofficerlivinginexileinHonduras,Carlos Castillo Armas. He was corrupt, right-wing, and militaristic, but theOfficeofPolicyCoordinationwaswilling toworkwithhimbecausehehadadecent-sized guerrilla force loyal to him, fighters who could be trained andequippedbyCIAparamilitaryofficerswithrelativeease.

In January 1952, CIA headquarters began drafting its first-known

assassinationlist,acompilationofindividuals“toeliminateimmediately”undertheAgency’sTitle50covert-actionauthority.Thislistwasfollowedbyatleasttwo additional kill lists, one titled “Guatemalan Communist Personnel to bedisposedofduringMilitaryOperationsofCalligeris”(thecodenameforCarlosCastilloArmas) and the other under the heading “Selection of individuals fordisposal by Junta Group.” The targets, or “disposees” [sic], would be“neutralized” under a construct called “Executive Action.” This euphemism,adoptedbynumerousfutureU.S.presidents,remainsineffectasof2019.

Whether President Trumanwasmade aware of the assassination campaignremainsamystery.Buttheverynextmonth,thesubjectofSovietassassinationcapabilities was discussed by Gordon Gray in a Top Secret “Report to thePresident.” “Throughout the world,” Gray wrote, “[the Kremlin] has built upnetworksof agentswhowouldmoveat thewordof command to carryout anassassinationorfomentacivilwar,”asubtlesuggestionthatthePSBplansforassassinationwerebutanecessarymeansoffightingfirewithfire.

Assemblingalistofindividualsforassassinationwasaflawedandhaphazardprocess. CIA officers first worked from a 1949 Guatemalan Army list ofcommunists,augmentedbyinformationfromtheDirectorateofIntelligenceasitcame in.Memos made public in 1997 show that the list included “top flightCommunistswhomthenewgovernmentwoulddesiretoeliminateimmediatelyin the event of a successful anticommunist coup” but quickly grew to includeotherGuatemalans.Clandestineserviceofficerswerequeriedtohelpdecidewhoelse should be included on a “final list of disposees,” with one employeeassigned the job of quality control, “to verify the list and recommend anyadditionsordeletions.”

The assassination list was sent to Carlos Castillo Armas for input. Theillegitimate son of a farmer, Armas had spent much of his life engaged inguerrillawarfare.From1948to1949,he’dservedasthedirectorofGuatemala’smilitaryacademy.By1952,he’dbeeninvolvedintwopreviouscoupsd’étatinGuatemala.Hewasawantedmaninhisowncountryandhislistofenemieswaslong.InSeptember1952,Armasaddedasmanyasfifty-eightnamestotheCIA’sassassinationlist.

Thingsquicklygotmore complicated.That samemonth, in theDominicanRepublic, the strongman Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo, called “the cruelestdictatorintheAmericas,”gotwordoftheCIA’sassassinationlistandwantedin.TrujillomadeadealwithCarlosCastilloArmas.Inexchangefor“thekillingoffourSantoDominicansatpresentresidinginGuatemala,”heofferedArmashis

materialsupport.“CastilloArmas readilyagreed,”saysCIAstaffhistorianGeraldHaines. In

addition to requesting thatcertainofhisenemiesbe targetedandkilledby theCIA, Trujillo offered to send his own assassins to participate in the action,“special [assassination] squads [that] were already trained.” In a declassifiedAgencymemorandum,thesedeathsquadswerereferredtoas“Trujillo’strainedpistoleros” and as “K” (presumably for “kill”) groups. But after considerabledebate,saysHaines,theideawasvetoedbytheStateDepartment.Still,Armascontinued to make side deals of his own, and the CIA learned that Armasintended to make “maximum use of the K groups,” and would dispatch“Nicaraguan,HonduranandSalvadoriansoldiersincivilianclothestoinfiltrateGuatemala and assassinate unnamed Communist leaders” loyal to Armas. InGuatemalaCity,alocalassetprovidedhisCIAhandlerwitha“hitlistwiththelocation of the homes and offices of all targets [that] had already been drawnup.”Hainessaysrecordsofwhathappenednextweredestroyedorlost.

TheCIAdidnotcreatetheLatinAmericanpropensityforassassination.Longbefore the Central Intelligence Agency existed, targeting killing was a well-establishedpoliticaltoolthroughouttheregion.Theseweretherulesofthegameforauthoritarianregimes that ruledbyforceandcorruption,not laws. In1949,PresidentArbenz himself had benefited from the assassination of his politicalrival, Francisco Javier Arana. Arbenz had been one of only six men presentwhen Arana, chief of the country’s armed forces, was shot in broad daylightduring an altercation on the Puente de la Gloria, outside Guatemala City. Aspresident, Arbenz did little to solve the extrajudicial killing he’d personallywitnessed. Therewas no investigation of themurder, and his rival’s assassinswereneverapprehended.Asof2019,thekillingremainsamystery.

AstheCIAworkedonitsparamilitaryoperationsandassassinationplans,thepresident’s Psychological Strategy Board oversaw a robust psychologicalwarfare campaign intended to influence theminds andwillsof thepeople—towageaNerveWarAgainst Individuals,accordingtoadeclassifiedmemo.TheideawastoinstillfearandparanoiainacoregroupofmilitaryofficialsclosetoArbenzsotheymightbecometurncoatsandparticipatein“amassdefectionofthe Guatemalan army.” As the plans moved forward, the U.S. presidencychanged hands. In January 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the thirty-fourthpresidentoftheUnitedStates,andthePSBbriefedthenewcommanderinchief on its covert-action operations. “ColdWar concerns convincedPresidentEisenhowertoordertheremovalofthedemocraticallyelectedleaderbyforce,”

accordingtoHaines.Starting on April 13, 1953, top Guatemalan communists received “death

notice”cards,someforasmanyasthirtyconsecutivedays,thecontentsofwhichremain classified. Others received physical objects courtesy of the CIA,includingsmallwoodencoffins,hangman’snooses,andtoybombs.Communistleaders came home from work, or woke up in the morning, to find graffitipaintedon theexteriorwallsof theirhomes.“HereLivesaSpy,”onemessageread.Anotherthreatened,“YouhaveOnly5Days.”

The operation was gaining momentum. Declassified documents illustratehowquicklyCIAofficialsatthehighestlevelgotonboardwithmoreadvancedassassination, or “liquidation,” plans. J. C. King, CIA chief of the WesternHemisphereDivision,learnedofthehitlistandonAugust28,1953,suggested“possibly assassinating keyGuatemalanmilitary officers if they refused to beconvertedtotherebelcause.”Thefollowingmonth,KingsentamemotoCIAdirectorAllenDullesstatinghissupportfor“neutralizing”PresidentArbenz.

TotheCIA,assassinationwasanobjective,anactiontobecarriedoutwiththeprecisionanddetachmentofamilitaryoperation. Itwasduring thisperiodthat the CIA assembled its first known how-to instruction booklet onassassinationasaninstrumentofforeignpolicy—asapoliticaltool.“Anextrememeasure not normally used in clandestine operations.” Titled “A Study ofAssassination,” the manual was organized into sections including “Planning,”“Techniques,” and “Classifications.” The ideal assassin worked alone, alwaysmindfulofthefactthat“noassassinationinstructionsshouldeverbewrittenorrecorded.”Heor shewould almost always report to just oneperson,with thissameindividualoverseeingtheirinfiltrationto,andexfiltrationfrom,thetargetarea.

In addition to having all the qualities of a clandestine service agent, anassassinwouldhavetobe“determined,courageous,intelligent,resourcefulandphysically active.” Knowledge of a variety of weapons, including knives,firearms,grenades,andsmallbombs,wasimperativeforsuccess.“Itispossibletokillamanwiththebarehands,butveryfewareskilledenoughtodoitwell,”theCIAposited.“Ahumanbeingmaybekilled inmanywaysbut sureness isoftenoverlookedbythosewhomaybeemotionallyunstrungbytheseriousnessof theact theyintendtocommit.”Inasectionentitled“Justification,” theCIAwarneditswould-beassassinsofthedarkpsychologicalterritoryintowhichtheywereheading.“Murderisnotmorallyjustifiable,”and“assassinationcanseldombeemployedwithaclearconscience.Personswhoaremorallysqueamishshould

notattemptit.”The unvarnished truth about assassination was that while some operations

involvedtheobjectivedetachmentofasniperrifle,apistol,ora lethaldoseofpoison, an assassinmust always be ready to kill his targetmano amano. Forthat, he had to bewilling tomake use of any real-world object thatmight belyingaround.“Anythinghard,heavyandhandywillsuffice,”counseledtheCIA,“ahammeroraxe,firepokerorlampstand.”Pushingatargetoffabridge,downan elevator shaft, or out an open window was a wise course of action; theassassin could “play horrified witness” if questioned by police. Staged caraccidentswerenotrecommendedbecausealengthyinvestigationalmostalwaysensued.Butifanassassincoulddrughistargetandpushthemanandhisvehicleoffahighpointorintodeepwater,thattacticcouldbeconsidered.Ifthetargetwasanalcoholic,gettingthemandrunkandinjectinghimwithalethaldoseofmorphinebeforehepassedoutwasalwaysaviableoption.Avoidexplosivesanddemolition charges, assassins were told. They were unreliable and prone toaccidents.Often,whenused as a booby-trapwith a timedelay, these kinds ofdeviceswoundupkillingthewrongman.

Most of all, the assassin had to accept that he was not judge, jury, orhangman. “Assassination of persons responsible for atrocities or reprisalsmaybe regarded as just punishment,” the authors forewarned, but to think of it asretributionforanoffensewasnotwhatcovertactionwasabout.TokillaspecificindividualunderTitle50authorityof theU.S.Codewasaboutprevention,notrevenge. “Killing a political leader whose burgeoning career is a clear andpresentdanger to thecauseof freedommaybeheldnecessary,” theauthorsoftheCIA’sassassinationmanualmadeclear.

On September 11, 1953, the CIA submitted its “General Plan of Action” forGuatemala, code-named Operation Success (PBSUCCESS). PresidentEisenhower signed off on the operation, approving a $2.7 million budget for“psychological warfare and political action” as well as “subversion,” to beconducted by the CIA. On December 23, 1953, the CIA’s Office of PolicyCoordination opened a classified forward operating base in Miami, Florida,wherecovertoperationsinGuatemalawouldberun.

All elements of covert actions had code names: people, places, operations,and locations. The PBSUCCESS headquarters building, code-named Lincoln,waslocatedabouttenmilesfromMiami,onthesecondfloorofashabbytwo-storystructureinthecornerofOpaLockaAirport,onlyevertobereferredtoas

Building67.“Effectivethisdatealladdresseestationswillconstitutecomponentelements of PBSUCCESS regional command with project headquarters atLINCOLNunderJeromeDunbar,”AllenDulleswrote.JeromeDunbarwasthecodenameforretiredColonelAlbertHaney,formerCIAstationchiefinSeoul.ItwasHaney, FrankWisner, andHans Toftewho had run the ill-fated JACKmissionsinKorea.

TheCIA reached an agreementwith rebel groups inHonduras,Nicaragua,and El Salvador to train and equip its guerrilla fighting forces inside theseneighboringcountries’borders.Inthesesecretparamilitarytrainingcamps,deepinthejungle,theCIAtrainedandarmedlocalcommandostoactasthefightingbrigade for CastilloArmas. Come “D-Day,” this paramilitary army of foreignfighterswouldmakeanamphibiousbeachlandingandcarryouttheCIA’scoupd’état,inthestyleoftheNormandyinvasion.Declassifieddocumentsrevealthatat least 1,725 foreign fighters were trained by the CIA, with another “2500persons of lesser caliber and faith committed to joining the fighting force ifcalledupon.”

OnJanuary5,1954,AlbertHaneyrequestedafinallistonthe“liquidationofpersonnel.” The followingweek, Lincoln requisitioned twenty suppressors fortwenty.22-caliberrifles,whichweresentfromCIAheadquarters.Asmallgroupof“keyleaders”werethenchosenfortheassassinationprogram.OnJanuary13,cables were sent discussing training protocols for these “assassinationspecialists.”

OnApril17,1954,SecretaryofStateJohnFosterDulles(theCIAdirector’sbrother)gavePBSUCCESSthe“fullgreenlight.”Thefollowingmonth,perhapssensing his end was near, President Arbenz offered to meet with PresidentEisenhower, to reduce tensionsbetween the twocountries.But itwas too late.TheCIAcoupd’étatwasinmotion.

OnJune15,1954,CIA-trainedsabotageteamsandinvasionforceslaunchedfrom Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador and moved quickly into stagingareas just outside theGuatemalan border. At 5:00 p.m. on June 18, PresidentArbenzheldamassiverallyattherailroadstation.ThegatheringwasbuzzedbyCIAplanes.Atdusk,CastilloArmascrossedtheborderwithhispersonalstrikeforce.Overhead,CIAplanesstrafedarmytrooptrains.InWashington,DC,thePSBordered theMatamoros fortress indowntownGuatemalaCitybombed.Ahundredmiles east of the capital, the city ofChiquimula fell toCIA guerrillaforcesasanAmericanF-47flownbyamercenarypilotdroppedbombs.Finally,on June 27, 1954, as Castillo Armas attacked the city of Zacapa, President

Arbenzcapitulatedandresigned.ByJune30, theCIAdecidedthat thecouphadbeenasuccess.Nowitwas

timeforthehiddenhandoftheCIAtovanish.FrankWisnersentacableentitled“ShiftofGears,”urgingallCIAofficersandoperatorstowithdraw.OnJuly4,the CIA dispatched a recovery team to Guatemala City to collect 150,000documents related to all communist activity, for future use. On July 12, theLincolnofficeinOpaLockawasshuttered.FrankWisnerorderedAlbertHaneytodestroyalldocumentsrelatingtoOperationSuccess.Afewsurvived.

The president asked the CIA to brief him on the operation. Allen Dulles,FrankWisner,andJ.C.Kingusedmapsandchartstonarratehowthecouphadunfolded.Thepresident askedhowmanymenhaddied. “Onlyone,” abrieferlied.Eisenhowershookhishead.“Incredible,”hesaid.

“Indeed it had been incredible,” writes CIA historian Nick Cullather.AccordingtotheAgency’sownrecords,at leastforty-eightrebelfighterswerekilled in theaction.TheCIA’sperpetuationof thefalsehood that ithadbeenasuccessgavewaytoadecades-longCIAmyththattheGuatemalaoperationhadbeen an “unblemished triumph.” It was often cited as a model, a means ofencouraging future presidents to authorize similar covert-action operationsaroundtheworld.

OnSeptember1,1954,CastilloArmasdeclaredhimselfthenewpresidentofGuatemala.Shortlyafterhetookpower,agroupofjuniorarmycadets,unhappywith the army’s capitulation, staged a coup. Itwas quickly put down, leavingtwenty-nine dead and another ninety-one wounded. Come October, so-calledelections were held, but Castillo Armas was the only candidate. As hisgovernment was being installed, a second insurgency emerged. This newmilitaryjuntacamedownhardontheresistancemovement,quashingrebellionswithmurder and oppression. It left tens of thousands—some historians say asmanyas200,000—killed,tortured,maimed,ormissing.

Three years later, on July 26, 1957,Armas, theCIA’s puppet dictator,wasshotinthepresidentialpalacebyamemberofhisownguard.Hediedinstantly.Theassassin,RomeoVásquezSánchez,fledtoanotherroominthepalaceandcommittedsuicide.

The facts of theCIA’s hidden-handoperations inGuatemalawould remainsecret untilMay of 1997, when the Agency’s history staff “rediscovered” theallegedlylostrecords.Congresshadbeenlookingforthemsinceat least1975,when the Senate began its investigation into U.S. government–sanctionedassassination.Fouryears later, in1979, aFreedomof InformationAct lawsuit

orderedtheGuatemaladocumentsbedeclassified,buttheCIAwasabletokeepits records sealed on national-security grounds. As for the assassinationprograms and kill lists,CIA staff historians continue to insist that no onewasactuallyassassinated.Thisisadoubtfulclaim.Whenthedocumentswerefinallydeclassified, the names of the people targeted for assassinationwere redacted,making it impossible to discern if anywere killed before, during, or after thecoup.

Extreme secrecy and illicit hiding are but two elements of plausibledeniability,designedtokeeptheofficeofthepresidentfrombeingembroiledincontroversyanddisgrace.Butthereissomuchmorethatresults,includinggraveand unintended consequence the CIA can neither foresee nor control. In itshidden-hand operations in Guatemala in 1954, the CIA created a revenge-seeking monster intent on destroying its creator. It took the form of CheGuevara, the young doctor who watched the CIA-led coup through an openwindowinanapartmentinGuatemalaCity.

Shortly after he wrote the letter to his mother expressing the magicalsensationhefeltwatchingviolenceandrevolutionunfold,CheGuevarasetoutontothecitystreetstoorganizearesistancemovementagainsttheplottersofthecoup.He teamedupwith an armedmilitia organization called theCommunistYouth,andexpressedadesiretofight.Instead,thegroup’sleadersassignedhimhospital duty and instructed him to await further orders. Within a few days,martial law was declared across Guatemala and the Communist Party wasdisbanded.Withitsfightersbeingroundedup,CheGuevarasoughtrefugeintheArgentineembassy.

TherehelearnedthattheheartoftheLatinAmericancommunistmovementwasmovingtoMexicoCity.Heappliedforavisaandmadehisway.ItwastherethathemetayoungCuban-bornrevolutionarylivinginexilethere,FidelCastro.“He is a young man, intelligent, very sure of himself and of extraordinaryaudacity,”CheGuevarawroteinhisdiary.“I thinkthereisamutualsympathybetweenus.”FidelCastroaskedCheGuevaratojoinhisguerrillamovementandserveastherebelgroup’sofficialdoctor,andheacceptedonthespot.Injustfiveshortyears,thetworevolutionarieswouldtransformfromcompleteunknownstotwoofthehighest-rankingenemiesoftheUnitedStates.

BackinGuatemala,astheCIA’scleanupgroupwassortingthroughfilesofthefallenArbenzregime,CIAofficerDavidAtleePhillipscameacrossasinglesheetofpaperabout theyoungdoctornamedCheGuevaraandhiscommunistties.

“Shouldwestartafileonthisone?”Phillips’sassistantaskedhisboss.“Yes,Iguesswebetterhaveafileonhim,”Phillipsreplied.SoontheCIAwouldplaceCheGuevaraontheirkilllist.

CHAPTERSIX

Kings,Shahs,Monarchs,andMadmen

Halfway across the world in the Middle East, the president’s covert-actionadvisors also had their eyes on Iran. In these early days of theColdWar, theMiddleEastwasawashinspectaclekillingsthattheCIAsawasmotivatednotonly by politics but also by religion and revenge. Assassination operationsundertaken by religious fanatics were particularly dangerous, the Agencybelieved,“sinceafanaticisunstablepsychologically[and]mustbehandledwithextreme care.” In Iran, a group of these fanatics had recently succeeded inassassinatingeighthigh-rankingmembersof thecountry’sseculargovernment.They called themselves Fedayeen-e Islam, Self-Sacrificers of Islam, ShiitefundamentalistMuslimswhosedeclaredmissionwas to rid Iranof“corruptingindividuals”throughassassination.In1953,PresidentEisenhower’sPSBmettodiscuss covert-action plans involving Iran’s prime minister, MohammadMossadegh,whotheCIAbelievedwasatthetopofFedayeen-eIslam’skilllist.

The assassination of a prominent government official creates a vacuum ofinstability,bothactualandperceived.By1953,whenbriefingEisenhowerontheassassination threat level in Iran, CIA directorAllenDulles, amember of thePsychological Strategy Board, told the president in no uncertain terms that ifsomethingwasn’tdoneaboutthesituation,Moscowwouldsurelytakeadvantageofit.

“A Communist takeover [of Iran] is becoming more and more of apossibility,” Dulles told the president, and “the elimination ofMossadegh, byassassinationorotherwise,mightprecipitatedecisiveevents.”Theresultwouldbe a domino effect across all of the Middle East. “If Iran succumbed to theCommuniststhereislittledoubtthatinshortordertheotherareasoftheMiddle

East, with some 60% of the world’s oil reserves, would fall into Communistcontrol.”TheCIAdecidedthatitsbestbetforacovert-actionpartnertocounterSoviet influence in Iranwas the country’s vain young king, ShahMohammadRezaPahlavi.TheFedayeen-eIslamhad tried tokill theshah justa fewyearsbefore.

Itwasacool,crispmorningin1949,inthecapitalcity,andthetwenty-nine-year-old king climbed out of his limousine and beganmaking hisway up thesteps of Tehran University, waving to the crowd. A man pretending to be aphotojournalistcalledouttheshah’sname.AsMohammadRezaPahlavilookedhis way, the assassin fired off five shots, hitting him. One bullet entered theshah’sfacethroughhisopenmouth,passingthroughhisupperlipandexitinghisface without hitting any bone. As he fell, a second bullet struck him in thebackside,woundinghim.Theassassinfiredoffthreemorebullets,allofwhichhit the shah’s hat, before police leapt on the man and killed him. As theassassin’sdeadbodywaspummeledbyavengefulmob,theshahwasrushedtoa nearby hospital, where he spoke with members of the press. “A few shotswon’t determyduties tomybeloved country,” he toldvisitors gathered at hisbedside.

Theassassin’snamewasFakhr-Arai,amemberoftheFedayeen-eIslam.Bythetimehetriedtokilltheshah,thegrouphadalreadysucceededinkillingtwoprominentmembersofIraniansociety:AhmadKasravi,ahistorian,in1946,andMohammad Masoud, a newspaper publisher, in 1948. Both men had beenwritingandpublishingantireligiouspieceswhen theywereassassinated.TheirwritingshaddeeplyoffendedacentralfigureinsidetheSelf-SacrificersofIslam,a forty-nine-year-old cleric named Ruhollah Khomeini. Though relativelyunknown outside religious circles at the time, in the decades to come thisrevolutionary cleric would become one of the most infamous villains in theWesternworld,knownasAyatollahKhomeini,thesupremeleaderofIran.

Fedayeen-e Islammodeled their activities after history’s original assassins,theHashashin,aneleventh-centurystrikeforceofShiitefundamentalistwarriorsledbytheenigmaticholymanHassan-iSabbah,fromwhomtheword“assassin”derives. Like its medieval predecessor, the modern Fedayeen-e Islam in Iransought to target and assassinate those it deemed enemies of Shiite Islam. Theassassinsandtheirabilities,indeedtheverymentionoftheirname,bredterror.Theyweredeadlyandcunning,rumoredtopossessinvisibility.Oneofthefirstknown Western references to the assassins appears in a report written byFrederick I, theHolyRomanEmperor, in theyear1173. “Theyhadahabitof

killing [enemies] in an astonishing way,” explains Bernard Lewis, professoremeritus at Princeton University, who first located the original reference (in1967),“butitwasthefanaticaldevotion,ratherthanthemurderousmethods”ofthe assassins that struck the imagination of Europe. Dormant for hundreds ofyears, the assassins were now at it again. The shah’s political ideology, theDivine Right of Kings, was a Western concept the Self-Sacrificers of Islamvowedtodestroy.

AftertheShiitefundamentaliststriedtokilltheshahin1949,anddespitethegroup’s clear allegiance to Islamic fundamentalism, the shah’s seculargovernment,ledbyaprimeminister,insteadplacedblameonIran’spro–SovietUnion communist party, theTudehParty, orParty of theMasses.As the shahrecovered in the hospital, Iranian state police arrestedmore than two hundredTudehPartymembersandconfiscated thegroup’sassets inaneffort to rid thecountry of communists. The remaining members of the Tudeh Party wentunderground.

InWestern media outlets, the assassination attempt was reported as beinglinkedtoeconomics,notreligion.“Theassassinationattemptcameonedayafter2,000studentsmarchedaroundtheMajlis(Parliament)buildinganddemandedcancellationof theAnglo-IranianOilCompany’sconcession [that is,exclusiverights]totakeoiloutofIran,”reportedtheUnitedPress.Halfacenturyearlier,in1901,aBritishentrepreneurnamedWilliamD’ArcysecuredfromthecorruptformershahofIran,Mozaffarad-DinShahQajar,theexclusiverightstopumpoiloutofthedesert,ondecidedlyone-sidedterms.D’Arcy’sBritishoilcompanywouldkeep84percentoftheprofits,while16percentwouldgotothemonarchyfor the king to disperse as he saw fit, whichwasmostly in his pocket. Now,forty-eightyears later, thebogus termsof theoildealhadbecomea legitimatepointofcontentionformanyIranians.Butin1949itwasnotoilthatwasdirectlyrelated to the assassination attempt on the corrupt and ineffectual ShahMohammadRezaPahlavi;itwasreligion.

IntheWesternmedia,theSovietUnionwascastasthevillainintheIraniansituation.“Iranhasbeenthesceneofunrestsincetheendofthewar,”reportedthe Associated Press. “Its vast oil resources have been a bone of contentionbetween theSovietUnion,which has demanded concessions, and theWesternpowers,whichhaveresistedRussianentranceintotheoilfieldswheretheyhavelong dominated.” This was precisely what Stalin warned Ambassador BedellSmith about, during theirmeeting at theKremlin.Ninemonths after theSelf-Sacrificersof Islam failed tokill the shah, they succeeded in assassinatinghis

ministeroftheroyalcourt,AbdolhosseinHazhir.Inanattempttokeeporder,theshahappointedahard-lineanticommunistmilitarygeneralnamedAliRazmarato be the new prime minister of Iran. In response, the Fedayeen-e Islamdispatchedanassassintokillhim.

OnMarch 7, 1951, PrimeMinister Razmara was paying his respects at afuneral in the ShahMosque, in Tehran,when a religious zealot namedKhalilTahmasebi stepped forward from the crowdand fired abullet directly intohisface, killing him instantly. The assassination garnered the world’s attention.“PremierofIranIsShottoDeathinaMosquebyaReligiousFanatic;VictimofAssassin,” headlined the Associated Press. Just twelve days later, GeneralRazmara’sministerof education,AbdulHamidZanganeh,was shot andkilledby the same group while standing on the steps of Tehran University, whereFedayeen-eIslamhadalmostkilledtheshahtwoyearsbefore.Inresponsetotheback-to-backassassinations,theshahdeclaredmartiallaw.

InWashington, DC, members of the CIA convened to discuss next steps.“The assassination of Prime Minister Razmara seriously worsens an alreadygrave situation in Iran,” warned a representative from the Office of PolicyCoordination.“Politicalandeconomicinsecuritycombinedwithchauvinistandfanatical religious emotions [have] produce[d] an atmosphere extremelyfavorabletoSovietsubversion.”Alarmistornot,theperspectiveoftheCIAwasthat the entire Middle East was on the brink of falling to communism. Thesuccessfulassassinationofaheadof statecanpromptcopycatkillings, raisingthespecterofchaosandinstability,whichisexactlywhathappenedfourmonthslater,asaseriesofbrutalassassinationssweptacrosstheMiddleEast.ThefirstwasinLebanon.

As with most of its Arab neighbors, Lebanon had only recently gainedindependencefromFrenchcolonialruleaftertheendofWorldWarII.Aspertheterms of the United Nations Charter, the last French troops withdrew fromLebanon inDecember 1946.On July 17, 1951,RiadAl Solh, Lebanon’s firstprime minister, was gunned down at Marka Airport in Amman, Jordan. Thekillers,membersofagroupcalledtheSyrianSocialistNationalParty,declaredthat theirswas a revenge killing for the execution of one of their ownparty’scofoundingmembers.Threedayslater,onJuly20,KingAbdullahofJordanwaskilled by a Palestinian assassin at the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque inJerusalem.Hewaswalking intoFridayprayers.Theking, age sixty-nine,diedinstantly from three shots to the head and the chest. “The King who made[Jordan] a nation is no more,” a British newsreel proclaimed. “He was our

friend.Andforthishedied.”Standingattheking’ssidewhenhewasassassinatedwashisfifteen-year-old

grandson,PrinceHussein, hit bybullet fragments.Theprince’s lifewas savedwhen the fragments bounced off a medal, pinned to his chest, that hisgrandfatherhadgivenhimearlierthatsameday.TheassassinwasshotdeadbybodyguardsandastateofemergencywasdeclaredinJordan.Theking’seldestson, Prince Talal, took the throne. But Talal had a hidden history of mentalillnessandhadbeensecretlytreatedforschizophreniainaSwissclinictheyearbefore. After ruling Jordan for a year, he was removed from power by theparliament.PrinceHusseinbecameKingHusseinofJordan,nowagesixteen.Hewould rule Jordan for the next forty-five years. Having witnessed theassassinationofhisgrandfatherbyaPalestinianfanaticmadetheteenageKingHusseinforevercautiousof thosearoundhim,helatersaid,andcausedhimtotreat his fellow Arab rulers with a degree of skepticism. He is said to havealwayscarriedagunwhenheleftthepalaceandsleptwithapistolwithinarm’sreach.

After the death of King Abdullah of Jordan, the State Department sent atelegramtoall itsambassadors in theArabstatesandIsrael,encouragingthem“to counsel restraint and moderation” as it worked to shore up a secretpartnershipwiththeshahofIran.Thekillingofotherheadsofstateintheregion“could promote a further weakening of Iran’s internal stability,” CIA analystsfeared.Andtheresultcouldbe“ageneralsenseofaimlessness, insecurity,andfrustration… highlighting Iran’s lack of capable leadership.”Which is exactlywhathappenednext.

InTehran, riots broke out.To appease an angry public, the shah appointedMohammadMossadegh,anIraniannationalist,toserveasprimeminister,givinghimauthorityoverIran’smilitaryforces.OneofMossadegh’sfirstactionswastowrestcontroloftheoilindustryfromtheAnglo-IranianOilCompany,whichinfuriatedtheBritish.MossadeghimprisonedthefounderoftheSelf-Sacrificersof Islam, Navab Safavi, which enraged the Fedayeen-e Islam, who putMossadeghontheirkilllist.

UnabletokillMossadegh,theFedayeenwentaftertheprimeminister’sloyalforeignminister,HosseinFatemi.Inwhatwassuretobeaspectaculardisplayoffanaticismandrevenge,theFedayeenengineeredaplantokillFatemiwhilehewasattendingacommemorativeeventmarking theassassinationofnewspaperpublisher Mohammad Masoud. But at the exact moment the assassin wasreachingintohisfrontjacketpockettopulloutagun,alocalphotographerjust

sohappenedtosnapaphotographofthekiller,animagethatwouldbereprintedin newspapers around the world. Adding to the uncanny timing of thephotographwasthefactthatthekillerwasn’tagrownmanbutayoungboyoffifteen. In 1952, the marriage of violence and Islamic fundamentalism wasunfamiliartomostWesterners,andtheideathatateenageboycouldbeseducedinto becoming an assassin in the name of religion was considered downrightshocking. The teenager managed to get off only a single shot, hitting Iran’sforeignminister in the stomach,wounding him.The boywas captured by theshah’s state police, who took him back to police headquarters, where heconfessed to being a member of Fedayeen-e Islam. In Washington, DC,PresidentEisenhower approved thePsychologicalStrategyBoard’splans for ahidden-handcoupd’étatinIran.

Ayearpassed.OnMarch4,1953,theNationalSecurityCouncilconvenedtodiscuss Iran. Dulles repeated his thoughts on what the assassination of PrimeMinister Mossadegh would mean for the United States. “If he were to beassassinated or otherwise to disappear from power, a political vacuum wouldoccur in Iran and the Communists might easily take over.” And if thecommunists moved on the Middle East and all its oil, it would mean theoutbreakofwar.

PresidentEisenhowerwasbriefedonnumerousplans.WhenheexpressedapreferenceforU.S.financialsupporttoMossadeghinsteadofgettingridofhim,representatives from State, Defense, and the CIA argued that to do so wasuseless.Thedaysofproppinguppeoplewhodidn’tliketheUnitedStateswerecomingtoanend,CIAdirectorAllenDullesadvised.CharlesWilson,secretaryofdefense,agreed.“Intheolddays,whendictatorshipschangeditwasusuallyamatterofonefactionoftherightagainstanother,andwehadonlytowaituntilthesituationsubsided,”Wilson toldEisenhower.“Nowadays,however,whenadictatorshipof theright[is]replacedbyadictatorshipof the left,astatecouldpresentlyslideintoCommunismand[become]irrevocablylosttous.”ItwasthesamemantrathathadallowedtheCIAtogarnercovert-actionauthorityinKoreaand Guatemala. Diplomacy wasn’t working, and military intervention wasunwise.Thatleftthepresidentwithhisthirdoption,thehiddenhand.

The president told his advisors that the situation was “a matter of greatdistress” tohim.Thathe couldnotunderstandwhy“we seemedunable togetsomeof thepeople in thesedowntroddencountries to likeus insteadofhatingus.” After listening to the president, the National Security Council securedauthorization to proceed. The followingmonth, onApril 4, 1953, onemillion

dollars was wired to the CIA’s Tehran Station to bring about the downfall ofMohammadMossadegh.

The CIA plot to overthrowMossadegh, code-named Operation Ajax, tookplace the thirdweekofAugust 1953.Thedetails of the coup—even thebasicquestionslikewhohatchedtheplotandwhocarrieditout—remainthesubjectofdebate.Mossadeghwasnotassassinatedbutinsteadarrestedandconvictedoftreason.Heservedthreeyearsinjailbeforebeingbanishedtohousearrest.Hediedin1967.AretiredarmygeneralnamedFazlollahZahedibecametheCIA’sfrontman,retainingpowerasprimeministerfortwoyears.ButtherealgoalfortheUnitedStateswas toquietlyhelp the shah assumeabsolutepower in Iran.Withmilitaryandeconomicbacking,by1955,theCIAgotitswish.

TheDefenseDepartment sentGeneralMcClure, founder of theU.S.Army10thSpecialForces,toTehran,toserveaschiefoftheU.S.MilitaryMissioninIran.HisjobwastohelpIranbuildupitsconventionalmilitaryforces,aswellasa guerrilla warfare corps. In a letter to his liaison on the National SecurityCouncil, McClure relayed what he’d learned. “His majesty’s first and mostimportantproblemwasthemoraleofthearmedforces.Somethingmustbedoneimmediately to provide min[imum] housing requirements for its officers andnoncommissioned officers, many of whom [are] at present living in squalor,”McClurewrote.Likeakidinacandystore,theshah’swishlistwaslong.“Hedesiresahighlyproficientandtechnicallytrainedsmallarmywithconsiderablemobility,whichcouldbebacked,intimeofwar,bylargenumbersoftribesmenarmedasInfantryandtrainedtofightdefensivelyuntiloverrunandthenresorttoguerrillatactics.”

TheshahinsistedheneededanarsenalofweaponssystemsandartilleryfromtheUnitedStatesinordertoexercisedominanceintheregion:“ThreeBattalionsof Patton Tanks, an antiaircraft battalion to protect troops, steel mating forairstrips,155Howitzersandlandmines,”wroteMcClure.Theshahacceptedthefact that it was “too early” to talk about being supplied with U.S. jet fighteraircraft.Theshah’smilitaryreorganizationwaswellunderway,McClurewrote,thecountry’scharterbeing rewritten tomovemilitaryauthorityawayfromtheprimeministersoitwasentirelyundertheshah’sdirectionandcontrol.

PresidentEisenhowerexpressedhisapprovalforwhatwasoriginallyseenasasuccessfulcoupinIran.TheSovietswereatbay,at least fornow.“TheCIAcarried out [a] successful regime-change operation,” says CIA staff historianDavidRobarge.“Italsotransformedaturbulentconstitutionalmonarchyintoanabsolutistkingshipandinducedasuccessionofunintendedconsequences.”Not

untiltheIranianRevolutionin1979wouldthemostimpactfuloftheunintendedconsequences be revealed. Scores of foot soldiers of the revolution seeking tooverturn the shah were members of Fedayeen-e Islam. But in 1953, with theshahfirmlyinstalledastheAmericanpuppet,andorderseeminglyinplace,CIAofficers mistakenly believed they could control the Self-Sacrificers of Islam,maybeevenworkwiththem.

AnewstrategyfordealingwithradicalIslamicfundamentalistsemerged.Thecommunistswereavowedatheists.TheCIAand theNationalSecurityCounciladvised President Eisenhower that the United States should begin using thecommunists’ irreligiosity against them. In September 1957, at aWhite Housemeeting with the president, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, the CIA’sFrankWisner,membersof the JointChiefsofStaff, andPresidentEisenhoweragreed. “We should do everything possible to stress the ‘holy war’ aspect”endemic to theMiddle East, Eisenhower said. Dulles suggested that the CIAcreate a “secret task force” through which the United States could deliverweapons, intelligence, and money to American-friendly monarchs includingKingSaudofSaudiArabia,KingHusseinofJordan,andKingFaisalofIraq.Itwas an idea thatwould have grave unintended consequences. From these taskforcesathousandmonsterswouldbeborn.

As was the case with many Arab rulers in the 1950s, Egypt’s Gamal AbdelNassercametopowerusingassassinationasapoliticaltool,atleastaccordingtohissuccessor,AnwarSadat.InaninterviewwithArabtelevision,SadatsaidthatNasser conducted “a large-scale assassination campaign” starting in January1952, an act that helped him secure power and respect. After trying,unsuccessfully, tomachine-gundownapolitical rivalduringamilitaryparade,NasserledasuccessfulmilitarycoupagainstKingFarouk,whichlaunchedtheEgyptian revolution. No one liked Egypt’s King Farouk. He was corrupt andineffectual,vilifiedforridingaroundthecountryinhisprivatetrainconsumingoysterswhilesomanyofhissubjectssufferedfrompovertyandhunger.Sparedexecution,KingFaroukwasforcedtoabdicate,andhelivedouttherestofhislifeinMonacoandItaly.NasserbecamepresidentofEgyptin1956.

Theuseofassassinationasapoliticaltoolcutsbothways.Inaregionwhereassassinationwasasmuchabout revengeas itwasaboutpoliticsand religion,once you tried to assassinate a rival, you could assume that your rivals weregoingtobecomingafteryou.Twoyearsaftertakingpower,Nasserbecamethetarget of an assassination attempt by theMuslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s Sunni

fundamentalistgroup.On October 26, 1954, Nasser was in Alexandria, delivering a speech to

celebratetheBritishmilitarywithdrawal.Thehistoriceventwasbroadcast liveon radiosall acrossEgyptand theArabworld.AsNasser regaled themassivecrowd of supporters who’d gathered in Mansheya Square, a member of theMuslimBrotherhoodstoodupandfiredatPresidentNasserfromjusttwentyfeetaway. Despite firing eight shots in all, the assassin missed Nasser entirely.PandemoniumeruptedamongthecrowdwhileNasserremainedsublimelycalm.He seized upon the moment for political advantage, addressing millions ofEgyptianslisteningtohisspeechontheradio.

“My countrymen!” Nasser shouted out. “My blood spills for you and forEgypt!”Even thoughNasserwasn’tbleeding, thecrowdwentwild.“Let themkill me!” he cried. “It does not concernme so long as I have instilled pride,honor,andfreedominyou.IfGamalAbdelNassershoulddie,eachofyoushallbe Gamal Abdel Nasser!” As the crowd erupted in cheers, Nasser continuedshoutingintothemicrophone.“GamalAbdelNasserisofyouandfromyou,andhe iswilling to sacrifice his life for the nation,” he repeated again and again.Nasser, alreadypopular,was nowalso publicly adored across theArabworld.His vision for pan-Arabism, the desire to unify the Arab world from NorthAfricatoWestAsia,fromtheAtlanticOceantotheArabianSea,couldnowtakehold.

In neighboring Libya, a young Bedouin boy named Muammar el-Qaddafilistened toNasser’sMansheyaSquare radiobroadcastwithsupremeadoration.In school, Qaddafi would leap up onto his chair and recite Nasser verbatim.Peoplethoughthewasodd.Hisclassmatesmadefunofhim.Hedidn’tcare.Oneday,hesaid,he’dproveallofthemwrong.Andhe’dexactrevengeonanyonewho ever dared doubt him. Muammar el-Qaddafi would grow up, join themilitary, and seize power fromLibya’s corruptKing Idris. Hewould emulateGamalNasser,promotehisideology,andinsistthetwomenbecomefriends.

Twothousandmilesaway, inIraq,arebelgroupplottedtoassassinate theirking.On July 14, 1958, the last kingof Iraq, his family, his advisors, andhisprimeministerwereallkilledinoneofthemostbrutalassassinationandcoupsd’étatinmodernhistory.Thebloodbathwasaterrifyingmixofpoliticalkillingand revengemurder, finalizedand sensationalized ina sadisticdisplayofmobrage.KingFaisalII,bornin1935,becamekingofIraqwhenhewasjustthreeyearsold,afterhisplayboyfatherdiedinacarcrash.DuringWorldWarII,the

boylivedwithhismother,QueenAliya,inEngland.Asateenager,heattendedtheBritishboardingschoolHarrowalongsidehissecondcousin,Hussein, thenservingaskingofJordan.

KingFaisalwastwenty-threeandengagedtobemarriedwhenonJuly14themilitarystormedthepalaceinBaghdad.Oneoftheking’smilitarycommanders,abrigadiergeneralnamedAbdal-KarimQasim,orderedthatthemembersoftheroyalfamilybelinedupinfrontofawallandmachine-gunnedtodeath.PrimeMinister Nuri al-Said escaped the immediate carnage and the following daydonnedanabayaand sneakedout abackdoorof thepalace.Hewas capturedandshot,andhiscorpse“cutupbyshawermaknives”byavengefulmob.Themutilatedcorpsesof thecrownprinceand theprimeministerwere thenstrungup outside theMinistry ofDefense and hitwith sticks.After the bodiesweretaken down, theywere laid out in the street,where theywere run over by anarmyvehicle.Thecorpses“resembledsausage,”reportedaBaghdadnewspaper,whichranphotographsofthebodiesandthemayhem.

King Faisal II had been decidedly pro-Western, a friend of the StateDepartment and a guest of theWhite House during a visit to DC. His 1958assassinationwasablowtotheCIA’sdesireforregionalcontrol.Thekinghadbeenacornerstonepartner in theBaghdadPactof1955,a five-nationalliancesignedby Iran, Iraq,Pakistan,Turkey, and theUnitedKingdom, in support ofWesterndemocraticideals.Thealliance,knownasCENTO,wasmodeledafterNATOandpromisedmutualcooperationamongitssignatorynations.Atitscore,theBaghdadPactwas an agreement to contain the spread of communism andlimitMoscow’sinfluenceinthealreadyvolatileMiddleEast.

After the murders, Allen Dulles was asked to meet with PresidentEisenhower to brief him on worst-case scenarios in Iraq and how the king’skilling might affect the overall region. Dulles told Eisenhower that a chainreactiondownfallcouldeasilyoccuracrosstheentireMiddleEast.ThekingsofJordan, SaudiArabia, and Iranwere all extremely vulnerable to assassination,Dulleswarned,andiftheyweremurdered,theirweakgovernmentswouldsurelyfall.

Iraq’s new leader, General Abd al-KarimQasim,withdrew from the BaghdadPactandbeganforgingapartnershipwiththeSovietUnion.In1959,inkeepingwith the cycle of revenge, a six-man hit squad aligned with an undergroundresistance force tried to assassinate Qasim. One of the assassins was a footsoldier from thevillageofTikrit namedSaddamHussein.During the ambush,

Saddam Hussein began shooting prematurely, drawing fire from Qasim’sbodyguardsandcausingtheplantogoawry.Qasim’schauffeurwaskilled,butGeneralQasimsurvivedtheattemptonhislife.Believingthey’dkilledGeneralQasim,themembersofthehitteamfled.

Saddam Hussein vanished. When he resurfaced years later in Egypt, theworldwasadifferentplace.

CHAPTERSEVEN

TheKGB’sOfficeofLiquidAffairs

Throughthe1950s,thepresident’sadvisorscontinuedtoseetheSovietsasthecauseofanti-Americanactsandsentimenttheycouldotherwisenotexplain.Atthe same time, Moscow remained hyperfocused on controlling the public’sperception of communism. From 1954 onward, the CIA believed that theKremlinwasbehindtherecentspateofémigrékidnappingsandassassinationsinEastern Europe. Too many community leaders who’d spoken out against theSovietUnionwerewindingupdisappearedordead.Forthemostpartthiswasspeculative.IfonlytheCIAhadhardevidence.Thehit-and-runambusheswerebrazen and bold, often occurring in broad daylight on city streets. Finally, in1954, theCIAgot theevidence itwas looking for in the strangecaseofKGBassassinCaptainNikolaiEvgenievichKhokhlov.

Captain Khokhlov was a shyman, quiet and unassuming. His first career,before theSecondWorldWar,wasasa theatricalperformer.His special talentwaswhistling.Nowherehewas,standinginahallwayinFrankfurt,Germany,aKGB assassin on a mission to kill. It was April 1954, and everything inKhokhlov’slifewasabouttochange.

He rang the doorbell above a small nameplate that read GEORGIY

SERGEYEVICHOKOLOVICH.Russianbybirth,Okolovichwas anoutspokenanti-SovietémigréandchiefofoperationsofthePopularLaborAllianceofRussianSolidarists, a virulently anticommunist group in West Germany. The dooropened.Thetwomenstoodface-to-face.

“GeorgiySergeyevich?”Khokhlovasked.“Da,”saidtheman,“Yes,Iamhe.”“I have come to you from Moscow,” Khokhlov stated. “The Central

Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has ordered yourassassination. The murder is entrusted to my group. I cannot let this murderhappen.”

The target, Georgiy Okolovich, let the assassin, Nikolai Khokhlov, inside.Khokhlovsatdown,presentedhiscredentials,andwentover thedetailsof theplan. Then he begged for help. He couldn’t go on like this, Khokhlov said,overseeingthedeathsofpeopletheKremlinwantedkilled.Khokhlovwantedtoswitch sides—tobetrayhis country anddefect to theWest. IfOkolovichwerewilling to help him, they both would live. And so assassination as a secretweaponinthebattlebetweenEastandWestmovedoutoftheshadowsandintothepubliceye.

Oneweeklater,onApril22,CaptainNikolaiEvgenievichKhokhlovtooktothepodiumatapressconferenceinBonn,Germany.HeannouncedtotheworldthathewasanassassinfortheKGB.A“crisisofconscience”hadpreventedhimfromkilling,hesaid.TheKGBwasevilandhadtobestopped,hewarned.Asproof, he revealed yet another Soviet covert-action operation that had beencarried out the week before. While Khokhlov was being debriefed by U.S.intelligenceagentsinBonn,asecondassassinationteamdispatchedbytheKGBhad succeeded in kidnapping and assassinating an anti-Soviet émigré namedAleksandrTrushinovich,Okolovich’scounterpartatthePopularLaborAllianceofRussianSolidaristsinBerlin.

Atfirst,theCIAwassuspiciousofKhokhlov.Hisstorysoundedapocryphal.ThemorelikelyscenariowasthatKhokhlovwasadoubleagent,aSovietmole.But after a few days of questioning, Khokhlov’s American handler becameconvinced he was indeed a KGB assassin who had experienced a crisis ofconscience that led toan ideological shift. In theColdWarbattlebetween theUnitedStatesandtheUSSR,mostdefectingwasdonefromEasttoWest,whichmade Russia look bad. The Soviet Union spent time and treasure trying tocontrolthefreeworld’sperceptionofcommunism,whichiswhyoutspokenanti-Sovietémigrés likeGeorgiyOkolovichandAleksandrTrushinovichwerehighontheassassinationlist.NowsotoowasKhokhlov.

Adding to thedramaofhisdefectionwas the fact thathecarriedwithhimphysicalevidenceoftheSoviet-ledassassinationplot.TheweapontheKGBhadgivenhimwasacunninglittleclose-quarterskillingmachine,apoisondartgundisguised to look likeacigarettepack.At firstglance, the two rowsof tightlypacked smokes appeared normal. But Khokhlov demonstrated how, with thepressofasecretbutton,afour-inch-longdartgunsprangforth,capableoffiring

small,poison-tippedbulletsintoavictim.Theweapon’sdeliverysystemwasnolouder than a snapof the fingers,Khokhlovdemonstrated, anddesigned to befiredinapublicspacewithoutnotice.

InKhokhlov’s debrief, theCIA learned quite a bit about the unusualman,code-namedWhistler,includinghisintelligenceactivitiesduringthewar.Whenhigher-ups in the KGB’s predecessor organization, the NKVD (People’sCommissariat for InternalAffairs), learned that theblond,blue-eyedKhokhlovspoke German and could whistle, they foresaw an excellent disguise for awartimecovertagent.In1941,Khokhlovwasrecalledfromafrontlineinfantryunit, indoctrinated by theNKVD, and sent for paramilitary training,where helearnedassassinationtechniquesbehindenemylines.Hestudiedinfiltrationandexfiltration tactics, reconnaissance tradecraft, hand-to-hand combat skills, andtheartof silentkilling, training similar toOSSoperators’. In the fallof1943,KhokhlovhadparachutedintoBelarusundercoverofnight,wherehelinkedupwithSovietpartisansandoversawtheassassinationofNaziGeneralkommissarWilhelmKube,theButcherofBelarus.Khokhlov,itseemed,wasthecommunistversionof theSpecialOperationsExecutive’sJanKubišandJosefGabčík, thecommandos who assassinated SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, theButcherofPrague.

After the war, Nikolai Khokhlov went to work for Russian intelligence,posingasaGerman,aPole,andaRomanian.In1954,afterthedeathofStalin,the NKVD became the KGB and Khokhlov was called back toMoscow. HebegantohavesecondthoughtsaboutbeingaprofessionalassassinrightaroundthetimehewassenttoFrankfurttokillGeorgiyOkolovich.

During Khokhlov’s debrief, the CIA learned information it coveted. TheKGB’sassassinationunitwascalledthe12thDepartmentandwas“dividedintosections (otdeleniye) or directions (napravleniye), by countries or groups ofcountries, such as, for example, the United States (‘the principal enemy’),England, Latin America, etc.” According to Khokhlov, the 12th Departmentheadquarters inMoscowmaintained fifty to sixty experienced employees andwas headed by a general named Nikolai B. Rodin, who, “under the aliasKorovin, had previously been the KGB resident in Great Britain.” Secrecyregarding assassinationoperationswasmaintained through careful selectionofagents and the specialized training of Soviet personnel. “The officers do notdiscuss their experience among others; department documents are notcirculated,” Khokhlov’s handlers learned. If an assassination plot were everrecorded, it would be kept track of under the code phrase Executive Action,

within the KGB directorate of “liquid affairs” (mokryye dela), also known as“wetmatters.”

The12thDepartmenthad two secretweapons laboratorieswhose scientistsworkedonweaponsforExecutiveActionoperations.Oneoftheselaboratories,code-named Laboratory No. 12, produced “special weapons and explosivedevices.” Itwashere that theSoviets engineered andprepareddeadly toolsofassassination,from“drawingupblueprints[to]meltingandpouringbullets.”Asecond lab, calledKamera,or theChamber, “developedpoisons anddrugs for‘special tasks.’” Stalin personally oversaw the creation of the Kamera lab,Khokhlovsaid,whichwaslocatedinasuburboutsideMoscowcalledKuchino.The laboratory housed a torture chamber, a place where death-row prisonerswere used as guinea pigs, injected with “different powders, beverages, andliquors… to test the effectiveness of various types of injections.” One high-priorityeffortforthescientistsandengineersatKamera,Khokhlovsaid,wastocreatepoisonsthatwouldbeundetectableinanautopsy.Onlyahandfulofhigh-level personswere ever allowed to enter this classified facility.Khokhlov hadneverbeentoKamera,hesaid,butknewpeoplewhohad.

Allassassinsweretrainedintheartofkidnapping,thepreferredhit-and-runtacticofthe12thDepartment.TheRussianstrike-forceunitswerecalledcombatgroups (boyevaya gruppa). Each consisted of a Soviet staff officer, likeKhokhlov,augmentedbyateamofindigenousagents,localassetsfamiliarwithcustoms and terrain nearwhere a target lived.On themission to killGeorgiyOkolovich,Khokhlovhadbeenassigned toworkwith twoGerman-bornKGBagents he identified as Hans Kukowitsch and Kurt Weber. All combat-groupparamilitary operatorswere “armed andprepared to performexecutive actionswhenrequiredtodoso,eitherintimeofpeaceorwar,”Khokhlovsaid.

ThelistofSoviet targetsforassassinationwas long,particularlyamongtheanticommunist émigré community. The members of the Politburo guarded areputation they constructed for themselves, andwere determined to stamp outdissent.Thebestwaytosilenceformercitizenswhothreatenedthefacadewastokidnap and assassinate them. “The assassinations of some émigré leaders [areoften] carriedout so skillfully as to leave the impression that thevictimsdiedfromnaturalcauses,”readsadeclassifiedCIAreport.Theindividualswhodiedwere reportedly “victims of an apparent heart attack, suicide, fall, or trafficaccident.”Other émigré leaderswerewanted for information they had. Thesepeople were targeted for kidnapping by a direct-action strike force called aCombat Action Team. The paramilitary team followed orders from the

directorateofliquidaffairs.TheCIAhadathickdossierofthedisappearedémigrés,towhichKhokhlov

added several names.TherewasWalterLinse, president of theAssociation ofFree German Jurists (lawyers), kidnapped off the streets of Berlin in July of1952byathirteen-manKGBCombatActionteam,nevertobeseenagain.Therewas Bohumil Lausman, an outspoken anticommunist Czech who disappearedfromViennain1953andwaslaterreportedtohavebeentakentoaSovietgulag,wherehedied.TheUkrainiannationalValeriP.Tremmelwasgrabbedoff thestreetsofLinz,Austria,inJune1954,nevertobeseenorheardfromagain.

For his high-profile defection to theWest and his refusal to kill onmoralgrounds,KhokhlovwasfeaturedinTimemagazineandLifemagazineand inafour-part series in the Saturday Evening Post, “I Would Not Murder for theSoviets.” When he testified for Congress, he made the Soviet Union sounddownrightdiabolical.HespokeofSovietdeathcamps,brutalpolicetactics,andthemachine-gunningofcitizenswho’dgatheredtoresisttotalitarianrule.Underoath, he swore that while “members of the elite enjoy very good livingconditions,theordinarymanintheSovietUnionistreatedasaslave.”

Embraced by the United States, Khokhlov soon became the target of theKGB. To assassinate their former assassin, the KGB ordered scientists in the12thDepartment,nowrenamedthe13thDepartment,todevelopaspecialtoxinundetectableinanautopsy.Theywantedapoisonthatwouldfirstdisfigurehim,then bring about a long, slow, excruciatingly painful death. Not as much forrevenge but to send a clear message to anyone whomight be thinking aboutbetrayingRussia.Threeyearspassed.

In1958,KhokhlovtraveledtoGermanytogiveaspeechataconventionofanticommunistémigrésgatheredatthePalmengartenconservatoryinFrankfurt.Duringabreak,hewassittingataterracecaféenjoyingacupofcoffeewhenhebecamelight-headed.Thereweren’tmanypeoplearound,herecalled,justafewbeerdrinkers.Sippingthecoffee,hesuddenlythoughtthatittastedfunny.Nevermind, he thought, and got up andwent into the conservatory’s concert hall toenjoytheoperabeingperformed.Hisearsstartedringing.Hefeltnauseated.Hisvision blurred. “Things began to whirl,” he later told the CIA. Khokhlovstaggered out to the parking lot, found the car hewas driving, and somehowmadeitbacktohishotel,stoppingtovomitseveraltimesalongtheway.Inthehotel foyerhecollapsedand lost consciousness.Taken toFrankfurtUniversityHospital,heawoketolearnhe’dbeendiagnosedwithabasiccaseofgastritis.

But his condition quickly worsened, and worsened. Soon, his entire body

turned a copper-colored red. “Mymind began disintegrating,” he recalled.Hecouldnotaccuratelydetermineifhewasdreamingorawake.Helosttheabilitytocountbeyondten.Dayspassed.Anursecameintotheroom,lookedathim,andfroze.Thenshescreamedandranout.Lookinginthemirror,Khokhlovsawthathewascovered inblack-and-bluemarks.Patchesofhisskinweremottledbrown.Hispillowcasewascoveredinblood.“Myfacehadturnedintoamaskreminiscentof[a]BorisKarloffmonster,”heremembered.Whenhereacheduptotouchhishair,hugetuftsfellout.

InWashington, DC, the Pentagon receivedword ofwhat had happened toNikolai Khokhlov. The Defense Department swung into action, sendingAmerican military physicians to bring Khokhlov under their care. His whitebloodcellcounthadfallenfromthenormallevelof6,000–7,000downto700.Doctors took a bonemarrow sample.His blood-building cellswere dying off.The test samples came back: he’d been poisoned by somekind of radioactiveisotope.Doctorsgavehimverylittlechanceofrecovery.Then,afteraweekofbloodtransfusions,Khokhlovsomewhatmiraculouslyrecovered.

It was the CIA that concluded that Khokhlov had been poisoned withradioactive thallium, adeadly toxin, likely createdbySoviet scientists in theirKameralab.Thepoisonhadbeenengineeredtoworkina“diabolicallyclever”fashion, an analystwrote, designed to produce an initial display of symptomsdoctorswouldalmostcertainlymisdiagnoseasgenericgastritis.Theassassins,assumedtobefromtheKGB’sdirectorateofliquidaffairs,hadprobablyposedaswaitersatthePalmengartenconservatoryterracecafé,whereoneofthemhadslippedafewdropsofradioactivethalliumintoKhokhlov’scoffeecup.

Just one week after Nikolai Khokhlov was released from the AmericanmilitaryhospitalinFrankfurt,thedirectorateofliquidaffairsstruckagain.Thistime they succeeded in poisoning a high-profile anticommunist UkrainianpoliticiannamedLevRebet,killinghim.TheassassinationoccurredinMunich,Germany,inthestairwellofanewspaperofficewhereRebethadbeenworkingwith a reporter to expose Kremlin-sponsored assassinations. InWorldWar II,Rebetwastheleaderof theUkrainiangovernmentuntilhewasarrestedbytheGestapo in1941.He’d survived imprisonment atSachsenhausenconcentrationcamp,onlytobekilledbyaKGBassassinwithapoisondartguninanoffice-buildingstairwell.

Initially,LevRebet’sdeathwas reportedasbeing fromnatural causes.Theautopsythatfollowedhiscollapseinthestairwellstatedthecauseofdeathasaheart attack. But four years later, in 1961, a second KGB assassin, Bohdan

Stashinsky,defectedtoBerlin,surrenderinghimselftoWestGermanauthoritieswhoturnedhimovertotheCIA.AtaU.S.facilityinFrankfurt,Stashinskyspentweeks in the custody of the CIA, interrogated by an officer named WilliamHood. Stashinsky told Hood that he was assigned to the directorate of liquidaffairsandthathe’dassassinatedLevRebetwithaspeciallycraftedpoisongun,atinyweaponwithwhichhe’dsprayedatomizedhydrogencyanidedirectlyintoRebet’sface.HedescribedwatchingRebetcrumpleoveranddierightinfrontofhim.

UnlikeNikolaiKhokhlov,BohdanStashinskydidnotexperienceacrisisofconscience.Hewasadoubleagent.In2011,attheageofeighty,herevealedinaninterviewwithUkrainianjournalistNatalyaPrykhodkothathewasalwaysacommittedcommunistandhadbeensentbytheKremlintoturnhimselfin,winthegoodgracesoftheCIA,andcontinuehisworkasaSovietmole.

BohdanStashinskyservedeightyearsinaGermanprisonforthemurderofLevRebet.Thislightsentencewaslikelyaresultoftheliehepropagated—thathe couldn’t bear to be an assassin and instead turned himself in. AfterStashinsky’sreleasein1966,hewenttoWashingtontoworkwiththeCIA.But“theysuspectedadoublegame,”hesays,andhewassenttoabackwaterpostinPanama.Afterafewyearswithnoaccesstoanythingimportant,Stashinskywas“extracted and transported to Paraguay” by theKGB.Hewent toAfrica, hadplastic surgery (so the CIA couldn’t find him), and returned to the USSR in1970.TheCIA’sfilesonBohdanStashinskyremainclassified.

In Moscow, the KGB opened two new divisions inside its directorate ofliquid affairs. Department T (for “terrorism”) oversaw assassinations by“shooting, poisoning, blowing [things]up and subversion.”DepartmentV (for“victory”)kept trackof itsassassins’successes.Thenewnameforworkbeingdone by Department T was now “direct action,” declassified CIA documentsreveal.

CHAPTEREIGHT

GreenLight

Itwasthefallof1960,andBillyWaughstoodintheopenair,ontheinkyblacksea,nearthejackstaffofthenuclearattacksubmarineUSSGrayback.AsthesubslidthroughthewaterofftheeastcoastofOkinawaIslandinthePacific,Waughand three team members prepared for a Top Secret wet-deck launch—asubsurfaceinfiltrationtechniquemasteredbyasmall,elitegroupofU.S.SpecialForces operators called a Green Light Team. The training mission was toemplace a tactical nuclear weapon into the target area, arm the device, andexfiltratewithoutdetection.Thesubmarine’smotto,DeProfundisFuturus,wasindicative of these perilousColdWar times.Here now, in the last year of theEisenhoweradministration,iftheUnitedStateswenttowar,thebattlecrywouldlikelybenuclear.

“It was an atomic weapon we were carrying,” remembersWaugh. “Not amock-up. The army had us trainwith an actual nuclear device.We had to bebattle-ready, and we were.” The tactical nuclear weapon Waugh and histeammateswere carryingwas aW54SpecialAtomicDemolitionMunition, orSADM. Itweighed ninety-eight pounds and had a projected yield of betweenoneandsevenkilotons.Thisweaponwasdesignedtobecarriedonaman’sbackor chest, or in pieces, to be assembled on the battlefield. Built by SandialaboratoryinNewMexico,theportableatomicweaponwascapableofentirelydestroying an area roughlyonemile indiameter. “Fewhumans, buildings [or]structuresinthekillradius”wouldsurvive,accordingtomaterialdeclassifiedbytheDepartment ofDefense.GreenLight operatorswho trainedwith an actualSADM device—who parachuted with it, and swam with it strapped to theirbodies—understood the profound responsibility. The blast from a one-kiloton

atomicweaponwasequivalentto20,000poundsofTNT.ButasGreenBerets,Waughandthemenhewaswithhadbeentrainedtooperateunderextraordinarypressure, entrusted to handle a device capable of death and destruction on anunimaginablescale,whosepowerwascontainedinsideasmallaluminumvesselthesizeofakitchengarbagecan.

Waugh strapped the components of the heavy and cumbersome nuclearweapontohischest.“Asteamleader,Icarriedtwoofthefourplutoniumrings,”herememberedin2016.“Twooftheotherteammemberseachcarriedasinglering.”Theringswereattachedtohisbodywithclothtiesandsecuredwithmetalclips.Waughpulledhis infrareddevice fornightviewingdownoverhis eyes,scanned the surface of the water, and climbed down off the submarine’sstanchion.Skillfully,astrained,heloweredhimselfintothe15-manrubberboat(RB-15)andassumedposition.Weretheinflatableboattostrikethejackstaff,itcouldmeandisaster. If theRB-15flipped, thesubmarine’spowerfulpropellerswould likely suck theGreenLightTeammembers into itswake.But the fourmen onWaugh’s team boarded the boat without incident, and the submarinesunkdownbelowthesurfaceanddisappeared.“Wepaddledfourhundredmeterstoshore.Quiet.Silent.Nomotor,nosound,”recallsWaugh.

Onceontheshore,theGreenLightTeamdeflatedtherubberboat,buriedit,andcovered their trackswith sandand foliage. “Wewalked to the target area.Oncewegot there,weassembled thedevice, set the timer for fourhours, andarmed it. It took two of us to do it. That was the fail-safe.” No single teammembercouldarmthenucleardevicealone.“Whenitwastimetoexfiltrate,westarted walking out. Used commo to relay our position.” The effort tocommunicatewassuccessful,andfinallytheteamwaspickedupbyhelicopterandtakenbacktobase.“ToCampHardy,”saysWaugh,“foradebrief.”CampHardy was a U.S. military installation on the northeast coast of Okinawa,halfwaybetween thevillagesofHigashi andArakawa.ThatTopSecretGreenLightTeamatomicweaponstrainingmissionstookplacehere,startingin1960,hasneverbeenofficiallyacknowledgedbytheDepartmentofDefense.

Strategically located 910miles from Tokyo, Japan, Okinawa had a blood-soaked history. In the spring of 1945, a final showdown between the UnitedStates and Japan took place here, the last stepping-stone before themainland.Morethan140,000peoplediedonOkinawabetweenAprilandJune1945,inthelargest sea-air-landbattle ofWorldWar II.More than12,000Americanswerekilled and 36,000 wounded. By June 22, when the fighting ended, 110,000Japanese soldiers had been killed, and 160,000 Okinawan civilians had been

sacrificedbytheJapaneseArmyorkilledbyU.S.militarypersonnel.After the Japanese surrender,Okinawabecameaprotectorateof theUnited

States, technicallynolongerpartofJapan.TheU.S.militaryconstructedbasesforitsarmy,airforce,andnavyhere,includingatNahaandKadena,andToriiStation. In 1950,with the outbreak ofwar on theKoreanPeninsula,OkinawabecameastrategicfootholdforU.S.militaryandintelligenceoperationsinAsia,aplacefromwhichthearmyandnavylaunchedconventional-forceoperations.But the need for unconventional-warfare bases was now expanding, forclassifiedunits like theGreenLightTeamsandothers. In June1957, theU.S.Army activated the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) on Okinawa, taskedwith the responsibility for Pacific theater guerrilla warfare operations. As forBillyWaugh,afterbeingsingledoutforparachuteandweaponshandlingskillsbackatFortBragg,he’dbeensenttoOkinawaasamemberofCompanyA,1stSpecialForcesGroup,forlive-actionSADMtraining.

The role of aGreen Light Teamwas to carry a nuclear device into battle,behind enemy lines,where it could be used as a tacticalweapon. SADMwasdesigned for sabotage: to blow up fortified enemy infrastructure, includingtunnels,viaducts,andmountainpasses.Thesmallnuclearweaponcouldalsobeplaced just inside the enemy’s front line and detonated there. In addition tokillingsignificantnumbersofenemysoldiers,anuclearexplosionnearthemainlineofdefensewouldforceanarmytospendpreciousresourcescaringforwhatwould likely be tens of thousands ofmortallywounded soldiers, casualties ofsmall-scaleatomicwarfare.

Tobeselected foraGreenLightTeamwasa rareandprivatehonor.Teammembers worked under pseudonyms and wore fatigues with no militarymarkings or insignia. “The unit was classified, and you didn’t go arounddiscussing it or talking about it at themess hall,” saysWaugh. Being chosenmeant you’d demonstrated an ability to perform flawlessly, with laser focusundergreatstress.Flexibleandrigorousinequalmeasure.InitialtrainingwasattheU.S.ArmyEngineerCenteratFortBelvoir,inVirginia,whereGreenLightTeammembers learned infiltration techniques including parachute drops ontoland,wet-deck launches fromsubs, andacombinationofparachutedrops intotheoceanaccompaniedbyunderwaterinfiltrations,inscubagear.

Toparachuteatacticalnuclearweaponoutofanaircraftrequiredmeticulousattentiontodetail.“Timingwaseverything,”remembersWaugh.“Youallhadtojump quickly—you couldn’t afford to be spread out when you landed on theground.” The disassembled device was placed into a breakaway bagmade of

canvas, sealed with a heavy rubber band, and attached to the team leader’sparachuteharness.Ajumper’sriggingwasengineeredinawaythatonceoutofthe aircraft, the nuclear component would fall to the end of a seventeen-footlowering line. According to declassified Defense Department material, “Byseparatingthemunitionfromthejumper,theimpactshockonwaterentrywouldbe decreased. It also keeps theweapon from free-falling and prevents loss innightmissions or heavy seas.” But accidents happened, asWaugh recalls. “AGreenLightcrewonOkinawalostanucleardevice.Itslippedoutofitsharnessandfellintothemudontheseafloor.EveryassetintheU.S.NavywasinvolvedinfindingthemissingSADM.Eventuallywefoundit.Thesekindsofmishapsarealwaysresolved.”TheDefenseDepartmenthasneverconfirmedtheincident.

The nuclearweaponswork of theTopSecretGreenLightTeamsonOkinawawasaproductofPresidentEisenhower’slimitednuclearwardoctrine,officiallycalled theNewLook. The concept of a limited nuclearwarwas a paradox, aseeming contradiction of Eisenhower’s military doctrine of Mutual AssuredDestruction,orMAD.

MutualAssuredDestructionpresumedthatopposingsideswouldeachbuildanarsenalofnuclearweaponssomassive,thecapabilityalonewouldserveasadeterrent,ordisincentive,foreverstartinganuclearwar.Neithersidewouldbecrazyenoughtolaunchanuclearstrikeagainst theotherside, thetheorywent,becauseall-outnuclearwarfareguaranteedcompleteannihilationofbothsides.

Butwhataboutsmallerwars?So-calledlimitednuclearwars?Tosatisfythisquestion,Eisenhower’sNationalSecurityCouncilcreatedtheNewLooklimitedwar strategy,whichgavebirth to thousandsof tactical nuclearweapons in thelate 1950s and early 1960s, including the SADM. These small-sized nuclearweapons were designed for actual use on the battlefield, not for deterrence.Nuclear weapons were miniaturized, to fit into artillery shells, surface-to-airmissiles, air-to-air missiles, short-range missiles, as truck-portable weapons,man-portableweapons, as atomic landmines and depth charges. But the verypossibility of limited nuclear war presented an obvious problem. It was likeaskingadyingmantofightwithabutterknifewhenthere’sanicepickwithinreach.

“The way to deter aggression is for [America] to be willing and able torespondvigorouslyatanyplaceandwithmeansofitsownchoosing,”Secretaryof State John Foster Dulles told the Council on Foreign Relations in January1954,inhisfirstpublicspeechpromotingtheuseofstrategicnuclearweaponsto

winsmallwarsdirectedbyMoscow.Theseatomicmunitionscouldbeused“intheArcticandintheTropics;inAsia,theNearEast,andinEurope;bysea,bylandandbyair,”Dulleswarned.WiththisNewLookdoctrineinplay,theUnitedStatespromised it could, and if itwanted towould, respond toa conventionalthreatanywhereintheworldwithaprecisionnuclearstrike.

But just fourmonths afterDulles’s1954 speech, itshollowblusterbecameclear, in the tiny Southeast Asian country of Vietnam. There, on a smallmountain outpost on the Vietnamese border near Laos, a ferociously foughtbattlecametoabrutalclimax,stunningtheworld.Theevent,nowlongforgottenby most, was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, a fifty-seven-day armed conflictbetween the communists of North Vietnam and the far more technologicallyadvancedFrenchUnionArmyanditsairforce.Itisoneofthemostsignificantunconventional-warfarebattlesofthemodernera.

At Dien Bien Phu, 42,000 guerrilla fighters, aided by more than 114,000Vietnamesecivilians,putadecisiveendtoonehundredyearsofFrenchcolonialrule. The success of the battle belonged inarguably to two men: the group’scharismaticleader,HoChiMinh,andthegeneralofhisarmy,VoNguyenGiap.Justnineyearsearlier,duringWorldWarII,thesetwomenhadbeentrainedbyan OSS Special Operations team to fight Japanese invaders inside Vietnam.Called the OSS Deer Team, the unit was the Vietnamese equivalent of theFrench Jedburghs. In September 1945, Colonel Aaron Bank, leader of one oftheseteams,spentadaypersonallydrivingaroundVietnamwithHoChiMinhafterBank’sOSScarbrokedown.

In the modern history of unconventional warfare, General Giap’s battletacticsatDienBienPhuremainremarkable.Inadditiontotheguerrillafighters,trained in tactics taught toGeneralGiap by theOSSDear Team, the 114,000civilianswhoshowedupprovedinvaluabletothecause.MenandwomenofallagesandabilitieswalkedtotheremotemountainoutpostofDienBienPhufromacrossNorthVietnam,transportingsuppliesandheavyweaponsfromhundredsofmilesaway.Amongtheweaponshauledthroughthetreacherousterrainwereroughly500American-madehowitzers,leftbehindbyU.S.forcesinKoreaandappropriatedbytheChinese.

TogettoDienBienPhu,GeneralGiap’sarmyofciviliansbuiltroadwaysandfootpathsthroughdeepmud,densejungle,andmountainousterrainwithshovelscarriedontheirbacks.Oncetheyreachedthebattlearea,theyhand-dugatrencharound the 14,000 French forces holding ground there. Ho and Giap’srevolutionaries set up their Soviet- and Chinese-made antiaircraft guns they’d

pulledup themountain,using ropes.Theyused thesegiftsof theircommunistbenefactorstofireatFrenchfighter-bombers,shootingdownscoresandmakingresupply impossible.Entrenchedand surrounded, theFrench lost the ability tofight. On May 7, 1954, after a nearly two-month-long siege, French forcessurrendered. Some 1,600 French troops were dead, 5,000 wounded, 1,600missing.Over 8,000 French soldierswere captured by the communists, calledVietMinh, andmarched off to prison camps, some as far as 500miles away.FewerthanhalfofthesePOWssurvived.

In the final daysof theBattle ofDienBienPhu, theUnitedStates didnotcome to theaidof itsally,France. In theaftermathof theFrenchcapitulation,President Eisenhower was forced to consider anew the national-securitychallenge thatwasVietnam.AdelegationofU.S.,French,British,Soviet, andChinesediplomatsmetinSwitzerlandandagreedtodivideVietnamintoNorthandSouth,ashadbeendoneinKoreaattheendofWorldWarII.HoChiMinhandtheVietMinhweregivencontrolofthenorth.EmperorBaoDaiandanewprimeministernamedNgoDinhDiemwereassignedcontrolinthesouth.

The situationwas the best theUnited States could hope for inVietnam in1954. In a classifiedmemorandum to thepresident,CIAdirectorAllenDullesrelayed a simple truth. “The evidence [shows] that a majority of people inVietnam supported the Viet Minh rebels,” Dulles wrote. “The victory in theBattleofDienBienPhuhastremendouslyboostedHo’spopularity.”AndrightbehindHoinpopularitywasGeneralGiap.

IntheNorth,inHanoi,HoChiMinhmadeGeneralGiaphisvicepremieranddefenseminister, and the commander in chief of theVietnam People’sArmy.General Giap wrote a handbook on guerrilla warfare, People’s War, People’sArmy, which was aggressively studied within the CIA. “Giap shares withPremier Khrushchev a conviction that the future holds many ‘just wars ofnational liberation,’” one analyst wrote. Giap’s book provided guidance forregularcitizenswhowanted to join theundergroundmovementandparticipatein sabotage and subversion against the south. “[G]uerilla [sic] war mustmultiply,”wroteGiap. Itwas time for themovement to “develop intomobilewarfare,”hecommanded,“[to]wearoutandannihilatebiggerenemyforcesandwin ever greater victories.” At the CIA, plans for covert-action operationsagainstHoChiMinhandGeneralGiapmovedtothefore.

In an effort to diminish Ho and Giap’s rising popularity, and to bolsterEmperor Bao Dai and Prime Minister Diem, the CIA established a secretpresenceinSaigon,inthesouth.Withclandestineofficestuckedawayinsidethe

U.S. Embassy there, the CIA dispatched a retired air force colonel namedEdward Lansdale to serve as chief of covert operations.Within weeks of hisarrival Lansdale reported back to DC, describing the situation in Saigon aschaotic and ungovernable. Bandits and roving gangs controlled the streets. AcriminalgangcalledBinhXuyenheldpowerovertheriverboats.Animist-basedreligioussects,includingtheHoaHaoandtheCaoDai,soldprotectionagainstviolence and crime in the form of trinkets and magic spells. But LansdalebelievedAmericacouldworkwithPresidentDiem,hetoldhissuperiors.Diemwasanavowedanticommunist,andespousedadmirationforeverythingtheWestrepresented. Diem dressed like a British dilettante and spoke fluent English,havingstudiedCatholicismataMaryknollseminaryinNewJerseyforalmostayear.Heseemedeasyenoughtocontrol.

UsingCIAcash,ColonelLansdalepaidoff thecriminalgangs toceaseanddesist, thenbribedDiem’sopposition leaders to stepdown. In1955, alsowithCIAfunds,hehelped riganelection thatgot ridof the increasinglyunpopularandcorruptEmperorBaoDai.LansdaleencouragedDiemtounifythedisparategroupsof peoplewhopopulatedSouthVietnam, including the urban elite, therural peasants, and the tribal hill people. Thiswaswhat the communistsweredoingupNorth,throughheavy-handed,Soviet-stylecoercion.ButtheNorthwasunified,LansdaletoldDiem,andwithoutunification,thecommunistswouldbemore likely to succeed individingandconquering the southwith theirmobileguerrilla warfare plans. Declassified documents from CIA archives indicateLansdale tried repeatedly to get PrimeMinisterDiem to unify and strengthencivil society through education and infrastructure programs for people in thesouth, ones the CIAwas ready andwilling to pay for. ButDiemwould havenone of it. President Eisenhower had called him the “miracle man in Asia”during Diem’s visit to America, and apparently Diem thought that made himinvincible.Hewaswrong.

Lansdale began working on covert actions that did not require Diem’scooperation.OperationPassage toFreedom,disguisedasahumanitarianeffortby the U.S. Navy, was a covert-action operation run by the CIA. Under thecatchy slogan “GodHasGoneSouth,” the effort drew theworld’s attention totheplightofreligiousVietnamesebeingpersecutedbyGod-hatingcommunists.With help from theU.S.Navy’s 7th Fleet and nongovernmental organizations(NGOs), theCIA engineered the exodus of 1.25millionVietnameseCatholicsfrom thenorth to the south. “U.S. officialswanted tomake sure that asmanypersonsaspossible,particularlythestronglyanticommunistCatholics,relocated

inthesouth,”Lansdalelaterrecalled.Buthowtogetpeopletouproottheirfamiliesandmovehundredsofmiles?

Lansdale, a master of propaganda, devised a plan. He had CIA artists createpamphletsshowingHanoiwiththreenuclearmushroomcloudssuperimposedonamap.He infiltratedCIAassets into theNorth to spread rumorsof apossibleU.S.nuclearstrikeagainstHanoi.Thewaytoavoiddeathbynuclearholocaustwastomovesouth.ThepublicremainednaiveastoLansdale’sefforts,andthecompaignwasasuccess, laudedby the internationalpress.But itdamagedHoChiMinh’s reputation as a liberator, at least temporarily.And it infuriated thePolitburo,which firedbackwith abrutal covert-action assassination campaignagainstSouthVietnam.

Ho Chi Minh and General Giap did not have a powerful navy at theirdisposal, butwhat they did havewere assassins. Starting in 1959, they begandevelopinganentiremobilewarfarearmyofsingletonkillers—menandwomenwilling to travel southandassassinatepro-WesternSouthVietnameseofficials,teachers, policemen, and intellectuals. By the time the CIA was wrapping upOperation Passage to Freedom, hundreds of Hanoi’s assassins had beenemplaced below the 17th parallel. Aided by a partisan support network ofcommunistsympathizersinthesouth,thesegroups,calledspecialactivitycells,were trainedbyasecurityoperationsofficernamedNguyenTai.NguyenTai’sstory did not become public until 1990, after his memoirs were published inHanoi.HeservedintheMinistryofPublicSecurity,NorthVietnam’sespionageand security organization modeled after the KGB. “His father, Nguyen CongHoan,wasoneofVietnam’smostfamousauthors,”saysformerCIAoperationsofficer Merle L. Pribbenow. Tai’s rise to power came after he helped thegovernmentbuildacaseagainsthisownfatherfor“anti-regimestatements.”Tobetrayone’sfamilyinthenameofthecommunistpartywasrewardedasloyalty.

In 1959, assassins trained by Nguyen Tai and his Security OperationsOfficers succeeded in the hit-and-run killings of more than 1,200 SouthVietnameseofficials.Theassassinswouldrunuptoatarget,pointapistolattheperson’shead,pullthetrigger,anddisappear.Theeasewithwhichtheassassinswereable to strike, thenvanish,bredparanoia, chaos, and fear.The followingyear, in 1960, the number of close-contact assassinations more than doubled,withupwardof3,500districtofficials,ruralpolice,villagechiefs,localteachers,and othersmurdered in the south. “This covert warwas a difficult, dirty, no-holds-barred struggle that employed assassination and terror as its stock-in-trade,”saysPribbenow.

Eisenhowerwasinanuntenableposition.Diplomacywasoutofthequestionandmilitary actionwas deemed unwise. The president’s third option in SouthVietnam, covert action, was having little effect. The president’s advisorssuggested Eisenhower take action in Vietnam’s neighbor to the west, thekingdom of Laos, where a new communist insurgency was beginning to takehold. These guerrilla fighters, who were allied with Ho ChiMinh’s forces inNorthVietnam,were called the Pathet Lao. The resultwas a CIA-led covert-actionprograminLaos,firstcalledOperationAmbidextrous,renamedOperationHotFoot, and finallyknownasOperationWhiteStar.Theman in chargewasColonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons, a hard-charging unconventional-warfarespecialistfromWorldWarIIoperationsinthePhilippines.

CIAofficersandU.S.ArmyGreenBeretsdisguisedas landsurveyorswiththeNationalGeodeticSurveyassociationweresent toLaosto trainRoyalLaosoldiers in unconventional-warfare techniques. The 107 Green Berets whoparticipated in the operation were assigned to units called Mobile TrainingTeams.OneoftheseoperatorswasBillyWaugh.

OnemorningduringSADMtrainingonOkinawaIsland,Waughreceivedhisunusualorders.Hispapersstated thathewasgoingonasix-monthTemporaryDutyAssignment (TDY) toVietnam,when in fact hewas going toLaos as amemberofOperationWhiteStar.Waughanda twelve-manSpecialForcesA-Team traveled from Okinawa to the Philippines, to Bangkok, and then toVientiane, Laos. From there, the A-Team took army vehicles to Pakse, Laos,located in the western part of the country near its border with Thailand. TheGreen Berets wore civilian clothing and carried Defense Department civilianidentificationcards.When theWhiteStar teamarrivedatwhatwouldbe theirtrainingcenterforthenextsixmonths,theyfoundnothingbutanisolatedvillageof thatched huts. Everything the Green Berets needed to set up trainingoperations was air-dropped in from Okinawa—food, weapons, constructionmaterials,eventwotrucksandabulldozer.

Laoswasanimpoverishedcountrylivinginapreindustrialage.WhenWaughfirst arrived there, the landlocked nation didn’t have a single paved road,railroad, or newspaper. Its estimated two million people were more likely toidentify themselves as Hmong and Meo tribesmen than as citizens of Laos.“Mostof the [WhiteStar] traineeswere illiterate,andmanydidnotknow thatLaos was an independent nation or that it possessed a standing army,” saysDefense Department command historian Ken Finlayson. “White Star advisorsfacedanalmost insurmountable task in trying to instillasenseofurgencyand

purpose in theLaotian soldiers, to implement rigid training schedules,” and topreparethemforbattlewiththePathetLao.

The intention of White Star was to train Laotian troops to a level ofcompetence that would enable them to fight the communist Pathet Lao. Thisprovedtobeadauntingtask,ifnotanimpossibleone.“TheLaotiancommanderofourunitdrankalotanddrovehisMercedesaround,”remembersWaugh.“Theconcept of discipline or physical training did not exist.” White Star advisorColonelAlfredPaddockrecallsthat“anastonishingfifteensoldierswerekilledbytheirownminesduringourstay.”HowtotrainarebelarmyinthedevelopingworldinkeepingwithU.S.Armystandards?ThesameconundrumhasplaguedtheU.S.ArmyfromWorldWarIItothepresentday.

Buttherewasafarmoredangerousproblemunfolding,onethatneither theCIA nor theDefenseDepartment foresaw.Hanoiwas using Laos as a supplyroute,awaytomoveweapons,fighters,andsuppliesfromNorthVietnamintoSouth Vietnam. This passageway would become known as the Ho ChiMinhTrail. It consisted of more than 1,500 miles of interconnected pathways androads,somewideandsturdyenoughfortrucks,othersmeantforelephants,footsoldiers, and bicyclists. A Top SecretNational SecurityAgency (NSA) reportdeclassifiedin2007calledtheHoChiMinhTrail“oneofthegreatachievementsinmilitary engineering of the twentieth century.” Thanks to the triple-canopyjunglethatstretchedacrossmuchofLaosandVietnam,theconstructionof thetrailwashappeningrightundertheCIA’snose.

It was a communist-led covert-action operation of epic proportions—viciouslyeffectiveandsoeasy toplausiblydeny.Historiansagree: theHoChiMinhTrailwasaprimaryfactorinAmerica’slosingtheVietnamWar.

CHAPTERNINE

TheSpecialGroup

During the last year of Eisenhower’s presidency, in a radical escalation ofhidden-hand operations, a small group of the president’s principal advisorsbeganopenlydiscussingamongthemselvesplanstoassassinateforeignleaders.ThisnewgroupwascalledtheSpecialGroup.

It was not uncommon for the president’s covert-action advisory board tochange names. The National Security Council remained the official oversightboard, and smaller ancillary groups were often created to deal with the mostincendiary and potentially scandalous covert operations. First there was thePsychological Strategy Board, formed in 1951, as we have seen. During theGuatemala coup d’état, in 1953, the PSB was reorganized as the OperationsCoordinating Board (OCB). After the issuance of a new directive, CovertOperationsNSC5412/2,in1955,thePlanningCoordinationGroup(PCG)wascreated. Somemonths later, the SpecialGroup emerged,with requirement formembershiparankofassistantsecretaryorabove.

The word “assassination” was never used and certainly not committed topaper. Instead,aSenate investigation later found, thepresident’sadvisorsused“secrecy, compartmentation, circumlocution, and the avoidance of clearresponsibility” tomaintain plausible deniability around assassination schemes.The president’s inner circle discussed the pros and cons of “eliminating” or“neutralizing”certainindividuals,and“gettingridof”or“disposingof”foreignleaders,soastoadvanceU.S.foreignpolicygoals.“Speakinginriddlestoeachother”becamecommonplace,Senateinvestigatorsfound.

OnFebruary25, 1960,membersof theSpecialGroup convened todiscuss“eliminating” General Qasim, the prime minister of Iraq—the man who had

ordered themachine-gun killing of the king of Iraq, his family, and his primeministerin1958,andwhomSaddamHusseinhadtriedtokillthefollowingyear.A stenographer took notes as theSpecialGroup discussed setting up aHealthAlterationCommittee topoisonQasim.“Wedonot consciously seek subject’spermanent removal from the scene; we also do not object should thiscomplication develop,” said the CIA’s Near East Division chief. Afterdeliberation,theSpecialGroupagreedthattheprimeministershouldbemailedamonogrammedhandkerchieflacedwithpoison.Forthis,theCIA’snewdeputydirector of plans, Richard Bissell, brought the Agency’s top poison expert,SidneyGottlieb,onboard.TheplannevermaterializedbecausePrimeMinisterQasim’sinternalenemieskilledhimfirst.“[He]sufferedaterminalillnessbeforea firing squad in Baghdad (an event we had nothing to do with),” a SpecialGroupmemosarcasticallyclarified.

Other assassinationplansdiscussedby theSpecialGroup in1960 involvedPatriceLumumba,primeministerofCongo.“[We]agree thatplanning for theCongowouldnotnecessarily ruleout ‘consideration’of anyparticularkindofactivitywhichmightcontributetogettingridofLumumba,”membersagreedonAugust 25, 1960, a prime example of Special Group circumlocution. KillingRafael Trujillo, president of theDominicanRepublic,was also discussed.Butthe most intense focus during Eisenhower’s last year as president was oneliminating Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Raul Castro. In less than a year,thesethreerevolutionarieshademergedfromvirtualanonymitytoestablishingaSoviet footholdon the islandnationofCuba, located just ninetymiles off thecoastofFlorida.

“UnlessFidelandRaulCastroandCheGuevaracouldbeeliminatedinonepackage,”J.C.KingwarnedtheSpecialGrouponMarch9,1960,thesituationinCubawouldlikelybe“along,drawn-outaffair.”AdmiralArleighBurke,chiefofnavaloperations,agreed.“AnyplanfortheremovalofCubanleadersshouldbe a package deal, sincemany of the leaders aroundCastro [are] evenworsethanCastro.” InMarch theSpecialGroup reachedunanimity: “Fidel andRaulCastroandCheGuevarashoulddisappearsimultaneously.”

In the six years that had passed since Che Guevara witnessed the CIA-directedbombingofGuatemalaCity,he’dbecomeahard-coreguerrillafighterandanenterprisingrevolutionary.AfterleavingMexicoandsecretlyarrivinginCubain1956,CheGuevara,FidelCastro,andabandofguerrillafighterssetupatrainingcampintheSierraMaestraandbeganpreparingforrevolution.Theirrebelarmynumberedbetweentwelveandtwohundredmenatanygiventime,

andwithsofewfightersintheirranks,loyaltywaseverything.Thisworldwasblack-and-white; you were friend or enemy. If you were enemy, you weretargetedandkilled.

“Desertion, insubordinationanddefeatism,”wroteChe,werepunishablebydeath.WhenarebelfighternamedSergioAcuñawascaughttryingtorunaway,hewastortured,shot,andhanged.InhisjournalChecalledtheincident“sadbutinstructive.”When Che learned that a guide named Eutímio Guerra had soldinformationabouttheirgrouptotheBatistaregime,heexecutedhimonthespot.“ThesituationwasuncomfortableforthepeopleandforEutímiosoIendedtheproblembygivinghimashotwitha.32pistolintherightsideofthebrain,”Chewroteinhisdiary.

Aftertwoandahalfyearsoftraininginthemountains,onJanuary1,1959,therebelfightersbeganmakingtheirmoveonthecapitalcity.CheGuevaraledacolumnofguerrillafightersoutof themountainsandintoHavana,whileFidelCastroanda separate columnof revolutionariesmarchedon the south.By theendoftheday,inanastonishingdisplayofgivingupwithoutafight,PresidentBatista’s40,000-manCubanarmylaiddowntheirarmsenmasse.BatistafledtotheDominicanRepublic, allowing the revolutionaries to assume control. “Thetyranny has been overthrown!” Castro declared. “The people won the war!”FidelCastrowastheleaderofCubanow.

Withinweeks of taking power, he began executing people perceived to beleftovers from the Batista regime. He named Che Guevara commander ofHavana’s La Cabaña prison, where war crime tribunals were hastily set up.Thosepronouncedguiltywerelinedupagainsttheprisonwallandexecutedbyfiring squad. In the days that followed the revolution,more than one hundredand fiftypro-BatistaCubanswereshotdead.Whenaskedby the foreignpressaboutthesummaryexecutions,Chefiredback,“Tosendmentothefiringsquad,judicial proof is unnecessary.” Besides, he said, the concept of justice was ahypocritical creation ofWestern capitalists. “These procedures are an archaicbourgeois detail,” Che insisted, “this is a revolution.… A revolutionary mustbecomeacoldkillingmachine,motivatedbypurehate.”

Theexecutionswereaboutrevengeasmuchastheywereaboutredress,saidRaulCastro.InaninterviewwiththeAssociatedPress,hecalledthemenbeingexecuted “Batista’s assassins” and cited their responsibility for what he saidwere“6,000Batista-eraassassinations,inOrienteProvincealone.”Cubawasnotexperiencingapeacefultransferofpower.Therewasnoswearing-inceremony;powerwasbeingconveyedthroughbullets,notballots.

AsitwasinVietnam,theCIAwasdeeplytroubledbythemajoritysupporttheseradicalrevolutionariesgarneredfromthepeople.AtarallyinHavanaonJanuary21,1959,FidelCastroaskedanestimatedhalf-million-personcrowdiftheysupportedhispolicyofexecutionby firingsquad.“Iamgoing toask thepeoplesomething,”Castroannouncedfromhispodium.“Thosewhoagreewiththejusticethatisbeingcarriedout,thosewhoagreethatthe[Batista]henchmenshouldbeshot, raiseyourhands.”Aseaofhandswentup, followedbynearlytwominutes of applause. “Batista is ourHitler!”Castro exclaimed, drawing acomparisonbetweentheNurembergtrialsandtheexecutionsbeingoverseenbyChe.“ThealliedpowerspunishedthewarcriminalsaftertheSecondWorldWar,and they have less right to do so than we have, because they meted outpunishmentundertheexpostfactolegislation,whilewearepunishingthewarcriminals under legislation passed before the crime, in public trials, in courtsmadeupofhonestmen.”Castro’sbackgroundasa lawyerwasnot loston theCIA.

In no time, FidelCastro began severing tieswithAmerican businesses, oilconsortiums among them, ending fifty years of bilateral trade. He deliveredfirebrand anti-American speeches, rallying against capitalism and the West.When he signed a deal with the Soviet Union to buy their oil in return formilitary and economic aid, the Sovietization of Cuba officially began. Chestarted learning Russian and hosting Marxist study groups. He wrote andpublishedabook,GuerrillaWarfare,itstitleanhomagetoChairmanMao’sOnGuerrilla Warfare. Santa Claus was outlawed in Cuba, English no longerallowed. The Chaplin Cinema in downtown Havana was renamed the CarlosMarx.

InWashington,DC, theEisenhowerWhiteHouseshuddered to thinkofallthat could gowrong. “Castro’s Cuba raised the specter of a Soviet outpost atAmerica’s doorstep,” a Senate report read. The State Department’s Bureau ofIntelligence and Research, the oldest civilian intelligence element in the U.S.governmentandadirectdescendantoftheOfficeofStrategicServicesResearchDepartment, sent its director of the American Republics, a man identified indeclassified documents asMr.Hall, toCuba to assess the situation.WhatMr.Halldiscoveredandreportedback to theStateDepartment laid theseedsforaseriesofTitle50hidden-handoperations,includingassassination,inCubaoverthenextfouryears.

“ThehypnoticholdFidelhasoverthemobisfrightening,”Hallreported.“Hecanraise it toabloodthirstypitch thencool it toanobedientardor.Hitlerwas

never as good, although it must be admitted he worked on a better educatedelement,”HallwroteonNovember18,1959.“Fidelgaveonetheimpressionofa complete hystericwith aMessianic complex, if not amanic-depressive,” heobserved. But Mr. Hall expressed an even greater sense of foreboding whenspeakingofChe.“CheGuevaradidnotravenorrant,spokeinthetoneofamanwhoknowswhathewantsandhowtogetitand,asthebesteducatedofthelot,isatrulysinistercharacter.Allgaveusthedevil.”

Whattodo?InMr.Hall’sassessment,“[Fidel’s]holdonthelowerclassandonatleasthalfofthemiddleclassiscomplete.ThereisanatmosphereofterrorprevalentandforallpurposesapolicestateexistsinCuba.Peoplearenotonlyafraidtospeakbeforestrangers,butpersonsdisappearasinthetimeofBatista.…”ToMr.Hall’s eye, thedevilweknew,GeneralBatista,wasgone, and thenewdevilsCheandFidelwerefarmoremenacingthanpreviouslyrealized.

WhichiswhentheSpecialGroupbeganactivelydiscussingtheprosandconsof assassinating FidelCastro,CheGuevara, andRaulCastro, at ameeting onJanuary23,1960.Thefollowingmonth, theStateDepartmentapproveda$4.4millionbudget togetridof the three.“Possibleremovalof topthree leaders isreceiving serious consideration at HQS,” according to declassifiedminutes ofthemeeting.Afollow-upmemodiscussed“arranginganaccident.”ButtheStateDepartment’sMr.Hallwarnedagainst suchaction.“TheassassinationofFidelwould bring about looting and a bloodbath such as Habana [sic] has neverknown,” cautioned Hall. Over the next four months, various means ofassassinationwereconsidered.Then,inJuly1960,AllenDullesvetoedtheidea.DullesfavoredacovertactiontoinvadeCubawithan“exilearmy”andforceacoupd’état.StyledafterwhattheCIAhaddoneinGuatemala,thiswasmeanttobeahidden-handoperation.Instead,itwouldbecomeknowntotheworldasthemostingloriousCIAdebacleofalltime,thefailedinvasionofCubaattheBayofPigs.

The invading paramilitary force would be drawn from anti-Castro refugeeslivinginMiami.AfterFidelCastroandCheGuevaratookpowerin1959,some100,000Cuban refugees fled the country, a greatmajority of them landing inMiami.TheU.S.governmentsetupresettlementprograms,offeringhousingandjobstothisnewdiaspora.TheCIAbegansettingupitshidden-handoperationsfor Cuba inside a nondescript building on the University of Miami campus,code-namedBuilding 25. For a period of time in the 1960s, theCIA’sMiamiStation was the largest CIA intelligence operation facility in the world. Case

officersassignedtoOperationJM/WAVEbegankeepingtrackofCubanémigrés,creatingprofilesanddatabases,andultimatelyfiguringoutwhobesttoapproachforitsforthcomingcovertaction.

Inthesummerof1960,theCIAbeganrecruitingassetsfromapoolofyounganti-Castro dissidents of fighting age to make up a paramilitary force code-namedBrigade2506.What startedout as twenty-eightmen in a southFloridajungle training camp would eventually grow to more than 1,400 paramilitaryoperators,spies,saboteurs,andpilotstrainedbytheCIAandU.S.ArmyGreenBerets. One among them was a nineteen-year-old architecture student namedFelixRodriguez.

Well-educated,determined,andnationalistic,FelixRodriguezwasbornintoaruling-classfamilyinSanctiSpiritus,incentralCuba,in1942.Whenhewastwelve, Rodriguez’s wealthy Uncle Toto, who served as President Batista’sministerofpublicworks,paidforhimtoattendanAmericanboardingschoolinPennsylvania.When therevolutionhappened in1959,FelixRodriguezandhisfamilywere vacationing inMexico. There they receivedword that theCastroregimehadseizedtheirpropertiesandturnedthemovertothestate.ThefamilyneverreturnedtoCuba,insteadmovingtoMiami.

Exiledfromhishomeland,theyoungFelixRodriguezbecamefiercelyanti-Castro.Hisparentsbeggedhim toacceptwhatwas,he says—tomoveonandembracetheirnewsituation.TheyboughthimanAstonMartinconvertibleandenrolledhimintheUniversityofMiami.ButFelixRodriguezwantednoneofit.“I was more interested in joining an anti-Castro organization than I was incontinuingmyeducation,” he explains. In the fall of 1960,while preparing tobegin freshman classes at the university, he was approached by a clandestineservicecaseofficerwiththeCIA.

“I knew the mission was to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro,”Rodriguez explained in2017. “But I hadno idea Iwasbeing recruitedby theCIA.” In thosedays, heguesses, not one in a thousandCubanshad ever evenheardoftheCentralIntelligenceAgency.Rodriguezbelievedthecoverstoryheandtheotherrecruitsweretold,thatthemanpayingfortheparamilitaryactionwas a wealthy sugar-mill baron whose property in Cuba had also beenconfiscatedbytheCastroregime.

FelixRodriguezwasthrilledtobechosenforacommandooperationagainsttheCastro regime. In September 1960, he learned themissionwas a go. “WeweretoldweweregoingtoasecretlocationnotintheU.S.,”Rodriguezrecalls.HeandagroupofyoungCubanexilesweredriventoanairportinOpaLocka,

Florida, the same airport the CIA used for its Guatemala coup d’état. “Ourclothes and personal possessions were taken, we were strip-searched tomakesureweweren’t carrying any forbidden articles, like a compass.Ourwatcheswereconfiscatedsowewouldn’tknowhowlongweflew.”Thetruckdroveintoa closed hangar, where the men disembarked, only to be greeted by U.S.ImmigrationandNaturalizationServices(INS)officials,whogaveeachofthemaformtofillout.ItdawnedonRodriguezthat“ifwewereleavingthecountry,wewereapparentlydoingitwiththeapprovaloftheU.S.government.”Dressedin army fatigues and a khaki shirt, the rebel fighterswere loadedonto aC-54aircraft, itswindows painted black, then flown for several hours, landing justbeforedawn.“Afterwelanded,ajeepdroveupandInoticedimmediatelythatithadGuatemalanplates.”TheCIA’sparamilitaryarmywasinGuatemalaCityasguestsofPresidentRobertoAlejosArzu,afriendoftheCIA.

TheCIA’santi-Castrocovert-action trainingcampwas locatedeightymilesnorthwest of Guatemala City, in the countryside of Retalhuleu, code-namedCampTrax.Atthisabandonedcoffeeplantation,ownedbyabusinessassociateof President Arzu, U.S. Army Green Berets trained the Cuban émigrés inguerrillawarfaretechniquesincludingpistolshooting,mapreading,andhand-to-hand combat but alsomore ambitious tactics, like how to land an amphibiouscraftonarockybeach,andhowtouseexplosivespowerfulenoughtotakeoutabridge.Conditionsweregrim,Rodriguezrecalls.Itwashumidbeyondmeasure;poisonous insects and alligators were a constant threat. Butmorale was high,thanks to the camp’s enthusiastic commanding officer, Colonel NapoleónValeriano.

ColonelValerianowasanunconventional-warfarelegendamongcommandosin training. As a young army soldier in World War II, Valeriano had beeninfiltrated into the Philippines by submarine. There, he led guerrilla warfareoperations against the Japanese alongside Colonel Volckmann, one of theoriginal founders of the U.S. Army Special Forces, with General RobertMcClure andColonelAaronBank.Valeriano’s staff of trainers at CampTraxwere Ukrainian-born Green Berets, beneficiaries of the Lodge-Philbin Act,calledLodge-billers,manyofwhomtrainedwiththe10thSpecialForcesatBadTölz.TheseGreenBeretstaughttheCubanexilearmyhowtoshootThompsonsubmachine guns, 57mm recoilless rifles, and .45-caliber pistols, remembersRodriguez,aneighteen-year-oldnoviceatthetime.Theygaveus“instructionsinexplosives,communications,junglesurvival,andescapeandevasiontechniques.We learned how to judge the distance of the enemy from sound and muzzle

flash.”Four months into the training, the group was flown to the Panama Canal

Zone, to the U.S. Base, Fort Clayton, for a New Year’s Eve party. “Ourinstructors provided Heineken beer and wine so we could celebrate.” Shortlybeforemidnight,Rodriguezremembersbeingstruckwith“atrulyinspiredidea,”he explains, “an operation that would shorten the war and save lives.” HevolunteeredtoassassinateFidelCastro.“AndtheCIAtookmeupontheidea,”hesays.

Oneweeklater,FelixRodriguezwasflowntoMiami,wherehewastakentoasafehouseintheHomesteadareaoutsidethecity.“Iwasgivenarifleandtoldtowait.”Soon,he’dbeinfiltratedintoCubabyboat,hishandlertoldhim,thentakentoHavana,wherelocalpartisansworkingwiththeCIAwouldassisthim.InHavana,hewouldgototheupperfloorofapredeterminedbuilding,setuphishigh-powered rifle in an openwindow, and assassinate FidelCastro asCastrorodeby,duringaparadeonthestreetbelow.

While theCIAwas trainingBrigade2506foraparamilitary invasionofCuba,the Special Group approved another covert-action operation inside Cuba’sCaribbean island neighbor theDominicanRepublic, five hundredmiles to theeast.Theplanwastoassassinate thenation’scorruptunelectedleader,GeneralRafaelTrujillo.

For threedecadesTrujillo,kept inpowerbyAmericanallies,had ruled thecountrybyterror.Trujillowaspower-madandmasochistic.Historiansholdhimresponsible for tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings, including those in1937 in the border regionwithHaiti, whichwould come to be known as theParsleyMassacre.“Fewbulletswereused,”accordingtoaUNSecurityCouncilreport on themass killing. “Instead, 20,000–30,000Haitianswere bludgeonedandbayonetted,thenherdedintothesea,wheresharksfinishedwhatTrujillohadbegun.” For reasons that remainmurky, suddenly inwinter of 1960 PresidentEisenhower’sSpecialGroupdecidedtheUnitedStateswouldenditssupportofTrujillo.AmbassadorJosephFarlandremembersappealingtoTrujillo’sdaughterFlor,duringavisittoherhomeoutsidethenation’scapital.“Idroveout toherhouse in a Volkswagen that I had and said… your father is going to beassassinated.Thereisnoquestioninmymindwhatsoeveraboutthat…wewanthimtoretireandleavethiscountry.”WhenTrujillorefusedanofferofexile,theSpecialGroupagreeditwastimetoeliminatehim.

“Hekeptlawandorder…andhedidn’tbothertheUnitedStates.Sothatwas

finewithus,”saidtheStateDepartment’sHenryDearborn,ina1991oralhistoryinterview. Dearborn served as chargé d’affaires at the embassy in SantoDomingo,whichhadbeenrenamedCiudadTrujillo,orTrujilloCity.“Somethinghadtobedoneaboutthisman,”Dearbornrecalled.OnMarch16,1961,“matterstook an active turn,” according to a CIA document marked Top Secret, laterreviewed by a Senate Intelligence Committee. “They [the CIA] developed anassassinationplotwhich,becauseofmycloserelationshipwiththem,Iwasfullyawareof,”Dearborntestified.

Dearborn served as liaison between the CIA and the assassination team,whichwasmadeupofsevenanti-Trujillopartisans.“Icarriedout thecontactswith the opposition reporting toCIA,”Dearborn clarified. “Wewere using alltheseweirdmeans of communication becausewe didn’twant to be seenwitheach other. Things like notes in the bottom of the grocery bag, rolled up incigars.”

Richard Bissell, then working as CIA station chief in Santo Domingo,oversawplansontheground.OnMarch22,herequestedthatheadquarterssendhim“three.38calibrerevolversandammunition.”Inaseparatecable,Dearbornwrote, “Plans for Trujillo’s assassination coming to a head.” The followingweek, Bissell briefed Dearborn: a shipment of four machine guns and 240roundsofammunitionwasenroutetotheU.S.embassy,whichhewastogivetotheassassinsinaclandestinemanner.Separately,threecarbinerifleswerebeingdroppedoffattheU.S.embassybyanavycontact,Bissellsaid.Dearbornkepttheassassinsintheloopthroughaliaison,orcutout,soastoensureheneverhaddirectcontactwiththekillers.“IhadadifferenttypewriteronwhichItypedoutmy messages to the opposition so that it wouldn’t be traced to Embassytypewriters,”Dearbornrecalled,butintruth,“Ihadtoldthe[State]DepartmentviaCIAcommunications…allabouttheplan.”

Dearborn’s job was to maintain plausible deniability should anything gowrong.“Iknewhowtheywereplanningtodoit,Iknew,moreorless,whowasinvolved.AlthoughIwasalwaysabletosaythatIpersonallydidnotknowanyoftheassassins,Iknewthosewhowerepullingthestrings.”Untilthen,hehadafacadeofdiplomacytouphold.“Therehadtobeacertainsetofcircumstanceswhentheycouldputtheirplanintoaction.”Fornow,hewasorderedtowait.

Meanwhile, in Miami, the lethal covert-action operation in which FelixRodriguezwouldassassinateFidelCastrowasgiventhegreenlight.Itwasthesecond week in January 1961, Rodriguez recalls, “just days before John F.

Kennedy took office as president.” Late one night, a handler picked up FelixRodriguez from the safe house outsideMiamiwhere he’d been staying. Riflecase inhand,hewasdriven toa smallbeach in theFloridaKeys. “Thedriverflashedthelightsandasmallboatcameashore,”herecalls.Rodriguezclimbedintoasmallrubberboatthatferriedhimouttoamuchlargeryachtwaitingaboutahalfmileoutatsea.

“ThecaptainwasanAmerican,”Rodriguezremembers,“but thecrewwereall Ukrainians. Tough-looking SOBs who carried Soviet bloc automaticweapons.”Backatthesafehouse,Rodriguezwastoldhewouldn’thavetosighttheriflewhenhearrivedinCuba.“Ithadalreadybeenzeroedin.Theresistancearmy[inCuba]hadobtainedabuildinginHavana,facingalocationthatCastrofrequented at the time, and they’d managed to presight the rifle,” saysRodriguez.

Under thecoverofnight, theyachtspedacross theoceanto infiltrateCubanear Varadero Beach on the north coast. “We showed up at a predeterminedlocation,” recalls Rodriguez, but the rendezvous boat failed to show and thegroupreturnedtoMiami.Dayslater,anotherattemptwasmade.Arrivingatthetargetareathissecondtime,Rodriguezrecallsseeingahundred-foot-longship,“clearly far too large for a clandestine op. It looked like a ghost ship. Wecouldn’tseeanybodyonboard.”

Thegroupaborted themissiona second timeandagain returned toMiami.On a third infiltration attempt, the yacht suffered hydraulic failure. Back inMiamithevesselwasmetbyacaseofficerwhoaskedFelixRodriguezfortherifleandammunition.“Theysaidthey’dchangedtheirmindsaboutthemission,”Rodriguezrecalls.

InWashington, DC, President Eisenhower and his staff prepared to leave theWhiteHouse.Thebatonwouldnowpass to thehandsomeyoungsenatorfromMassachusetts, John F. Kennedy. The day before Kennedy’s inauguration, hemetwithPresidentEisenhowerintheOvalOffice.Partiallydeclassifiedrecordsfromthismeeting,onJanuary19,1961,indicatethattheoutgoingandincomingpresidentsdiscussedthemostcriticalcovert-actionoperationsbeingplannedbythe Special Group: in Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos. The incoming president wasstruckbytheideaofcovertaction—ofahidden-handpowertobewieldedatthesolediscretionof thecommander inchief.OneofhisfirstactionsaspresidentwastomeetwiththeSpecialGrouptolearnmore.

Just eight days after taking office, the CIA’s Edward Lansdale briefed

PresidentKennedyonthediresituationinVietnam.HoChiMinhandGeneralGiap’s mobile warfare campaign was as aggressive as it was ruthless,assassinating an average of eleven civil servants every day. “Vietnam is in acriticalconditionand[we]shouldtreatitasacombatareaoftheColdWar,asanarearequiringemergencytreatment,”Lansdaletoldthepresident.

Kennedy appealed directly to Congress, bringing to its attention theassassinationcampaign.Inaspeechcalled“UrgentNationalNeeds,”hewarnedof Soviet hidden-hand operations inVietnam and elsewhere, of the existentialthreatcommunismposedtothefreeworld.

“Theiraggressionismoreoftenconcealedthanopen,”Kennedysaid.“Theyhave fired no missiles; and their troops are seldom seen. They send arms,agitators, aid, technicians and propaganda to every troubled area. But wherefightingisrequired,itisusuallydonebyothers—byguerrillasstrikingatnight,byassassinsstrikingalone—assassinswhohavetakenthelivesoffourthousandcivilofficersinthelasttwelvemonthsinVietnamalone.”

Vietnam, Laos, Cuba. President Kennedy inherited complex hidden-handoperations in each of these three tiny countries from his predecessor.He alsoinheritedPresidentEisenhower’sSpecialGroup,towhichhequicklyaddedhisbrother, U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy. It was an unusualarrangement, with far-reaching consequences. As chairman of the SpecialGroup,AttorneyGeneralRobertKennedy—themostseniorJusticeDepartmentofficialintheUnitedStates—wasnowinchargeofoverseeingtheCIA’scovertoperations, most of which the majority of Americans would consider illegal.Assassinationwasatthetopofthelist.

PARTII

1961

CHAPTERTEN

AnAssassinationCapability

On themorning of February 23, 1961, in the residentialMiramar district ofHavana,CheGuevaralefthishomeonSeventeenthStreetandwalkedwithhisbodyguardsdownthepretty,tree-linedstreet,headedtohiscar.Asheclimbedinthedriver’sseat,fourorfiveassassinsemergedfromwherethey’dbeenhidinginthebushesandopenedfire.AviolentgunbattleleftoneofChe’sneighbors,aman identified as Mr. Salinas, dead on the grass. As Che sped away, hisbodyguards continued firing. Inside the house, Che’s wife, Aleida, heard theintensegunfire.Shegrabbed their three-month-olddaughter,Aledita, andwiththeirnannyrushedtohideunderthestairwell.

InHavana,therewasanewsblackoutontheattemptedassassination.(AleidaGuevarakeptthestorysecretforthirtyyears,sharingitwithChe’sbiographer,JonLeeAnderson,aftersheleftCubaforSpaintoliveinexile.)BecauseCubaisapolicestate,verylittleunflatteringnewseverleavestheisland.ThatsuchanimportantleaderasCheGuevarawouldbevulnerabletoassassinationwasnotamessagetheCastroregimewantedtoconvey.Instead,asemiofficialcoverstoryemerged,purporting that thedeadman,Mr.Salinas,hadbeenhavinganaffairand that the killing was an illicit romance gone awry. In a country wherepossession of an illegal firearm was a capital offense, the cover story seemsimplausible. Was the CIA involved? Or were the assassins really anti-CastroCubansactingon theirown?Furthernewswas repressed,not surprisinggivenChe Guevara’s views of the press. “Newspapers are instruments of theoligarchy,” he told theCuban people. “Wemust eliminate all newspapers;wecannot make a revolution with free press.” As of 2019, the mystery remainsunsolved.Butinresponsetotheassassinationattemptagainsthim,CheGuevara

issaidtohavekeptagrenadeinthecigarboxheoftencarried.

After three failed attempts to assassinateFidelCastro, in late Januaryor earlyFebruary1961,FelixRodriguezwasreassignedtotheCIA’sBrigade2506.Hewasemplacedonafive-mandirect-actionparamilitaryteamcalledaGrayTeam.The Gray Teams would be infiltrated into Cuba in advance of an assault byBrigade2506,atBahíadeCochinos,theBayofPigs.Assassinationplansaside,the CIA was now moving forward with a covert-action amphibious invasionfollowedbyacoupd’état.

TheCIAwasrelyingonitsGrayTeamstolocate,train,andequippocketsofpreviouslyidentifiedresistancefighters,similartowhattheOSSJedburghshaddoneshortlyafterAlliedforcesstormedthebeachesatNormandy.ButinFrance,ninety-three Jedburgh teams had been air-dropped in behind enemy lines. InCubatherewerejustseventeams,eachmadeupoffivemen.“Itwashigh-risk,”Rodriguezremembers.“Thirty-five[ofus]wenttoCuba,onlyfifteensurvived.”

OnFebruary28,1961,RodriguezandthemembersofhisGrayTeamleftanisolatedbeachinKeyWestboundforCuba.This time, insteadofayacht theyrodeinatwenty-five-footZodiacboat,“filledtothegunwaleswithweaponsandexplosives.”Fourandahalfhourslater,theteammadeastealthbeachlandingatArcosdeCanasi,fortymileseastofHavana.ItwasRodriguez’sfirsttimebacktoCubasincehewasaschoolboy.“Wehadourweaponsandbackpacksbutwealso had to land two tons of equipment, explosives, grenades, machine guns,ammunition, and communications equipment.” To be caught likely meantsummary execution.Rodriguez and hisGrayTeammembersweremet on thebeachbyanti-Castropartisans, local farmersandsugarmillworkerswhoweremembers of a group called Movimiento de Recuperación Revolucionaria(MRR), apro-U.S. resistancemovement.TheMRRhadalreadybeenpartiallyarmed; CIA Air Branch pilots had managed to covertly air-drop bundles ofWorldWarII–eraM3submachinegunsand.45pistols.(InadditiontotheCIA’sGroundBranch, there isAirBranch,which is theaviationwingof theSpecialActivities Division, andMaritime Branch, for amphibious operations. There’salsoapoliticalactionarm,whichinterfaceswithallthreebranches.)

From the beachhead at Arcos de Canasi, Felix Rodriguez was driven toCamaguey,wherehemetwith theheadof theCuban resistance, ayoungmanwhowentbythecodenameFrancisco.“Seeinghimonthestreet,you’dmistakehim for a student,” recalls Rodriguez. Franciscowas an eloquent, soft-spokenengineering student. “He naturally inspired people,” Rodriguez said. The

popularityofFrancisco’smovementmadehimthenumber-onetargetofCastro’sintelligenceservices,andmeetingwithhimwasatenseaffair.

Over the next fewweeks, FelixRodriguezmoved from safe house to safehousearoundHavana,meetingindividuallywithleadersoftheunderground.Inmid-March, hewas called back toMiami to resupply. There hewas told thathe’dbereinsertedagainsoon.Theinvasionwouldbehappeninganydaynow.

Finallywordcame.“IwasdriventotheKeysbyalankyTexanwhowentbythecodenameSherman,”Rodriguezrecalls.“Hepresentedmewithsomethingspecial to take to Cuba. A mini-flamethrower. It fit very comfortably in onehand,yetitthrewafifteen-foot-widecolumnofwhitephosphorousflame.”TheTexantoldRodriguezthattheweaponwashighlyclassified,“buthewantedmetohaveitanyway.”ThistimehewasinsertednearMorón,onthecentralcoast.There,hewasmetbyanothermemberoftheundergroundanddriventoHavanain an old Buick, “the flamethrower hidden underneath the dashboard.”RodriguezwasdroppedoffatasafehouseinElVedado,andtoldtolaylowandawaitorders.

InitsBayofPigsinvasionplanning,theCIApulledyetagainfromitsownhistory, as we have seen. Modeling the invasion and coup on the Guatemalaoperationwas ironic,given that thoseoperationshadradicalizedCheGuevara.But Cuba in 1961was a very different environment inwhich to operate thanGuatemalahadbeenin1954.PresidentArbenzcommandedanarmyof10,000men.FidelCastro allegedlyhad amillion soldierson call.Arbenz, a socialist,didnotrunGuatemalaasamilitarydictatorship;CastrocontrolledthepeopleofCuba with absolute power, using Soviet tactics of repression and fear. Mostsignificantofall,ArbenzdidnothaveadirectlinetotheKremlinthewayCastrodid. Inhindsight, theCIA’sdisastrouscovert-actionBayofPigsoperationwasbornofwishfulthinking.

As with all military dictatorships, spies in Cuba were ubiquitous. For theCIA,thethreatofadoubleagentwasaconstantsourceofconcern.UnknowntotheAgency,Castrohadmanagedtoinfiltrateitsrankslongbeforetheinvasionwas given the green light. In Miami, the CIA had recruited Benigno PérezVivancos,a former lieutenant inCastro’sarmy, thinkinghewasananti-Castroémigré.Vivancosstoodoutasbraveandreliableandbecametheseventy-eighthfighting-agemalerecruitedforBrigade2506. In fact,hewasaCastro loyalist,sentbyHavanatospy.

Theactionsofthisdoubleagentproveddeadly.OnthenightofApril1,1961,not long after Felix Rodriguez arrived inHavanawith hismini-flamethrower,

Castro’s G-2 intelligence conducted a raid on a house outside Havana andcaptured Francisco,whose real namewasRogelioGonzalezCorso. Tried andfoundguilty,hewas immediatelyexecuted.Basedon informationprovidedbyVivancos,Castro’sgovernmentroundedupthousandsofpeople it identifiedaspossible members of the resistance. “[Castro] herded them into theaters,stadiumsandmilitarybasestosquelchthepossibilityofaspontaneousuprisingtooverthrowhisregime,”saysaCIAinspectorgeneralreport.

Unawareofthecompromise,Rodriguezwaitedforwordoftheinvasion.OnApril13,atCIAheadquarters,Brigade2506wasgiventhegreenlighttosetsailfromGuatemala.OnthemorningofApril15,eightB-26bombers,suppliedbytheCIAandflownbyCubanémigrépilots,attackedmilitaryairfieldsinCubainthefirstmoveof thecovertoperation. Inresponse,Castroplayedan ingeniousandunforeseenpoliticalcard:heorderedhisforeignminister,RaulRoa,tocallthe United Nations Political and Security Committee, in New York City, anddemandthatanemergencysessionbeheld.Therequestwashonored,thesessionattendedbytheU.S.ambassadortotheUnitedNations,AdlaiStevenson.Cuba’sforeignministerrightlydecriedtheUnitedStatesforhavingattackedasovereignnationunprovoked.“ThiswasbadnewsforPresidentKennedywhosenumberone priority was hiding the hand of the U.S. Government,” lamented ananonymousCIAstaffhistorianinanAgencyreport,keptclassifiedfordecades.“LyingtotheUNhadseriousconsequencesandasecond[air]strikewouldputthe United States in an awkward position internationally.” The result meantdisasterforBrigade2506.PresidentKennedy’s“politicalconsiderationstrumpedthemilitaryimportanceofa‘D-Day’airstrike.”

Withouta secondstrike, theamphibiousassaulthadnochance for success.And the element of surprise was no longer there. Shortly before dawn thefollowingmorning,withBrigade2506justhoursawayfromlandingattheBayof Pigs, President Kennedy canceled the second round of air strikes. Pilotswho’dbeensittingontherunwayawaitingordersfortakeoffweretoldtostanddown.As thesun roseon themorningofApril17,1,311membersofBrigade2506 made an amphibious landing. But instead of accomplishing a stealthinfiltration, theCIA’sparamilitaryarmyofCubanexilesweremetonshorebyCastro’smilitary,whoseforcesfaroutnumberedandoutgunnedthem.

In Havana, Felix Rodriguez learned about the Bay of Pigs invasion whilelisteningtotheradio.“AlltheCubanradiostationswerebroadcastingthesameemergencynetwork,”heremembers,sayingthesamething:thattheAmericanshad tried to launch a coup d’état and had failed. Peering out the window,

Rodriguezwatched in horror as a sea ofmilitary vehiclesmoved through thestreets, eachoneoverflowingwithCastro’s soldiers.OnCubanstateTV,newsfootageshowedmembersofBrigade2506as theywerecapturedon thebeachandmarchedoffintothewoods,theirfatesunknown.

FourmembersofFelixRodriguez’sGrayTeamwerepickedupandarrested.RodriguezfledthesafehouseandmadearunfortheVenezuelanembassy.Hewasawareofa treaty thatallowedpoliticalrefugeessafepassageoutofCuba.Afterweeksofhiding inside theembassy,hewas finally loadedontoabusofrefugees and driven to the airport. In a bitter twist of fate, the bus drove firstthroughMiramar, passingCheGuevara’s home on Seventeenth Street, where,twomonthsearlier,theassassinationattemptagainsthimhadfailed.Itcontinuedon past Uncle Toto’s once grand home, on Fifth Avenue and Twenty-EighthStreet, where Felix had enjoyed somany happy childhoodmemories. “It hadbeenturnedovertothestate,”saysRodriguez.Likeallprivateproperty,itwouldbedividedupamongthepeople.“LaterIwouldlearnfiveSovietfamilieswerelivingthere,”herecalls.

TheBayofPigswasanextraordinarypoliticalembarrassmentforPresidentKennedy.IntheDominicanRepublic,ConsulGeneralHenryDearborn,theU.S.State Department’s chargé d’affaires at the embassy in Santo Domingo, waswokeninthemiddleofthenightandtoldtocanceltheCIA’splantoassassinateTrujillo.“Irecallafranticmessagefromthe[State]Department,IguesssignedoffonbyPresidentKennedy,”Dearbornrememberedin1991.Itwas“saying,ineffect, ‘Look, we have all this trouble with Castro; we don’t want any moretrouble in the Caribbean. Tell these people to knock it off’”—meaning theassassination plot.Dearborn followedorders, he says. “I communicated to theopposition people that Washington was very much against any attempt atassassination.TheanswerIgotbackfromthemwas,‘JusttellWashingtonitisnoneoftheirbusiness.Thisisourbusiness.Wehaveplanneditandwearegoingtodoitandthereisnothingyoucandoaboutit.’IrelayedthistoWashington,”saidDearborn.

The plan to assassinateTrujillowent ahead despiteWashington’s eleventh-hourattemptstocallitoff.OnthenightofMay30,1961,Trujillowasseatedinthebackseatofhis chauffeur-driven1957ChevroletBelAir, travelingdownacountry road outside the capital,when hewas ambushed by a group of sevenassassins brandishing weapons provided to the rebel group by the CIA. “Westarted shooting,” recalled one of the killers, General Antonio Imbert, in aninterviewwiththeBBCin2011.PresidentTrujilloandhischauffeurwereboth

armed, and they began shooting back. Trujillomanaged to get out of the car.“Trujillowaswoundedbuthewasstillwalking,soIshothimagain”andkilledhim, saidGeneral Imbert. “Weput him in [our] car and took him away.”Theassassins drove the dictator’s dead body to a safe house belonging to thepartisans,whereitwaslaterdiscoveredbystatepolice.

Dearborn remembered hearing the news. He was out in the suburbs, at acountry club. “The Chinese Ambassador was giving some kind of a moneyraisingthing[for]charity,towhichIwent.”Aftertheeventended,Dearbornanda colleague left together in a State Department car. “We started back around11:00p.m.andranintoaroadblockalongtheoceanhighway.”Thestatepolicewerestoppingcarsandconductingsearches.“Theylookedintrunks,pulleduprugs,etc.IhadaCIAfellowinthecar—alongaboutJanuarytheCIAhadsentacoupleofpeopleintotheconsulate—andIsaid,‘Bob,thisisit.Iamsurethisisit.’”Thestatepolicewouldn’tletthemencontinuedownthatroad.“Whenwe[finally] got to the Embassy, where I had been living for about a year, thetelephonerangandoneofmymaincontactsoftheoppositionsaid,‘Itisover,heisdead.’ I knew immediatelywhathappenedandwentdown to theoffice andsentoffamessagetoWashington.”

FortheCIA, theassassinationofPresidentTrujillohadbeenaninadvertentsuccess. The killers got away, although theywere soon to be betrayed by co-conspirator General José Román. Hundreds of people suspected of beingcomplicitinTrujillo’sassassinationwereroundedup,detained,andtortured,inamove thatechoedwhathappened inCzechoslovakiaafterReinhardHeydrich’sassassination by the British Special Operations Executive. Six of the sevenTrujilloassassinswerecaughtandexecuted.OnlyGeneralAntonio Imbertgotaway. Decades later, the consensus in the Dominican Republic is that killingTrujillowasaheroicact,atextbookexampleoftyrannicide,thejustifiedkillingofa tyrant.“WeDominicansreactverynegativelywhenthepeoplewhokilledTrujilloarecalledassassins,” saysBernardoVega, a formerambassador to theUnitedStates.Killing thecruelestdictator in theAmericas, saysVega, “wasagoodthingtodo.”

The week after General Trujillo was buried, the U.S. State Department’sHenry Dearborn was notified of a plan for his assassination. Dearborn wasorderedtopackuphisthings,drivetotheairport,andleaveatonce.Hehurriedtohisofficeandloadedallthesecretfilesintoaburnbarreltodestroy.Now,ingoodconscience,hesaid,hecouldleave.InaStateDepartmentoralhistory,herelayed“afunnyincident”thatdrewtoaclosehisthreeyearsasAmerica’stop

diplomatintheDominicanRepublic.“Ihadmyshirt,tie,shoesandsocksonbutcouldn’tfindmypants,”heremembered.“Isaid[tomyadministrativeassistant],anofficer’swife,‘wherearemypants?’Shesaid,‘Oh,mygod,Ipackedthem.’[She] had to go back down to the car outside and unpackmy pants so that Icouldleavethecountrywithdignity.”

UponlandingintheUnitedStates,DearbornwascalledtoWashington,DC,toparticipateinabriefingofthepresidentoftheUnitedStates.JohnF.Kennedy,himself intensely interested in covert action, had asked to be briefed on theTrujillo assassination by those involved. In declassified Senate testimony,Dearbornlaterrecalled,“OneenlighteningpartofthediscussionoccurredwhenIinterrupted[Kennedy]andsaid:‘Ithinkthat—.’ThePresidentinterruptedmeandsaid,‘Wealreadyknowwhatyouthink.’”Inhisoralhistory,DearbornmadeclearwhatPresidentKennedy’s statementmeant tohim. “That showedclearlyenoughthathehadbeenreadingmycables,”Dearbornsaid.

Dearborn’s remembrance is notablegiven anofficialDepartmentof Justicesummation“withrespecttoTrujillo’sassassination.”Ingivingtestimonyfortheattorney general’s official report—that would be Attorney General RobertKennedy, chairman of the Special Group—the CIA officials who wereinterviewedstatedthattheyhad“noactivepartbuthadafaintconnectionwiththe groups that in fact did [assassinate]” the president.HenryDearborn knewotherwise.“Whenthemeeting[withthepresident]brokeupheshookhandswithmeandsaid,‘Youdidagoodjobdownthere.’”

Dearborn stood by his actions and those taken by the president’s SpecialGroupadvisors,theStateDepartment,andtheCIA.“ItismyfirmlyheldviewthatthosewhokilledTrujilloandthosewhobackedthemupwouldhaveactediftherehadneverbeenaCIA.Theywereonlywaiting for a favorabledomesticand international atmosphere to give them the required courage,” Dearbornstatedontherecord,in1991.Hediedin2013,attheageofonehundred.

Shortly after Rafael Trujillo was assassinated, President Kennedy’s SpecialGroup formalized assassination as a foreign policy tool—a program it calledExecutive Action Capability but which Congress later determined was “anassassinationcapability.”DeclassifiedtestimonygiventoSenateinvestigatorsbyCIA deputy director of plans Richard Bissell suggests that the person whoauthorized the assassination capability was President Kennedy. The SpecialGroup (Augmented) had received its “orders from National Security AdvisorMcGeorgeBundyand[DeputyNationalSecurityAdvisor]WaltRostow,”Bissell

told Senate investigators behind closed doors, but these presidential advisors“would not have given such encouragement unless theywere confident that itwouldmeetwiththePresident’sapproval.”

MovingforwardundertheKennedyadministration,assassinationoperationsacquired new euphemisms, including “direct positive action,” “neutralizationoperations,” “an accident plot,” and “the last resort.” Under the impossiblyunsubtlecryptonymZR/RIFLE, theCIA’sExecutiveActionOfficewasstaffedwithanarrayofpeople,fromseniormanagerstocaseofficers,evena“principalagentwiththeprimarytaskofspottingagentcandidates,”operativeswillingtocarryout“andtoconcealthe‘executiveactioncapability.’”TheCIA’sTechnicalServices Division provided covert-action operators with whatever items theymightneed, fromdisguises toweapons topoisons.TheDirectorateofSupporthandledfinancialandadministrativematters.TheOfficeofSecuritymadesureoverseasclandestinefacilitiesremainedsecure.

“Assassinationwas[now]anacceptablecourseofaction,”Congresslearned,madepossiblethroughtheestablishmentofplausibledeniability:“Thechairmanof the Special Group was usually responsible for determining which projectsrequired presidential consideration and for keeping him abreast ofdevelopments.” According to Bissell, after President Kennedy appointed hisbrother chairman of the Special Group (Augmented), the construct becamealmost impenetrable. In thisway, a systemof “plausible denial”was fortified,said Bissell, a series of obfuscations that “served as ‘circuit breakers’ forpresidents,” preventing the Oval Office from being dragged into a scandalshouldahidden-handoperationberevealed.

Thepresident’sassassinationcapabilitywasintendedtoserveasameansofbringing order to the increasingly volatile situations unfolding in Cuba, Laos,and Vietnam. Instead it created mayhem, chaos, and collapse. But the realquestion, the riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma, was andremains:By allowing theuseof assassination as a hidden-hand foreignpolicytool,didPresidentKennedybecomeaneasiertargettoassassinate?

CHAPTERELEVEN

JFK,KIA

President JohnF.Kennedywasoutragedwith theCIAover the failure at theBay of Pigs, which stained his first one hundred days as president. He’dcampaigned on an anticommunist plank, singling out Cuba as a “hostile andmilitant communist satellite [receiving] guidance, support and arms fromMoscow and Peking.” To have failed so publicly, so early in his presidency,infuriatedhim.

Addinginsulttoinjury,CheGuevarapersonallyexpressedhisgratitudetotheyoungpresidentforthespectaculardefeat,usingWhiteHouseemissaryRichardGoodwintorelayhissarcasticmessage.“Guevarasaid…hewantedtothankusverymuch for the invasion,” Goodwin told the president, “that it had been agreat political victory for them—enabled them to consolidate—and transform[Cuba]fromanaggrievedlittlecountrytoanequal.”

Inresponse,PresidentKennedymadeamovesoshockingitupendedcovert-actionoperations inawaynotseensince thecreationofTitle50andNationalSecurityCouncilDirective10/2(NSC10/2).HeguttedtheexistingparamilitaryauthorityattheCIA,making“anylargeparamilitaryoperation[thatwas]whollyorpartiallycovert[now]theprimaryresponsibilityoftheDefenseDepartment,withCIAinasupportingrole.”

“The fiasco at the Bay of Pigs… changed everything,” says CIA staffhistorianJohnL.Helgerson.CIAdirectorAllenDullesasked tomeetwith thepresident,whorefused.Thepresident’smindwasmadeup.“There[is]nopointintheDCI[DirectorofCentralIntelligence]discussingthematterdirectlywiththePresidentasthatwouldbecounterproductive,”presidentialadvisorGeneralChester Clifton curtly informed the CIA. For the first time since 1947, the

Pentagonwasnowinchargeofthepresident’sguerrillawarfarecorps.“Ican’toveremphasize the shock—not simply the words—that procedure caused inWashington: to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of Defense, andparticularly to the Director of Central Intelligence,” said Colonel L. FletcherProuty,chiefofspecialoperationsfor theJointChiefsofStaffunderKennedy.“Historianshaveglossedoverthatordon’tknowaboutit,”Proutysaidin1989.

Kennedy lost the battle for a democratic Cuba in a most humiliating andpublicway.NowhewasunwillingtoexperiencealossinVietnam.Itwasn’tthatthenewpresidentopposedhidden-handparamilitaryoperations;heopposedtheCIA’s handling of them. In a series of meetings with his national-securityadvisors,heorderedcovert-actionoperationstobeacceleratedinVietnam,onlynow they would be led by U.S. Army Special Forces. This maverick movewould have far-reaching consequences—not just in Vietnam but around theworld, andnot just in 1961but for decades to come.By their verydefinition,paramilitary operations exist outside formal military operations (para means“distinctfrom”).Tohave theDefenseDepartmentnowengaginginnonofficialmilitaryoperationsinsideaforeigncountryduringpeacetimewasaradicalmoveintounchartedterritory.

Immediately after the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy asked top advisorGeneralMaxwellTaylor toreviewallU.S.paramilitarycapabilitiesandadviseon next steps. Taylor submitted a report recommending that the presidentbroaden the scope of classified covert operations in Vietnam. Kennedyauthorized three Top Secret National Security Action Memorandums insuccession, significantly widening a war that technically did not exist. Tooverseeoperationsintheater,theJointChiefsofStaffcreatedanewofficeinsidethe Pentagon called the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and SpecialActivities(SACSA),toberunbyamilitarygeneralandhisstaff.SACSAwouldnowfunctionastheCIA’sOfficeofPolicyCoordinationhadduringKorea.Theman chosen to runSACSAwas amarine corps general namedVictor “Brute”Krulak.

Alegendamonghismen,BruteKrulakwasfamousat thePentagonfortherisky,nighttimeamphibious raidshe’d ledon islandsacross thePacificduringWorldWar II.Onone of these raids, hewas leading thirty commandos on anambushwhentheirvesselhitareefandbegantosink.Facingcertaindeath,theywererescuedbyatorpedoboatcrewcommandedbyayounglieutenantcolonelnamed John F. Kennedy. The president and the general had history, and nowKrulakwasentrustedwithahighlyclassified,highlyunorthodoxnewjobatthe

DepartmentofDefense: tooverseequasi-militaryoperationsinsideasovereignnation against a belligerent force of guerrilla fighters, without a formaldeclarationofwar.OneofSACSA’sfirstquestionswas,whattodoaboutLaos?

President Eisenhower left John F.Kennedywith amuddled, complicated, andintractablesituationinLaos.Laoswasavictimofgeography,Kennedy’sSpecialGroupadvisorstoldhim.“Hardlyanationexceptinthelegalsense.”ButtoloseLaoswouldbe“thebeginningofthelossofmostoftheFarEast,”Eisenhowerforewarned.Inaneffort tocontainthecommunistinsurgencywithinVietnam’sborders,PresidentKennedydecided topursuediplomacy inLaos.HecanceledOperationWhite Star and instructed his advisors to negotiate a neutralizationtreaty. In July 1962, the governments of the United States, the Soviet Union,NorthVietnam, and numerous other nations all signed theDeclaration on theNeutrality ofLaos, agreeing to leaveLaos alone. “They all did,” says scholarRichardShultz,“exceptfortheNVA,”thearmyofNorthVietnam.Insurgentsdonot honor borders or treaties. This reality continues to plague the DefenseDepartmentin2019.

TheLaosneutralizationtreatyof1962wasacolossaldeception,andahugestrategicwinforNorthVietnam.Bythe timethe treatywassigned,Hanoihadalready spent three long years building a clandestine transportation route andlogisticalsystemfromHanoithroughLaosandintothesouth.Eventually,italsowould include trails throughCambodia. Thiswas theHoChiMinh Trail, thesecret supply routeHanoi used tomove fighters andweapons into territory itsought tocontrol in the south.While theUnitedStates feltboundbyhonor toadhere to the neutrality declaration, Hanoi escalated its prohibited use of thetrail.Thisgavethecommunistsextraordinarymomentumandnewadvantageatacriticaltimeintheirrevolution.

Blindtotherealitiesofthetrail,themonthaftertheLaostreatywassignedSecretaryofDefenseRobertMcNamaracalledameetinginHonolulu,Hawaii,bringingtogethertheDefenseDepartment,thePacificCommand,theCIA,andthe State Department. McNamara presented Operation Switchback, a robustcovert-action program designed to “inflict increasing punishment upon NorthVietnam.” One of the first orders of business was to create a new guerrillawarfare corps for the president, to carry out the punishment promised by thesecretaryofdefense.

Nowinasubordinaterole,theCIAmergeditsexistingparamilitaryprogram,the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), into the Defense Department’s

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). BillyWaugh was an earlymemberofthegroupandbecameoneofthefirstGreenBeretssenttoVietnaminthiscapacity.Waugh’sgrouptrainedPresidentDiem’ssoldiersinparamilitarytactics, “in everything from sabotage and assassination, to evade and escape,”Waughrecalls.

ThegoaloftheCIDGprogramwastocreatedirect-actionstrike-forceunitsmadeupofSouthVietnamesepeasants fromindigenoushill tribes ledbyU.S.Army Green Berets and CIA advisors. This was a grander, more ambitiousversion of what the OSS Special Operations groups, including the Jedburghs,hadaccomplishedduringWorldWarII.Waughandhis fellowtrainerswere toarm the rebels and teach them how to sabotage, subvert, and assassinate thecommunistinfiltratorscomingdownfromthenorth.

The effort was astonishing. Unlike the CIA, whose access to militaryresourceshadbeen limited,SACSAhad theDefenseDepartment tocallupon,with its resupply capacity that seemed to know no bounds. Through a CIDGsupportofficeonOkinawa,warfightingsupplieswereair-droppedintoVietnamby the ton.Eachmonthanaverageof740 tonsofweaponsand suppliesweredeliveredtoSpecialForcesunitssetupinremotevillagesacrossSouthVietnam.By the end of 1962 therewere over 33,300 SouthVietnamese peasants beingpaidbytheDefenseDepartment toparticipate in theCIDGprogram.AssignedAmericanmilitary–style titles, the participantswere broken down by number:6,000DirectActionStrikeForceTroops;19,000VillageDefenderMilitia;2,700Mountain Scouts; 5,300 Popular Forces troops, and 300 Border Surveillanceguards. Twelve months later, the number skyrocketed again. There were nowmore than 87,000 peasants on U.S. taxpayer payroll. But the program wasgrossly ineffective.When theNVA andVietcong attacked a village, the strikeforcejustranaway.

“Thisisnottosaythattheywereafraid,”wroteColonelFrancisJ.Kelly,anunconventional-warfare expert for the Pentagon and the man who latercommanded all Special Forces in Vietnam. “Most had seen a great deal offighting.Theywere justnot interested in,oreven remotelyenthusiasticabout,the program. From the point of view of the Vietnam Special Forces and thegovernmenttheCIDGprogramwasanAmericanproject.”

ForNgoDinhDiem,theAmerican-supportedpresidentofSouthVietnam,whatwas happening in remote areas of the country meant very little. His ownsituationinSaigonhadbecomedire.TheAmericanswerebeginningtolosefaith

inhisleadership,andhismilitarygeneralswereplottingtooverthrowhim.Thepeople of South Vietnam hated him. He persecuted Buddhists and liberaldemocrats in equal measure, arresting monks and nightclub owners, banningboxingmatchesandbeautypageants.Hecouldbarelycontroltheunrestthatwasbuildinginthecities,inSaigonandHue.Whenpeoplegatheredtoprotest,Diemdispatchedmilitarypolicetobeatthemintosubmission.

Bythespringof1963,Diem’spresidencywasonthebrinkofcollapse.TheKennedyWhiteHousenowviewedthecolonialist in thewhite three-piecesuitasalosinghorse.TheonlypersoninSouthVietnammorehatedthanPresidentDiemwashisbrotherNgoDinhNhu,chiefofthesecretpoliceandcommanderof army special forces. In a last-ditch effort to salvageDiem’s presidency, theWhiteHousewonderedifperhapstherealproblemwasn’tNhu.ThroughStateDepartment channels, President Diem was told to consider getting rid of hisbrother.Wordcameback:never.

The tippingpointcame inJune1963when, inprotestofDiem’spolicies,aBuddhistmonknamedThichQuangDucsethimselfonfireinthemiddleofabusySaigonstreet.Theself-immolationwasphotographed,andtheimageofahumanbeingon firewas reprinted innewspapersaround theworld.While theinternationalcommunitywasshockedby thehorrorand tragedyof themonk’sself-sacrifice, theDiem regime publiclymocked him. This led towhatwouldbecomeknownastheBuddhistuprisings.InAugust1963,afterDiemdeclaredmartiallaw,theWhiteHousedecidedthatitwouldnolongersupportPresidentDiem.

TheCIAdispatchedLieutenantColonelLucienConeintogatherintelligence.Conein served the CIA as the Saigon station liaison between Henry CabotLodge, then serving asU.S. ambassador toVietnam, andSouthVietnam’s topmilitarygenerals,ajobConeindidwellowingtoauniquehistorywithseveralof Diem’s generals. Back in 1945, the French-speaking Conein served as amemberoftheOSSDeerTeam,theAmericangroupthatarmedandtrainedHoChi Minh, General Giap, and several hundred of their Viet Minh guerrillafighters. During that time period Conein befriended many young Vietnameseofficers, some of whom now served as generals under President Diem. In anefforttodeterminewhatwashappeningatthepalace,ConeinmetwithseveralofDiem’sgenerals,usingadentist’sofficefortheseclandestinemeetings.

ConeinlearnedthatthegeneralswereplanningtooverthrowPresidentDiem.The leaderof the insurrectionwasGeneralDuongVanMinh—“BigMinh,”ashewasknown.Coneinrelayedthisinformationtothepresidentandhisadvisors.

Inturn,ConeinwastoldtotellthegeneralsthattheWhiteHousesupportedthisidea. “[We] will not attempt to thwart” this action, President Kennedy toldConein,tryingtosoundofficiallyuninvolved.

On themorningofNovember1,1963,LucienConeinawoke,changed intohismilitaryuniform,andpreparedhimselfforthecoupd’étatthatwasabouttobegin. He tucked an ivory-handled .375 magnum revolver into his waist andfilledabag,meantforBigMinh,withthreemillionVietnamesepiastres,roughly$40,000,incash.Yearslater,SenateinvestigatorsaskedConeinifheknewthatthe generals he was giving thismoney to planned on killing President Diem.“Themajority of the officers… desired President Diem to have an honorableretirement,”Coneinswore.Regardinghisbrotherandotherpowerfulfiguresintheregime,“theattitudewasthattheirdeaths…wouldbewelcomed.”

WithGreenBeretsguardinghisfamily,Coneinpickedupasecuretelephonegiven tohimbyBigMinhandcalled theCIAwitha secret code: “nine,nine,nine,nine,nine…”Thecoupd’étatagainstPresidentDiemwasabouttobegin.Conein kissed his wife and children good-bye, climbed into an army jeepwaitinginthedriveway,andheadedofftoheadquarters,neartheairport.

At 1:30 p.m., scores of BigMinh loyalists burst into army offices, policeheadquarters,andradiostationsaroundSaigon,holdingpeopleatgunpointandinformingthemthatiftheyresistedthey’dbeshot.Militarytrucksloadedwithartillerysurrounded thepalace.PresidentDiemandhisbrother slippedout thebackanddisappeared.Diem’sloyalbodyguardshadnoideathattheirpresidenthadfled,anddozensofthesemendieddefendingthepalaceandDiem’shonor.By3:00a.m.thepalacewasoverrun,andsoonlooterswererunningthroughthestreets with President Diem’s possessions: gilded furniture, fine whiskey,Americanadventuremagazines.

At 6:00 a.m. President Diem reached out to Big Minh from inside theCatholicchurchinCholonwhereheandhisbrotherwerehiding.Diemofferedto surrender, providedhewas given the full honors due a departing president.WhenBigMinhrefused,Diemsettledforunconditionalsurrenderandgaveuphis location at the church. Big Minh dispatched an American-made M113armored personnel carrier and four jeeps filled with soldiers to retrieve thedeposedpresidentandhisbrother.

On thedriveback to thepalace, alongside a train crossing,DiemandNhuwereexecuted, shotwithautomaticweapons inside thearmoredvehicle.Theirbullet-riddledbodieswerephotographedandthenburiedinanunmarkedgraveadjacenttotheSaigonresidenceofU.S.ambassadorHenryCabotLodge.

For all the euphemism and convoluted language behind and around PresidentKennedy’sassassinationprogram,therewasabsolutelynothingvagueorindirectabouttheassassinationthat tookplacejust threeweekslater,onNovember22,1963, in Dallas, Texas. From the perspective of U.S. Secret Service agentClintonJ.Hill,killingaleaderisavisceralandsickeningreality.

ClintHill,agethirty-two,hadbeenonthePresidentialProtectiveDetailsincetheEisenhoweradministration,whenheguardedthepresident’smother-in-law,EliveraMathildaCarlsonDoud.DuringtheKennedyWhiteHouseheservedasthe special agent inchargeof JacquelineKennedy,overseeingher safetyat alltimes.OnthisdayinDallas,thepresidenthadmadeaprotocolchange.Hedidn’twantSecretServiceagents, includingClintHill, tobestandingon therunningboardsoftheopen-toppedpresidentiallimousine.Instead,Hillwasnowridingina car directly behind the president andMrs.Kennedy.He hadweapons at theready:apistolathiswaist,anAR-15automaticrifleontheseatbesidehim,andashotguninthecompartmentnearthejumpseats.

When the first shot rang out, Clint Hill leapt out of the vehicle he wastravelinginandrantothepresident’slimousine,usingtherearrunningboardtoclimbontothetrunkareaandreachforMrs.Kennedy,whowasreachingouttohim. He watched as the president grabbed his throat and lurched forward. Asecondshotrangout,blastingoffaportionofthepresident’shead.

AsClintHillcoveredMrs.Kennedywithhisbody,heobservedthepresident.“Therightrearportionofhisheadwasmissing.Itwaslyingintherearseatofthecar.Hisbrainwasexposed.Therewasbloodandbitsofbrainallover theentirerearportionofthecar,”HilltoldtheWarrenCommission.

Asthelimousineracedtothehospital,asobbingMrs.Kennedytriedtomakesenseofthecarnage.

“MyGod,theyhaveshothisheadoff,”shetoldClintHill.Then,toherdeadhusband,sheimplored,sobbing:“Jack,Jack,whathavetheydonetoyou?”

Atthehospital,doctorsdeterminedthatapieceof thepresident’sskullwasmissing.“Thenextdaywefoundthe[missing]portionofthePresident’shead,”ClintHilltoldinvestigators.“Itwasfoundinthestreet.”

Years later, in an interview for theNew York Times, former CIA directorRichard Helms made a provocative statement. Helms began his intelligencecareer with the OSS in 1942 and retired in 1973, having served PresidentsJohnson and Nixon as director of Central Intelligence. Under the Kennedyadministration, he served as CIA deputy director of plans, which put him incharge of the president’s Executive Action capability. In this capacity Helms

oversaw the Kennedy administration’s assassination program, including morethantwentynow-declassifiedplotstokillFidelCastro—withanexplodingcigar,acontaminateddivingsuit,poisonbotulism-toxinpills,andotherschemes,allofwhichfailed.

“If you kill someone else’s leaders,” Helms told David Frost on nationaltelevisionin1978,“whyshouldn’ttheykillyours?”

Withinayearandahalf,thecovertwarbecameanovertwar.TheUnitedStatesincreased its military forces in South Vietnam and in March began bombingHanoi in Operation Rolling Thunder. The governments of Russia and Chinaincreased support to Hanoi, providing men, weapons, and guerrilla warfareexpertise to the communists. In Washington, DC, in an effort to define U.S.Defense Department goals inside Vietnam, John McNaughton, assistantsecretaryofthedepartment,usedapercentagecalculusinamemofornational-security advisorMcGeorgeBundy: “70%—toavoid ahumiliatingU.S. defeat;20%—tokeepSVN[SouthVietnam]…territoryfromChinesehands;10%—topermitthepeopleofSVNtoenjoyabetter,freerwayoflife.”InSouthVietnam,Joint CIA/Defense Department hit-and-run ambush operations by the CivilianIrregularDefenseGroupcontinuedfull-bore,unleashingbloodshedandchaosonan increasingly divided civilian population while achieving little of thePentagon’spercentage-basedgoals.

NowitwasdawnonJune17,1965,andBillyWaughwasleadinganinety-manCIDG teamonanambushagainst anenemycamp insideavillagecalledBong Son. The camp, believed to house 200 to 300 communist fighters, waslocated in SouthVietnam but was under the control of communist forces. OfninetyCIDGmen,onewasCIA,threewereGreenBerets,andeighty-sixwereindigenousvillagers.Themissionwastosneakupontheenemysoldierswhiletheyweresleeping,killasmanyof themaspossible,andgetoutwithout loss.Surprise,kill,vanish.

The CIDG men had left their Special Forces A-Team camp at 1:30 thatmorning.Waughwasthepointman,nowleadingtheteamsilentlyonanarrowtrailthatsnakedalongtheAnLaoRiver.Justseventeenkilometersinlandfromthecoast,theterrainwasdensejungle.Itwashotandhumid,already85degrees.Afterroughlyanhourofwalking,theteamcameuponanNVAsoldierwhowassupposedtobekeepingguardbuthadfallenasleep.Waughinstructedoneoftheindigstocuttheman’sthroat.

“Examining the dead soldier’s possessions,” remembersWaugh, “we noted

themoderngearhecarried:ashinyChinesepistol,aRussianAK-47,brand-newjungle boots, and an excellent radio.” Inside the soldier’smedicinekitwas anarray of supplies almost identical to what Special Forces medics carried, andWaughremembersnotingtheoddsymmetryinvolved.Thekill-or-be-killedruleofunconventionalwarfare.“Wetookhisgearandcontinuedon.”

The three other Americans on the team were Captain Paris D. Davis, thehighest-ranking noncommissioned officer in the group; Sergeant Robert D.Brown, a medic; and Staff Sergeant DavidMorgan, the team’s liaison to theCIA. “CaptainParisDavis, ablue-eyedblackman fromWashington,DC,hadnever been in combat before,” says Waugh, and the same went for SergeantRobert Brown, “an all-American kid fromMontanawhowould soon be deadwithabulletinhishead.”TheCIAoperatorDavidMorgan,likeWaugh“battle-tested and sharp-witted, unafraid of fierce combat or hardwork,” had alreadyservedmultipletoursinVietnam.

EachoftheSpecialForcessoldiersworegreenbattlefatiguesandcarriedanM16rifleandtwenty-fivemagazinesof .223-caliberammunition,whichmeanteachof themhadfivehundredrounds.Eachsoldierhad twenty-eightgrenadesof various types: fourteen regular grenades, ten frag grenades, two whitephosphorus grenades (an incendiary weapon meant to ignite cloth, fuel,ammunition, andmore), and two smoke grenades. Rescue gear consisted of asignalmirror,acompass,andabright redemergencypanel. Inhis leftpocket,Waughcarriedhardcandyforenergy.

As theymovedalong the riverbank,BillyWaughbegan toworryabout thecommunicationsgear.Iftheoperationwentbadandtheyneededairsupport,theradiowastheirlifeline.IthadbeendecidedearlyonthatthePRC-25FMradiowas tobe carriedbyoneof the eighty-six indigs,butnowWaughwashavingsecond thoughts. “Mostof the indigswerepoor farmers,”he says. “Now theyweremercenaries,paidtofightsomeoneelse’swar.”Thiswasthefirsttimeanyof them had been in combat.Waugh had trained the group in small arms andunconventional-warfare techniques, justashe’d trainedhundredsofothers likethem, and he knew that the indigs might not stick around once shots startedfiring. On the other hand, he thought, there was nothing quite like a quick,successful ambush to bolster the confidence and competence of a mercenary.Either way, there was no guarantee. By nightfall all but fifteen of the indigswouldbedeadorgone.

Approachingthecamp,thegroupdividedintofourunits,eachwithaGreenBeretorCIAofficerinthelead.Afewhundredmetersoutsidethetarget,Waugh

suddenlyfoundhimselfjustfeetawayfromamanandawoman,hunchedover.Bythetimetheylookedupathim,Waughhadhisweapononthem.TheywereNVAcooks,collectingfirewood.Hardatworkinthesepredawnhours,preparingbreakfastforsoldierswho’dsoonbeawake.Behindafence,Waughspottedpotsof foodcookingoveranopenfirepit.As themanreachedfor thepistolonhiship,Waugh took a swift step forward, grabbed him around the shoulders, andpushed his knife into theman’s throat. Thewoman came at himwith a stick,strikinghimandmakingnoise.Waughslitherthroatandsetherbodydownonthejunglefloor.Allwasquietagain.

Heknewinstantlythatthepaceoftheraidhadtoquicken.Thenoisecouldhavealertedasentry.Soon,allhellcouldbreaklose.Hepassedworddowntheline.Fromhereonout,themenwouldcommunicateusinghandandarmsignals,no sound. Rounding a bend, Waugh caught sight of the enemy camp. Thebamboohooches,orsleepingbarracks,werewideandlow,withceilingsnomorethan three feet tall. Each hut was roughly forty feet wide and lined withplatforms,threesoldierstoabed.Doingthemathquicklyinhishead,hefiguredtherewere250menhere.

He gave the signal to attack. The CIDG soldiers raised their M16s andopenedfire.Thegunfireledtochaosandpandemonium,withemptymagazinesdropping to the jungle floor. As the NVA soldiers leapt up from sleeping, arelentlessbarrageoffirepowercutthemdown.NextWaughandtheothersbeganhurlinggrenades,observingdispassionatelyasmenandtheirbarrackscaughtonfire.Waughrecallswatchingenemysoldiersdroptothegroundandroll,tryingto stop from being burned alive. Some fighters returned fire, butmostly theyfled. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, it got quiet. The battle was over. Waughestimated that150NVAweredead.The restappeared tohave runoff into thejungle.

“Foraboutfifteenminuteswecongratulatedeachother,”remembersWaugh.“We were celebrating. Patting ourselves on the back. Examining the Russianweaponsleftbehindwhentheyfled.”Waughremembersthinkinghowsatisfyingitwasthattheraidhadbeenasuccess.Butwarisnothingifnotfullofsurprises.

Fromdeepinsidethejungletherewasasharp,distinctsound.Abuglecall.Unmistakably amilitary command. “Buglesmeant soldiers,” explainsWaugh.“NVAregulars.”TheNVAhadcalled in the infantryusinga signal instrumentfavoredbyAmericansoldiersduringtheRevolutionaryWar.Whatnoneofthemhadrealizedwasthatthethreesleepinghoochesthey’djustambushedwerethefirst threeof several dozenhooches stretchingdeep into the jungle.Eachheld

roughlysixtyenemysoldiers.TheDefenseDepartmentlaterestimatedthattherehadbeenasmanyasthreethousandsoldiersatBongSon.Thebuglecallhadjustwokenthemallup.

Waugh ran into the jungle, firing at anything that moved. He threw handgrenadesandletofftwoflares,signalingtotheteamtodisperseandretreat.Thesoundofbootswaseverywherearoundhim.Theclatteringofmen.Commandsyelled inVietnamese. Therewas heavy gunfire coming at him, and the greentracers of RPGs. The North Vietnamese Army had begun a massivecounterattack,andWaughwasrunningoutofammofast.

Racingthroughthejungle,heheadedtowardtherallypoint,anoldcemeteryonthehighground650feettothewest.Movingasfastashislegscouldcarryhim,hesuddenlyfoundhimself inan impossiblesituation.Directly in frontofhimtherewasnothingbutawide-openrice-paddyfield.He’drunoutofjungle,hisonlymeansofdefense.Behindhimwasabattalionofbattle-readyNVA.Hehadnowheretogobutacrosstheopenfield.

He ran fast, his jungleboots sloshing through thewet grass.Concentratinghard on how tomake it to the cemetery.Therewas commohidden there, andcommomeantanabilitytocallinairstrikes.RoundsfromAK-47sbuzzedpasthishead.Hewasnowoutofammunitionandgrenades.Hesawagreen tracerfromanRPGheadedhisway.Beforehecouldreact,baamm!TheRPGhithimintherightknee.

Theimpactknockedhimover.Helayfacedowninthewetgrass.Hepulledhimselfuponallfoursandbegantocrawl.Finally,hespottedanembankment,adirtirrigationbermrunningalongtheedgeofthericepaddy.Concealedforthemoment, he looked around to assesswhowaswhere.SergeantRobertBrown,theyoungmedicfromMontana,hadtakenabullettotheheadandlaybleedingout in thegrass.Hecounted twenty-five,maybe thirtymercenariesdead in theopenfield,cutdownbyNVAfirepowerastheytriedtoescape.

Waughkeptcrawling.Afteranotherhundredorsofeethecameuponaholein frontofhim,as if someonehaddugapit.A foxhole ina ricepaddy?Howstrange.Hepulledhimselfdownintothedarkness.Itwaswetinside,aboutfourfeetwide—hecouldn’tdeterminehowlong.Ashedraggedhimselfdown,hefeltaflashofrelief.He’dmanagedtoescapefromtheenemy.Hecouldhidehere.Then he realized that therewas someone or something down here in the holewith him. He couldn’t see much in the dark. He heard breathing. He moveddown the hole a little farther until hewas staring into the flaringnostrils of awater buffalo.He couldmake out the animal’s sharp horns and its dark black

skin.Therewerewhiskersonitsnose.Theanimaljerkeditsheadandsnorted,asif to charge. Waugh wondered if he might die here, eviscerated by a waterbuffalo.Buttheanimalwasstuckinthemud,justashewas.Waughmighthavelaughed,except thathewassoakingwet,bleedingheavily,andpossibly losingconsciousness.Hecouldfeelleechescrawlingintohisopenwounds,eatingtheirwayintothespacethatusedtobehisrightknee.Outside,onthefield,heheardenemymachine-gunfire.

HisbrainstruggledtofigureoutanextmovewhensuddenlyDavidMorgan,the CIA operator, appeared alongside him in the hole. Morgan looked at thewater buffalo, then at Waugh. The NVA knew they were here in this hole,Morgan said. They had to move out. But Waugh was unable to move, andMorgan couldn’t carry him.Waugh toldMorgan to try to get to the cemeteryalone.Fromthere,hecouldcall inairstrikes to laydownsuppressivefireandforcetheNVAtodisperse.Waughcouldstillgetoutofhereonhisown.

DavidMorgantookoffrunning.Waughpulledhimselfupoutoftheholeandstarted crawling across the field. He made it about ten feet when he was hitagain, this timeworse than before.The round smashed into the bottomof hisfoot,tearingthroughhisbootandrippingaparthistoesbeforeexitinghisbodyjust above the ankle bone.He knew enough about the body to know that thismostlikelymeanthismilitarycareerwasover.Facedowninthemud,hestrainedtobreathe.Tracershit thedirtaroundhim.Hefiguredtheenemywas150feetaway.He needed to keep going, keep crawling despite the pain.His right legwasn’t working. He looked down and saw exposed bone. “My foot had beenalmost entirely torn off,” Waugh recalled. “There were leeches covering thewoundandIcouldseemyexposedfootandanklebones,whiteassnow.”

Keepgoing,hetoldhimself.Stopandyou’redead.Whenhetookashottotheleftwrist,partofhisbraintriedhavingaconversationwithhimaboutwhatitwouldbelikeifhelosthislegandneverwalkedontwofeetagain.Anotherpartofhisbrainsaid,Don’tthinkaboutthat,herecalls.Thepainwasintense,andhefigured soon he’d lose consciousness. If the enemy got ahold of him, hewasdead. Waugh reached into his rucksack. He pulled out his field syringe andmorphinebottle,gavehimselfthreequickshots.Hewaitedforthedrugstotakeeffect.Aslightwarmfeelingcameoverhim,butmostlyhefeltintensepain.

Ahead,Waughcould seeCIAoperatorDavidMorganat the rallyingpoint.He’d made it. Damn. This was a good sign, quickly followed by a bad one.DavidMorgan’s hand signals indicated that the radio had been shot to pieces.Therewasnowaytocallforrescueorairstrikes.Waughlookedup.MyGod,he

thought,washehallucinating?WasthisreallyCaptainParisD.Davis,comingtogethim?Waugh remembers staring intoDavis’s eyesandhow incrediblybluetheywere.Henormallydidn’tnoticethingslikethis,anditjerkedhimbackintoreality.Neithermanhadanywaytoradioforhelp.Thesituationwasdire.Theytried discussing what to do next. Davis had his right hand up, pointing atsomething,whenhegotshotinthehand.Theendsofhisfingerswereshearedoff.Waughwatchedblood spurt into the air between them.Davis howled andswore.Hewasright-handed,hesaid.Nowhecouldn’tevenshoot.

Nocommo.Noammo,thoughtWaugh.Nowaytocommunicate,noabilitytoshoot.Theironlyhopewasrescue.Thesunwascomingup.Waughpulledouthisemergencypanelandsignalmirror.Davismadearunfor thecemetery.Anaircraftflyingoverhead,searchingfortheteam,spottedwhatwashappeningandnotifiedheadquarters.ThefullfightingforceoftheU.S.Armyandtheairforcewasnowcomingtotherescue.Itwasn’toveryet.

Lyinghelplessinthericepaddy,Waughlookedupandwatchedthesky.HesawNavy F-8s andU.S.Air Force F-4C Phantom jets come in fast and low,droppingbombsandnapalmonthebattlefield.Foramomenthehadhope.Thensuddenlyhetookabullettotherightsideofhishead.Mostlikelyaricochet,itslicedatwo-inchsectionofskinandboneoffhisforehead.Thewoundwasnotdeepenoughtokillhim,butitwasenoughtoknockhimunconscious.

WhenWaughawoke,thesunwashighinthesky.Hourshadpassedandhewasbakedinathickmudshell,likeacrust.Warmraysbeatdownonhimandhelookedathiswatchtoseewhattimeitwas.Nowatch.Hewasnaked.TheNVAmusthavemistakenhimfordead.Strippedhimnakedandtakenhiswatch.Afterafewminutes,heheardthesoundsofahelicopter.Hecouldn’tbelievehewasalive. Thwaap, thwaap, thwaap, went the rotor blades. He watched as thehelicopter landed. Out leapt a Special Forces soldier he knew, Sergeant FirstClass John Reinburg, a weapons expert.Was Reinburg really running towardhim?HewasprettysureitwasReinburg,runninginhisjunglefatigues,crossingsome250feetofopenterrain.Ormaybethesituationwasn’treal.MaybeWaughwas imagining things.NowReinburgwas standing over him, talking.He toldWaughhewasheretogethimoutofthismessalive.InthedistanceWaugheyedthehelicopterthatReinburgsaidwasgoingtomedevachimtoaMASHhospitalnotfaraway.ItwasaUH-1D;hecouldseepeopleclimbinginside.

ReinburgtoldWaughhewasgoingtocarryhimthe250feetacrosstheopenfieldtothehelicopter,becauseWaugh’srightkneeandleftlegwereuseless.Thebloodhaddried,buttheboneswereexposedandtherewereleecheseatingathis

flesh.ReinburghoistedWaughupfrombehind,holdinghimunderhisarmpits,dragging him toward the helicopter. Across the field, he spotted Paris Davis,alive,crawlingtowardthehelicopter.ThenheheardtheterriblesoundofRPGtracersalloveragain.

“We’regonnamakeit,”ReinburgpromisedashedraggedWaughacrossthericepaddy.“We’regonnamakeit.”HeluggedWaugh’sbodyfiveorsixfeetatatime.AndjustwhenWaughstartedtobelievehemightcomeoutofthisdisasteralive, Reinburg took a bullet to the chest. “The bullet hit him just above theheart,”remembersWaugh.“Andashestarted tofall,asecondbullet impactedhis body, this time six inches lower down.”Reinburg’s lung collapsed and hestruggled to breathe. “In that instant, Reinburg went from being strong andheroictobeinginworseshapethanme.”

AnotherGreenBeretcamerushingoutof thehelicopterandbeganrunningacrosstheopenfield.Hewasyoung.HegrabbedReinburgandstarteddragginghimtowardthehelicopter.MaybesomeonegrabbedBillyWaugh,ormaybeheandParisDaviscontinuedcrawling toward thehelicopteron theirownpower.Later, in debriefs, neither man could clearly recall. Special Forces trainingteachesitssoldierswhatneedstobedonetostayalive:crawl,staylow,gettothehelicopternomatterwhat.

Now the helicopter was just a few yards away. Waugh could see DavidMorganandafewofthemercenarieswaitinginside.Thehelicopter-doorgunnerwaslayingdownsuppressivefire, tryingtokeepWaughandDavisfrombeingfireduponbyNVAsoldiershidinginthetrees.Waughwasinsidethehelicopternow.Astheaircraftstartedtoliftupofftheground,agreentracerflewintothecabinandhitthedoorgunner,shearingoffpartofhisarm.Waughwatchedthegunner stare atwhat remained of his limb as the helicopter took off and theyflewaway.

WhenBillyWaughawoke,heheardscreaming.HewasinafieldhospitalafewkilometersfromBongSon.Besidehim,inthenextbedover,JohnReinburgwashowling in pain as thenursesworked to debridehim, removingdamagedtissue and foreign objects—dirt, debris, and insects—from his gaping chestwounds.Waughrealizedhewasscreaming,too,andthatthenursesweredoingthesamethingtohisleg.

A few days later, General WilliamWestmoreland, commander of all U.S.forces inVietnam, stoppedby the fieldhospital andpinned aPurpleHeart onBillyWaugh’suniform.ReinburgwasawardedtheDistinguishedServiceCross.

ThencameaU.S.Armydoctorwithgrimnews.Waughwasbeingsentback

totheUnitedStates,tothelower-extremityamputationwardatWalterReed.

CHAPTERTWELVE

TheStudiesandObservationsGroup

TheWalterReedamputeewardwasadevastatingsighttobehold.BillyWaughwasnowoneofitspatients,hisrightleginacast.Theinfectionwasn’tgettinganybetter,andthedoctorsaidpartofhislegwouldlikelyneedtobeamputated,cutoffbelowtheknee.Dayinanddayout,Waughwatchedfellowsoldiers inthewardcomeandgo.They’dgetwheeledaway tosurgical roomsandreturnwithoutanarmoraleg.

ThewayWaughsawit,thereweretwocategoriesofamputees.Somesoldiersbecame a shell of their former selves after they lost a limb.Others somehowmanagedtokeepthingslight,likethesergeantmajorinthenextbedoverwhorecentlyhadhis lower leg removed.Waughwentwithhim to theFridaynightdance.

“Watch this,” the sergeant major said, unhooking his prosthetic leg andputting it on backward, so the foot faced in reverse. The soldier with theprosthetic asked a pretty girl to dance and she said sure, butwhile theyweredancing, she lookeddown at his backward foot, screamed, and ran away.Thesergeantmajorhowledwith laughter.Waughdidn’tknowwhichwasworse: tolosealimbortofindhumorinit.

Soonenough,Dr.ArthurMetz,chiefoflower-extremityamputationsurgery,cametogiveBillyWaughthebadnews.Despitetwosurgeriesandfourweeksofantibiotics, the infection in his right leg had gottenworse.Dr.Metz proposedamputatingthefootfromtheankledown.Ifitgotanyworse,theymighthavetotakethebottomhalfoftheleg.Waughcouldnotbearthethought.“Ihaditinmymindtoreturntocombat,”hesays.“In1965,youcouldn’tfightwithoutafoot.”

BillyWaughpleadedwithDr.Metztobedischarged.Hewantedtogohealat

his sister’shouse inTexas.Dr.Metzagreedandwrotehimconvalescent leaveorders.Waughwas thrilledat first,butasheprepared to travel toTexas,hopegave way to misery. He missed being a soldier and the intensity of war.Somethingcameoverhimand,penicillinbottleinhand,hedecidedtohitchhiketoVietnam,asastandbypassengeronmilitaryaircraft.Itseemedthepilotsfeltsorryforhimwithhislongcastonhisrightleg,andheneverhadtowaitlong.Inless than aweek hemade it fromWashington,DC, toTravisAir ForceBase,outsideSanFrancisco,tothePhilippines,andfinallytoTanSonNhatAirportinSaigon.

Saigonwasabusycityinthesummerof1965.WaughcheckedintotheHotelMajesticandheadedtotheTuDobardownthestreet,theplacewheresoldierswent for rest and relaxation. Itdidn’t take long forWaugh to spot two friendsfrom Special Forces, Billy Kessinger, a medic, and Danny Horton, acommunicationsman.Seated at a corner table, the trio ofGreenBerets beganchatting. After a few beers, Kessinger and Horton hinted to Waugh about ahighly classified direct-action unit that was just now expanding. An eliteunconventional-warfaregroup thatwassecreted insideMACV.Nooneoutsidetheunitknewaboutit;itwasaspecial-accesscovertprogramcalledtheStudiesand Observations Group (SOG), named to deceive people into thinking itsmemberswereIvyLeague–typeanalystsreadingreports.Inreality,themissionswere so dangerously insane, Kessinger and Horton said, the acronym wastranslatedtoSuicideontheGroundbysomeguys.KessingerandHortonwerealreadyinSOGandtheyshowedWaughtheircredentials:aphoto,afewcodedletters, and a telephone number that you could call 24/7 if you ever neededanything.SOGmembershadunprecedentedauthority.Theycouldgoanywherein South Vietnam, at any time of the night or day—no getting stopped bymilitarypolice(MP).IfyouwereinSOG,youwereauthorizedtocarryafirearmat all times.Kessinger andHorton called the creds aWoWpass, because youcouldwalkonwaterwithit.

SittinganddrinkingattheTuDobar,thementalkedlateintothenight,pastcurfewforAmericansoldiers.WhenanAmericanMPapproachedthetableandaskedforidentification,KessingerandHortonflashedtheirWoWpasses.Waughpulled a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and showed theMP hisconvalescentleaveorders.

“What the hell are you doing on convalescent leave in Vietnam, MasterSergeantWilliamD.Waugh?”theMPasked,readingfromthepapers.

“I’mvisitingwithmyamigos,”saidWaugh.

The MP was not certain what to make of the situation, so he called hiscommanding officer, who asked if Master Sergeant Waugh was causingproblems. TheMP said hewasn’t. The commanding officer said convalescentleaveordersweregoodandWaughcouldbeleftalone.Thenightendedwithoutincident.

Aweeklater,WaughreturnedtoAmerica,moredeterminedthanevertogethimselfassignedtothisclassifiedunconventional-warfareunitcalledSOG.

InWashington,DC,hetraveledtothePentagontomeetwiththeassignmentsofficerforSpecialForces,awomannamedBillieAlexander.Seatedacrossfromher,WaughpleadedtobeassignedtoMACV-SOG.

“Allshecoulddowaslaugh,”herecalls.“ShesaidIcouldbarelywalk,howdidIexpecttoeverfightagain?”

Waughproposedachallenge.IfhewasabletoconvinceDr.Metztoreassignhim toSpecialForcesatFortBragg, and ifhecould last there for amonthoftraining,wouldBillieAlexanderrecommendhimforSOG?

“Perhapsshefeltsorryforme,”Waughremembers,“becauseshe lookedatmeforawhileandthenshesaidyes.”

WaughmetwithDr.Metz,whorejectedhisidea.Hislowerlegwasbeyondsalvage,Metzsaid,andrequiredamputation.Waughbeggedtoundergoonelastexploratorysurgery.Thedoctoragreed.Duringthesurgery,Dr.Metzwentfarupintotheleg,neartheknee,wherehelocatedatinysliverofWaugh’sarmybootlodgedinsidethetibia.Thiswasthelikelysourceofthemonths-longinfection.Onceitwasremoved,thefinalroundofpenicillintookholdandWaughbegantoheal.Thefollowingmonth,hereturnedtoFortBragg.InhissecondweekbackinSpecialForceshereceivedneworders.HewasbeingsenttoVietnamaspartofMACV-SOG.

The reason forSOG’s highly classified naturewas that it violated theGenevaAgreement of 1962, theDeclaration on theNeutrality ofLaos,which forbadeU.S.forcesfromoperatinginsidethecountry.ButatthePentagon,afteralmosttwo years of reading reports from intelligence assets in the field, theDefenseDepartment was coming around to the idea that Laos was the key to theinsurgencyandtheHoChiMinhTrailthelocusoftheproblem.NowPresidentJohnsonneededconvincing.Theinitial jobofSOGreconnaissancemenwouldbe to sneak intoLaos, takephotographsof activityon the trail, plant listeningdevices,andgetoutalivewiththeevidence.Eventuallytheywouldbeassignedcross-bordermissionsintoCambodiaaswell.

“NobodyknewwithcertaintywhatwasinLaos,”saysJohnPlaster,aformermember of the classified unit. “Learning what was there was SOG’s newoperation.” Plaster is considered one of the most competent snipers in U.S.military history, and his experiences inMACV-SOGwould later serve as thebasisforpartofthevideogameCallofDuty:BlackOps.

SOG’s first chief was Colonel Donald Blackburn, the former leader ofOperationWhiteStar,andhepreparedhisfightersforbattlesinLaosthatwouldbe decidedly ungentlemanly. Blackburn was a master of guerrilla warfare.DuringWorldWarIIheledkill-or-be-killedmissionsinthePhilippines,wherethe tribesmen he organized into a guerrilla fighting force turned out to beheadhunters. Blackburn’s wartime diary became a bestselling book, in 1955,calledBlackburn’sHeadhunters.InLaos,SOGoperatorswouldneedtoemployruthlessunconventionalwarfaretacticswithunmercifulintensity.TodirectSOGoperations on the ground, Colonel Blackburn chose another guerrilla warfarelegend,theFinnish-bornLarryThorne.

MACV-SOG started with just sixteen volunteers, all Green Berets who’dbeentrainingonOkinawa.ThemenworkedoutofaforwardoperatingbaseinKhamDuc,abordervillagelocatedsixtymilessouthwestofDanang.SimilartotheCivilian IrregularDefenseGroup program, and theOSS Jedburghs beforethat,eachSOGteamwasmadeupof twoor threeAmericansoldiersandninetribesmen.Initially the tribesmenwereNung,anethnicChineseminority; laterthey included Montagnards, indigenous people from Vietnam’s CentralHighlandswhomtheAmericanscalledYards.

“[We] Americans had advanced technology, such as helicopters, and thetribesmenhadancienttechniques,suchassilentambush,”explainsJohnPlaster.The tribesmen helped theGreenBerets understand the tactics thatwere beingusedbytheNVAguerrillafighters,thingsnotfoundinanymanual.Forexample,Nungtribesmendemonstratedhow,bydiggingafour-footholeintoahillside,afightercouldseeandfeelthevibrationsofanadvancingaircraftlongbeforehisearsregisteredtheenginesound.

Sharedtricksofthetradewentbothways.Tribesmenwerealsorecruitedtowatch and count enemy troops and supplies beingmoved through the jungle.BecausemostcouldnotreadorwriteEnglishorVietnamese,theCIA’stechnicalstaff developed a nonliterate system of conveyance. Instead of words, thecountingdevicesgivenouttorecruitsfeaturedtinypictogramsrepresentingmen,weapons,vehicles,evenelephants—acommonmeansoftransportintheregion.When the recruits activated a toggle switch on the device, their data was

transmittedtoCIAaircraft,flyingoverhead.Unlike the CIDG program, the bond between the tribesmen and the SOG

operatorswasreportedtobestrong.“TheNungandYardscouldhavecaredlessaboutSouthVietnamas a country,” recallsPlaster. “They feltnoallegiance tosomeabstractpaymaster like theUnitedStates.But theywere ready todie fortheirreconteammates,AmericanandYardalike.”

SOG’s first cross-bordermission into Laos occurred onOctober 18, 1965.U.S.ambassadorWilliamSullivanforbadeSOGfromusinghelicopterinsertionsinto the supposedlyneutral country, so the first team togo in,ReconnaissanceTeam(RT)Iowa,wasinsertedbyhelicopterontheVietnamsideoftheborder.Theywalked through the jungle intoLaos.The team leader,orOne-Zero,wasMaster Sergeant Charles “Slats” Petry; the assistant team leader, orOne-One,wasSergeantFirstClassWillieCard.Together,thesetwoAmericansledsevenNungmercenariesandonelieutenantfromtheSouthVietnameseArmy(ARVN)togatherreconnaissanceofenemyactivityalongtheHoChiMinhTrail.RatherthanoverseethemissionfromKhamDuc,LarryThorneflewwithhismeninthehelicopter,circlingoverheaduntilhereceivedwordthey’dsuccessfullycrossedoverintoLaos.

EachSOGteamworeAsian-madeuniformswithnolabelsorinsignia.Theycarriedsterileweapons,meaningtheycamewithnoidentifyingmarks,suchastheSwedishKsubmachinegun;andtheysmokedChinesecigarettes.IfanyonegotcapturedinLaos,noonecouldidentifythemasAmericans.SOGoperatorswereissuedunmarkedV-42stilettokniveswithsix-inchblades,designedbyBenBarkeronOkinawaandsecretlymanufactured in Japan.Not since thedaysoftheOSShadtheU.S.militaryissuedstilettoknives.

Overheadairsupportwascriticaltothesuccessofeverymission.TheH-34KingbeehelicopterwasSOG’ssignatureaircraft,abubble-nosedworkhorseabletowithstand a hail of automatic weapons fire and keep flying. TheKingbeeswere flownbySouthVietnamese air forcepilots trained inTexasby theCIA.With radiocall signs likeCowboyandMustachio, thesepilots savedcountlessSOG men from capture or death, performing radical jungle infiltration,exfiltration,andrescueoperationsdayafterday.“Allgavesome,somegaveall,”says SOG operator John StrykerMeyer of theKingbee pilots. Cessna aircraftwerealsousedregularlyonmissions,andflyingonthefirstmissioninaCessna0-2 spotter were U.S. Air Force major Harley Pyles and U.S. Marine CorpscaptainWinfieldSisson.Ifanythingwentwrong,theU.S.AirForceandtheU.S.Navy were on standby, ready to send in covert air support in the form of

overheadairstrikes.RTIowawasinsertedsuccessfully,andafterafewhourstheyradioedLarry

Thornetosaythey’dcrossedtheborderintoLaos.ThorneradioedKhamDuctosayhewasnowheadingbacktobase.Hewasneverheardfromagain.

“InthefirstfewminutesofSOG’sclassifiedborderoperations,theprogramswallowed up one of its finest officers and awholeKingbee” helicopter, saysJohn Plaster. “That afternoon, the Cessna carrying Major Pyles and CaptainSissondisappeared.”OnSOG’sfirstmission,threemenwentmissinginaction(MIA),never tobeseenagain. Itwasan indicationof thekindofcatastrophiclossSOGwouldfaceover thenextsixyears.Thegreatmajorityofsuchcasesare either still classifiedor lack records, said tohavebeen lost.Over thenexteightmonths,fiveSOGreconteamsworkingoutofKhamDucconductedforty-eightcross-bordermissions.Inthewinterof1966,MACVheadquartersopeneda second SOG base up north, at Khe Sanh, closer to the demilitarized zone(DMZ).Stilllimpingfromfivegunshotwoundstotheleg,BillyWaugharrivedthereinMay.

Located in the northwest corner of South Vietnam, Khe Sanh was the mostremote American military facility in all of the south, a strip of flat landsurrounded by 4,000-foot mountains and treacherous ravines. Much of theactivitycenteredaroundCoRocMountain,a2,000-footlimestonepeakvisiblefrom the base, as were Hill 1050 and Hill 950, veritable beehives of NVAactivity.Thegeographyherewasunlikeanything in theUnitedStates, endlesskarst-limestoneoutcroppingsthatlookedlikegiantvine-coveredchimneys.Thebasecamp,underthecontroloftheU.S.MarineCorps,wasstrategicallylocatedjust fourteenmilessouthof theDMZandtwelvemileseastof theborderwithLaos.ForSOG, thismeant thatKheSanhwaswithin strikingdistanceof keyenemybasesalongtheHoChiMinhTrail.

TheSOGbaseatKheSanhwasaSpecialAccessfacility,partitionedbehindconcertinawire,surroundedbyblastwalls,andbuiltmostlyunderground.SOGoperations were classified, which meant that even Khe Sanh’s marinecommander,ColonelDavidE.Lownds,wasn’t privy to its activities. In 1966,whenWaugh arrived, the newSOG chiefwas Jack Singlaub, the formerOSSJedburghwhorancovertCIAairdropoperationsduringtheKoreanWar,underthe cover name JointAdvisoryCommission,Korea, or JACK. “Therewas norestatSOG,”remembersBillyWaugh,“onlywar,recon,rescue,sleep.”

Internationallawmeantnothingtotheenemyouthereontheborderregion

betweenVietnamandLaos,aconceptSOGmenwereregularlyforcedtograpplewith. Despite the covert nature of their missions, Special Forces soldiersoperatedundertheU.S.militarychainofcommandandwereboundbythelawsofwar.EversincetheLieberCodeof1863,theexecutionofcapturedprisonersand the mutilation of dead soldiers’ bodies on the battlefield were expresslyforbidden. The 1949 Geneva Conventions updated these protocols for themodernera.Andyet lookatwhat theNVAhaddonetoSergeantDonaldSain,thoughtBillyWaugh,asheflewoverCoRocMountain inaSOGobservationaircraft.

Itwas June1966.RTMontanahadbeenambushed threedaysbefore,withtwoSOGmencapturedandexecuted,andsevenindigskilledinaction(KIA)ormissinginaction(MIA).One-ZeroHenryWhalenmadeitbacktoKheSanhandgave theambush locationcoordinates toSOGcommanders.Waughwasput inchargeofarescue-or-retrievalmission,whichiswhyhewasacrosstheborderinLaosnow,searchingfordeadbodiesfromtheCessna.WhenhespottedSergeantDonaldSain’sbodyinajungleclearing,hefeltcontemptanddisgust.

Don Sain was a twenty-three-year-old kid from Santa Clara County,California,who’dwornawhite tuxedoandabowtie topromjusta fewyearsbefore.Nowhewasnotjustdeadbuthadbeenmutilatedandputondisplaybythe NVA. Sain’s captors had killed him and arranged him in a spread-eaglepositionwith his legs staked to the earth andhis arms tied to a tree.MaggotswerecrawlingaroundthegunshotwoundsthatDonSainhadtakentothechest.Oncevibrantandfulloflife,hewasnowcarrion.

Itwas9:00a.m.andWaughassessedthesituation.“I’dbeenincombatlongenoughtoknowSain’sbodywasnotonlydisplayedsowecouldseeit,butithadtobebooby-trappedaswell,”herecalls.

WaughinstructedthepilottoheadbacktotheSOGbaseatKheSanh.There,hebriefedhiscommandingofficer.AfterputtingtogetheraBrightLightrescueteam, the SOGmen returned to the clearing in the jungle. The team includedDanny Horton, the communications man from the Tu Do bar, Sergeant FirstClassJamesCraig,amedic,andMajorGerald“Jerry”Kilburn,themostseniorofficerinthegroupandaPOWduringtheKoreanWar.

FlyingtheH-34KingbeewasSouthVietnameseairforcepilotNguyenVanHoang,callsignMustachio,sonamedaftertheClarkeGable–stylemustachehewore. Once, during a rescue operation and under heavy fire, Mustachio wasstruck in the neck with a bullet while piloting a Kingbee over a target. Heplugged thebulletholewithhis fingers andgot the crippledhelicopter twenty

kilometersbacktoKheSanh,flyingwithonlyonehand.WithMustachioatthecontrols,theKingbeehoveredoverSain’sbody.While

Waugh tried to figureouthow toget aholdof itwithoutbeinghit bygrenadefrag,Mustachio searched for a landing zone.NVAwere everywhere, and timewas critical. Body retrieval was the perfect time for an ambush. Mustachiocircled around a few times before setting the Kingbee down, roughly onehundredmetersfromthebody.Therescueteamhoppedoff.

Approaching the body, BillyWaugh felt the anger and disgust return. Thestenchof rotting fleshwas hard to bear.Hegrabbed a climbing rope and toldMajorKilburn his plan. “I decided to tie one end of the rope to thewheel ofMustachio’shelicopterandtheotherendaroundSain’sleg.Thatwaywe’dmovethebodyandlettheboobytrapsexplodeharmlessly,”Waughrecalls.TheteamlookedatWaughlikehewascrazy.

“Therewasnomanualfor thiskindofhorridshit,”hesays.“Theropewasthefastestandmostefficientwaytoachievetheobjective.”

Waugh tied the rope to the helicopter wheel and instructed Mustachio tohoveroverSain.Delicately, so as not to set off thegrenades, he tied the ropearoundSain’sleg.

“Let’smoveout,”hetoldtheteam.Everyonesteppedbackafewyards.Usingthehelicopter,Mustachiopulledthebodyofftheground.Threeorfour

booby-trapgrenadesstartedgoingoffaroundSain.“Sainwashoveringaboveusbyhisleg,”remembersWaugh.“Thefluidsand

maggotsandcrapfromhisbodypouredoutashewasbeingliftedupandaway.And as it did, Kilburn got sprayed with debris.” Kilburn, a highly decoratedcombat veteran, had sustained three years of torture at the hands of hiscommunistcaptorsintheKoreanWar.Butthiswastoomuchforhim.WhenthefluidshitKilburn,hescreamed.

Mustachio lifted Sain’s body and set it down. Kilburn finished screaming.Everyonegotquiet.Sain’sbodyhadbeenrecovered,buttherewasmoreworktodo.AsecondSOGmanfromRTMontanawasstillmissing,akidfromMissourinamedSergeantDelmerLee “Outlaw”Laws. TheBright Light team searchedthearea,tryingtofindabloodtrailandmaybefindLaws.TheSOGmendivviedupground,eachmanassignedaquadrant toscour.Thispartof the junglewashostileandunforgiving,filledwithpoisonoussnakeslikethetwo-stepsnake—ifitbityou,youhadtwostepsleftinyoubeforeyoudied.Waughfoundhimselfwaisthighinwait-a-minutebushes,pricklyplantswithclawsthesharpnessofacat’s thathooked intoyour skinwhenyoupassedby. Ifyougot snagged,you

had to wait a minute to unhook yourself, or get torn to shreds. After severalhoursofsearching,everyone’sfatigueswererippedup,armsandfacesscratchedupandbleeding,butnoonewasreadytostopyet.TheyintendedtofindOutlaw.

DannyHortoncalledout.He’dfoundabloodtrail.Waugh saw Horton emerge from the woods, looking ill. In one hand he

carriedanAmerican jungleboot.Somethinggrotesquewas stickingoutof theshoe,recallsWaugh,ashefiguredouthewaslookingatpartofDelmerLaws’sleg.DannyHorton took the group towhere he’d found it. “He’d beenmostlyeatenbyatiger,”saysWaugh.

TheridebacktotheSOGbasewasquiet.Beneaththehelicopter,Sain’sbodywas swinging from a rope. Delmer Laws’s leg was lying on the floor of thehelicopterinaplasticbodybag.

OncetheylandedonthetarmacatKheSanh,BillyWaughclimbedoutofthehelicopter carrying Laws’s leg in the bag. “My clothes were shredded, I wasfilthy,coveredinhorriblethings.Myarmsandfacewerescratched,Ismelled,”herecalls.StandingthereonthetarmacwaitingfortheSOGBrightLightteamwasanofficerfromthe5thSpecialForces,“takingabreakfromhisdeskdutiesat MACV headquarters in Nha Trang,” remembersWaugh. “He asked me tocomeinside.”

Waugh followed his superior officer into the SOGbase. The officer beganyellingathim.

“Goddamnit,Waugh,”he said. “You’re filthy,you smell, andyou’reoutofuniform.You’readisgrace.Allofyou.”

Waughset theplasticbagonthe table.Hetookamomentbeforehespoke.Everysoldierknowschainofcommand.Everysoldier respectsauthority.Yoursuperiorofficerisalwayscorrect.ButWaughcouldnotcontainhimself.HetookLaws’slegoutofthebodybagandsetitonthetable.

“Howabouthim?”Waughasked,pointing.“Isheadisgrace?”Theofficerstaredatthejunglebootandthebloodystump.“Whatthehellisthat?”heasked.“It’s Sergeant Delmer Lee Laws’s leg,” saidWaugh. “The rest of him got

eatenbyatiger.Isheoutofuniform,sir?”Theofficergrewquiet,apologized,andleft.The followingweek, aboxarrivedatKheSanh, fromheadquarters inNha

Trang.Inside,therewerethreeboxesofcrispnewjunglefatigues.Nomarkings,ofcourse.NoonecouldknowSOGoperatorswereviolatingtheDeclarationontheNeutralityofLaos.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

KillorCapture

AftertheassassinationofPresidentKennedyinNovemberof1963,PresidentJohnson renamed the Special Group (Augmented) the 303 Committee.Assassinationplotsagainstforeignleadersappearedtohavebeentoneddown,orat least thepresident’s innercircleofadvisorsstoppedallowingtheminutesofmeetingsinwhichtheywerediscussedtoberecorded.Theexceptionwaswithplans to kill Fidel Castro andCheGuevara, whichmoved ahead full-bore. In1967 theCIA inspector general ordered an internal report on its assassinationcapability, theworking papers ofwhichwere then destroyed on the orders ofCIAdirectorRichardHelms.

At least one significant assassination planwas likely part of the destroyedcache:anextraordinarilysensitivemissiontokillGeneralGiap,theindomitableleader of the North Vietnamese Army. Giap was to visit an NVA commandcenterinsupposedlyneutralLaos,asovereignnation.ThegroupchosentokillhimwasMACV-SOG.OneofthefirsttwomentothetargetareawastobeBillyWaugh.

Itwas June 2, 1967, andBillyWaughwas summoned to a briefing insideSOGheadquartersatKheSanh.Somethingunprecedentedwasabouttohappen,hewastold,adirect-actionoperationsoimportantthatalltheotherair-supportedmissions acrossVietnamwould come to ahalt.Over theprevious twenty-fourhours, theCIA and the Pentagon had intercepted roughly 1,500 communiquésbetweenHanoiandanNVAstrongholdlocatedjustafewmilesfromKheSanh,insideLaos.TheareahadbeengiventhecodenameOscarEight.Analysisoftheintercepted messages confirmed that Oscar Eight was the secret NVA fieldheadquarterstheCIAhadbeentryingtolocateformonths.

The CIA sent its U-2 spy planes overhead in search of photographicintelligence.ImagesconfirmedenemytrafficalongthelowerportionoftheHoChiMinhTrailwasbeingdivertedtoOscarEight.Thencameareconnaissancecoup d’état: signals intelligence intercepted by the U.S. Army indicated thatGeneralGiaphimselfwasheadedtoOscarEightforameeting.

BillyWaughwouldactasforwardaircontroller,inchargeofobservationandrelayforthemission.At4:00a.m.thenextmorninghe’dflyinoverthetargetinaCessna and circle overhead for thedurationof themission—high enough toavoidNVAantiaircraft fire, but low enough towatch throughbinocularswhatwasunfoldingon theground. ItwouldbeWaugh’s job to relay information tothevariouspartiesinvolved,viaSOG’scommunicationsystem,servingasakindofbattlecoordinatorinthesky.

Themission planwas succinct. Nine B-52 bombers would fly in over thetarget to drop 900 bombs, each 200 pounds—a means of inflicting massivedamage on the enemy camp and obliterating its capacity to respond. Fourteenminutes later, twomarinehelicoptergunshipswould strafe thearea, clearingalandingzone(LZ).Next,twotrooptransporthelicopters,pilotedbymarinecorpspilots,woulddeposit two teamsofSOGHatchetForces, large thirty-or forty-manunitsused inbigoperations.AirsupportwouldcomefromtwoSkyraideraircraft,propeller-drivenworkhorsesthatwereslowbuteffective.TwoKingbeehelicopterswouldinserttwonine-manSOGteams,experiencedoperatorstaskedwith locating and killing General Giap. Finally, four fast-flying F-4 Phantomfighter jets would provide close air support. SOG had seven hours to kill orcaptureGeneralGiapandgetout.

But Oscar Eight was a defender’s dream. The bowl-shaped valley wassurroundedbyhillson threesides, formingastrategic ridge-shapedhorseshoe.On earlier recon missions, SOG teams reported seeing 12.7mm antiaircraftartillery,calledtriple-A,scatteredonhilltopsandplatformsinthejunglecanopy,likehuntingblinds.

NowitwasdawnatKheSanh.BillyWaughclimbedintotheCessnaO-2spotteraircraft,intotheseatbesidethepilot,JamesAlexander,anairforcemajor.Theyflew eight miles out from Khe Sanh, over the jungle canopy and into Laos,becoming the first to survey the Oscar Eight target area.Waugh had been incombatmissions inVietnamoffandonsince1961,andhe thought tohimself,Thisdaycouldchangethewar.ThePentagonhaddeterminedGeneralGiaptobeanevengreatersourceofmoraletofightersthanHoChiMinhhimself.Killing

Giapcouldendthewar.Throughbinoculars,Waughspottedcookfiresdownbelow,soldiersupearly

preparing breakfast for the fighters, he surmised.MajorAlexandermoved theCessnaroughlyfifteenmilestothesouth,wherehebegantocircleoverhead,inanticipationof theB-52bombers soon to arrive.Waugh checkedhiswatch. Itwas4:45,thesunwascomingup,andtheskywaspurpleandorange.Aboveandin the distance,Waugh spotted the contrails of the B-52s. Like clockwork, at6:00 a.m., nine B-52 bombers passed over Oscar Eight, inundating the targetarea with 200-pound bombs. It was a colossal attack, one that left thesurrounding valley seemingly destroyed.Waugh observed how the land belowwasnowpockmarkedwithhundredsofapartment-building-sizedbombcraters,burned-out, smoking holes. Through binoculars, he watched weapons depotsexplodeandburn.Grasssleepshackshadbeensetablazeandscoresofenemyfighterswererushingoutfrommakeshiftbuildings,hurryingtoputoutfires.Hewatchedfightersremoveweaponsfromburningboxesandrollgasolinebarrelsoutoftheway.

Overhead, as the B-52s made a second pass, suddenly something entirelyunexpectedhappened:theridgesaroundOscarEightlitup.NVAsoldiersdownbelowwere firing backwith a barrage of antiaircraft fire.How could this be,thought Waugh. The camp had been heavily bombed, and yet the NVA airdefensesappearedtobeentirelyintact.TheB-52bombersflewtoohighfortheNVA to hit with antiaircraft fire, but the SOG helicopters that were about tocome in would be vulnerable to direct fire. Concerned with the speed andaggressionoftheNVAgunners’response,Waughpickeduptheradioandcalledthemarinehelicoptergunshippilotswho’dsoonbeheadingintothetargetarea.Theyneededtoturnaroundimmediately.

“Abortthismission!”Waughshouted.“Abort!”Noanswer.Nothingbutsilenceoverthecomms.Waugh tried again. Then he tried contacting the marine pilots who were

flying theCH-46trooptransporthelicopters,eachonepackedwith thirtySOGHatchetForces.

Noanswer.Silence.Shit.“DideverybodyswitchVHFchannels?”WaughaskedMajorAlexander.MajorAlexandershookhisheadandtriedhisowncommo.Nothingbutradio

silenceonhis,too.Waugh checked his watch. The helicopters delivering the Hatchet Forces

were scheduled to arrive fourteen minutes after the first B-52 bombing run,

whichmeantanyminutenow.Desperate toget in touchwithsomeone,Waughkepttryinghisradio,butitwastoolate.Belowandtotheeast,hespottedtwomarinehelicoptergunshipsflyinginfastandlow.Theybeganstrafingthetargetarea, clearing the LZ for the Hatchet Forces to land. Waugh and Alexanderwatched inhorror asoneof thegunshipswaspickedoffbyNVAground fire.Then thesecondhelicopterwashit.The twohelicopterseachbegan towobbleandspin,thencrashedintothelandingzonealmostsidebyside.

The sight of the twin helicopter crashes sent adrenaline coursing throughWaugh’s body. He had to get the CH-46 on the radio. Those Hatchet Forcescouldnotland.Itwassuicide,hethought.HetriedtheUHFradio,thentheVHFradioagain.

“Donotland!”heshouted.“Abort.HatchetForces,donotland!”All thishigh technologyandnobodycouldhearanything.But the landings

werenowinprogress,andWaughwatchedhelplesslyastheCH-46senteredthetarget area.Double rotors spinning, one in front, one in back, like two schoolbusesinthesky,hethought.Basedontheangleatwhichtheywereflyingin,theCH-46pilotswouldbeunabletoseethecrashedhelicoptersuntilafteritwastoolate.

WaughandAlexanderwerebothshoutingintotheirradios,“Abort!Abort!”The helicopters were now roughly seventy feet above the ground, side by

side over the landing zone. Through binoculars,Waugh could see into one ofthem.Thedoorwasopenanddozensofmenwereinside,ampedupandreadytodeploy. He’d been in that position countless times, standing in the doorwaybefore thehelicoptereven landed,waiting tohit theground running.Heknewpreciselyhowchargedtheyhadtobewhen,hoveringnowonlyfiftyfeetabovethe ground, the helicopterwas hitwith antiaircraft fire. It appeared to split inhalf.Waugh watched as the SOGmen tumbled out of the aircraft and beganfalling likestones to theground. Itwas impossible tosurvive thatkindof fall.Waughfeltill.

Thesecondhelicopterwasnowfortyfeetoverthelandingzonewhenit,too,was hitwith antiaircraft fire and split open.Waughwatched someof themeninsidefalloutanddown.Othershungontoanythingtheycould.Thehelicopterspun andmaintained some of its lift, crash-landing in a way that leftWaughthinking theremight be survivors. Straining to see through the binoculars, hecountednine,possiblytenmenalive.Hewatchedastheyscrambledoutof theburning aircraft and ran. Training taught them to take cover in the jungle, toevadeandescape.

IncamethetwoH-34KingbeehelicopterscarryingtheSOGteamsassignedtokillGiap.Onewasrakedwithenemygunfire.Waughwatchedasitburstintoflames, then crashed into the ground. Through binoculars he saw three crewmembers scramble out of the burning helicopter and take cover. One SOGoperatorwasshotdeadasheran,buttheothertwoappearedtohavemadeitintothejungle.WaughkepthiseyesontheSOGmenastheyevadedcapture.Theywere definitely alive and definitely running for cover, he noted. The secondhelicopterappearedtohavelanded.AsWaughstrainedtosee,MajorAlexandermovedtheCessnaup to4,000feet,where thecommchannelsmightbebetter,andashedid,Waughbrieflylostsightofwhatwashappeningontheground.

Upat4,000feet,theradioworkedandWaughreachedMajorKilburnattheSOGfacilityatKheSanh.Kilburnknewnothingaboutwhatwashappeningatthetargetarea.

“WegotarealproblemhereatOscarEight,”Waughsaid,andherelayedthediresituationasquicklyandsuccinctlyashecould.

The mission to kill or capture General Giap was now a rescue mission,Kilburnsaid.ThegoalwastotryandgetanyonetrappedinsideOscarEightoutoftherealive.

AsWaughdiscussedthesituationwithMajorKilburn, twoPhantomfighterjets screeched in over the valley at Mach 2. Waugh watched, stunned, asantiaircraft fire hit one of the fast-moving jets in the rightwing, near the fueltank.ThesilverPhantomexplodedintheair.

“Comeon,parachute,”Waughwishedoutloudasthejetspiraleddown.Noparachute.ThePhantomjetcrashedintothehillsideandexploded.

“Skyraiderscomingin,”someonesaidoverthecomms,startlinghim.“Theythinktheycantakeoutthetriple-A.”

Waughshookhishead.Thiswassuicide.HeandMajorAlexanderwatchedas twoA-1ESkyraiderpropelleraircraft came in lowandslow.Skyraiders fly110mph,andinthisscenariotheyweresittingducks.Withanexplosionoffire,eachofthemwashitbyantiaircraftgunsandcrashedviolentlyintothehillsidebelow.

“It’sagraveyarddownthere,”MajorAlexandersaid.Through binoculars, Waugh watched as enemy fighters on the ground

swarmedtothedownedaircraft.Hetriedagaintomakeradiocontactwithanyofthosewho’dgonedown,butnoonerespondedtohiscalls.TheCessnawasrunninglowonfuel.Soonthey’dhavetoturnback.Waughcalledovertheradioagain.Nothing.Notasound.

Then,suddenly,Waugh’sradiocrackledtolife.“ThisisHatchetForce.Ontheground,”afaintvoicesaidoverthecomms.Incredible,thoughtWaugh.“HatchetForce,whereareyou?”heasked.“See the two redpanelsat theedgeof thecrater?” theSOGHatchetForce

operatorasked.Throughbinoculars,Waughscanned thegrounduntilhe locatedagroupof

SOGmenandYards,gatheredinsideoneofthebombcratersmadebytheB-52sjustanhourorsoearlier.

“Weneedairsupport,”thesoldiersaid.“We’retwenty-fivealive.”Unbelievable!Butthemeninthebombcraterweresurroundedonallsidesbyhundredsof

NVA.AsBillyWaughandMajorAlexanderreturnedtoKheSanhtorefuel,theypondered the question:How do you get twenty-five men out of a target areawhenyoucan’tgetanyaircraftin?

InthejungleoutsideOscarEight,SOGoperatorSergeantFirstClassCharlesF.Wilklowcrawledalongonhisbelly,leavingbehindatrailofbloodashewent.WilklowhadbeenbadlyinjuredintheCH-46helicoptercrash,alongwithtwootherSOGmen, four aircrew, and thirtyMontagnards, all ofwhomwerenoweitherkilledormissing.

Aftersurvivingtheinitialhelicoptercrash,WilklowtookcoverinsideabombcraterwithSOGoperatorsBillyRayLaneyandRonDexterandroughlytwentyindigs.Thesoldiers’ injuries ranged fromcompoundfractures tochestwoundsandatleastfifteenofthemrequiredimmediateevacuation.Fromthecrater,theywatchedas twoSOGKingbeehelicopters came in,preparing to load themostgrievouslyinjuredontothehelicopterstogetout.

The first Kingbee helicopter that was coming in took fire, crashed, andexplodedinafireball.Butthesecondmanagedtoland,Wilklowobserved.TheSOGoperatorswho’dbeenassignedtokillGeneralGiapjumpedoutwhiletheinjured soldiers from the bomb craterwere loaded inside.Wilklow crawled tothe helicopter and climbed aboard before it took off. Under heavy fire, theKingbee lifted up and began to fly away. Hundreds of NVA bullets punchedthroughtheskinoftheaircraftasitascended.Then,justasthepilotgotupoverthe jungle canopy, he took a bullet to the forehead and died. The helicopterlurchedintoaviolentspin.For thesecondtimethatmorning,CharlieWilklowfoundhimselfinahelicoptercrash.

Thechopperspunandlandedinthetrees,thethickjunglecanopykeepingit

fromhitting the ground.Wilklow looked around.Hewas alive but thereweredeadbodieseverywhere.Pushingpastthedead,anddespitegrievousinjuries,heclimbed down from the trees and began running. That’s when an NVA bulletcaughthimintheleg.Hecrawledintohiding,outofview.Fornow.Throughthebushes,hesawthatSOGoperatorBillyRayLaneywasdeadfromashottothechest. HewatchedRonDexter be captured and executed on the spot.A thirdSOGoperator,FrankCiusJr.,wasalsocaptured,butforsomereasontheNVAsoldiersdidn’tkillhim.TheyblindfoldedCiusandmarchedhimaway.

Wilklow lay silent in the bush. He was light-headed from blood loss andwithout aweapon, having lost hisCAR-15 in the second helicopter crash.HecouldheartheNVAsearchingforhim,buthe’dfoundaplacetohide.Finally,hepassedout.Whenhewokeup,hesawanNVAsoldierinthetrees,staringdownathim.Themanhada12.7mmmachineguntrainedonhimandwassmokingacigarette.Wilklowpassedout again.Whenhewokeup the second time, therewereagroupofNVAsoldiersaroundhim.Hefiguredhewasdonefor.

BackattheSOGbaseatKheSanh,StaffSergeantLesterPacewasatworkonthe tarmac, loading and unloading men as they came in. He watched BillyWaugh climb out of theCessna and hurry down into the SOG bunker.MajorKilburnwasholdingabriefinginside.Hequicklyrelatedthefacts:twenty-fiveSOGmenwerealiveinaB-52bombcrateratOscarEight,fightingtoholdbackanuntoldnumberofenemyforces.Theywouldnotlast longwithoutresupply,Major Kilburn said. He decided to have himself, with weapons and as muchammo as possible, inserted into the bomb crater immediately, by Kingbeehelicoptersohecouldpersonallytakechargeofthesituationanddirecttacticalairstrikes.Togetherwiththetwenty-fivealive,KilburnwouldholdofftheNVAuntilarescueoperationcouldbelaunched,whichwouldhavetowaituntilafterdusk.

Waugh reported what he’d seen: several SOG men had escaped into thejungle andwere likely still alive.He volunteered to put aBrightLight rescueteam together to search for anyone alive. Kilburn decided that sending inadditionalaircraft at this timeofdaywas suicidal.Only thecoverofdarknesswouldchange thecalculus. Itwasbarely9:00a.m.Waughwouldhave towaituntildusktolauncharescueoperation.

Mustachiovolunteered to flyKilburn in to thebombcrater atOscarEight.Lester Pace loaded up the aircraft for the two men. It was a radical, riskyinfiltrationoperation,whichMustachiopulledoff flawlessly. Inwhat an after-

action report listed as occurring in less than ninety seconds,Kilburn leapt outinto the bomb crater, the SOG men unloaded the weapons and ammo, thenloadedthefiveworst-woundedindigsontothehelicopter,and,finally,signaledforMustachiotogetout.BackattheSOGbase,thequestiononeveryone’smindwas,Couldthemenleftinthebombcraterlastuntildusk?

Inthejungle,CharlieWilklowwasawakeagain,thirstybeyonddescription,maggots crawling around his gaping leg wound. The group of NVA soldiersstood over him, staring down, a few with guns trained on him. The soldiersdragged Wilklow to a small camp adjacent to the Oscar Eight bowl. Theyassignedaguardtohim,astrange-lookingmanwhosefacehadbeendisfigured,leaving him with no nose, just two nostrils above the top lip. Every timeWilklowpassedout,heexperiencedaterriblenightmareabouthiscaptorandhismutilatedface.

AfterdepositingKilburninthebombcrater,Mustachiomadeitbacktobasewith five gravelywoundedYards.While Lester Pace unloaded the helicopter,BillyWaughaskedMustachiohowlonguntilhewasreadytogosearchingformissing SOG operators.Mustachio said hewas ready now. Itwas 10:00 a.m.That’scloseenoughtodusk,thoughtWaugh.

MustachioandWaughheadedbacktoOscarEight,flyingoverit,outsidetherangeofantiaircraftfire,desperatelysearchingforasignofanyonewhomightbe alive.Anycombat soldierwhohas evadedcapture and awaited rescuewilltellyouthatthereisnothinglikethesoundofhelicopterrotorbladestosharpenthewilltosurvive.“Theserescueoperationswerecriticaltomorale,”saysJohnPlaster.Thethoughtthatyourfellow“SOGmenwouldnevergiveupachancetolookforyou”waswhysomanySOGoperatorswerewillingtokeeprunningintobattledespitehighlyunfavorableodds.

Meanwhile, on the jungle floor outside Oscar Eight, the group of NVAsoldierswho’dcapturedCharlieWilklowdecidedtousehimasbait.Wilklow’slower legwasnearlydestroyed.Hewasnotgoinganywhere, so they laidhimdown in an open clearing and spread out his red rescue panel on his chest,hoping theSOGhelicopter flyingoverheadwould seehimand come for him.But the jungle was endless, a sea of green trees, and neither Waugh norMustachiospottedCharlieWilklowspreadoutonthegroundwithasignalpanelon his chest. After dusk, Kilburn and the men in the bomb crater were allextracted alive. But there were no survivors beyond that. Twenty-four hourspassed.

The next day,Waugh and Alexander continued searching. Nothing. Forty-

eighthourspassed,thenseventy-two.Stillsearching,stillnomissingmenfound.On the fourth day, on a pass over the western edge of the horseshoe ridge,Waugh noticed an unusual color on the jungle floor: red. He asked MajorAlexandertoflyincloser.

MyGod,hethought,that’saredsignalpanel.Therewasabodydown there,witha signalpanelacross thechest.Waugh

wascertainofit.WaughusedtheFMradiotocallbacktoKheSanh.HerequestedtwoSOG

menandahelicopterforarescuemission,butalltheSOGreconmenwereouton new missions. The only SOG man on base was Lester Pace, workingresupply.Didn’tmatter.WaughknewPacetobeadedicatedSOGmanwhoalsohappenedtobeendowedwith“hellaciousstrength.”

“ItoldhimIneededhimforarescuemission,”remembersWaugh.Pace said hewas just about to leave for some rest and relaxation inHong

Kong.“No,you’renot,”saidWaugh.“Of course I was going to go on the rescuemission,” Pace recalled in an

interviewforthisbook.“I’dalreadyservedmytimeinthejungle.SpentsixorsevenmonthsonaSOGreconteam.Ikneweveryoneonbase.Nowinresupply,I’dgettheguysanythingtheyneededtocompleteamission.Isawthemgoout,andIwas[aware]whodidn’treturn.”

Notwasting any time,Waugh briefed Pace on the rescuemission over theradio. He’d need to rappel down out of a hovering Kingbee wearing anextraction rig and carrying a second one. “When you reach the man on theground,”saidWaugh,“hookhimtoyourself,givethepilotthethumbs-up,andbothofyouwillliftoff.”Pacesaidheunderstood.

The helicopter pilot flew Lester Pace to the target area, loitering over thejunglecanopywherethemanandhisredpanelwerelastseen.“Isensednothingbutdanger,”Pacerecalled.“Allthedangerintheworld.TheNVAwereliketheTasmanian devil. They swarmed. They hid. They were everywhere. My gutfeelingwas,‘Wowthismightbetheendforme.’”

With the pilot hovering over the target, Lester Pace leaned out of thehelicopterforabetterlook.HesawtheSOGmanmove.Themanwasdefinitelyalive. Pace gave the pilot the signal hewas going to go, then rappelled downtowardthebody.Hehookedthesoldiertothesecondrig,thengavethepilotthethumbs-up.Thepilotliftedthetwomenupoffthegroundandmovedfastoutofenemyterritory.

“Wilklow grabbed and hugged me,” remembers Pace. “He said, ‘I don’tbelieve this. I’msupposed tobedead.’”Thepilotmade it safelyback tobase.When they landed atKheSanhwithCharlieWilklow, “everyone just grabbedandhuggedhim,”Pacerecalls.

Sergeant First Class Charlie Wilklow had survived two deadly helicoptercrashes,beencapturedby theNVA,held as aPOW, forgotten about, and thenrescued—allagainstimpossibleodds.TheNVAhadsetWilklowupasbaitandhadpreparedtoambushandkillorcapturetheSOGrescueteam.Butapparentlyafter three and a half days the NVA gave up onWilklow being rescued andinstead left him out in the open to die. Maggots that had infestedWilklow’swoundssavedhislegandprobablyhislife;theinsectsateawaythedeadtissueandkepthimfromdevelopingbloodpoisoning.

After the war, Pace recalls driving on base at Fort Bragg. He saw a manwalkingalongthesideoftheroadandrecognizedhimtobeCharlieWilklow.“Irolled down my window and introduced myself. Told him who I was,”remembersPace.“Hecouldn’tbelieve it.He invitedmeback tohisplace.HiswifecookedanicedinnerandhetoldherthewholestoryabouthowIsavedhislife.”

Pace retired from theU.S.ArmySpecialForces,moved toBrooklyn,NewYork, andworked as a schoolteacher for twenty-five years.He never told hisfamilyaboutanyofhisclassifiedSOGmissions.LesterPace’sson,BakariPace,foundoutabouthisdad’spast in2011,after theexistenceofSOGwas finallydeclassifiedbytheDefenseDepartmentandSOGmembersstartedsharingtheirexperiences in forums online. Charlie Wilklow was the only captured SOGoperatortoeverberescuedduringtheentireVietnamWar.

TheCIAhadbeenwatchingCheGuevara’smovescloselyforeightyears.Yetinthe spring of 1967, he’d disappeared. Despite the CIA’s reach and resources,they had no idea where he was. In Cuba, things had ended badly for CheGuevara.Inaspeechin1965,he’dattackedtheSovietUnion,callingitsleaders“state-runprofiteers.”He’dexpressedoutrageoverthefactthattheSovietUnionwasn’tdoingmoretosupportsmallwarsofliberationaroundtheglobe.CastrowasunabletocontrolChe’spro-warrhetoric,whichincludedacallfor“nuclearwar should it come about.” Moscow put pressure on Fidel Castro to dosomething about him. The CIA intercepted a communiqué from LeonidBrezhnevwarningthat“theactivitiesofErnesto‘Che’Guevara…wereharmfultothetrueinterestsofthecommunistcause.”

UnderpressurefromhisSovietbenefactors,FidelCastrosentCheGuevaratoAfrica, to start a revolution in Congo, which failed. In November 1966, CheGuevara left for Bolivia to try to start a revolution there. The handsomerevolutionary was one of the most recognizable figures in the world, so hedisguisedhimselfasamiddle-agedUruguayaneconomist,wearingthickglassesandaskullcapthatmadehimlookbald.BeforeheleftCubathislasttime,Chegavehiswife,Aleida, a letter to read to their children shouldhenever return.“Grow up to be good revolutionaries,” Che implored. “Remember that theRevolution is what is important and that each one of us, on our own, isworthless.”

Nowitwasthesummerof1967,andadeathlyillCheGuevarawasholedupin the Bolivian mountains with a small band of Marxist revolutionaries whowere in equally bad shape. Like men shipwrecked on an island, Che and hisguerrilla fighters had barely anything to eat.When a local peasant shared hisfoodwiththem,cookedpork,theywereunabletodigestthemeatandgotsick.Eventually they slaughtered their own horses and mules. Emaciated fromdiarrhea,andwithoutasthmamedicine,Chehadn’t takenabathinsixmonths.Thewill togoonwitheredfromhim,hewrote inhisdiary.Hefeltdepressed.TheBolivianArmywasafterhim.SowastheCIA.

InJune1967inMiami,Florida,FelixRodriguezreceivedacallfromhisCIAcase officer. Rodriguez had continued to work for the Agency on contractoperations ever since hewas first recruited forBrigade2506, theBayofPigsoperationin1961.

Thencameamysteriouscall. “Areyouwilling togo toBoliviaand leadamission?”amanaskedcryptically.Rodriguezlearnedthatthejobhewasbeingoffered required unconventional-warfare skills, that it was an anti-guerrillaoperation,amissionsohighlyclassifiedithadbeenauthorizedbythepresidentoftheUnitedStates.TheU.S.ambassadortoBoliviasetforthastipulation:thatthemanchosenbytheCIAtoleadthecovertoperationneededtobeanon-U.S.citizen.FelixRodriguezwasstillaCubannational.

“What’sthemission?”Rodriguezasked.“Train Bolivian Army Rangers in unconventional warfare and go get Che

Guevara,”hewastold.Rodriguez was flown to Bolivia, where he spent months training army

rangersinunconventional-warfaretechniques.BythefirstweekofOctober,theCIA’snetworkofassetshadfinallyhonedinonwhereCheGuevarawashidingout.Hewasholedupinthemountains,inaremotevillagecalledLaHiguera,in

Vallegrande Province. Two days later, Rodriguez was installing an aircraftantenna in an airplane at the general headquarters of the 8th Division of theBolivianRangerswhenthecodedmessagecameovertheradio.

“Papá cansado,” the message said. “Dad is tired.” The rangers trained byRodriguezhadcapturedCheGuevaraalive.

Rodriguez notified his CIA handler. That same night, President Johnsonreceived amemo from national-security advisorWaltRostow saying thatCheGuevara had likely been captured. “The Bolivian unit engaged is the one wehave been training for some time,” Rostow told the president. “This tentativeinformation that theBolivians gotCheGuevarawill interest you. It is not yetconfirmed.”

In the morning, Felix Rodriguez and Bolivian colonel Joaquin ZentenoAnayaflewbyhelicoptertotheone-roomschoolhouseinthemountainswhereChe was being held captive. Rodriguez asked to see the prisoner alone. CheGuevarawas on the floor, his arms tied and his feet bound.His clothesweretorn,hishairwasmatted, and inplaceof shoesheworepiecesof leather tiedwith cord. There in the schoolhouse, with the prisoner looking on, FelixRodriguezsetuphisradioandtransmittedacodedmessagetotheCIAstationinLaPaz,toberetransmittedontoheadquartersatLangley,inVirginia.Rodriguezphotographed Che’s diary and confiscated his belongings: besides the diary,thereweresomepictures,Che’saddressbook,andarollofmicrofiche.

RodriguezsayshespoketoChealoneforoveranhourandthathetoldhimhewasCubanandhadbeenpartoftheCIA’sBrigade2506.“Isaidthat intheaftermath of theCIA invasion at theBay of Pigs, he had personally executedseveralofmyfriends.”

“Ha,”Chesaidinresponse.Nothingmore.“I don’t know what he was thinking at the moment and I never asked,”

Rodriguezrecalls.HesayshetoldChethathewasworkingfortheCIAandthattheAgencywantedhimalive,notdead.

Shotsrangoutintheroomnextdoor.AfighternamedAnicetohadjustbeenexecuted,andRodriguezrecallshearingtheman’sbodyfalltothefloor.

Rodriguez receiveda radiocall fromtheBolivianHighCommand,he latertoldtheCIA’sinspectorgeneral,withacodedmessage—“thecodenumbers500and600asorders”—toexecutetheprisonerCheGuevara.Heknewthatthiswasa violation of theGenevaConventions.Rodriguezmaintains that theBolivianArmy was in charge of the operation, not the CIA. He stared at Che, acondemnedman.

“Weembraced,”Rodriguezsays.“Itwasatremendouslyemotionalmomentforme.Inolongerhatedhim.”

Rodriguez walked out of the room, passing two Bolivian soldiers he sayslookeddrunk.HeaskedthemnottoshootCheGuevaraintheface.Hewalkedtoahilltopandstoodthere.Whenheheardshotsringout,henotedthetimeonhisRolexwatch.Itwas1:10p.m.

After a fewminutes, one of the soldiers came out carryingCheGuevara’swatch,aRolexlikehisown.Rodriguezaskedtoseeit.Whenthesoldierwasn’tlooking,hesays,heswappedoutChe’sRolexforhisown.

It was time to move out. Using a canvas tarp, the soldiers loaded CheGuevara’s body into the helicopter. But balancing the corpse inside the smallhelicopterwaschallenging,andadecisionwasmadetostrapthebodytooneofthe helicopter’s skids. Rodriguez struggled with the task. Looking down, henoticedhehadCheGuevara’sbloodonhishands.

BackatBolivianArmyheadquarters,FelixRodriguezbriefedChiefofStaffGeneralAlfredoOvandoCandiaon theeventsof theday.Atonepointduringthe conversation, the general ordered a subordinate to cut off Che Guevara’shands,remembersRodriguez.“ThehandsweresenttoCuba,toFidel[Castro],asproofthatChewasdead,”Rodriguezstatedinaninterviewforthisbook.“Iknowforcertainfromsourcesthattheyarekeptinpreservatives,inHavana,inasecurefacility there.”Rodriguezsays thatonoccasion,Che’samputatedhandsareceremoniouslybroughtoutandshowntoanti-Americanrevolutionariesasaphysical reminderof thedirtyworkdoneby theUnitedStatesand theCentralIntelligenceAgency.

OnFebruary24,1969,FelixRodriguezbecameacitizenof theUnitedStates.HetoldhisCIAhandlerthathewantedtovolunteerforU.S.governmentservicein Vietnam. He was assigned to the Phoenix program, one of the mostcontroversialprogramsoftheVietnamWar.

“Phoenix was one of several pacification and rural security programs thatCIA ran in South Vietnam during the 1960s,” says Colonel Andrew R.Finlayson,anofficerinthePhoenixprogram.“Thepremiseofpacificationwasthat ifpeasantswerepersuaded that thegovernmentofSouthVietnamand theUnitedStatesweresincerelyinterestedinprotectingthemfromtheVietcongandtrained them to defend themselves, then large areas of the South Vietnamesecountryside could be secured or won back from the enemy without directengagementbytheU.S.military.”

Thisisnotwhathappened.Whenso-calledpacificationwasnotrealized,asthe numbers ofVietcong in the southwent up as opposed to going down, theprogramwasexpanded.WhereastheCivilianIrregularDefenseGroupprogramfocused on armed defense, the Phoenix program was intelligence-based. TheCIA created a network of roughly one hundred local intelligence committeesacross South Vietnam. These committees, says Colonel Finlayson, collectedinformationontheVietcongandthendisseminatedittolocalpolice.Whenthisdidn’t work, the CIA-funded program became even more aggressive.“Essentially,thesecommitteescreatedlistsofknownVCI[Vietcong]operatives.Once the name, rank, and location of each individual VCI member becameknown, CIA paramilitary or South Vietnamese police or military forcesinterrogatedtheseindividualsforfurtherintelligenceonthecommuniststructureanditsoperations.”

TheseCIAparamilitary teamswerecalledProvincialReconnaissanceUnits(PRUs).FelixRodriguezwasthedeputyfieldadvisorforthePRUinthevillageofBienHoa.HisbosswasaCIAofficernamedWilliamBuckley,who, induetime,wouldbecomethecentralfigureinPresidentRonaldReagan’sdecisiontoconstructaforeignpolicytoolcalled“pre-emptiveneutralization.”Butthatwasfarinthefuture.Fornow,everydaywiththePRUwasabouttryingtoquellthecommunistinsurgencyenvelopingthesouth.

EveryfieldadvisorassignedtoaPRUparamilitaryteamworkedundercover.Rodriguez’s coverwas that hewas a civilian advisor for theU.S.Army.CIAinternal memos described the Provincial Reconnaissance Units as the“investigatory[and]para-military-attack”teamsthatwouldsupportthePhoenixprogramin the field.Witnessessay that theprogramused torture,murder,andassassination to try to rid the south of the Vietcong. U.S. officials have longdisputedthisclaim.AsimilarprogramwasdevelopedinAfghanistanfortyyearsinthefuture.WhatwouldbeginasaprogramofpacificationinAfghanistan,inSeptember2001,wouldbe transformed into the firstU.S.government targetedkillingcampaigntobepubliclyacknowledgedbyanAmericanpresident.

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

GreenBerets

The Special Forces A-Team camp at Thanh Tri was located in Kien TuongProvince in the Mekong Delta, strategically positioned just three miles fromVietnam’sborderwithCambodia.Whathappenedthereinthesummerof1969wouldbecomeaninternationalscandalknownastheGreenBeretAffair,atragicconundrum that would raise complex questions about murder versusassassination,aboutthemysteriousrelationshipbetweentheCIAandtheGreenBerets,andaboutthelawsofwar.Mostimportanttothisstory,theGreenBeretAffair of 1969 demonstrates how the construct of plausible deniability shieldsthe U.S. president from wrongdoing while exposing operators who carry outeuphemisticordersvulnerabletoprosecutionandjailtime.

Asper the termsof the1954GenevaConferenceon Indochina, fighting inCambodiawasprohibited.By1967, intelligence indicated that thecommunistshadexpandedtheHoChiMinhTraildownintoCambodia,toaterminuspointontheborderjustthirtymilesfromSaigoncalledtheParrot’sBeak.Startinginthe spring of that same year, MACV-SOG began running secret cross-borderoperationsintoCambodiaunderthecodenameDanielBoone.DetachmentB57ofthe5thSpecialForces(Airborne)atThanhTriprovidedintelligenceforthoseand other missions under the CIA code name Project Gamma. Like so manyotherGreenBeretparamilitaryunitsacrossVietnam,theoneatThanhTriwasahybridofSpecialForcessoldiers,CIApersonnel,andlocalindigenoussoldiers.DetachmentB57wasmadeupofsixGreenBerets,threeCIAoperators,andasmanyas450indigenousfighters.Theunitwascommandedbyoneof theCIAoperators,a twenty-seven-year-oldformer insurancesalesmannamedRobertF.Marasco.HewentbythecovernameCaptainMartin.

By the winter of 1968–69, Marasco had assembled a network of twentyindigenousassetswhospiedforhimaroundtheParrot’sBeak.Hismostvaluablespy,calledaprincipalasset,wasathirty-one-year-oldnativeofthenorthnamedThaiKhacChuyen(“Chewwin”).Chuyen’sofficialpositionwasS5interpreter,orterp,inmilitaryspeak.

ChuyenhadbeenrecruitedbyCIAcaseofficerSergeantAlvinSmithJr.,whowentbythecovernamePeterSandsandwhoreportedtoMarascoatThanhTri.SmithwasanenigmaticCIAcaseofficer,older thanMarascobyfifteenyears.Hewasalsoaveteranofunconventionalwarfare,having ledcovertoperationsbehindenemylinesinKorea.Accordingtohisfile,AlvinSmithonceservedastheonlyAmericaninabattalionof1,400KoreanandChineseindigenoustroopsaspartofaJACKmissionthathasneverbeenfullydeclassified.

Forbetterorforworse,AlvinSmithwasknownforbecomingfriendlywithhisassets.AtthenearbysupportbaseinMocHoa,he’dsometimesstayuplateinto the night drinking whiskey with Chuyen. HowChuyen spoke such goodEnglishirkedSmith.ChuyensaidhegrewupreadingbooksinEnglishandthathe’dworkedfortheU.S.militaryinSaigon.Whenpressed,Chuyenwasvagueaboutthedetails,claimingthemissionswereallclassified.

Now it was March 1969, and there’d been an unusual number of mortarattacksonMocHoa,anindicatorthatabiggerattackmightbecoming.Marascosentaunitoutonareconmission,ledbyaGreenBeretfromKentuckynamedTerryMcIntosh. Just nineteen at the time,McIntoshwas one of the youngestGreen Berets assigned to the war. He’d already been in Vietnam for sevenmonths.

“Itwasme,Chuyen, and ten indigenous troops on themission,”McIntoshrecalled in an interview for this book. “A little before dawn, I spotted enemymovementalongthetreeline,”indicatinganambush.McIntoshfiredagrenadelauncher in the direction of the troops and watched the fighters disperse. Hehanded the scope off to Chuyen. “He looked through it. I remember that hesmiled.Ithoughtthatwasstrangebutdismissedit,”remembersMcIntosh,whothentriedcallingtheA-Campforsupport.Buttheradiowasdead.“Ground-to-groundcommswereusuallyexcellentouthere,”herecalls.Thattheradiodidn’tworkwasstrangetohim.Suddenly,avolleyoffireeruptedfromallsides,asiftheVietcong had foreknowledge that the teamwas coming, saysMcIntosh.Amassivefirefightensued,withMcIntoshfiringhisassaultrifleuntilhewasoutofammunition.“Chuyenwasonmyleft,andtheotherstomyright,butInoticedthatChuyenwasn’tfiringhisweapon,”heremembers.“Hewasfiddlingwithit,

andlaterclaimedthatitjammed.Atthetime,Iacceptedhisexplanationwithoutreservation.”

Back atA-Camp, the commander heard artillery fire and ordered amortarattackbasedontheunit’s lastknownposition.ThefirefightendedwithoutanyfatalitiesfromDetachmentB57,andthemenreturnedtoThanhTri.McIntosh,aradiospecialist,andateammateexaminedthegear.“Ithadbeentamperedwith,”McIntosh recalls.He toldMarasco,whobecameconcerned.OneofMarasco’sotherassetstoldhimhe’dheardChuyenwasacommunistspy.

Marasco ran a search in theMACV database, but there was no record ofChuyen.AsaCIAemployee,Marascohadaccesstoclassifiedinformationthatothers did not. That no record on Chuyen appeared likelymeant that he waslyingabouthavingeverworkedonclassifiedmissionsinSaigon.Fearinghewasadoubleagent,MarascoradioedheadquartersatNhaTrangandaskedthatbothmen,SmithandChuyen,bereassigned.Smithwasmovedovertothe5thSpecialForcesheadquartersandChuyenreturnedtoSaigon,wherehisfamilylived.

Afewweekslater,aSpecialForcesreconteamrecoveredphotographsofahigh-level North Vietnamese Army general meeting with his local Vietcongspies.Inoneofthephotographs, therewasChuyen—standingrightnexttotheNorth Vietnamese general, smiling. RobertMarasco was sure it was Chuyen.AlvinSmithwasalsoshownthephotographandhadthesameresponse:itwasChuyen.Theirprincipalassetwasaspyforthenorth.

On June 9, CIA headquarters instructed Alvin Smith to bring Chuyen in,under theguiseofacovertoperation.For fivedays,Chuyenwas interrogated.He repeatedly failed the polygraph, all the while insisting the person in thephotographwasnothim.Thetranscriptofwhatheactuallysaidhasneverbeendeclassified, but according to reports leaked to the press, he cursed theAmericansandsaidthey’dlosethewartothecommunistsinthenorth.

WhattodowiththedoubleagentChuyen?Hecouldn’tbesenttolocallawenforcement; thepolicearound theParrot’sBeakwerenotoriouslycorruptandrifewithdoubleagents.Chuyenknew the identitiesofall theundercoverCIAofficers, operators, and assets atThanhTri.AlvinSmith suggested they try toturnChuyenintoatripleagent,someonewhocouldworkfortheCIAagain.

Marascocontacted theCIAstation inNhaTrangandaskedwhatheshoulddo. He was told to kill him. “[Chuyen] was my agent and it was myresponsibilityto‘eliminatehimwithextremeprejudice,’”MarascolatertoldtheNewYorkTimes.Marascosaidthesewere“obliqueyetvery,veryclearorders.”Heexplained further that everyoneworkingcovertoperations for theCIAand

SpecialForcesknew that thephrase “eliminatewith extremeprejudice”was aeuphemismforkill.

Marasco reached out to the commander of the U.S. Army Special Forces,ColonelRobertB.Rheault,askingforhisordersonthematter.ColonelRheaulttoldMarascothatthegroupwas“toproceed.”TheCIAofficersandU.S.ArmyGreenBeretsagreedonacoverstory.They’dsayChuyenhadbeenassignedtoacovert mission and then disappeared. Everyone involved agreed to proceed—exceptAlvinSmith,whorefusedtoparticipate.

AgentChuyenwas told hewas needed for a highly classifiedmission.OnJune 20, 1969, the CIA officer and the Green Berets drugged Chuyen withmorphine,drovewithhim to a remotebeachnearNhaTrang, and loadedhimintoaboat.They took theboatout intodeepwaters inNhaTrangBay,whereMarasco shot Chuyen in the head with a .22-caliber pistol, equipped with asuppressor,whileChuyenwasstillunconscious.ThemenloadedChuyen’sbodyinto a mail sack, weighted it down with chains and tire rims, and threw himoverboardintotheSouthChinaSea.

The following day, a cable came in fromCIA headquarters. “Killing is nosolution,”itread.

ParanoiagrippedCIAcaseofficerAlvinSmith.HewenttohisCIAsuperiorinNhaTrangandaskedforasyluminexchangeforinformation.Withimmunityinplace,hetoldhissuperiorofficerthathiscolleaguesatThanhTrihadkilledChuyenandthatnowSmithfearedforhisownlife.Thingsmovedfast.TheCIAofficer notified the U.S. Army, which sent the information up the chain ofcommand, all theway to theU.S. commander inVietnam,General CreightonAbramsJr.

GeneralAbramssummonedColonelRheaulttohisofficeandaskedwhathadhappenedtoChuyen.Rheaulttoldthegeneralthattheassetwasawayonasecretmission,when in facthe’dalreadybeenkilled.WhenGeneralAbrams learnedhe’dbeen lied to,heexplodedwith rage.The followingday,ColonelRheault,RobertMarasco,andsixGreenBeretswerearrested,handcuffed,andsenttotheLongBinhJailoutsideSaigon.They’dbetriedforconspiracytocommitmurderandmurderinthefirstdegree,Abramssaid.

Themilitary imposed a gag order on those who knew about the case, butreporters quickly learned of the arrests and the details of their imprisonment.ThatAmericanGreenBeretswerebeingheldinsolitaryconfinement,intiny5'×7'cellswithjustacotandabarelightbulb,seemedoutrageous.HowcouldtheU.S.Armytreatitsownsoldierslikethis?Mostshockingofall,thesecretaryof

thearmysaidthatifthemenwereconvicted,theirpunishmentwouldbe“lifeinprison, not a firing squad.” Firing squad? The press cried absurd.Despite thegrowing antiwarmovement acrossAmerica, amajority of civilians sidedwiththeGreenBerets,callingthemscapegoatsofthePentagonwarmachine.

Moremysteriousdetailsemerged:doubleagents,tripleagents,GreenBerets,theCIA.ThencametherumorthattheGreenBeretswereoperatingacrosstheborder inCambodia, this at a timewhen theNixonWhiteHouse had alreadyinsisted that aNewYorkTimes reporterwho’d revealed that theUnited StateswasdroppingbombsonCambodiawasaliar.WhensomeoneleakedtothepressthephotographofChuyenstandingnexttotheNorthVietnameseArmygeneral,smiling, citizens and congressmen alike began to ask questions. How couldkillingaVietcongspyinawarzonebeconsideredawarcrime?Lifemagazineinterviewed Colonel Rheault’s eleven-year-old son, Robert Jr. “What’s all thefussabout?”askedthefifthgrader.“I thought that’swhatDadwasinVietnamfor—tokilltheVietcong.”

Henry Rothblatt, defense attorney for the Green Berets, made a brilliantmove. He deposed the CIA. Marasco’s identity as a CIA officer remainedclassified (Marasco revealed his identity to the New York Times in 1971).Rothblattwasbetting that therewasnoway theWhiteHousewouldallowtheCIAtotestifyincourt.Betweenitsongoingassassinationprograms,thePhoenixprogram, the classifiedMACV-SOGmissions intoLaos andCambodia—thesewere but a fewof the president’s hidden-hand programs that surely needed toremain that way. The president’s inner circle would never allow the CIA totestify about its operations inVietnam.TheWhiteHousehad far toomuch tolose.

President Nixon had a last-minute idea, a double cross of CIA directorRichardHelms,whomNixondisliked.InanotetoHenryKissinger,hisnational-securityadvisor,Nixonwrote,“K—Ithink[Richard]Helmsshouldbemadetotakepartof therap.”While there’snorecordofKissinger’sreaction,basedonactionstakenitislikelyheadvisedthepresidentagainstthrowingHelmsundertheproverbialbus.Instead,thefollowingmorning,onSeptember29,1969,theU.S.ArmyunexpectedlydroppedallchargesagainsttheeightmeninvolvedintheGreenBeretAffair.TheU.S.DepartmentofJusticeconcludedthatafairandimpartial trial was not possible. Further details of the CIA’s refusal to testifyremain classified, but under pressure, the Nixon White House was forced toacknowledge that the president had been involved in the decision to drop allmurdercharges.

Decades later, after MACV-SOG was declassified, a fascinating detailemerged.OnAugust 25, amonth after theCIA officers and theGreenBeretswerearrestedbutbeforetheNixonWhiteHousedroppedthemurdercharges,aSOG recon team called RT Florida was sent on a Top Secret cross-bordermission into Cambodia. There the team was pursued by a squadron of NVAsoldiers usingdogs to track them. In theprocessof evading capture, theSOGoperatorsshotandkilledtwoNVAofficers.Oneofthedeadmenturnedouttobeahigh-rankingintelligenceofficer.Insidethelargeleathersatchelhecarriedwas a goldmine: a cache of documents, one ofwhichwas a partial roster ofdoubleagentsandspiesoperatingforHanoiinsideSouthVietnam.Onenameontheroster“wasthedoubleagentexecutedbyorderofColonelRheault,”writesscholarRichardShultz.

“War is never pleasant,” says Terry McIntosh. “War is bigger than theindividual soldier. For the record, as tragic as it was for all parties, I saluteMarascoandotherswhowerecharged.Theyweresoldiersunderorders.Therewerenogoodoptionsforthem.Thejobfelltothem.Themoralissuesarestillunresolved.”

ItwasintothishighlychargedenvironmentthatayoungGreenBeretnamedLewisC.MerlettivolunteeredtogotoVietnam.

Lew Merletti stood in the green grass on the side of Interstate 95 North inFayetteville,NorthCarolina,withhisthumbout.Itwas1969,hewastwenty-oneyearsold,andhewashitchingaridetothePentagontovolunteerforserviceinVietnam.Hiswhole lifewas in front of him, includinghis plans, dreams, andaspirations—ofdoinggreatthingsforhimself,hisfamily,andhiscountry—buthealsofelthecouldnotdoanyofthisingoodconscienceifheskippedoutonVietnam.

“Thiswarwasgoingon, and Iknewa lotofguysmyage thatwerebeingdraftedanddidn’twanttogoandtheyweregoinganyway,”recallsMerletti.“Ireallyfeltlike,‘Hey,it’snotright,Ihavetocontributetothis.Ican’tbesittingbackheresafe[intheUnitedStates]iftheseguysaregoingovertherefightingthiswar.’Itjustdidn’tseemtometobefair.”In1969,theyoungLewMerlettihadnowayofknowingwhathisimmediatefutureincluded.Hecertainlyhadnoidea thatonedayhewouldserveon thePresidentialProtectiveDetailof threeU.S. presidents, or that he would become the nineteenth director of the U.S.Secret Service—a law enforcement agency created by President AbrahamLincoln and signed into law on the morning of April 14, 1865, the day of

Lincoln’sownassassination.ThejourneytowarforLewMerlettibegantwoyearsearlier,whenhesigned

upformilitaryserviceasanairborneinfantryman.Attheendofhisfirstweekofjumpschool,averyconfident,very focused,physically fityoungmanshowedup in fullmilitarydress to speak toMerletti’s groupof roughly threehundredsoldiers-in-training.Themanworethegreenberet.“Hegetsuponthisplatformin front of us and says, ‘Gentlemen, I’m gonna be honest with you, SpecialForcesislosingmenandweneedvolunteers,’”Merlettirecalls.Hevolunteered.

Training lasted forty-twoweeks. “You learn how to treat gunshotwounds,performsurgeriesandamputations.It’sbasicallylikebecomingahighlytrainedparamedic,”Merlettiexplains.TheU.S.ArmySpecialForcesalsowantedsomeof itsmedics to speakVietnamese—theywouldbe treating a lotof citizens incountry—andsoMerlettiwassent to the languageschool,atFortBragg.Overthe course of the next five months, for eight hours a day, he was taughtVietnamese by a lively youngwoman originally fromNorthVietnam. By thetimehefinishedtraining,hehadlessthanoneyearonhisthree-yearenlistment.“IwastoldIdidn’thavetogotoVietnam,”heremembers.Itwastooclosetotheendofhis tour. “Unless Ivolunteered.”This iswhyhewashitchhiking to thePentagon,inWashington,DC,thatspringdayin1969.

Merlettihadbeenstandingonthesideoftheroadinfulldressuniformwithhis green beret for about five minutes when a man in a VW bug pulled up,slowedtoastop,androlleddownthewindow.

“Whereareyougoing?”themanasked.“ThePentagon,”Merlettisaid.It was the height of the VietnamWar. It was also the height of the anti–

VietnamWarmovement.Thecountrywasterriblydivided.LewMerlettihadafeelingthattheoutcomehere—withthedriveroftheVWbug—couldgoeitherway.

“ThePentagon.Areyoukiddingme?”themanasked,incredulous.Lew said he was not kidding. That he was going there to volunteer for

combatserviceinVietnam.“Well,ifyou’regoingtothePentagon,”thedriversaid,“I’lltakeyoustraight

there.”And he did.Nearly fifty years later,Merletti vividly remembers beingdropped off in the parking lot of the Pentagon, and he still thinks about theanonymousmanwhodrovehimthere,theman’swillingnesstohelpdohispart,howeverincremental.

ThereinWashington,DC,insideDefenseDepartmentheadquarters,Merletti

locatedMrs. Billie Alexander, just as BillyWaugh had sought out and foundMrs.AlexanderwhenhewantedtogetassignedtoSOG.“EveryoneknewBillieAlexanderwasinchargeofassigningvolunteerstoSpecialForcesinVietnam,”remembers Merletti, and, as she had for so many others, she approved hisrequest.“You’llbeinVietnaminAugust,”shesaid.

To get to Vietnam, Merletti first flew from his hometown of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, toChicago, Illinois,where he had a layover.He traveled in hisClassAdressuniformandgreenberet.“Youreallystoodoutasasoldierbackthen,”Merlettirecalls.“Nooneelseintheentiremilitarywasauthorizedtowearaberet.TherewasonlytheGreenBeret.”Then,tohissurprise,asheapproachedthegate,MerlettispottedafellowGreenBeret.Butitwasn’tjustanyone—itwashis very good friend from Special Forces training, 7thGroup:MikeKuropas.“Hewassayinggood-byetohisfamily,soIkindofheldback,”heremembers.EventuallyMikeKuropasspottedMerletti,and introducedhimtohis family,agroupofwhomhadcometotheairporttoseehimofftowar.“Imeteverybodyandthenitwastimetogo,togetontheplane,”recallsMerletti.TogofightthewarinVietnam.

Ontheairplaneastrangethinghappened.MerlettiandKuropasweresittingtogether in the front of the plane. The flight attendants began to serve lunch,Merletti recalls. “They put ameal in front ofme and then they said toMike,‘We’llgetyouamealinaminute.’”Fiveorsominutespassedbeforetheflightattendantreturned.“Shesays,‘We’rereallysorry,butwedon’thaveanymealsleft.Buthere’salittlevouchersothenexttimeyoufly,you’llgetanupgradeorsomething like that.’”MikeKuropas lookedat thevoucher.“He looksatme,”remembersMerletti, “and he says, ‘You know this is a bad omen,’ and I say,‘Whatdoyoumean?’Hesays, ‘I’mnotcomingback.’ I say, ‘Mike,don’t saythat.Don’t say that at all.’ I said, ‘Youknow,we all have those thoughts, butdon’tgothere,justdon’tdoit.’”

MikeKuropaslookedsquarelyatLewMerlettiandsaid,“No,IknowI’mnotcomingback.”

When they arrived in country,Merletti,Kuropas, and the rest of theGreenBeretswere taken to the island facility ofHonTre, off the coast ofVietnam.There,SpecialForcessoldierscomingfromtheUnitedStatesforinsertionintothebattlefieldgenerallyspentseveraldaysgettingarefreshercourseinshooting,usinghandgrenades,settingoffclaymoremines,andusingofmortars.WhenthetrainingonHonTrewasover,thegrouptraveledtoSpecialForcesheadquartersinNhaTrang.“Theytellus,‘Okay,everybodyfallout,youhaveyourorders.’

We linedup, andwe’re standingat attentionand theybegin callingnamesoffandtellingyouwhereyou’regoing.”

Merlettiheardthesergeantsayhisname:“Merletti,A-502.”Thismeanthe’dbeen assigned to Detachment A-502 of the 5th Special Forces Group. Thedetachment’smissionwastoadviseandassisttheVietnameseSpecialForcesinthe joint CIA-Pentagon program, the Civilian Irregular Defense Group. LewMerletti remembers thinking to himself, “Hey, that’s not a bad assignment.”ThenheheardMikeKuropas’snamebeingcalledout,andtheassignmenthe’dbeen given: “Kuropas, CCC.” Merletti remembers thinking to himself, “Oh,God.”

EveryoneknewthatCCCwaspartofMACV-SOG.TheacronymCCCstoodforCommandandControl,Central,oneofwhatwerenowthreeSOGbasesinSouth Vietnam. Special Forces soldiers who were new to the program knewSOGwastheplacewherehard-corewarriorswithextensivecombatexperiencefought direct-action missions behind enemy lines. SOG was where SpecialForces legends like Larry Thorne, Ed Wolcoff, and Billy Waugh fought andthrived—some until they died. But for newcomers, for initiates into combat,SOGwasdangerous.ItwasSuicideontheGround.MerlettitriedtomakelightofKuropas’sassignmentbutfoundtherealityofthesituationdifficulttoaccept.

“IvolunteeredforVietnam,”herecalls,“Idon’t thinkMikeKuropashad. Ibelieve he’d received orders to go. I knew he didn’t want to go to SOG, toCCC,”remembersMerletti.“ButIknewhe’dgiveithisbest.”

The sergeant in charge announced that helicopters would be arrivingmomentarily to take everyone to their specific destinations. “The formationbreaksup,”saysMerletti,“andMike,whowasstandingmaybetwopeopledownfromme,hestepsoverandheputouthishandandhesays,‘Hey,thankyouforyourfriendshipandeverything,it’sbeenwonderful.’Hesaid,‘Ireallyappreciateyoubeingmyfriendbutthisisit.It’sover.’AndIsaid,‘Please,Mike,don’tsaythat.’ And he says, ‘No, no, no, it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. It’salright.’”

LewMerlettigotononearmyhelicopterandMikeKuropasgotonanotherarmyhelicopter.Eitherrightbeforethebirdsflewawayorastheyweretakingoff,MerlettieithersaidoutloudtoMikeKuropasorhesaidtohimself:No,I’llmeetyoubackhereinoneyear.

LewMerlettiwas sent to a small village calledTrungDong in theCentralHighlands,aremoteareaatriskofbeingdominatedbytheVietcong.HelivedinaSpecialForcesA-Campthere,builtearlierbyGreenBerets.Histeamconsisted

oftwelveAmericansandaunitofindigenousmercenaries,calledCIDGstrikers,beingpaidbytheDepartmentofDefensetodefendtheirvillageandtostoptheenemyfromgainingfurthercontrolofthearea.

“I had not been exposed to combat,”Merletti remembers, and on the veryfirst night, therewas an ambush. In the ensuing firefight, sixVietCongwerekilled and one of the mercenaries was bitten by a poisonous snake, whichMerlettitreatedinthefieldbeforehavingthemanmedevacedout,thankstotheguidance,hesays,ofteammateSergeantJohnDeschamps.Someweekslater,heand the team were out on patrol in the dense jungle when the CIDG strikerstandingrightnexttohimwasshotinthehead.“Myimmediatereaction,”saysMerletti,“was,I’vegottogethelp!ThenIrealizedIwasthehelp.”Afterafewintense and shock-riddledmoments,Merletti’s Special Forcesmedical trainingkicked in.“Iknewexactlywhat todo,”herecalls.“Isaid tomyself, ‘Icandothis,Iwastrainedforthis.’”Andhedid.Hestoppedthebleeding,wrappedthewound,andagainoversawthemedevac.

Forthebetterpartoftheyear,MerlettiservedincombataspartofaSpecialForces A-Team. “Every time you go out on patrol, you have a lump in yourthroat,”herecalls.“Youwonder,‘Isthisit?’Everyfootstepyoutake,youknowit could be your last footstep.” To stay focused and not let hismindwander,whenhewentoutonpatrol,Merlettilearnedtopayattentiontominutedetails.Everydetailmattered.Ifhewasn’tpayingattention,hecouldcrossatripwireorsteponalandmineormakeanoisethatmightalerttheenemy.“Youcouldn’tletyourminddrift.Youcouldn’tthink,ManIwishIwereattheballpark.IwishIhadacoldlemonadeorabeerinmyhand.”Dothatandyou’redead.“Youlearntolookatthegroundinfrontofyou,tolookatyourflank.Payattentiontoeverysingledetail,everymomentofeveryday.”

Merletti’sone-yeartourofdutywasscheduledtocometoanendonMay30,1970. But in the spring of 1970, the Defense Department announced it wasreducing troop numbers in Vietnam, at President Nixon’s request, and allsoldierswerebeinggivenwhatwascalledathirty-daydrop.Andso,inthefirstweekofApril1970,LewMerlettilearnedhewasscheduledtoleaveVietnamonApril 28.All acrossVietnam,GreenBerets received this same news, and thatincludedMike Kuropas—who for ten straight months now had been fightingintensedirect-actionmissionsonareconteamforSOG,CCC.

On themorningofApril 15,1970, troublebegannear aSpecialForcesA-CampatDakSeang, in theCentralHighlands, tenmiles from theborderwithLaos. Intelligence showed a massive buildup of NVA forces was under way,

positionedtoovertakethecampandsurroundingvalley.TheplanwastoinsertabattalionofSpecialForcessoldiersand theirARVNcounterpartson topof themountaintoprotectthecampandallitstoodfor.Oneofthesoldierswhofoughttheredescribedthishilltopas“littlemorethanabaldknobwithcraters,”butitwasastrategicposition,withavantagepointover thesurroundingvalley.TheU.S. Army and the North Vietnamese Army each wanted to control it.Designated LZ Orange, the Defense Department would initiate an offensivemovetocontrolit.

“Soitwasthatat0430inthemorningofApril15th,theflight-lineatKontumAirFieldcamealivewithpilots, crewchiefs, andgunnersbusying themselveswith their preflight checks, mounting weapons and loading rocket pods,”recalledDonaldSummers,amemberofthe170thAssaultHelicopterCompany.Hewasabouttobeinserted.Asthesunrose, theoffensivebegan.AsatOscarEight, helicopter gunships cleared LZ Orange while two troop transporthelicopters ferried in SouthVietnamese soldiers and theirU.S. Special Forcescommanders.The first helicopter landed, and its crewchargedout.Then, in amoveperfectedbytheNorthVietnameseArmy,asthesecondhelicopterhoveredfiftyfeetoverthelandingzone,itwasrocketedoutoftheair,killingnineofthetwelvemenonboard.Ontheground,therewereeightSouthVietnamesesoldiersand fiveAmericansoldierswho’dsurvived, includingonepilot,onecopilot, adoorgunner,apathfinder,andthecrewchief.

U.S. Air Force fast fliers came in screeching overhead, laying downsuppressive fire. Over the past several hours, the losses in the area had beenstaggering:fourhelicoptersshotdown,sevenhelicoptershit,fateunknown.OneoftheA-1ESkyraiderswaslastseenlosingaltitudeabovearidgeline,itsengineonfire.ItwasatthispointintheoperationthattheU.S.ArmyandtheU.S.AirForcecommandassessedtheoperation,fromheadquarters,anddecidedarescuemissionwasnotpossiblewithout“anunacceptablefurtherlossoflife.”WhichiswhenaSOGBrightLightteamoperatingoutofKontumwasaskedtovolunteerfor a rescue mission. Like firefighters running into a burning building, StaffSergeant Mike Kuropas, Staff Sergeant Dennis Neal, and six Montagnardmercenaries volunteered for the job. The operational plan was to insert theBrightLight teamontoLZOrange to rescue themen trappedon the hill.BillMcDonald, of the 170thAssaultHelicopterCompany, volunteered to pilot theteamintothetargetarea.

HelicopterpilotDonaldSummerswasoneofthemenbleedingoutanddyingonthehill.HelaterrecalledseeingthehelicoptercarryingtheSOGBrightLight

teamonitsapproach.Roughlyhalfamileoutfromthelandingzone,pilotBillMcDonalddroppedhisSOGhelicopterintoadeepdiveandheadeddowntothevalleyfloor.Hehad tofly in“lowandfast,up thesideof themountain to theLZ,”Summers recalled, or hewouldhavebeen shot down longbefore he gotanywherenearthehill.“Hewastakingextensivefirefrom360degrees,buthepressed on.” Crippled from enemy gunfire but still flying, Summerswatched,horrified.“Thebirdslammedintothelandingzone.”Fuelpouredoutofalargeholeinthefuelcell.Arockethadlodgednearthetailbutnotexploded.

Under a barrage of small arms fire, Summers and the other survivors rantoward the helicopter. Summers remembered reaching the aircraft and lookinginside.There,SOGBrightLightteamleadersMikeKuropas,DennisNeal,andthe six Montagnards lay dead on the floor, shredded from multiple gunshotwounds. Summers climbed into the crippled helicopter, and by some strangeaviationmiracle,BillMcDonaldwasabletoflythehelicopteraway.

Thirteen days later, on April 28, Lew Merletti completed his service inVietnam.HewashelicoptereddownfromtheA-TeamcampatTrungDong toSpecialForcesheadquartersinNhaTrang.ThefirstactionhetookwastowalkuptothebulletinboardandsearchforMikeKuropas’sname.Hefoundit.

Itread:“MichaelVincentKuropas,KilledinAction,April15,1970.”Merletti felt crushing loss. “Standing there, I became overwhelmed with

emotion,”he recalls.“The realityset in. I thoughtaboutMikeandI still thinkaboutalltheguyswhodiedinVietnam.Eachoneofthem.Theywerealiveonemomentandthentheygotshot.There’snoanesthesiaonthebattlefield.Yougetshot.It’sincrediblypainfultogetshot.Youbleedoutbeforeyoudie,”Merlettisays.StandinginfrontofMikeKuropas’sname,Merlettimadeavow.“Iwantedtotrytoliveuptocertainexpectationsofmyself,forhim.ForMike.”Merlettivowedthatmovingforwardinhislife,werehetoperceivesomethinginfrontofhimself as difficult, he would stop and think of Mike Kuropas. He wouldacknowledgethatwhateverproblemhewashaving,hewashavingtheproblembecause hewas alive.MikeKuropaswould not have the luxury of problems.MikeKuropas,agejusttwenty-two,wasdead.

Bytheendof1970,thewarwasallbutlost,thehumanlossestoogreattobear.The mighty U.S. Defense Department could not win the war. There were nofrontlines.Theenemyswarmedlikebees,likeantscrawling,orfishswimming,just as Mao Zedong warned inOn Guerrilla Warfare and General Giap hadechoed in his own manifesto. The communists dominated the geography of

everyenvironment.Formuchof thewar, theDefenseDepartmentbelieved itshelicopters could tip thebalanceofpower,butby1971helicopter losseswereinsurmountable, too. The precise number of helicopters shot down during theVietnamWarremainsclassifiedasof2019.

Still,theDefenseDepartmentwasnotreadytoaccepttheirloss,andseveraleleventh-hour attempts were made within SOG, before 1971, to develop newtacticstowinaguerrillawar.BillyWaughwasatthelocusofoneofthesenewideas: insertion by parachute in an unorthodox manner. It was to be called aHALOjump.Thisinvolvedexitinganaircraftabove10,000feet,free-fallingtoroughly 2,000 feet or even lower, then gliding to the earth using a steerableparachute. During the KoreanWar, General Jack Singlaub had practiced thistactichimself,asapossibleinsertiontechniquetouseinthecovertairoperationshewasinchargeoffortheCIA.ButthetacticwasneverusedinKorea.

In 1970, the HALO jump remained untested in war. SinceWorldWar II,paratroopershadalwaysjumpedintobattleusingstaticlinesthatwouldopentheparachutes automatically, predictably, one after the next, so a large group ofjumpers could land in a pattern on a drop zone. Vietnamwas different. SOGrecon teams knew the NVA didn’t keep watch over landing zones at nightbecausenooneeverparachutedinthedarkness.Untilnow.

Waughwasinchargeofselectingtheworld’sfirstcombatHALOteam,thenoverseeingallSOGHALOtraining, includingof the indigfightersassigned tooperations.Theunitspracticedonatinyisletjustafewmilesoffthenorthwestcoast of Okinawa called le Shima Island. There, SOG operators practicedjumping out of aircraft at 30,000 feet, in full combat gear, then performing amilitaryfreefallfor27,500feet,reachingterminalvelocitybeforepullingtheripcordandlandingintheocean.Theattempttotraintheirindigcounterpartswasatall order, remembers Waugh. The Green Berets were all airborne-qualified.Some, like Waugh, had been jumping out of airplanes for more than twentyyears. None of the indigs had ever left Vietnam, let alone jumped out of anairplanewithaparachute.“Halfofourindigshadneverseentheoceanbefore,”recallsWaugh.“Oneofourguysgotspookedandpulledhisparachuterightafterhejumped.Hemissedthetargetbyabouttenmiles.Bythetimewegottohimintherescueboathe’dalreadyconsumedaboutagallonofseawater.Hegotvery,verysick.”

OnNovember28,1970,SOG’sfirstHALOteam,RTVirginia, jumpedintoLaos. The unitwas led by Staff Sergeant CliffNewman, Sergeant First ClassSammyHernandez, and Sergeant First ClassMelvinHill, accompanied by an

officer with the ARVN and two Montagnard mercenaries “who had noexperience jumping, but did just fine,” remembers Waugh. RT Virginiaconductedfivedaysofreconnaissancebehindenemylinesandwereexfiltratedwithoutincident.ThiswasthefirstknownHALOcombatjumpinthehistoryofwarfare.Sevenmonthslater,onJune22,1971,BillyWaughledthethirdHALOjumpteamintocombat,alsoinLaos.TeammateMadisonStrohleinwascapturedand killed. The vertical wind tunnel at the John F. Kennedy SpecialWarfareCenterandSchoolatFortBraggwasnamedinhishonor.

Butnoamountofnewthinking,andnonumberofunusualinfiltrationtactics,couldsalvage thisunwinnablewar.The followingyear,onMay1,1972,SOGwas disbanded. American citizens were fed up with violence and warfare. InJanuary 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, bringing an end to theVietnamWar, with the country to remain divided between the north and thesouth.With58,000Americanskilled inVietnam,guerrillawarfarewasadirtyword.Across themilitaryand intelligencecommunities,budgetswere slashed.Across the CIA and the Defense Department, covert-action programs weredisbanded.

The U.S. Army in general, and the U.S. special operations forces inparticular, suffered a black eye. Four of the army’s six Special Forces groupswereinactivated.ThetwosmallunitsthatremainedwereassignedtoaprogramcalledSPARTAN(SpecialProficiencyatRuggedTrainingandNation-Building).To stay active, its soldiersworkedwith Indian tribes in Florida,Arizona, andMontanahelpingtobuildroadsandmedicalfacilities.TheU.S.Armyvowedtoconcentrateonconventionalwarfare—tostayoutofungovernableplaceslikethejunglesinSoutheastAsiaandtoinsteadprepareforinfantryandtankwarfareontheflatlandsofcentralEurope.

MenlikeBillyWaugh,andtheskillstheypossessed,werenotneededbytheU.S.militaryorintelligenceservicesanymore.ThearmyofferedWaughadeskjob at FortDevens,Massachusetts.Waugh knew, aftermore than ten years ofcovertactionanddirect-actioncombatoperations, thatofficeworkwasnotforhim.In lieuofaretirementceremony,heandsixGreenBeretsHALO-jumpedoutofanaircraftoverFortBragg,pullingtheirparachutes800feetaboveparadegrounds. They landed, packed up their parachutes, and spent the afternoondrinkingbeerinhonoroftheirdeadfriends.Thentheywenthome.

Back from Vietnam, Lew Merletti enrolled at Duquesne University, inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He would earn his four-year degree in a little over

threeyears.Onedaybeforehegraduated,hewaswalking through the studentcenterwhenhecaughtsightofanoticeonabulletinboard.“NSAhiring,” thenotice read. He took the test being offered to new recruits, aced it, and wascalled in for an interview. Inside the foyer of a fancy building, he followedinstructionsthattookhimupanelevatortothethirty-fifthfloor.

“Iwalkedaround.Theredidn’tseemtobeanyoneinanyoftheoffices,buteventuallyIlocatedthecorrectroom,”Merlettirecalls.Seatedbehindadeskwasaman.Aftersomesmalltalk,themanspokecandidly.

“We’re an intelligence-gathering agency,” he said. “We’re larger than theCIA.Wewanttoofferyouajob.”

Merletti asked why the NSA, an intelligence agency, was interested inrecruitinghim,aformerGreenBeret.“Afteranexchangeofwords,Irealizedtherecruiterwasinterestedinmylanguagecapabilities,thatIspokeVietnamese.”

ThemantoldMerlettithatifheweretoworkfortheNSA,itwouldbeasolidcareer.ButajobwithanintelligenceagencywasnotwhatLewMerlettihadinmind for his future. “Thewarwas over,” he remembers thinking. “How longwerewegoingtobespyingontheVietnamese?”

Merletti told the recruiter thathewas interested in findinga long-termandfulfillingcareer.TheNSArecruiteraskedMerlettiwhatitwashewantedtodo.

“I feel that I’m reallygoodatprotectingpeopleand saving lives,”Merlettirecallstellinghim.“That’swhatI’dliketodo.”

“YoushouldjointheSecretService,”themansaid.LewMerlettihadneverconsideredacareerwiththeU.S.SecretService.But

itmadesense.HehadtheskillsofaSpecialForcessoldierandtheheartandsoulof a protector.After two interviewswith theSecretService, hewas hired.Hethought about how awesome it felt to work for the agency that protected thepresidentof theUnitedStates.Assassinationwasasold aswarfare andwouldnevergoaway.

ForBillyWaugh, the transition to a civilian careerwasnot easy. Inneedof apaycheck, he took a job at one of the few federal institutions that was hiringcombatveteranswithoutprejudice:theU.S.PostalService.Inthefallof1972,hereportedfordutyatapostofficeinAustin,Texas,twentymilesfromwherehewasborn.Waughroseup through theranks.With thedisciplineofaGreenBeret and a desire to excel, he moved from mail carrier to the person whooversawtheautomatedmail-sortingmachine.

“Let’s face it,” recallsWaugh, “for a person likeme, post officeworkwas

worsethandeath.”BillyWaughwas forty-three.He’d spent twenty-five years of his life as a

soldier, half of them in combat. In an interview in 2017, he shared a rareemotionalmomentaboutwhathewasthinkingatthattime.

“Idonot ever recall feeling fear,notup to thatmoment inmy life.Not incombatbefore,andnotanywheresince.Butthereinthepostoffice,Ifearedmylifewasover,”heremembers.“ThatIwouldwindupsomeoldmandrinkingattheendofthebar.”

For five longyears,BillyWaughcontinued towork for thePostalService,untilonenight,inJuly1977,thetelephonerang.Heanswereditandrecognizedthevoiceontheotherendoftheline.Itbelongedtoacovert-actionoperatorhehadworkedwithinSOG,inVietnam.ThemanaskedBillyifhewasreadyforaction,ifhewantedbackin.

Waughsaidyes.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

Revenge

Itwasjustafter7:00p.m.,March1,1973,anddarknesshadfalleninKhartoum,Sudan. Outside the Saudi Arabian embassy compound, small groups ofdiplomats stood around saying good-bye to one another after a successfulcocktail party. TheAmerican guests of honorwereGeorge “Curt”Moore, thechargéd’affaires,andCleoA.NoelJr.,theambassador.Theyweregettingreadyto head over to the presidential palace to have dinner with President GaafarNimeiry of Sudan and Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia, when all hellbrokeloose.

ALandRoverscreechedtoahaltinfrontoftheembassy’splate-glassdoors,andoutleapteightmaskedgunmen,eachwithadaggerattachedtohisbelt.Oneof the gunmen shot an embassy guard in the head; another raked awallwithautomatic machine-gun fire. A bullet tore into the leg of Belgian chargéd’affairesGuyEidandhefelltotheground,bleeding.AmbassadorNoelgothitintheankleandhe,too,wentdown.

“Run, run, run for your lives!” shouted Jan Bertens, the Dutch chargéd’affaires,theonlydiplomattomakeittothestreetbeforetheterroristslockedthegatesandtookeveryonehostage.Insideareceptionhall,eachdiplomatwasforced to identify himself by nationality. The terrorists released all but three:Moore, Noel, and Eid. The gunmen identified themselves as members of thePalestinianterroristorganizationBlackSeptember.Foundedin1963,ithadsincebecomethemostfearedterroristorganizationintheworld.

Through local journalists, the terrorists made their demands known. Theywanted Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian who’d assassinated Senator RobertKennedy in 1968, freed from aCalifornia jail.And theywanted one hundred

BlackSeptemberoperatives released fromprisons in Israel and Jordan.At theWhiteHouse, PresidentNixonwas notified of the hostage situation byHenryKissinger.Themensatdownanddiscussedwhattodonext.

Twenty-sixhourslater,thepresidentheldanewsconference.“TheSudanesegovernment isworking on the problem,”Nixon said.He said of the hostages:“We will do everything that we can to get them released, but will not payblackmail.”Thepolicy,whichwasnotwrittendownandwhichNixonhadmadeup three months earlier, during a hostage scenario in Haiti, would play aprofoundlyconsequentialroleinthedecadestocome.

Just a few hours after hearing this news, theBlack September terrorists inKhartoumreceivedaphonecallfromtheircommandingofficerinBeirut.SincePresidentNixonwasn’tgoingtoagreetotheterrorists’demands,thecommandersaid,theAmericandiplomatswereuselessandthegunmenshould“finishthemoff.”

In Khartoum, Robert E. Fritts, the new deputy chief of mission, had justarrivedat theAmericanembassy,wherehe’dbeensenttoreplaceCurtMoore.Theembassystaffwasinastateofshock;thefateoftheirsuperiorofficershungin thebalance.But themissionof theU.S.StateDepartmentwasunwavering:diplomacymustgoon.Khartoumwasalawlesstown,fueledbyanti-Americansentiment,andthiswasafacteveryForeignServiceofficerknewandaccepted.Islamists were fightingMarxists and tribal warlords in the streets. There hadbeentwobloodycoupsinfouryears.ThismajorityArabnationhadseveredalldiplomaticrelationswiththeUnitedStatesafterthe1967Six-DayWar,andonlyrecently had relations been rekindled, largely due to the diplomatic efforts ofCurtMoore.NowhewasbeingheldatgunpointinsidetheSaudiembassy,alongwithCleoNoelandGuyEid.

Asdeputychiefofmission,Fritts recalled thedevastationhe felt, trying tobringordertothechaoshewaswalkinginto.“Theembassyoccupiedtheupperfloorsofacommercialofficebuildingadjoinedbyothersonthemainstreet,”herecalled.An intensedust stormcalledahaboobhadkickedup, and thepowerwasout. “Dust andgritwere everywhere, inyour eyes and teeth.… I climbedfiveor six floorsup thebacksteps,carryingmysuitcaseandmygarmentbagovermyshoulder.”

Frittsmadehiswaythroughthedarknessintotheembassy,wherehecaughtsight of Sandy Sanderson, an administrative officer, standing in the dim lightwithhisglassesonastringaroundhisneck.“Icouldn’tquiteseehisface,”saidFritts. “He was backlighted by the emergency lamps, but I could tell he was

crying.”“We’ve heard therewas gunfire in the Saudi embassy,” Sanderson sobbed.

“Theymaybedead.You’reincharge.”Sandy Sanderson was right.Moments before their death, Eid,Moore, and

Noelwereallowed towrite letters to theirwives. “Cleoand Iwilldiebravelyand without tears as men should,” was the last sentence Curt Moore wrote.These were not bullet-to-the-head assassinations. The men, blindfolded withtheir hands bound, were peppered with gunfire starting at the ankles with abarrage of bullets leading up to the head. Sadism was Black September’strademark,anditsmemberswerenotoriousforinflictingthemaximumamountofpain and sufferingon their victims.ForBlackSeptember assassinationwasaboutrevenge,aboutrightingawrong—thetheftofthePalestinianhomelandbythe Jews. Documents kept classified for decades reveal the Black SeptembergunmenweretoldbytheirhandlerthatCurtMoorewastheCIA’stopmanintheMiddle East, that he worked for the Israelis and had personally directed thekillingofPalestinians,noneofwhichisknowntobeaccurate.

ButperhapsthemostchillingdetailsofthetragedyaretetheredtotheUnitedStates—inparticular, toHenryKissinger.Behindmanyhidden-handoperationslie secret deals and dark bargains. Just days before the assassinations inKhartoum, an NSA listening post in Cyprus picked up a radio transmissionindicatingthatamajorBlackSeptemberoperationwasabouttobecarriedout.“Theexhibitsarriveon theEgyptianplaneWednesdaymorning,”amanin thePLO’sBeirutheadquarters toldacolleague in theKhartoumoffice,decipheredas code for a coming attack. The “exhibits,” the State Department laterconfirmed,weresevengunmenfromBlackSeptember, fourdisassembledAK-47s,andeighthandgrenades,allofwhicharrivedonanEgyptAirflightfromCairo on February 28, the day before the killings.Why the StateDepartmentfailedtoproperlywarnits topdiplomatsinKhartoumofasuspectedimminentattackwouldtakedecadestocometolight.

Although it was not known in 1973, Black September was the brainchild ofYasserArafat,chairmanofthePalestinianLiberationOrganization(PLO).ThattheBlackSeptemberterroriststookdirectordersfromArafat,whoplannedandordered themurder of the twoAmerican diplomats in Khartoum,was knownonlytoaselectfewpresidentialadvisorsatthetime.Thisinformationwaskeptclassified by the State Department until 2006, until after Arafat—by then aNobel Peace Prize recipient—had died. Bruce Hoffman, one of the world’s

foremostexpertsonterroristorganizations,explains:BlackSeptember“hadbeenformedasadeniableandcompletelycovertspecial-operationsunitof[thePLOgroup]al-FatahbyArafatandhisclosestlieutenants.”Itsfighterswereassignedhard-core terrorist operations that included bombings, ambushes, hijackings,kidnappings,andassassinations.“Itwasthemosteliteunitwehad,”oneofal-Fatah’s former commanding generals told Hoffman. “[Our] members weresuicidal—not in the sense of religious terrorists who surrender their lives toascend to heaven—but in the sense that we could send them anywhere to doanythingandtheywerepreparedtolaydowntheirlivestodoit.Noquestion.Nohesitation.”

Black September’s original mission was to foment regional violence andprovoke Israel into bloody engagements, forcing its Arab neighbors from apassive to an active stance in its anti-Israel, anti-West campaign of violence.How Black September and the PLO worked together, in secret, is its owncomplexnarrative.WhatisimportanttothisstoryisthatArafatchoseamanofcontradictions, Ali Hassan Salameh, to serve as commander of the specialoperations unit. Salamehwas the son of themartyred SheikHassan Salameh,commander of the PalestinianHolyWarArmy in thewar against Israel, whodied inbattle inJune1948.Butunlikehispiousfather,hewasaplayboywhodrove around Beirut in expensive cars, ate at fancy restaurants, and datedmodels.Married,withtwosons,heflauntedhisgirlfriendaroundtown;shewasa formerMissUniversenamedGeorginaRizk.Mossadgavehim the insultingcodenametheRedPrince.

Theterroristorganizationtookitsnamefromtheso-calledBlackSeptemberconflict. In September of 1970, Arafat’s guerrilla warfare corps hijacked fourinternational aircraft and forced them to land in the Jordanian desert, atDawson’sField.Jordan’sKingHusseinusedhisarmyagainsttheterroristgroup,expelling all members from the kingdom. In revenge, Yasser Arafat secretlyordered the Red Prince to oversee the assassination ofWasfi al-Tal, Jordan’sprimeminister,duringtheArabLeaguesummitinEgyptthefollowingyear.AsTalentered the foyerof theSheratonCairoHotel, aBlackSeptembergunmansteppedforwardandshothiminthechestatpoint-blankrange.

“They’ve killed me!” Tal cried out as he fell to the floor bleeding.“Murderers!Theybelieveonlyinfireanddestruction.”

AsJordan’sprimeministerlaydyingonthefloor,theassassingotdownonhishandsandkneesandlickedthebloodflowingacrossthemarblefloor.Thiswas exactly the image of his Black September killers that Arafat wanted to

portray,whilekeepinghishidden-handrolesecretfromtheworld.TheTimesofLondonranaphotographofthisblood-lickingact,animagethatwasreprintedinnewspapersaroundtheworld.

WhatArafat alsowanted, at least initially,wasAmerican passivity.As theUnited States withdrew its forces from Vietnam, Arab terrorist organizationsstarted cropping up across the Middle East, inspired by the U.S. military’sinability to defeat a much smaller guerrilla army. “Create Two, Three,ManyVietnams,” Che Guevara had instructed his fellow revolutionaries around theworld,calling theMiddleEast“avolcano…threateningeruption in theworld,today.”Evenafterhisdeath,CheGuevara’swordslivedon.

AftersuccessfullykillingtheprimeministerofJordan,in1972YasserArafatendorsedthemassacreofIsraeliathletesattheMunichSummerOlympics,withoperationalcommandassigned toAliHassanSalameh.Eleven IsraeliOlympicteammembersweremurdered sadistically; one of theOlympians,weightlifterYossefRomano,wascastratedashisteammateslookedon.Otherswerebeatenandburnedtodeath.Israelkeptthemosthorrificdetailshiddenfromthepublic,knowing that this kind of violence opened the door to copycat operations. InresponsetotheMunichmassacre,IsraeliintelligencelaunchedOperationWrathofGod,withthegoalofkillingeveryBlackSeptembermemberinvolved.

ImmediatelyfollowingWorldWarII,beforetheNurembergtrialsandotherforms of procedural justice addressed the killing ofmillions of Jews, a smallgroupofHolocaustsurvivorstrackeddownNaziwarcriminalsforassassination.They called themselves Nakam, Hebrew for Avengers. The group used anunderground intelligencenetwork to learnwhere individualNazis livedso thatthey could kill them. These assassinations were rarely reported in the media,becausewhatcountrywantedthenotorietythatcamewitharevelationthatithadbeen harboring a Nazi war criminal? After Israel became a nation-state, aprogram of revenge killing was refined and developed by Mossad, Israel’sequivalentof theCIA,whichwasfoundedinDecember1949.Soon, incertainsituations,assassinationwouldbeMossad’sweaponofchoice.

Mossad’s assassination programwas officially classified, but unofficially itwasanopensecret.Thelogicwas,“Ifyoudon’tpunishforonecrime,youwillget another,” says Dina Porat, chief historian at Israel’s Yad Vashem, orHolocaust,memorial.“Thisiswhatwasdriving[theAvengers],notonlyjusticebut a warning—a warning to the world that you cannot hurt Jews in such amanner and get away with it.” In its first two decades of statehood, Mossadbecame the undisputedmasters of assassination, overtaking even the KGB in

ruthlessness, cunning, and effectiveness. The department inside MossadresponsibleforassassinationwasnamedCaesarea,aftertheancientRomancitybuiltbyHerod theGreat.And insideCaesarea therewasanevenmore secret,more elite assassination unit called Kidon, Hebrew for bayonet. After BlackSeptembermurdered the eleven Israeli athletes inMunich,Mossad unleashedKidononthem.

Mossad’stargetedassassinationsofBlackSeptemberoperativeswereequallybrutal;this,too,wasrevenge.WaelZwaiterwasshoteleventimesatcloserange(allegedlyonebullet foreachmurderedIsraeliathlete) inhisRomeapartment.MahmoudHamshariwasblownupinhisParishomeafterabomb,hiddeninsidehistelephonereceiver,wasdetonatedbyIsraeliassassinsfromacrossthestreet.A Black September operative in London was expertly pushed under a fast-moving bus. More than a dozen Operation Wrath of God murders followed,including that of an innocent man named Ahmed Bouchiki, in Lillehammer,Norway, a case of mistaken identity. Kidon operatives believed that theNorwegianwaiterwastheRedPrince.

Asthecycleofviolenceescalated,BlackSeptemberfoughtbackwithaplantoassassinateIsrael’sprimeminister,GoldaMeir,duringavisitwithPopePaulVI. Relations between Israel and the Vatican had been strained since Israel’sfounding. Mossad legend has it that in 1948, in exchange for diplomaticrelations, theVaticanaskedIsrael toholdamocktrialofJesusandreversetheoriginalbiblicaldeathverdictofChrist. Israeldeclined, andnoprimeministerhadbeen invited to theVaticansince.GoldaMeirwasnotabout tocancel thishistorictripbecauseofadeaththreatbyBlackSeptember.

InRome,MossadlearnedthattheRedPrinceintendedtoshootdownMeir’sairplane with Russian-made SA-7 guided missiles as it landed at Rome’sLeonardodaVinciAirport.Usinganetworkofsleeperagents,Mossaddisruptedtheplotwithjustminutestospare,accordingtosourcesfamiliarwiththecase.AfterfailingtokillGoldaMeirinRome,YasserArafatassignedtheRedPrinceanevenmoreincendiaryjob:overseetheassassinationoftwoU.S.diplomatsinKhartoum,Sudan.

The cold-blooded, in-plain-sight assassinations of American diplomats insideanother sovereign nation’s embassy in Khartoum demanded a formidableresponse. Except most Americans had zero appetite for getting involved interrorist disputes overseas. Five hundred ninety-one American POWs held inNorth Vietnam were still in the process of being brought home from Hanoi.

Diplomacywitharmedrevolutionariesdidnotwork;military forcewasnotanoption.Thestagewassettohandlethesituationwiththepresident’sthirdoption,thehiddenhand.

AftertheBlackSeptemberterroristskilledCurtMoore,CleoNoel,andGuyEid in the basement of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum, the killerscalledtheirPLOcommanderinBeirutandaskedwhattodonext.YasserArafatinstructedthemtosurrendertoSudaneseauthorities.

“Your mission has ended,” Arafat said, in a communication that wasintercepted byMossad and shared with Henry Kissinger, but which the StateDepartment kept secret until 2006. “Explain your just cause to [the] greatSudanesemassesandinternationalopinion.Wearewithyouonthesameroad,”Arafatsaid.

The next morning the eight gunmen surrendered themselves. Two werereleased, the remaining six tried formurder.During the trial, the leaderof thegroup said that they’d acted “under the orders of the Palestine LiberationOrganizationandshouldonlybequestionedbythatorganization.”

TheassassinswereconvictedbyaSudanesecourt,butjustafewhourslaterPresidentNimeirycommutedtheirsentencesandputthemonaplanetoCairo,wheretheywereturnedovertothePLO.WhenpressedbytheStateDepartment,PresidentNimeirydefendedhisactionsbysayingthatotherstateshandedoverPalestinianterroristsafter“farlessaction,”andthatAmericaneededtofacethe“politicalfactsoflife.”PresidentNimeirysaidthathe“hadSudaneseandArabopinion to consider.” Three decades later, in June 2006, the StateDepartmentquietlypostedonlinea1973CIASummaryoftheAssassinationsinKhartoum.“TheKhartoumoperationwascarriedoutwiththefullknowledgeandpersonalapprovalofYasserArafat,ChairmanofthePalestineLiberationOrganization,”itstated.

Robert Fritts recalled the fallout at the U.S. embassy in Khartoum. “Theembassy [staff] was shattered, absolutely shattered.… The U.S. governmentpressured theEgyptiansnot to release them.Theywereputunder loosehousearrest in a Nile mansion. Eventually, they evaporated”—tacitly allowed todisappear.“Itwasa travesty,” lamentedFritts.Henry“Kissinger[was]citedashavingabiggerpictureinmind.”

ThatbiggerpictureHenryKissingerhadinmindwasdarkandcomplex.Inlate 1973, in addition to serving as the president’s national-security advisor,Kissingerwasnowsecretaryofstate,meaninghewasatthetopofthechainofcommand of all U.S. diplomats. Instead of bringing the killers to justice, the

betterplay,Kissingerdecided,wastomakeadealwithYasserArafattousetheRedPrince,AliHassanSalameh,asaclandestineasset.

AttheCIA,theplanhadbeenthreeyearsinthemaking.ItbeganwithaCIAcaseofficerandexpertonMiddleEastaffairsnamedRobertAmes.SalamehandAmeswereliketwosidesofacoin.Ames,thirty-five,lookedlikeaninsurancesalesman,withhis1950shaircutandwidetie.Adevotedhusbandandfatheroffive,BobAmeswasfrugal,rarelydrank,andsportedasmallpotbelly.Salamehroamed around Beirut in open shirts with chest hair spilling out, his playboyreputation preceding him. A fourth-degree black belt, the Red Prince chain-smoked, drank expensive Scotch, listened to Elvis Presley, and worked outregularly in the Continental Hotel gym. The cryptonym Bob Ames chose forSalameh was MJ/TRUST/2. MJ was the code for Palestinians/PLO; Amesallegedly chose the rootword “trust” because he trustedSalameh; the numbertwo designated him as the second CIA asset in a cluster. MJ/TRUST/1 wasYasserArafat.

PerhapsitisimpossibletounderstandhowandwhyBobAmeschosetotrustamanwho’dorchestrated themurderofelevenIsraeliathletes inMunich,andtwoU.S.diplomats andaBelgian inSudan,plus scoresofothers, butwhat isclearisthatby1974,BobAmes’srelationshipwithSalamehhadwarped.Ameshadoverstepped theunwrittencaseofficer–asset rules indangerousways. Inalettertohiswife,Yvonne,AmescalledSalamehhis“importantfriend.”Thetwomen exchangedgifts.AfterSalamehgaveAmes a set of goldenprayer beads,Ames wanted to give his friend a gift of equal significance. Salamehwalkedaround Beirut with a pistol on his right hip (Beirut’s As-Safir newspaperpublishedphotographsofhimlikethis),andAmesthought itwouldbeagreatideatogiveSalamehagunasagift.Beforehedid,hesoughtapprovalfromCIAheadquarters.

Hissuperior,CIAdirectorRichardHelms,expressedoutrage.“Thiscrossedsome invisible line,”writesAmes’s biographer,KaiBird. “TheAgency couldhavedealingswithaterroristbutitwouldbeunseemlytomakeagiftofagun.”Ames wouldn’t give up, says his former analyst colleague Bruce Riedel, soheadquarterssuggestedacompromise.They toldAmes,“Okay,whydon’tyougivehimareplicaofagun?”Ames,insulted,rejectedtheidea.FormerCIAcaseofficerHenryMiller Jones has an interesting take: “They tell you in theCIAnevertofallinlovewithyouragent.Buteveryonedoes.”

For a while, the arrangement between the CIA and Ali Hassan Salamehsuited the CIA. That arrangement was to now leave U.S. diplomats and CIA

officers out of the Black September bull’s-eye. “The Red Prince wrote andsigneda‘non-assassinationguarantee’forallU.S.diplomatsinLebanon,”wroteBritishjournalistGordonThomas.InBeirut’sintelligencecircles,thejokewas,“It pays to live in the samebuilding asAmerican diplomats because thePLOsecurity is sogood.”But the arrangementwouldonly last as long asSalamehwasalive.AndMossadhadeveryintentionofassassinatingtheRedPrince.

Itwouldtakeacovert teamofMossadassassinsfiveyears tokillSalameh,witha carbombexplodedonaBeirut streeton January22,1979.Fourofhisbodyguards and three innocent passersby were also killed in the targetedassassination.BeforeSalamehwasblownup,BobAmeswasabletogivetohimtheultimategifthe longedfor,a trip to theUnitedStates.WithaCIAhandlerdriving Salameh around, the Black September operations chief and his newbride,GeorginaRizk,visitedCIAofficesinVirginia,Hawaii,NewOrleans,andCalifornia, where they also visited Disneyland. The Agency handler, code-named Charles Waverly, went out of his way to make Salameh comfortable,goingsofaras to teachtheRedPrincehowtoeatoystersandscubadive.HisJanuary1979assassinationwasa turningpoint in theMiddleEast for theCIAandwouldimpactU.S.nationalsecurityfordecadestocome.Twentythousandpeople,includingYasserArafat,attendedSalameh’sfuneral.

WhydidHenryKissinger,assecretaryofstate,encouragetheCIA’suseofAliHassanSalameh, aknown terrorist, as an ally?Whychoose covert action, thepresident’sthirdoption,overdiplomacy,thefirst?ThisdecisionlikelyhadtodowithKissinger’sproximitytoaseriesofscandalouseventsthatwereunfoldinginWashington,DC. In the spring of 1973,Congress began investigatingwhatwouldbecomeknownasWatergate.“Forthefirst timeinitshistory,the[CIA]allowed investigators from Congress to review documents from its files andinterviewitsemployees,”saysformerCIAinspectorgeneralL.BrittSnider.Asit turned out, all five of the men arrested for burglarizing the offices of theDemocratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in June 1972 hadconnectionswiththeCIA.HerebeganaseriesofeventsandmisstepswithintheCIA that would bring the Agency to the most dramatic turning point in itshistory.ItwastheclosesttheAgencyhasevercometobeingdisbanded.

Nixon’sCIAdirector,JamesSchlesinger,waspreparingtoleavetheAgencytobecomesecretaryofdefense.Beforehe left,Schlesingersentamemo toallCIA employees ordering them to reveal to him any illegal activity theymighthavebeeninvolvedinsincetheAgency’screationtwenty-fiveyearsbefore.The

instructionpromptedaflurryofwrittenreports,whichwerethencompiledintoa700-page document that would become known as the “Family Jewels.” Theaction was unprecedented; the CIA had never compiled its hidden-handoperationsbefore.

Threeweekslater,theNewYorkTimesbrokeastoryrevealingthatKissingerhadauthorizedtheFBIandtheCIAtoillegallywiretapreporters,WhiteHouseofficials,andevenhisownNationalSecurityCouncilstaff.MindfulthatamajorscandalwasbrewinginWashington,DC,theCIA’snewdirector,WilliamColby,felt thebestmovewas to lock theFamily Jewels inside the safe in his office.Over the next fifteenmonths, theWatergate scandal—about a different illegalwiretapping—consumed the news media and the public. The Family JewelsremainedlockedinColby’ssafe.OnAugust8,1974,PresidentNixonresignedandVicePresidentGeraldFordassumedthepresidency.

Butthepresswasunrelenting,andthefocusnowswungtoyetanotherCIAscandal that had previously remained hidden, raising alarms across the FordWhiteHouse. InDecember1974,Colby,whohadrun thePhoenixprograminVietnam, sentKissinger a note explaining some of the contents of the FamilyJewels. Kissinger drafted a five-page memorandum for the presidentsummarizingthecontentsofwhatwasthere.Someoftheactions“clearlywereillegal,” Kissinger said; others “raise profound moral questions.” The mostincendiarymaterialcoveredtheCIA’sroleintheassassinationofforeignleaders,Kissinger warned. He said that if these revelations became public, “the CIAwouldbedestroyed.”Itwasastunningconcept—thattheCIAcouldactuallybeconsidered expendable. President Ford met with his chief of staff, DonaldRumsfeld,andhisdeputychiefofstaff,DickCheney,todiscussthenextmove.TheydecidedtoinviteeditorsfromtheNewYorkTimestotheWhiteHouseforadiscussion,inthespiritoftransparency.

DuringaluncheonattheWhiteHouseonJanuary16,1975,NewYorkTimesreporters asked President Ford why the Family Jewels was not going to bedeclassified. Ford blundered. It contained explosive material that would“blackentheeyeofeveryPresidentsinceTruman,”Fordsaiddefensively.

“Likewhat?”oneoftheeditorsasked.“Likeassassination,”answeredFord.Everyonewentsilent.Thecommentwasmadeoff the record, thepresident

insisted,butitwastoolate.Thecatwasoutofthebag.CBSNews reported the bombshell. “President Ford has reportedlywarned

associatesthatifthecurrent[FamilyJewels]investigationsgotoofar,theycould

uncover several assassinations of foreign officials involving theCIA.”AcrossthenationandinCongress,therewasuproar.Moraloutrage.TheWhiteHousevowedtocreateacommissiontoinvestigate,ultimatelyturningthematterovertoCongress.

Starting in the spring of 1975, the Senate Select Committee to StudyGovernmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, chaired byIdaho senator Frank Church, held sixty days of closed hearings. Seventy-fivewitnesseswerecalledtothestand,includingmanyofthemostseniorofficersattheCIA.Amongthefindings, theChurchCommittee learnedthat theCIAhadconducted more than 900 “major projects” and “several thousand” smalleroperations, “three-quarters of which had never been reviewed outside theAgency.”TheassassinationplotsagainstRafaelTrujillo,FidelCastro, theNgobrothers,andothersweremadepublicforthefirst time.SenatorChurchcalledthe CIA “a rogue elephant raging out of control.” Exotic weapons used inassassination plotswere shownonTV, including a gun that shot poison darts.Theinvestigationlastedsixmonths.

ThattheCIAevenhadaparamilitarycapacityshockedmostAmericans.Thatit engaged in plans to assassinate foreign leaders was perceived as morallyoutrageous. Butwhat’s notable is how blame fell almost entirely on theCIA,whenacomprehensive readmakesclear that theorderswerecoming from theofficeof thepresident.TheHouseSelectCommitteehad itsown investigationgoing on, chaired by Otis Pike, a Democrat from New York. The PikeCommitteeinterviewedmanyofthesameindividualsastheChurchCommitteeandfoundthattheWhiteHousewastoblame,farmoresothantheCIA.“TheCIA does not go galloping off conducting operations by itself,” CongressmanPikewrote.“Themajor thingswhicharedonearenotdoneunilaterallyby theCIAwithout approval from higher up the line.…We did find evidence, uponevidence, upon evidence where the CIA said: ‘No, don’t do it.’ The StateDepartmentortheWhiteHousesaid,‘We’regoingtodoit.’TheCIAwasmuchmore professional and had a far deeper reading on the down-the-roadimplications of some immediately popular act than the executive branch oradministrationofficials.…TheCIAneverdidanythingtheWhiteHousedidn’twant.Sometimestheydidn’twanttodowhattheydid.”

As the committees prepared to release their reports, there was a stunningmovefromtheWhiteHouse.PresidentFordmetwithhisadvisorsRumsfeldandCheney,whotoldhimthereportshadtobesuppressed.“Anydocumentwhichofficially shows American involvement in assassination is clearly a foreign

policydisaster,”Rumsfeldsaid.“Wearebetteroffwithapoliticalconfrontationthanalegalone.”DickCheneyadvisedhimthattheWhiteHouseshouldobjectto thereleaseandattempt toblock thereportsongrounds that itcompromisednationalsecurity.PresidentFordagreed.

Anewteamofpresidentialadvisorswasneeded,Rumsfeldtoldthepresident,leadingFordtodismissseveralkeymembersofhiscabinet.Schlesingerwasletgoassecretaryofdefense,replacedbyRumsfeld;CheneybecameWhiteHousechiefofstaff;CIAdirectorWilliamColbywasreplacedbyGeorgeH.W.Bush;HenryKissinger retainedhispositionassecretaryofstatebutwasreplacedbyBrentScowcroft in the role of national-security advisor.Later,Ford expressedregretfortakingtheseactions.“Iwasangryatmyselfforshowingcowardiceinnotsaying[no] to theultraconservatives,”hesaid.“Itwas thebiggestpoliticalmistakeofmylife.AnditwasoneofthefewcowardlythingsIdidinmylife.”

Despiteconsiderableefforts,Ford’snewteamofadvisorsfailedtokeeptheChurchCommitteereportclassified,withCongressassertingitsrighttooverridethe president. The Church Committee report, “Alleged Assassination PlotsInvolvingForeignLeaders,”wasreleasedinNovemberof1975.Inanoteallbutlost to history, the Ford White House was able to suppress the Pike Report.Monthslater,partsofitwereleakedtotheVillageVoice,but thepublic’smindwasalreadymadeup.TheCIA,nottheWhiteHouse,wastoblame.

InundatednoteslocatedinfilesattheGeraldFordPresidentialLibrary,DickCheneyadvisedPresidentFordontheimperativetorestoretheauthorityoftheexecutivebranch.IthadbeenundulydiminishedbyCongressinthewakeoftheWatergate scandal, Cheney said, and by the congressional reports. The advicewassignificant, as it foreshadowedCheney’sownuseofpresidentialauthoritytwenty-sixyearslater,whenheservedasvicepresident.

“As vice president, Cheney would participate in Presidential Findings andMONs that dictated covert action,” says John Rizzo, the CIA’s long-servingclandestineservicelegalofficer,inaninterviewforthisbook.AsvicepresidentintheGeorgeW.BushWhiteHouse,DickCheneyservedintheinnercircleofpresidential advisors andwas “present atmost covert-actionmeetings,” Rizzoclarifies, “not something you usually saw from a vice president.” Rizzo washiredattheCIAin1976andservedsevenpresidents,includingastheCIA’stoplawyer during the “war on terror.” The remarkable construct of presidentialauthority, says Rizzo, is that the president of the United States “can listen towhomeverhewants.”

The year after the Church Committee published its report, President Ford

issuedExecutiveOrder11905,adecreetogoverncovert-actionoperations,andthisincludedaprohibitiononassassinations.“NoemployeeoftheUnitedStatesGovernmentshallengagein,orconspiretoengagein,politicalassassination,”itread. Senator Frank Church objected, stating that a presidential decree couldeasilybechangedbydecree,byanotherpresident.ThatbyhavinganexecutiveorderonassassinationandnotanewlawpassedbyCongress,thedoorwasleftwide-openfornewlibertiesininterpretationwhenamoreconservativepresidenttookthehelm.Whichisexactlywhathappenedstartingin1981whenPresidentRonaldReaganandhisadvisorsbeganexploringanewexecutiveorderallowingforpreemptiveneutralizationofpeoplewhowantedtoharmtheUnitedStates.

As Americans were reading the Church Committee report, learning about thedark underbelly of hidden-hand operations and rogue actors, one of the mostoutrageous hostage-taking events of the twentieth century unfolded halfwayacrosstheworld,inVienna,Austria.OnDecember21,1975,theOrganizationofthe Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was holding a Conference ofMinisters at its headquarters, in theTexacobuildingonDr.KarlLuegerRing,whensixindividuals,fivemenandawoman,casuallywalkeduptotheguardatthe front desk and asked to be directed to the proceedings. They lookedreasonableenough,wearingraincoatsandcarryinggymbags.Atleastoneinthegroup spoke German. But then, reaching into their bags, they pulled outsubmachinegunsandbeganshooting,killingthreepeople.

ThegunmenstormedtheOPECconferencehallandcorralledsixtypeopleashostages, including ten of the world’s eleven oil ministers, whose countriescontrolled 80 percent of theworld’s oil.Never before, and not since, have somanygovernmentofficials,fromsomanydifferentnations,beentakenhostageallatonce.

Austria’sheadofstate,ChancellorBrunoKreisky,wasoutskiingintheAlps.Whenhelearnedthenewsfromhisministers,herushedbacktoViennatodealwith this first-of-its-kind crisis. In a press conference, Kreisky said that hisgovernmentdidnotknowwho the terroristswereand that theirorganizationaldemandswere not clear.As chancellor, however, he had granted the terroristspermission to fly out of the countrywith the ten oilministers, and others, ashostages. Kreisky neglected to say that he’d negotiated the release of theAustrianhostages,inexchangeformeetingtheterrorists’demands.Inhindsightthis course of action appears absurd, but in 1975, Austria, like most othernations,wasunequippedtodealwithahostagecrisis.“Wewerepressuredinto

this decision by the fear that the hostages’ lives would be taken,” ChancellorKreisky later said. “You cannot [stamp] out terrorism by retaliation becauseterrorismhasitsownlaws.”

At 7:00 the following morning, forty-one hostages were loaded onto amunicipalbus,driven to theairport, and flown toAlgeria,NorthAfrica, inanAustrianAirlinesDC-9withavolunteercrew.Atasecondpressconference,anIraqi man acting as an intermediary said that the hostage-takers calledthemselves theArm of theArabRevolution and that their leaderwent by thenomdeguerreCarlostheJackal.HisrealnamewasIlichRamirezSanchez.Hewas a twenty-five-year-old terrorist and assassin for hire.Born into awealthyfamily inVenezuela, IlichRamirez Sanchezwas sent by hisMarxist father toMoscow to studyat thePatriceLumumbaUniversity, abreedingground for awide variety of terrorists-in-training. After getting expelled for reasonsunknown, he transformedhimself intoCarlos the Jackal, hiringhimself out toArab terrorist organizations like Black September. By the time of the OPECsiege, the Venezuelan-born terrorist had killed at least seven people and waswantedbytheBritish,French,andIsraeliintelligenceservices.

In Algiers, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez met privately with President HouariBoumediene, and an agreementwas reached. Five oilministers and thirty-onehostageswerereleased,whilefiveoilministersandtencivilianswouldbekeptashostages.TheaircraftleftAlgeria,thistimeheadedforTripoli,Libya.Here,hemetprivatelywithPresidentMuammarQaddafi,andasecretagreementwasreached.After thismeeting, IlichRamirezSanchez returned to theaircraftandinstructedthepilotstoflybacktoAlgiers,wheretheremainingfiveoilministersand tenhostageswere freed.HemetwithBoumediene a second time, flew toBaghdad, and vanished for more than a decade. It was later revealed that inLibya, he had been paid fifty million dollars in cash. Instead of sharing themoneywithhisrevolutionarycomrades,hekeptthemoneyforhimself.CarlostheJackalwouldliveoffthecashforthenexteighteenyears.

TheCIAnowhadawatchfuleyeonLibya,andonMuammarQaddafi,andalist of questions it wanted answered. Who was this man who called himselfCarlos the Jackal, and where was Arab terrorism headed next? Would non-Palestinians like Ilich Ramirez Sanchez remain committed to the Palestiniancause if thereweren’tmillionsofdollars tobemade?To learn the answers tothese questionswould require covert operations, but for now theCIA’s handsweretied.Alternativeoptionsneededtobeexplored,andtheywouldbe.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

ColonelQaddafi’sLibya

ForBillyWaugh,theyearsspentworkingfortheU.S.PostalService,1972to1977, were misery incarnate. Then came the mysterious call, on July 20,propellinghimbackintotheworldofcovert-actionoperations.

“Thelocationisoverseas,”thecallersaid.“Finebyme,”saidWaugh.IfWaughwasin,themanonthephonesaidhe’darrangeforadownpayment

tobewiredintohisbankaccount.“I’min,”saidWaugh.Moredetailswouldbeforthcoming,but in themeantime,Waughneeded to

travel tonorthernVirginiaandcheck intoaspecifichotelat3:00p.m.onJuly25,justafewdaysaway.Waughagreedtothemeetingatthehotel.

Forty-eight hours later, a large sum of money appeared in Waugh’s bankaccount.Thedownpaymentwastwiceasmuchasthepostofficepaidinayear.Theoverseasjobwasguaranteedforsixmonthsbutmightcontinueforyears,hewas told. All travel and living expenses would be paid by the client, whoseidentitywastoremainhiddenfornow.

“Bringclothestolastforayearinaverywarmclimate,”themansaid.“ThelocationisAfrica.”

Waughconsideredthesituation.“MyinstinctandintuitiontoldmethiswasaCIAoperation,”herecalls.“ThattheAgencywasformingsomekindofgroundteamforacovertoperation inAfrica. I figured thiswashow theCIAworked,nowthatcovert-actionoperationshadbeencurtailed.”

The next day at the post office, Waugh told his supervisor that he wasresigninghisposition.

“You’reagoodworker,andthepostofficeisagoodjob,”Waughrecallsthemansaying.“Whyareyouleaving?”

Waughsaidhewasn’tcutoutforpostofficework.Athome,hepackedasmallbag.Ontheassignedday,heflewtoWashington,

DC,andtookacabtothehotelinnorthernVirginia.Atthe3:00p.m.meetinghewasnotsurprisedtoseethefacesofthreeGreen

BeretsfromSOG,soldiershe’dworkedwithduringtheVietnamWar.Basedonthe skill sets of the team members, it was clear to Waugh that the job wasparamilitaryinnature.Thisfour-manteamincludedamedic,acommunicationsman, a handheld weapons instructor, and Waugh—an expert in intelligence,surveillance, reconnaissance, and heavy weapons. During the meeting, a fifthmanshowedupandidentifiedhimselfas“theclient’slawyer.”TheteamwouldbetravelingtoLibya,thelawyersaid.TheirjobwastotrainsoldierswhowerepartofColonelMuammarQaddafi’selitespecialforces.Inadditiontobeingitspresident,Qaddafiservedasthecountry’scommanderinchief.

TheformerSOGoperatorswereescortedtotheLibyanembassyandissuedtravelvisas.“Weweretoldourflightwasleavinglatethenextday,”remembersWaugh.

Backathishotelroom,Waughconsideredthefactsandhissuppositions.“Inorder to ensure plausible deniability,” he guessed, “the CIA was usingparamilitary contractors, and hiring them in a roundaboutway.” The situationpresented an excellent financial opportunity for him. Still, his intuition said,Makeafewcalls.

WaughreachedouttoseveralCIAcontactshehadinWashington.NotoneofthepeoplehespokewithhadanyknowledgeofthisLibyanoperation.Hecalledtheclient’slawyerandaskedifthemissionwasacovertoperationfortheCIA.Thelawyersaiditwasnot.“Heassuredmeitwasallaboveboardandtherewasno legal risk,” Waugh says. “That we were going to be training the Libyanspecialforcesinbasicinfantrytacticsonly.”Waughaskedtoknowthenameoftheclient.Thelawyersaidtheman’snamewasEdwinP.Wilson,andthathewasaformerCIAofficer.

Theclient’slawyersaidthatwhileenroutetoAfrica,theteamwouldstopinGeneva for a briefing. There, they’dmeet EdwinWilson himself, who’d paythem directly and give them the names of their contacts inside the Libyanmilitary.Itwasasensitivejob,thelawyersaid,whichwaswhythemoneywassogood.NoteveryoneinLibyawaspro-American,soitwasimperativethattheoperators keep their identities hidden—for example, by always wearing a

balaclava, the lawyer said—whenever they were on a military base. ColonelQaddafi’sfriendsincludedFidelCastroandIdiAmin,thepresidentofUganda.Qaddafididn’twantanyonetoknowhealsohadAmericanfriends, the lawyerexplained.

Waugh hung up and considered the situation. While he was sitting therethinking about what all this meant, the telephone rang. The caller addressedWaughbyname.Waughdid not recognize theman’s voice; nor did the calleridentifyhimself.Instead,hetoldWaughthatthetwoofthemhadmutualfriends,and hementioned two names, both of whomWaugh recognized as CIA. ThemanaskedWaughtomeethimatarestaurantinArlington,Virginia,inanhour.Itwasimportant,themansaid.Waughshouldcomerightaway.

“ThemeetingisaboutyourupcomingtravelplanstoAfrica,”thecallersaidcryptically.

At the restaurant, the man showed Billy Waugh his credentials, whichidentifiedhimasworkingfortheCIA.HesaidthathisnamewasPat.

AbouttheupcomingtriptoLibya:“It’snotanAgencyoperation,”Patsaid.Patpulledoutabriefcaseandsetitonthetablebetweenthem.Heopenedup

the case and removed a Pentax 35mm camera and several rolls of black-and-whitefilm.HeslideverythingacrossthetabletoBillyWaugh.

“PatsaidthatIcouldassisttheAgencyandmyselfbytakingphotographsofthe various military facilities I’d be visiting in Libya,” Waugh recalls. Ofparticular interest toPatwasanarea fortymiles inlandfromtheGulfofSidracalled JebelAkhdar, theGreenMountain,where therewasaclassifiedLibyanmilitaryfacility.Satellite images indicated thatsurface-to-airmissilesiteswereset up there, Pat explained, protecting the airspace around Benghazi. ThemissileswereRussian.PatsaidthattheCIAwantedphotographsofthem.

Waughconsideredwhathewasbeingtold.TherewasaloopholeintheU.S.NeutralityActs.Whileitwasillegaltoenlistinaforeignarmy,itwasnotillegalto “advise” a foreign army. That said, training a terrorist organization inexplosives and munitions was treason. Libya was not yet a designated statesponsorofterrorism,butonlybecausetheStateDepartmenthadnotyetcreateditsofficiallist.However,MuammarQaddafiwasunderthewatchfuleyeoftheCIA.TounderstandQaddafi’sactions,theCIAreliedonopensourceintelligenceand somehuman intelligence,mostly fromArab locals,whose trustworthinesswasanybody’sguess.TheCIAwantedBillyWaughtoactasitseyesandearsontheground,Pat toldWaugh. In trainingQaddafi’scommandos,he’dbepartofQaddafi’sinnercircle.Therisksweregreat,buttherewardscouldbehuge.

Patslidasmallpieceofpaperacross the table.On thepaperwaswrittenatelephonenumber.ThiswastobeWaugh’scontact,Patsaid.HegaveWaughaphrase-and-reply code, tradecraft for CIA assets in the field, and saidWaughshould use both elements of the code in the event a problem arose in Libya.Waugh was told not to mention this assignment to anyone. Not to his teammembersinLibya,andnottothemanfinancingtheoperation,EdwinP.Wilson.Finally,Patsaid,ifthephotographsweredecent,Waughwouldbecompensatedforhisefforts.

Pat asked Waugh if he understood the request, and if he accepted theassignment. Waugh said yes. Waugh was going to Libya to work for anAmerican entrepreneurwhowasdoingbusinesswithQaddafi.NooneoutsideWaugh’sAgencycontactscouldknowthathewasalsoworkingfortheCIA.

AsWaugh headed toBenghazi inAugust of 1977, Libya inhabited a peculiarspot in the geopolitical landscape. For those living in Libya, life had alreadybecome a living hell, but on the international stage, the country was stillconsidered a tinderbox waiting to catch fire. CIA analysts watched Qaddafi’severymove,anditsLibyandeskhummedwithtimelyreports.Soon,theywouldincludeLibyanmilitarysecretspassedonfromBillyWaugh.

MuammarQaddafihadseizedpowerinamilitarycoupeightyearsbefore,in1969,overthrowingthemonarchyofKingIdris.Qaddafi,thenamilitarycaptain,made himself a colonel and declared his political party, the RevolutionaryCommand Council, to be the highest authority in Libya. He immediatelyimprisoned those who’d served the previous administration, many of whomwould never be seen or heard fromagain.He triedKing Idris in absentia andsentencedhim todeath.MuchasCheGuevaraandFidelCastrohadpromisedforLatinAmerica—unityandharmonyamongagroupofpeoplewholiveinacertainregion—soQaddafipromisedabeneficentsolidarityforallArabnations.Likehisidol,EgyptianpresidentGamalAbdelNasser,Qaddafiespousedapan-Arabnationalism,therevolutionarybrand.

Within a year of assuming power, Qaddafi expelled from the country allAmerican andBritishmilitary advisors and shut down theirmilitary facilities,calling them “bases of imperialism.” The Italians, Libya’s former colonizers,faredworse.TwelvethousandItalianswerebanished,toldtoexhumethebonesof theirdeadrelativesand take themback to Italy.Theeventwas televisedonLibyan state TV. Qaddafi promised reform for the people, including thenationalizationofstateoil.

Topromoteapan-Libyanidentity,QaddaficreatedsomethingcalledtheArabSocialist Union, which fizzled. After the death of Nasser in September 1970,Qaddafi tried to assume the position of Arab unifier, but that endeavor alsofailed. He then worked to create an Arab federation with Egypt, Syria, andSudan.Theyallreceivedsizablefinancialgrants,thankstothevastwealthLibyaenjoyedthroughitsoil,andhadnochoicebuttogoalong.Butthis,too,failed.When, in 1973,Qaddafi learned of a coup being plotted against him, his griptightened.Hecreatedamilitia“toprotecttherevolution”andbeganasystematicpurge of the educated class. Death squads terrorized the population. Politicalpartieswereoutlawed.UnderthedraconianLaw75,dissentbecameillegal.Thestate took control of the press. There were no legal codes or a legal system;justicewasarbitrary.Constitutionallawwassuspendedandreplacedwithsharia—Islamiclaw.

Forhisfirstfewyearsinpower,Qaddafiwasvocalinhisdisdainforthetwosuperpowers,theUnitedStatesandRussia,referringtoeachas“aplague.”Theywere together engaged in a conspiracy to harm the thirdworld,Qaddafi said.Privately, he bought MiG fighter jets, antiaircraft guns, and heavy weaponssystems from the Soviet Union. Libya’s neighbors, most notably Egypt andSudan,grew suspicious and then alarmed.Qaddafiwasno reformer; hewas amegalomaniacal despot. Then, Egypt’s new president, Anwar Sadat, beganmakinginroadstowardanalliancewiththeUnitedStates.

Aturningpointinpublicperceptioncamein1977,whenFidelCastroarrivedinLibyaforaten-dayvisitasaguestofQaddafi.

“We are all revolutionaries,” Castro told the Libyan Congress. “Therevolution must continue!” To a standing ovation, Castro praised Qaddafi.“Comradeal-QaddafihasstruggledforthesakeofunityoftheArabworldlikenooneelsehasdone,”Castrosaid.“[His]struggleforprosperity,man’sdignity,freedomagainst exploitationbindus together.Wehighly admirewhat you aredoing.”Castro insisted that the greedy imperialists needed to be fought to thedeath,byanymeansnecessary.Therewasonlyoneway.Onepath.HeendedhisspeechwithacalltoarmsagainsttheUnitedStates:“Thecountryofdeath!”Itwas into this incendiary climate that Billy Waugh landed in Tripoli, Pentaxcamerainhand,acovert-actionoperatorfortheCIA.

AttheairportinTripoli,Waughandtheothersweremetbyamanwhowentbythe name Mohammad Fatah, likely an alias. The team was escorted throughLibyan customs, then to a hotel on the beach. In themorning, theymet with

Qaddafi’sministerofintelligence,MajorAbdullahHajazzi.HespokeinArabic,whichBillyWaughwasabletounderstandwithsomehelpfromaninterpreter:back in 1956, during U.S. Army Special Forces training, he’d been sent toMontereyforafive-monthcourseinArabic.Hewasrustynow,butsoonhe’dbealmostfluent.

Theteamsplitupintotheirareasofexpertise.WaughwastakentoBenghazi,roughly six hundred miles to the east, on the coast. It did not take long forWaugh to figure out thatEdwinP.Wilson had several teams of formerGreenBerets insideLibya, doing an assortmentof jobs.Allwere related toweaponstraining.Wilson,saidtobeaclosepersonalfriendofQaddafi,ownedaseasidevillaonthenorthshoreofLibya,nearTripoli,andranhisoperationsfromthere.

InBenghazi,BillyWaughwassetupinaroomattheOmarKhayammHotelunderthewatchfuleyeofLibyanhandlers.Eachday,awomaninablackabayasatinthehallwayoutsidehisroom,takingnotes.“Theonlythingvisiblewashereyes,”remembersWaugh.“Shewassohiddenbyablackrobe,shecouldhavebeenaman.Whoknows.”

For several months at a time,Waugh trained Libyan commandos in smallarms,heavyweapons,andexplosives.Howtoambushatarget,conducthit-and-runoperations, sabotage. “Most of the soldierswere unqualified and lazy,” herecalls.“ManyofthemwereQaddafi’sfriends,orpeopleheowedafavor.Mostofthemignoredtrainingorflat-outrefusedtobetoldwhattodo.”

Sometimestheconsequenceswerelethal.QaddafiwantedhisownversionoftheU.S.NavySEALs and assignedWaugh to lead training.During a trainingexerciseontheGulfofSidra,oneofthecommandosinaboataheadofWaughleaptoutofthecraftandintothewateranddrowned.“Hedidn’tknowhowtoswim,”recallsWaugh.“Hethoughtthescubasuitworkedlikealifepreserver”andwouldkeephimafloat. In a post-accident debriefing,Waugh learnedonlytwoofthetwenty-twocommandosknewhowtoswim.

ThingswereheatingupacrosstheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica,withColonelQaddafi playing the role of central provocateur. In the summer of 1977,Qaddafi’sforcescarriedoutatankraidontheEgyptianbordertownSallum.Inresponse, Anwar Sadat sent three EgyptianArmy divisions to its border withLibya,overpoweringtheLibyanbrigadesandpushingthemback.TheEgyptianair force attacked Libya’s Gamal Abdul El Nasser Air Base, near the border.StateDepartmentofficialsfearedQaddafiwantedtoprovokeawarwithEgypt.“LARG [Libyan Arab Republic government] anticipates military attack from

Egypt,which ithopes toexploitandcauseoverthrowofSadat,”RobertCarle,theU.S. embassy chargé d’affaires inTripoli,wrote in a classified cable. TheU.S.urgedrestraint,andtheborderwarlastedjustthreedays.

But the feudbetweenQaddafiandSadatwouldnotdissipate.TheCIAhadintelligence indicating thatQaddafiwasplotting tohaveSadat assassinated. InNovember 1977, the Pentagon provided Sadat with an armored helicopter, aSikorskyCH-53E.TheWhiteHousesentaU.S.SecretService teamtoCairo;theytaughtevasivedrivingtechniquestoSadat’sbodyguards.TheCIAsetupasecure communication system in the palace so that the president’s movescouldn’t be anticipated. Anwar Sadat was America’s best hope for an ArabpartnerintheMiddleEast,andheneededtostayalive.

InNovember1977,Sadatstunnedtheworldbyannouncinghis intention tovisit Jerusalem and speak before theKnesset, Israel’s national legislature. Forthe first time in threedecades, anArabnationwas acknowledging thenation-stateofIsrael.Sadat’sgroundbreakingthree-dayvisittothecountrywasafirststep inwhatwouldbecome theCampDavidAccords,but themove infuriatedArableaders.QaddaficalledforSadat’sdeath.NoonewasmoreoutragedthananIslamicextremistgroup insideEgyptcalled theMuslimBrotherhood.They,too,beganplottingtoassassinatePresidentAnwarSadat.

It was in this extraordinarily volatile environment that BillyWaugh operatedover thenext twoyears, reporting toQaddafi’sminister of intelligence,MajorAbdullahHajazzi, and developing a closeworking relationshipwith a Libyanspecial forces captainwhowent by the nameMohammad al Faraj binAgeby.Taking photographs without drawing suspicion was difficult at first, but overtimeWaughbecameatrustedpresence.

“I discovered that the commandos loved having their picture taken, and Itook advantage of this,” he says. He began taking photographs of extremelysensitivemilitarysites.FlyinginahelicoptertothemilitaryfacilityattheGreenMountain, he photographed surface-to-air-missile sites set up in a ring aroundBenghazi.TheCIAhad longsuspected thatQaddafiwasgetting thesedefensemissilesystemsfromtheSovietUnion.Waugh’sphotographsprovidedproof.

Asoneof thefavored trainersofQaddafi’sspecial forces,Waughwasnowthe highest-placed CIA paramilitary asset in Libya, with direct access toQaddafi’smostsensitivemilitaryfacilities.Ononeoccasion,hewas invited toattenda small air-powerdemonstrationwithQaddafi andaguestofhonor, IdiAmin.Duringtheevent,WaughphotographedRussianairplanesthattheSoviets

weresupplyingtoLibya.Everyactionnowhadadualpurpose.While trainingQaddafi’s commandos how to HALO-jump out of aircraft over the desert,WaughmappedregionspreviouslyunchartedbyU.S.intelligenceagencies.

The information thatWaugh provided to hisCIA handlerwas sensitive, aswell asdangerous tohisown livelihood, alwaysmarked“TS/SCI [TopSecret,SecretCompartmentedInformation]NOFORN[noforeigners]NOCONTRACT[no contractors] ORCON [original source controlled]”—to keepWaugh, as asource,compartmentalized.WhatBillyWaughdidnotknowatthetimewasthatin addition to gathering intelligence for the CIA on Qaddafi, he was alsogatheringintelligencefortheCIAonEdwinP.Wilson.TheU.S.DepartmentofJustice (DOJ)and theCIAwerebuildingacaseagainstWilson,who, theDOJbelieved,was illegally selling heavyweapons and high-powered explosives toLibya.

Every fewmonths,Waughwould travel back toWashington,DC, file reports,turninhisfilm,thenreturntoLibyawithhisPentaxcameraandanewsupplyof35mmfilm.Inthespringof1979,hearrivedinBenghaziandreceivedunusualnews.HisLibyan counterpart,Mohammad alFaraj binAgeby, said theyweregoing to drive six hours into the desert to meet with Ageby’s boss, ColonelFatah.

“In a countrywhere the presidentwas a colonel, being a colonelwas big-time,” remembersWaugh. “Thiswasnot an inconsequential event, and it tookmebysurprise.”Withoutfurtherexplanation,WaughwasdriventoTobruk,notfar from the border with Egypt. There, he was brought tomeet with ColonelFatah.

“Wenoticeyouaregoodwithacamera,”WaughrecallsColonelFatahtellinghim. The comment sent a chill up his spine. Had he been discovered? DidLibyanintelligenceknowhewasworkingfortheCIA?

“We’dlikeyoutocrossoverintoEgyptandtakephotographsoftheEgyptianarmed forces setup there,”ColonelFatah said.From the toneof thecolonel’svoice, it sounded like an offerWaugh was not supposed to refuse. His mindworkedquickly,thinkingthroughascenario.Hetoldthecolonelthatheflat-outcouldn’tdothat.

“Whynot?”thecolonelasked.“If the U.S. found out about it, I’d be charged with spying for a foreign

country,”Waughsaid.Treason.Colonel Fatah toldWaughhe didn’t see the logic.Waugh tried explaining,

but Colonel Fatah wasn’t interested. After that, Waugh says, he felt hisrelationshipwiththeLibyancommandstructurecool.

Forawhile,hewasassignedtoaremotemilitarybaseonthenortheastcoast,atDarnah; then hewas sent back to the facility outsideBenghazi.Across theArabworld, thingsweregettingworse forAmericanworkers.OnbaseWaughmostlyworehisbalaclava,butalotofthetimeitwasoff.Hewastanfromtheintense sunshine, but everyone knew he was the American with sandy-blondhair.InNovember,agroupofstudentsstormedtheU.S.embassyinTehranandtookmorethansixtyAmericanhostages.HostilitiestowardAmericansescalatedfromthere.OnDecember2,WaughreceivedacallfromMohammadalFarajbinAgeby. Something was happening, Ageby said. Qaddafi was furious with theAmericans and Waugh needed to leave the country immediately or he’d bearrested.

In Saudi Arabia, local Sunni terrorists had seized the Grand Mosque inMecca.They’dtakenhundredsofworshippershostageandlaidsiegetoIslam’sholiest site. As fierce gun battles raged inside the mosque, Iran’s AyatollahKhomeini took advantage of the chaos and unleashed a black propagandacampaignagainstIsraelandAmerica.Therealculpritsbehindthemosquesiege,Khomeini declared, were the Zionists and the Great Satanists of the UnitedStates.ThesiegewasinfactledbyagroupofIslamicfundamentalistscalledal-Ikhwan, theBrethren, but Iran’s supreme leaderwas pushing a fictional story,thatIsraeliandAmericancommandoshadparachutedintothemosquedisguisedas Muslims and committed the attack against Islam. Khomeini encouragedrevolutionaries to go out and attack U.S. embassies in the Middle East andAfricaasaresponse.Hisfollowersobeyed,andtheU.S.embassyinTripoliwasnowundersiege.

Waugh caught a taxi and headed to the airport, leaving everything behind,includingtheclothesinhishotelroomandthemoneyinitssafe.Onatelevisionin the airport, state TV showed footage of a violent mob outside the U.S.embassyinTripolichanting,“DeathtoAmerica!”Demonstratingsolidaritywiththe IranianRevolution, some two thousandLibyans had attacked the embassyand set it on fire.TwelveAmericanswere trapped inside, locked in awalk-invault.Waughcaughta flight toFrankfurt.By the timehe landed, theembassysiegewasoverandAmericanofficialsweresayingthateveryonehad“escapedwithoutharm.”Itwouldbethirty-twoyearsbeforeWaughreturnedtoLibyafortheCIA, inOctober 2011, in the days immediately beforeQaddafiwas killedanddisfiguredbyaviolentmob.

In December 1979, U.S. dealings with Qaddafi were far from over. On thetwenty-ninth, theU.S.StateDepartmentcreated its firstofficialStateSponsorsof Terrorism list, with four countries, including Iran and Libya. Qaddafirespondedwithoneofthemostbizarreinternationalassassinationcampaignsinmodern history. He publicly announced a state-sponsored targeted killingprogram,whichheofficiallycalledPhysicalLiquidationoftheStrayDogs.

Qaddafi said that his targeted killing program extended to any Libyandissidentwhospokeoutagainsthisgovernment.Inafieryspeechbroadcastonstate radio, he called for “the physical liquidation of the enemies of therevolution abroad.” While it sounded like bluster, it was not. Over the nextseveral months, four anti-Qaddafi Libyan émigrés were assassinated:MohammadMustafaRamadanandMahmoudAbuSalemNafainLondon,andAbdulArefGhalilandMohammadSalemRtemiinRome.

Comespring,theU.S.StateDepartmentorderedtheexpulsionoffourLibyandiplomats in Washington whom President Carter described as “would-beassassins.” On May 1, 1980, the Financial Times reported that policedepartmentsintheUnitedStates,Britain,France,Italy,andWestGermanyhadbeen alerted by Interpol to guard against a possiblewave of assassinations byQaddafi’shitteams.Qaddafiissueda“finalwarning”toantigovernmentLibyanexiles living abroad. “This is their last hope,” he said. “Either they return toLibyawheretheywouldbesafeandsoundortheywillbeliquidatedwherevertheyare.”

When aLibyan émigré living in FortCollins,Colorado, ignoredQaddafi’sthreats,QaddafisentoneofhisassassinstoColorado.TheassassinwasaformerGreenBeretnamedEugeneTafoya.

Itwas7:30on thenightofOctober14,1980,andaFortCollinspoliceofficernamedRayMartinezansweredacallonhisradio.TherewasawomannamedFaridaZagallaion theotherend.Shewashysterical.Herhusband,Faisal,hadbeenshotintheheadandwaslyingontheflooroftheirapartmentinapoolofblood, she said.OfficerMartinez needed to come over to 1917 South ShieldsStreetrightaway.

OfficerMartinezrecognizedthename.Sixmonthsearlier,FaisalZagallai,aLibyan graduate student, had applied for and received a permit to carry aconcealedweapon, a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Zagallai’s reason for needingtheweaponwasunheard-of,certainlyforacitylikeFortCollins:heclaimedtobe on a hit list of people Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya intended to

assassinateaspartofhisPhysicalLiquidationoftheStrayDogscampaign.Backthen,itsoundeddownrightfictional.

OfficerMartinezhurriedover to theapartmentand rushed inside.Thereonthe floor, he foundFaisalZagallai lying in a pool of blood, twobullets in hishead.Thefirst.22-caliberbulletenteredtheeyesocket,severedtheopticnerve,andlodgedinFaisalZagallai’smouth.Thesecondbulletshearedoffpartofhisearbeforeenteringhisheadthroughthecheek.Thefurnitureinthelivingroomwas knocked over; clearly there had been a struggle. There was bloodeverywhere,on thecarpet and thewalls.Therewerebloodyhandprintson thedoorframe.Theassassin,itseemed,hadvanished.

Officer Martinez interviewed two witnesses from the apartment building.Onehelpedasketchartistdrawacompositeofthesuspect.Thesecondwitnessdescribedamanwithapockmarkedfaceandaclip-onnecktiewhowascarryingasilver-and-bluehandgun.DetectivesdrovetotheDenverairportandcirculatedthesuspectsketch.AshuttlebusdriversaidherecognizedthemanandgavetheFBIafewmoreclues.Afterafewdays,therewasaremarkablelead.TheFBIreceived news of an English-language broadcast from a Libyan revolutionarygroupthatwastakingcreditforwhatitcalled“aphysicalliquidation.”Thiswaspart of “the final stage in the revolutionary conflict” between Libya and theimperialistUnitedStates,thegroupsaid.“AmemberoftheWorldRevolutionaryCommittee [has] liquidated one Faisal Zagallai.” It looked like Libyan leaderMuammar Qaddafi was behind this assassination attempt—that his reach hadextendedintotheUnitedStates.

Despitehavingbeenshottwiceinthehead,atcloserange,Zagallaiwasstillalive.He’dbeenblindedinhisrighteye,butlivedtotellthetale.FaridaZagallaihadalreadytoldtheFBIeverythingsheknewandcouldremember.Thecouplehad been out ofwork, she said,when they received an unsolicited phone callfrom awomanwho identified herself as a recruiter for an insurance companylookingforpeoplewhospokeArabic.FaridaZagallaisaidthejobinterestedher.Theinsurancecompanyarrangedtosendsomeonetothehouseforaninterview;it turned out to be the assassin. Themanwas strange and had alcohol on hisbreath,FaridaZagallai told theFBI.Shewent into thekitchentomakedrinks,andwhenshecameout,theassassinandherhusbandwereengagedinhand-to-handcombat.

“He began strikingme in rapid-fire karate blows,” Faisal Zagallai told theFBI from his hospital bed. Faisal remembered raising his arms up to protecthimselfwhentheassassinreachedforhisgun.Faisalreachedforhisowngun,

whichhesaidhekepthiddenunderthecouchcushions.Theassassin’sgunwentoff.“IfeltIwasshotinmyheadandIfeltblood,butIkeptstrugglingwithhimsoIcould takehisgun,”Zagallai testified.“Westruggledfromoneendof theapartmenttotheother.”

TheFBItookover,butthecasewentcold.Then,ascircumstancewouldhaveit,months later, two local boysonbicycles happenedupon a .22-caliber blue-and-silver handgun lying in a ditch along a country road. The FBI traced theweapontoaretireddogwardenlivinginatrailerparkintheFloridaKeys.Theman,namedTullyStrong,saidhe’dsoldtheguntoanoldfriendfromVietnamnamed Eugene Tafoya, a former Green Beret who’d been decorated with theBronzeStarforheroism.

TheFBI learned thatTafoya lived inTruthorConsequences,NewMexico.Withabombsquadattheready,theysecuredtheperimeter,andinarusetolureTafoyafromthehomewithoutastruggle,theycutthepowertohishouse.WhenTafoya came out, they arrested him. Inside, the FBI located a trove ofincriminatingevidence:drawingsoftheZagallais’apartmentcomplex,astackofLibyan currency, and a tape recording of a phone conversation from someoneoffering to payTafoya to take care of “someonewho should quit breathing…permanently.”

TheFBIarrestedEugeneTafoya.TafoyasaidthemantoblamewasEdwinP.Wilson,anAmericanCIAagentlivinginaseasidevillainTripoli,Libya.TafoyasaidhisintentionwastoroughupFaisalZagallai,notkillhim.TafoyatoldtheFBIhebelievedhewasworkingfortheCIA.

After a sensational jury trial,EugeneTafoyawas convictedof third-degreeassaultandconspiracy tocommit third-degreeassaultbutwasacquittedon themoreseriouschargesofattemptedfirst-degreemurderandconspiracytocommitfirst-degreemurder.Thejurors’verdictindicatedthattheybelievedthatTafoyawas in fact acting on someone else’s behalf, despite the fact that no evidenceaboutthethirdpartywasintroducedduringthetrial.

“Obviously we felt there was another party,” the jury foreman, GaryThornberg,toldtheNewYorkTimes.“Butitdidn’tmatterforourpurposeswhothat[thirdparty]was.”EugeneTafoyawassentencedtotwoyearsinprison.

Dependingonwhomyouask,theFBIandtheCIAhadbeenbuildingacaseagainst Edwin P. Wilson for years. In 1982 Wilson was arrested, tried, andconvictedofillegallysellingweaponstoLibya.Thisincluded42,000poundsofmilitary-grade C-4 explosives, which rivaled the U.S. military’s domesticstockpile at the time. Wilson had them manufactured in Southern California.

Edwin Wilson was sentenced to fifty-two years in federal prison. He servedtwenty-twoyears,muchofitinsolitaryconfinement.Then,in2004,inabizarretwist,aTexasjudgeoverturnedWilson’sconvictionandhewassetfree.

His lawyers had gathered enough evidence to demonstrate to a judge thathe’d been “informally” working for the CIA at the time of his arrest. ThelawyersproducedeightyinstancesofcontactbetweenWilsonandtheCIA.Inalegal briefing, Judge Lynn Hughes wrote that the U.S. government had“deliberatelydeceivedthecourt”aboutEdwinWilson’scontinuingcontactswithCIAofficials,thereby“double-crossingapart-timeinformalgovernmentagent.”Decadeslater,itcametolightthatWilsonhadinitiallygonetoLibyaonbehalfof theCIA, in 1976, to locateCarlos the Jackal.He’d gone rogue, eventuallyworkingfortheCIAandalsoforQaddafi.ThiswasafterLibyahadbeenplacedon the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. “They framed a guilty man,” saidjournalistDavidCorn.

The Eugene Tafoya trial gave Green Berets a bad name. Reports of otherSpecial Forces operators working as assassins for Muammar Qaddafi werepublishedinnewspapersaroundthecountry.Nooneelsewasevercharged.BillyWaughknewthathisclassifiedworkfortheCIAagainstMuammarQaddafiandmilitarytargetsinLibyawastoremainhidden.Itwasbestforhimtolaylow.Hewas given an assignment on the other side of the world, 7,000 miles fromWashington, DC, on an atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean calledKwajalein. His cover was as chief of security at the U.S. Kwajalein MissileRange.

In the Marshall Islands, the Defense Department was testing a highlyclassifiedmissilesystemoutfittedwithaten-nuclear-warheadpayload,calledaMIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle).TheSovietswantedone. Waugh was tasked with training and overseeing one hundred militarysecurityofficerswhowere in chargeof surveillanceof the twenty-five islandsandatollsnearandaroundKwajalein.

Themissileswere launchedfromVandenbergAirForceBase inCalifornia.Theywereprogrammedtohitatargetfivethousandmilesaway,sometimesjusta buoy on the ocean near Kwajalein. Ever on the prowl, Soviet submarineswould quickly surface themoment theMIRV became visible on reentry, thendispatch a small Zodiac boat loaded with Russian amphibious special forcescalledSpetsnazDelfin.IftheRussiansweretocaptureapieceofamissileoraMIRVitwouldbeacounterintelligencecoupd’état.Dayinanddayout,floatingontheopenseainhisownZodiac,BillyWaughscannedthehorizonforasign

ofSovietinfiltration.WhenhespottedoneoftheirZodiacs,he’dchargetowardit,readytograbaSovietoperatorandbringhiminforinterrogation.

“InevergotaRussian,buttheRussiansnevergotaMIRV,”saysWaugh.

PARTIII

1981

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Reagan’sPreemptiveNeutralization

On the morning of January 28, 1981, a CIA motorcade pulled up to theJefferson Hotel in Washington, DC, to collect a passenger code-named theBaron.Theman’srealnamewasWilliamJ.Casey,andhewasthenewdirectorof theCIA.Age sixty-seven, thiswas theBillCaseywhoused to runSpecialOperationsbehindenemylinesfortheOSS,themanwhofoundaloopholethatallowed General Eisenhower to sign off on a plot to kill Hitler using Naziswho’d been turned.With his signature thick-lensed glasses, jowled chin, andexpensive but wrinkled suit, Bill Casey climbed into the backseat of anOldsmobile outfitted with anti-mine plating and bulletproof windows thatcouldn’tberolleddown.ThechasecarbehindCaseycarriedfoursecurityagentswith Uzis. In the advance car, a paramilitary operator sat shotgun, a .357Magnumonhishipandasubmachinegunonhislap.

The convoy drove to CIA headquarters in Langley, twelve miles away,breezingpastsecurity,aroundtheboulderbarriers,andthroughagroveofpinetrees.TheCIA’scampuswasbeautiful,itsslopingterraindottedwithwhiteandgray buildings that had an air of grandeur.After a short drive, themotorcadepulledup to the entranceof theheadquarters building andBillCasey climbedout,surroundedbyhisentourage.Heintendedtoarrivethisway,andtoconveyamessage:thepoweroftheCIAwassoontoberestored.Therewasanewsheriffintownandhewasit.

BillCaseymadehisway through themarble foyer, past theCIAmemorialwall, up a short set of stairs, and into the key-operated elevator reserved forSeniorIntelligenceServicestaff.Heexitedontheseventhfloorandwalkedintothe director’s conference room tomeet with his team. “Casey then told these

people what they needed and wanted to hear most,” explains his biographer,JosephPersico,“thattheindictmentmadeagainstthemduringtheseventieswasa bum rap.” CIA officers and operators simply carry out the wishes of theAmericanpresidentstheyserve.

TheCIABillCaseytookoverin1981hadbeendecimatedbytheFordandCarteradministrations,aperiodstaffhistoriansrefertoastheTimeofTroubles.UnderFord,thereweretheChurchandPikeCommitteehearings.UnderCarter,directorStansfieldTurnereliminated820clandestinepositions,guttinganalysisandspecialoperationscapabilities.“With thepeople fired,drivenout,or luredinto retirement, our analysiswasn’t at all sharp, forward-looking,or relevant,”recalls Robert Gates, Turner’s young executive assistant, who would becomedirector of Central Intelligence in 1991. “Our paramilitary capability wasclinically dead,” Gates said. Now, Bill Casey was about to change all that,startingwitharobustrebuildingofcovertoperations.

BillCaseyworked from three ideas.Theworldwasadangerousplace; theSovietswereresponsibleformostof thedanger; theCIAmustneverbeweak.The director of Central Intelligence, the president, and his inner circle ofadvisorsneededtoplanandoverseeforeignpolicy—toincludecovertaction—as a team. “Khrushchev told us in 1961 that the communists would not winthroughnuclearwar,”Caseytoldhisstaff.“ButthroughnationalliberationwarsinAfrica,Asia,andLatinAmerica.”Todothis,thecommunistsaswellasroguestates like Libya and Iran were financing proxy armies to bring about thedownfall of the United States—it was why the world was so wrought withviolence. “Not exactly new in history,” said Casey, citing how the ancientRomansusedmenfromconqueredcountriestofighttheirenemiesabroad.ButthebiggestemergingthreattheCIAneededtoconfront,Caseywarned,wasthatthese countries “also operate camps for training terrorists and insurgents to besentaroundtheworldtopracticeandfomentrevolutionaryviolence.”In1981,thesewereprescientwords.

With the intention of fighting firewith fire,Casey asked five top deputiesfromtheclandestineservicetoprovidehimwith“aclear-cutarticulationoftheAgency’sparamilitaryrole,howitrelatestoDeltaForce[and]GreenBerets,andexactlywhatisneededtomaketheAgencycapableofplayingthatrole”again.HewantedtheCIAtoreassertitselfinhidden-handoperationsaroundtheworld,startingwitha“statementofclandestineparamilitarydoctrine.”“It’scalledforatthis point,”Casey said, “because somany people [at theCIA] have forgottenwhereandhowaclandestineparamilitarycapabilitycanbeimportant.”

Theproblem for hidden-handoperationswas aCongress thatwanted themcurtailed. After Bill Casey finished reading the 130-page paper on ChurchCommissionguidelinesforcovertoperations,hethrewitonthetable.“Thiskindofcrapissmotheringus,”heshoutedathisstaff.“I’mthrowingthisthingout.Youpracticallyhavetotakealawyerwithyouonamission.”Covertactionwasmeanttoserveasthepresident’shiddenhand,notthetowncrier.Assassinationas a threat toU.S. national security did not changewith theChurch and PikeCommissions’investigationsintotheconcept,Caseymaintained.

The way to reaffirm presidential authority was to create a new committeeinside the executive branch to plan and oversee covert operations. WhereEisenhowerhad theSpecialGroup and Johnson the303Committee,PresidentRonald Reagan’s inner circle of advisors was called the National SecurityPlanningGroup(NSPG).ItmetattheWhiteHouse,sometimesweekly.Casey,oneofitsninemembers,wantedcloserfull-timeproximitythanLangleytothepresidentandtheNSPG.SohearrangedtokeepasecondofficenextdoortotheWhiteHouse,intheExecutiveOfficeBuilding.Itwashere,onthemorningofMarch30,thathesatreadingfromatallpileofpaperswhenacallfromtheCIAoperationscentercamein,upendinghisworld.

TheworstpossiblecodedmessageintherepertoireoftheU.S.SecretServicehadjustsoundedacrosstheWhiteHousecommunicationssystem.

“AOP! AOP!” AOP is the acronym for attack on principal; principal isanotherwordforpresident.RonaldReaganhadbeenshotbyanassassinoutsidetheWashingtonHiltonHotel.CaseyneededtogetovertotheWestWingoftheWhiteHouse.

WhenthedirectorofCentralIntelligencefinallyarrivedattheWhiteHouseSituationRoom, one question consumed everyone present:Was the assassin aterroristwithtiestotheSovietUnion,Libya,orIran?BillCaseyhadnoidea.

Ronald Reagan was coming out of the Washington Hilton Hotel when anassassin fired six .22-caliber bullets in his and his security team’s direction inless than two seconds. The first bullet hitWhiteHouse press secretary JamesBrady in the head, paralyzing him. The second bullet hit DC police officerThomas Delahanty in the neck, near the brain stem. The third bullet, aimeddirectlyatthepresident,misseditstargetandtraveledacrossthestreet,whereithitawindow.U.S.SecretServicespecialagentTimMcCarthy took the fourthbulletintheabdomenasheshieldedthepresident.Thefifthbullethitthearmor-platedlimousine.Thesixthbulletricochetedoffthearmoredsideofthevehicle

andhitthepresidentintheleftunderarm,enteredhisbody,grazedhisupperrib,penetratedintothelung,andstopped2.52centimetersfromhisheart.

SecretService agents JerryParr andRayShaddickpushedReagan into thelimousine,whichspedofftowardGeorgeWashingtonUniversityHospital.Thepresidentwasingreatpainbutdidn’tyetrealizehe’dbeenshot.HethoughtthatParrbrokehisribpushinghimintothelimousine.AsParrcheckedforgunshotwounds, Reagan coughed. Out of his mouth came bright red blood, whichfrothed. Four minutes later, they pulled into the hospital. With no stretcheravailable,PresidentReaganinsistedonwalkingonhisownpower.Allthewhile,themilitaryattachécarryingthenation’snuclearfootballremainedathisside.Inthe lobby,Reagangrewshortofbreath.His left legbuckledandhefell tooneknee.

Forreasonsofnationalsecurity,theincidentwasbeingreportedasnon-life-threatening,wheninfactPresidentRonaldReaganwasperilouslyclosetodeath.Ingrained in thepsycheof everyperson in thenational-security apparatus is afundamental: the center of power must never go down. An incapacitatedpresident gives the enemy a dangerouswindow of opportunity to strike.Howthatcanhappenisexemplifiedinwhatoccurrednext.

Oncethepresidentwasinsidetheemergencyroom,thehospitalstaffbegancuttingoffhissuit.TheFBIconfiscatedeverythinginthepockets,includinghiswallet,insideofwhichweretheGoldCodes:thegamma-classifiedlaunchcodesfor a nuclear weapons attack, printed on a business-sized card. The FBI tooktheseitemsbacktoheadquarters.Forthenextforty-eighthourstheFBI,notthecommander inchief,had theGoldCodes.U.S.nuclearweaponsdoctrine restsupontheconceptofmutualassureddestruction,theideathatnonuclear-armednation would be crazy enough to launch a nuclear attack against the UnitedStates because the president would launch a retaliatory attack, therebyannihilating everyone on both sides.But for forty-eight hours inMarch 1981,thislaunch-codeauthoritywasinlimbo.

Thepresidentwasphysically in shock.His systolicbloodpressurewas60,downfromthenormal140.Emergencyroomdoctorsadministered intravenousfluids, oxygen, and tetanus toxoids. When his vitals finally stabilized, thepresidentwaswheeledintosurgery,wherehewouldspendthenext105minutesundergoingathoracotomy,aproceduretoopenthechestcavitytogainaccesstotheheartandlungsandthenremovethebullet.

HehadbeeninsurgeryforalmostanhourwhentheFBIsharedwithhospitaladministratorsahorrifyingdiscovery.Whilesearchingtheassassin’shotelroom,

agentswiththeBureauofAlcohol,TobaccoandFirearmsfoundaboxofbulletscalledDevastators,whosehollow-point tipwasreengineeredwitha flammablepowder charge to explode on impact. TheDevastator bullets in the assassin’sRöhmrevolverfailedtoexplodewhentheyhitthepresident,buttherewasstillachance they could, during surgery—threatening more lives in the operatingroom.Thedoctorsandnurseschosetocontinueandthesurgerywasasuccess.

U.S.SecretServicespecialagentLewMerlettiwasinNewYorkCitywhentheassassinstruck.He’dbeenassigned to thefieldoffice therewhenheheard thenews.“Wewerealljuststunned,”heremembers.“Thattheshooterwasabletoget off six shots in [roughly] two seconds.… The Secret Service was like,whoa.”TheassassinwasadelusionallonernamedJohnHinckleyJr.,astray-dogor lone-wolf killer: someonewhowas violent and dangerous but acted alone,without backup or support, or formal training. That a singleton like Hinckleycouldunleashthiskindoflethalitymadeclearwhattheconsequencescouldbein the event of an orchestrated attack by a Black September–type terroristorganization.ThegeneralfeelingattheSecretService,saysMerletti,was,“Weneedtorethinkourprotectionphilosophy.”

BeforetheReaganassassinationattempt,agentsassignedtothePresidentialProtectiveDivision(PPD)focusedonshieldingthepresidentfromanattackorathreat.Whiletraveling,thepresidentrodeinasedanaccompaniedbyfiveorsixspecial agents carrying submachine guns, hidden in briefcases. TheAmericanpublic got its first glimpse of these weapons after Reagan was shot andphotographs of special agent Robert Wanko waving an Uzi submachine gunoutsidetheHiltonwerepublishedinnewspapersaroundtheworld.ThereactiononthepartoftheSecretServiceagentshadbeenjustasprotocoldictatedatthetime.“SecretServiceagentsare trained tostep into the lineof fire.Coverandevacuate,”saysMerletti.“You’recoveringthepresidentwithfleshandboneandevacuatinghim.”Inthechaosanduncertainty,thefail-safewasthesoleactionofspecial agent TimMcCarthy, who threw himself in front of the president, asClintHilldidwithMrs.Kennedyin1963.“TimMcCarthyreallystuckhimselfright in the lineof fire and took thatbullet thatwouldhavehitReagan,” saysMerletti.Theeventwasacautionary taleandwould transform theU.S.SecretService.

Intheaftermath,theSecretServicebegantorefocusandrebuild,toshiftitsmind-set fromdefense tooffense.“Itbecameallabout theasymmetric threat,”saysMerlettiofhowtheU.S.SecretServicewouldmetamorphose.“Andthese

werelessonslearnedinVietnam.”AcovertparamilitaryunitcalledtheCounterAssaultTeam(CAT)wouldnow

shadowthepresident twenty-fourhoursaday,sevendaysaweek.“Theyhavenothingtodowithcoverandevacuate,”MerlettisaysoftheCATteam.“They’renotsteppingintothelineoffire.Theirjobisshooting.Theyareshooters.”CATmembers would be unconventional-warfare experts, capable of repelling acoordinatedmulti-shooter attackwith crippling aggression, determination, andspeed.ThenewphilosophywasnotsimplytodefendagainstanassassinbuttohaveaguerrillawarfarecorpsoftheSecretServicealwaysthere,anticipatinganattack,asifthepresidentwereforeverinahostileenvironment.Asiftheywereallbehindenemylines.

WhenReaganwasshot,therewereroughlyfivepart-timeCATteamsalreadyin existence, units that worked with the PPD during high-profile presidentialevents. “Following the assassination attempt on Reagan,” says Merletti, “theSecret Service decided periodic coverage by aCounterAssault Teamwas notenough.”AllexistingCATmembersweretransferredtoWashington,DC,tobewith the president and vice president every day, all the time. Because LewMerlettihadservedasaGreenBeretincombat,he’dalreadybeenselectedasamemberofCATbythetimeReaganwasshot.Eachteammemberwasassignedanumber,startingwith001,andbecauseMerlettiwastheseventhmemberoftheCounterAssaultTeam,hisCATnumberwas007.OthermembersjokedthathewaslikeJamesBond.

Team members were individually selected from the ranks of the SecretService, identified for high levels of motivation, physical strength, and aparamilitary mind-set. They would go through seven weeks of training inirregular-warfaretactics:close-quarterscombat,counterambush,counterassault.“We trained with Delta Force, British SAS, Navy SEALs,” recalls Merletti.“Whenitcametoshooting,wewererighttherewiththemall,standingshouldertoshoulder.”AttheirclassifiedtrainingfacilityinBeltsville,Maryland,CounterAssault Teammembers shot close to a thousand rounds a month just to staysharp.

NowtransferredtoWashington,DC,LewMerlettiexcelled.“On[CAT],youhavetothinkthatanambushcouldhappenatanymoment,”hesays.“Becauseofwhat I experienced inVietnam, I couldbring that [concept] toprotection. Ialways did. We used to say we were ‘on a war footing.’” Agents werehypervigilant,neverallowingtheirmindstowander,neverdaydreamingaboutaball game or a beer. The concept of speed, surprise, and violence of action

undergirded every move. If Merletti ever experienced a particularly roughchallenge,something that threatened toderailhis focus,asingle thoughtcouldmakeeverythingclearforhim.“I’dthinktomyself,hey—MikeKuropasdoesn’thave this problem today.” Honoring his brothers killed in the service of thenationpropelledhimforward.

ForLewMerletti, theassassinationattemptagainstPresidentReaganwasatransformative,life-changingevent.Hewouldgofromanouter-ringmemberoftheU.S.SecretServiceassigned toa remote fieldoffice, toservingasanelitemember of the Counter Assault Team. “The president’s personal detail is theinnerperimeter,”Merlettiexplains.“OntheCounterAssaultTeamwewerelikethemiddleperimeter.Meaningrealclose,butnotrightontopofhim.”Withthenewphilosophyfirmlyinplace,wereanyonetofireashotinthevicinityofthepresident, “we would shoot out a wall of steel between the president andwhoeverwasdoingtheshooting,”Merlettiexplains.Inthisprotectivecapacity,Lew Merletti excelled. After a little over two years, he was transferred toPresidentReagan’sdetail.Hewasintheinnerringnow.

ThattheassassinJohnHinckleywasmentallyill,andnotanagentofaforeigngovernment, didnotmean that assassination threats from foreigngovernmentsdidnot exist.BillCasey, a practicingCatholic,wasparticularlyworried aboutthepope.“JohnPaul[is]averycontroversialfigure,andafanaticcouldtryandkill him,” he told colleagues.Moscow’s fear of the Polish pope’s power as areligious figure was of particular concern to Casey. The pope wielded greatinfluenceamongCatholicsinhishomeland,andtheKremlinrightlyworriedthatthis sway could have a domino effect across the entire Eastern bloc—that itcouldleadtothecollapseofcommunism.

“Itold[thepope]wehadnohardevidence[that]hewasindanger,”Caseysaid.Still,heaskedofficerswith theTechnicalServicesDivisiontosharewiththe Vatican their designs for a specially fitted flak jacket that the pope couldwearunderhiswhitesilkcassock.But thepopeopposedtheideaofwearingabulletproofvest.Itwentagainsteverythinghispapacystoodfor,hesaid.Forthisreason,thepopewasnotwearingaflakjacketontheafternoonofMay13,1981,whenshotsrangoutinSt.Peter’sSquare.

Itwas 5:18, and the pope had just kissed a little girl andwas handing herback to her mother when an assassin’s bullet struck him in his stomach,penetratinghissmallintestine.Bloodspurtedoutofthebullethole,causinghiswhitecassocktobecomestainedwithbrightredblood.Ashebegantocollapse,

asecondbulletstruckhisrighthand,andthenathirdbullettoreintohisarm.AnaidflunghimselfoverJohnPaul,shieldingthepopewithhisownbody.

“Drive!”shoutedoneofthepapalbodyguards.“Thepopehasbeenshot!”wailedsomeoneinthecrowd.WithfartoomanypeopleinSt.Peter’sSquare,thepopemobile,aFiat,could

notgoanyfasterthantwomilesperhour.Afterseveralagonizingminutes, theFiatfinallyarrivedatanambulancethathadbeenpositionedinadvanceneartheVaticanbasilica’sbronzedoors.Onceinsidethevehicle,thepopebeganprayingaloud, calling out, “Mary, my mother.Mary, my mother!” After six hours ofsurgeryheemergedalive.

Duringmonthsofrecovery,thepopebecamepreoccupiedwithtryingtofindout who had ordered his assassination. The man who shot him, a Turkishnational named Mehmet Agca, fingered a second man, Sergei Antonov, themanager of a Bulgarian airline in Rome, suggesting a conspiracy. Bulgaria’ssecretservicesmaintainedclosetieswiththeKGB.ItwasunderstoodattheCIAthatwhenMoscowneeded a “wetop,” a euphemism for assassinationderivedfromtheKGB’sdirectorateofliquidaffairs,itturnedtoBulgarianorRomaniansecurityservices.In1981,thetheorybeingdevelopedbyanalystsontheCIA’sRussia desk was that the Bulgarian intelligence service had hired Agca toassassinatethepopeonbehalfoftheKremlin—anattempttosubvertthepope’sinfluenceinWarsawandbeyond.

TheriftbetweentheVaticanandtheSovietUnionwidened.Forthefirsttimesince the 1950s, Russian state-run news media attacked the pope publiclythrough its press agency, TASS. But it would be twenty-five years before anItalian parliamentary investigation, the Mitrokhin commission, concluded“beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Soviet Union had ordered theassassinationof JohnPaul II in1981. “This commissionbelieves, beyond anyreasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative toeliminate the popeKarolWojtyla,” it reported, using Pope John Paul’s Polishbirth name. The Mitrokhin report also stated that it was Soviet militaryintelligence,theGRU,thathadorchestratedtheassassinationplot,nottheKGB.In 2007,Russia’s foreign intelligence service spokesman called the accusation“absurd.”

AsMuammarQaddaficontinuedtodispatchassassinsaroundtheglobe,theCIAcompiled intelligence reports in an effort to identify these killers. In a dossierentitled “Libyan Assassination Teams, Some Patterns,” analysts noted that “a

commonmodusoperandihasbeenforatwo-manhitsquadtokillthevictims,”and that these squads were made up of “professional assassins, presumablybelongingtotheLibyanIntelligenceServices.”Buttherewereexceptionstotherule. For example,when a formerLibyan intelligence officerwas strangled inRome,andthenaformerofficeroftheLibyanArmywasdecapitatedinAthens,Greece,theCIAsurmisedthat“strangulationanddecapitationsuggestsamateursrather than professional killers.” The lack of a clear profile made Qaddafi’sassassins even more dangerous in their potential ability to strike inside theUnitedStates.

“Therewerepersistent threatsbyQaddafi,”LewMerletti saysof this time,notonlyagainstPresidentReaganbutalsoaimedatVicePresidentGeorgeH.W.Bush,CIAdirectorBillCasey,SecretaryofStateAlexanderHaig, and severalmembers of Congress. While the Secret Service improved its precautionarymeasures,theCIAdevisedaplantoeliminateQaddafi.MaxHugel,CIAdeputydirectorofoperations(thenewnamefortheclandestineservice),wasdispatchedto the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence with a plan tooverthrowtheLibyan leader,but thecommitteeshot theplandownandsentastronglywordedletterofprotesttothepresident.

TheStateDepartmentwasalsoconcerned.Qaddafi’s irewasnot limited tothe United States. “There is evidence of Libyan-backed assassination plotsagainst Arab leaders,” Foreign Service officers were told, and this included“President Nimeiry of the Sudan, Jordan’s King Hussein and Iraq’s SaddamHussein.”ButthepersonatthetopofQaddafi’shitlistfortheArabworldwasPresidentAnwarSadatofEgypt.

SadatwasatraitortotheArabworld,Qaddafisaid.AsaresultofPresidentCarter’shistoricCampDavidAccords,thepresidentofEgypthadsignedapeacedealwith the primeminister of Israel. In response,Qaddafi issued a standingofferofonemilliondollars toanyonewhowouldassassinateSadat. Inanewsconference,SadatcalledQaddafi“aviciouscriminal,onehundredpercentsickandpossessedof a demon.”PresidentNimeiry ofSudan claimed thatQaddafihad“asplitpersonality,bothofthemevil.”EvenYasserArafatcalledQaddafia“madman.”ButQaddafi’sthreatsweretobetakenseriously.Bythesummerof1981,hishit teamshadassassinatedmore thanadozenLibyanémigrés livingabroad.

InJuly1981,deaththreatsdirectedagainstSadatcausedAustrianChancellorBrunoKreiskytocancelavisitfromtheEgyptianpresident.Kreiskyhadalreadyoncebeenthesubjectofaninternationalterrorismcrisis,duringthe1975OPEC

oilsiege.Hewasnotgoingtolandinthecrosshairsofmadmenonceagain.TheintelligencewarningwasprovidedtoKreiskyfromMossad.“IwasforcedtoaskEgyptianPresidentSadatat thetimetopostponethetriptoSalzburgbecauseIcouldnotguaranteehissecurity,”KreiskytoldtheAssociatedPress.DuringaninterviewwiththeLibyanpresident,WashingtonPostcolumnistJackAndersonasked Qaddafi about reports that he was trying to orchestrate Anwar Sadat’smurder.

“SadatwillbeeliminatedbytheEgyptianpeople,”Qaddafireplied.WhichiswhathappenedonOctober6,1981,inCairo,duringamilitaryparade.

PresidentAnwarSadatandagroupofdignitarieshadgatheredina1,000-personmilitary stand inCairo to celebrate the eighth anniversary of theYomKippurWar.Securitywas intense,with four layersofmilitaryguardspositioned inanouter perimeter, and eight bodyguards in Sadat’s inner ring. Sadat, in fullmilitarydress,sat in thefront rowbehinda five-foot-thickcinderblockbarrier.As the ceremony began, Egyptian air force Mirage jets flew overhead and aconvoyofmilitarytruckspassedbythestands.Insideoneofthem,anEgyptianArmy lieutenant namedKhalid Islambouli put a gun to the driver’s head andorderedthemantostop.Withthreehandgrenadesconcealedunderhishelmet,Islambouli leapt out of the vehicle and approached the president. SeveralgunmenwithAK-47shurriedalongbehindIslambouli.

“The president thought the killerswere part of the show,” Sadat’s nephewtold CNN. As themen approached the stands, Sadat stood and saluted them.Islambouli threw a grenade and the gunmen opened fire. It took Sadat’sbodyguardsfortysecondstorespond,suggestingaconspiracy.

Theattacklastedtwofullminutes.AnwarSadatwasriddledwithbulletsandfatallywounded.Bythetimehearrivedatthehospitalhewasdead.Elevenmenseated near himwere killed, including theCuban ambassador, a general fromOman,aCopticbishop,andanEgyptiangovernmentbureaucrat.Twenty-eightpeople were wounded, including Egypt’s vice president, Hosni Mubarak,Ireland’s minister of defense, and four U.S. military liaison officers. Theassassins were carrying out a fatwa, or religious decree, issued by a radicalEgyptianclericnamedOmarAbdelRahman,whowentbythenomdeguerretheBlindSheik.

TheCIAwatchedanti-Americangovernmentsandtheirproxyarmiesrejoice.InIran,AyatollahKhomeinideclaredKhalidIslambouliaheroandamartyr.Thestate issueda stamp inhishonor, showing theassassin shoutingbehindprison

bars.“IamveryproudthatmysonkilledAnwaral-Sadat,”theassassin’smothersaid in an interview with the Associated Press. “Some call him a terrorist.[Sadat] soldout the country to the Jews…[My son] admired Iran.” InBeirut,Lebanon,militiagroupsgatheredtocelebrate,firingtheirweaponsintheairandchanting“AllahuAkbar,”Godisgreat.AcrossLibya,celebrationsbrokeoutinthe streets. One of the last remaining diplomats in Libya described what hewitnessed as “ghastly jubilation.” On the state-run radio in Tripoli, thegovernment called for a revolt by the Egyptian masses and encouraged themilitarytooverthrowthegovernment.Itwasaterribleexampleofthepowerofassassinationasapoliticaltool.PeaceintheMiddleEastwasoffthetable.

Twodayslater,inWashington,DC,aformerCIAofficernamedCordMeyertooktotheairwavestoexpresshisopinion.“IfLibyahadbeentakencareoftwoyearsago,lastyear,thisyear,Sadatwouldprobablybealivetoday,”hesaid.InaneditorialfortheWallStreetJournal,MeyersuggestedthattheCIAshouldbe“unleashed.” The statement underscored a concept that was being secretlydeveloped as a national-security tool for the president, one thatwould have arippleeffectmovingforward.

AttheWhiteHouse,thepresident’sNationalSecurityPlanningGroupbegandiscussing the concept of “pre-emptive neutralization.” Of killing a would-beassassinormemberofa terroristorganizationbeforehehadtheopportunity tostrike. Preemptive neutralization moved covert-action counterterrorism policyfromadefenseposition(as inwaiting tobeshotat) toanoffensiveone(as instriking first). If assassination was illegal as per the Hague resolutions,preemptiveneutralizationwouldnowbe a legal extensionofArticle51of theUnitedNationsCharter,theinherentrightofself-defense.

President Anwar Sadat’s funeral took place on October 11, 1981. Just hoursbefore, theWhite House issued a statement explaining that President Reaganwouldnotattend.TherewerereportsthatQaddafiplannedtoassassinateReaganatthefuneral.

Itwasasolemnaffair,thinlyattended.FormerpresidentsCarter,Nixon,andFord were there, with Alexander Haig standing in for the president. Also inattendancewastheprimeministerofIsrael,MenachemBegin,corecipientwithSadat of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. The president of Sudan, the sultan ofOman,andthepresidentofSomaliawerethesoleArableaderspresent.NoonewantedtopokethebearthatwasArabterrorism.ExceptBillCasey.

In less than sixty days, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order

12333, reiterating the already existing ban onU.S. intelligence agencies fromsponsoringorcarryingoutanassassination,butwithnewlanguage.“NopersonemployedbyoractingonbehalfoftheUnitedStatesGovernmentshallengagein,orconspiretoengagein,assassination,”thepresidentdecreed.Thefineprintofthenewexecutiveorderspentmanyparagraphsclarifyingspecificwordsusedin the earlier assassination bans issued byPresidents Ford andCarter.But theword“assassination”wasnotoneofthewordsdefined.MajorTylerJ.Harder,ofthe Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Army, suggests why. “That anambiguouslybroadtermlike‘assassination’wouldgoundefinedtendstosupporta conclusion that a definition of assassinationwas intentionally omitted.”Theproscriptionagainstassassinationwasevolvingintoanallowanceforpreemptiveneutralization.

Toarguehisposition,BillCaseyreferencedoneofthecovertactionsthathadbeenauthorizedbyPresidentCarter,a large-scaleoperation tosupplyweaponsto anti-Soviet holywarriors, calledmujahedin, inAfghanistan. “We’re armingtheAfghans,right?”Caseyargued.“EverytimeamujahedinrebelkillsaSovietrifleman, are we engaged in assassination? This is a rough business. If we’reafraidtohittheterroristsbecausesomebody’sgoingtoyell‘assassination,’it’llneverstop.Theterroristswillowntheworld.They’llknownobodyisgoingtoraiseafingeragainstthem.”

From December 4, 1981, on out, there would be great flexibility in howtargetedkillingcouldbeundertaken,and inwhatcircumstances, so that itwasnot assassination.As he had donewith theOSSoperational plot to killAdolfHitler,BillCaseyhadagainfoundhislegalloophole.

In the fall of 1982 an angry, pious twenty-year-old Lebanese militant from apoor Shia family was going around Beirut looking for a large quantity ofexplosives.HisnamewasImadMugniyah.Hewasknownlocallyas“thebossofagangofthugsenforcingIslamiclawsandmodestconductonthestreetsofBeirut,”saysjournalistRonenBergman,whonotesthataroundthissametime,Israeli intelligence began receiving reports from local assets of “an extremist,uninhibitedpsychopath”whowaskneecappinghookersanddrugdealersaroundthecity.In1982,theCIAhadnotyetheardofhim,butoverthenexttwenty-fiveyears, Imad Mugniyah would have more impact on U.S. presidential policyregardingassassinationthananyotherindividualinhistory,includingOsamabinLaden.

Fouryearsearlier,MugniyahhadbeenrecruitedintothePalestineLiberation

Organization by Black September’s Ali Hassan Salameh, the Red Prince.Mugniyah,anexcellentyoungsniper,wasassignedtoForce17,YasserArafat’ssecurity detail and the elite force of the PLO’s Fatah Party. Salameh tookMugniyah under his wing, until Mossad assassinated Salameh in 1979. AfterSalameh and four of his bodyguards were killed by a car bomb, MugniyahshiftedhisallegianceovertoIran.ItisnotknownifMugniyahwasawareofthefactthathismentoralsoworkedfortheCIA.

ForMugniyahandviolentradicalslikehim,itwasbecomingclearthatIran’sAyatollah Khomeini had the best interests of ShiaMuslims likeMugniyah inmind.YasserArafatsoughtgainsmostlyforhimselfandthePLO.Iranwieldedfargreaterpower;lookwhatthey’ddonetotheUnitedStatesinTehranin1979.TheAmericans had been humiliated by theU.S. embassy takeover, theworldreminded of its impotence for 444 days as Iran held Americans hostage.Recently,atthebehestofAyatollahKhomeini,theIranianIslamicRevolutionaryGuardCorpshadcreatedaproxyarmy,orhidden-handarmy,tocarryoutcovertoperationsinLebanonandelsewhere.ThisproxyarmywouldbecomeknownasHezbollah, thePartyofGod,althoughtheystillusedavarietyofpseudonyms,including Islamic Amal and Islamic Jihad. After the death of Salameh,Mugniyahsoughtarisetopowerwithintheterroristgroup,whichiswhyhewasoutlookingforexplosivesinthefallof1982.

“Hewanted some explosives andwonderedwhether I had some for him. Ilaughedand thoughthewas crazy.Whowouldwant toblow themselvesup?”BilalSharara,awell-knownmemberofFatah,toldjournalistNicholasBlanfordin2009.

Mugniyah knewwho, exactly: teenagers following the orders of AyatollahKhomeini. In the early days of the Iran-Iraq war, thousands of these youngchildrenweresenttotheirdeathsbytheayatollahassuicidebombers—orderedtoclearlandmineswiththeirownbodiessoastomakewayforIranianinfantrytroops and advance Iran’s front line into Iraq. Years later, New York TimesreporterTerenceSmithinterviewedsurvivorsofthesehuman-waveassaults,andlearnedoffrightenedIranianchildrenbeingdruggedwithanopiatedrinkcalled“martyr’ssyrup,”boundtogetheringroupsoftwentywithmachinegunsattheirback, ordered to keep moving forward, to walk to their deaths. Across theirchild-sized uniforms a message had been stenciled: “I have the specialpermissionoftheImamtoenterheaven.”Thisappearstobethefirstreportingofmodern-day suicide bombers, unwilling participants ensnared in a wickedirregular-warfaretacticdesignedbyAyatollahKhomeini.

Hatred of the enemy was a motivator, and Imad Mugniyah told Arafat’sdeputy he had a seventeen-year-old friend named Ahmed Qassir who waswilling to sacrifice himself in the struggle against Israel. The delivery ofexplosiveswasarranged,andonNovember11,AhmedQassirdroveaPeugeotpackedwith2,000poundsofexplosivesuptotheIsraeliArmyheadquartersinTyre,Lebanon.Theteenagerfingeredatriggeringdeviceanddetonatedhimself,destroyingthebuildingandkillingseventy-fiveIsraelisoldiers,policemen,andintelligence agents with the Shin Bet, the Israel Security Agency. The deadteenager’shandler,ImadMugniyah,hadmadehismarkandwouldnowadvancetooperationschiefforHezbollah.Mugniyah’snexttargetwastheUnitedStates,a bold and unprecedentedmove.Hezbollah had never before directly targetedtheUnitedStateswithamasscasualtyattack.

ItwasmiddayonApril18,1983,andthestaffattheU.S.embassyinBeirutwere going about their business when a GMC pickup truck sped into thecrescent-shaped driveway, swerving to miss the U.S. ambassador’s armoredlimousine.In thebackof the truck,hiddenundera tarp,were2,000poundsofexplosives. The driver of the truck, seen smoking a cigarette and wearing aleatherjacket,steppedonthegaspedal,racedupasetofsteps,crashedthroughasetofglassdoors,andlandedinthecentrallobbyofthebuildingthathousedtheembassyandtheCIAstation.Thesuicidebomberdetonated,collapsingpartofthebuilding.Sixty-threepeoplewerekilled,includingseventeenAmericans,mostofthemfromtheCIA.Lebanesepedestrians,motorists,andvisaapplicantswerealsokilled. In thedays that followed,bodyparts andpiecesof skinkeptwashinguponthebeach.

AmongthedeadwasCIAcaseofficerandNearEastdirectorBobAmes.Oneofhishandswasfoundfloatingamileoutatsea,hisweddingbandstillonhisring finger.Herein lay the stark realityof covert-actionoperations.BobAmeshadbeenAliHassanSalameh’scaseofficerandhandlerbefore theRedPrincewasassassinatedbyMossad.Now,Salameh’sterroristprotégé,ImadMugniyah,had succeeded in killing the CIA’s Bob Ames. With the majority of its staffwiped out, the CIA dispatched a paramilitary officer named William FrancisBuckleytotakeoverasthenewstationchiefinBeirut.

BillBuckley,56,hadworkedfortheCIAsincetheKoreanWar.Mostdetailsofhisworkremainclassified.InVietnam,BuckleyservedasdeputychiefofaProvincial Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), the lethal direct-action arm of thePhoenix program.Hewas quintessentialCIA,mild-mannered and unassumingon the surface, but brave, bold, and determined, say his friends. Buckleywas

comfortable in chaotic, dangerous places. After Vietnam, he ran covertoperations in Zaire, Pakistan, and Egypt, where he trained Anwar Sadat’sbodyguards in close-quarters combat. Unmarried, Buckley was known tovolunteerforpostingsinmanyofthemostdangerousCIAstationsintheworld.He’dservedintheBeirutstationseveralyearspriorbutwasforcedtoleaveafterhiscoverwasblown.GoingbackintoawarzonelikeBeirutwithoutthecoverof anonymity was dangerous, but Bill Casey appealed personally to Buckley.TheybothknewthatIran’sproxyarmy,lateridentifiedasHezbollah,hadtobestopped.BillBuckley’sassignmentwastorebuildfortheCIAtheassetbasethatImadMugniyah’smass-casualtyattackhaddestroyed.

But theHezbollah terroristshadonly justbegun.Sixmonthsafter theU.S.embassyandCIAstationinBeirutwereblownup, twosuicidebombersstruckagain, this timewithexplosive-laden trucks.Onecrashed into theU.S.MarineCorps barracks compound at Beirut Airport, killing 241 U.S. servicemen.Minutes later, a second suicide truckdrove into theFrenchparatroopbarrackstwo miles away, killing 58. Imad Mugniyah is said to have watched thebombings through binoculars from the balcony of a high-rise down the street.Five months later, on March 16, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped BillBuckleyoffthestreetsofBeirut.MugniyahpersonallyoversawthetorturethatBuckleywassubjectedtoforthenextnineteenmonths.

JohnRizzoknew firsthand. “I had firstmetBillBuckley in 1980whenhewas heading the counterterrorism ‘group’ at CIA Headquarters,” Rizzo laterwrote in his memoir,CompanyMan, “which in those days numbered only ahandful of people.” A thirty-four-year career lawyer at the CIA, Rizzo spentdecades writing covert-action findings for U.S. presidents. After Bill Buckleywaskidnapped,hewascalledintoameetingwithCasey.“Therewerejustthreeor fourofus in the room,” remembersRizzo.“Theyplayeda tapeofBuckleybeing tortured. Iwasa lawyer for theclandestineservice,but Ialsoknewhimpersonally [and] was there to confirm identity, through his voice.” In aninterviewforthisbook,Rizzosaid,“Iwastoldbyourcourterterrorismanalystssometime later that Mugniyah was doing the torturing.… It still haunts metoday.”

AttheCIA,thelevelofanguishamongBuckley’scolleagueswaspalpable.ThequesttorescuehimbecameBillCasey’spersonalcrusade.“Caseyorderedthat all the stops be pulled out to locate him—wiretaps, bribes, satellitesurveillance,” explainsRizzo. “Igave immediate legal approval for everythingCaseywanted.”

ItwasatippingpointattheCIA.AsdirectorofCentralIntelligence,CaseywouldnowaggressivelyupendhowtheCIAdealtwithterrorists.Assassination,or “pre-emptive neutralization,” was about to become presidential policy. OnApril 3, 1984, just three weeks after Buckley’s kidnapping, President ReagansignedNationalSecurityDecisionDirective138,authorizingtheCIAtodevelop“capabilitiesforthepre-emptiveneutralizationofanti-Americanterroristgroupswhich plan, support, or conduct hostile terrorist acts against U.S. citizens,interests,andpropertyoverseas.”Thegoal,readthedirective,wasto“eliminatethethreatofterrorismtoourwayoflife.”TheorderallowedtheCIAto“developa clandestine service capability, using all lawfulmeans, for effective responseoverseas.” All covert-action plans were to be submitted directly to thepresident’sNationalSecurityPlanningGroup.

To maximize this direct-action capability, the Defense Department createdsomething not seen sinceMACV-SOG: its ownguerrillawarfare corps, calledtheJointSpecialOperationsAgency(JSOA),tooperateoutofFortBragg.Whenthe New York Times learned of JSOA’s creation, it ran a page-one article,describing the group as a “secret commando unit… whose purpose was tosupportCentralIntelligenceAgencycovertoperations.”This“raisedconcerninCongress” that the CIA was back in the business of overthrowing foreigngovernments and plotting to kill leaders, as it had done before the ChurchCommitteehearings.-Intelligenceofficialstoldthenewspaperthatnosuchriskexisted, that “the new special operations forces constituted a resource forintelligenceoperations”only,andthatanyuseofJSOAwouldbedirectedbytheCIAandproperlyreportedtoCongress.

Despiteredoubling theirefforts, theCIAwasunable to locateBillBuckley.Nocommandoforcewassenttorescuehim.Intheend,MugniyahandhismentorturedBillBuckleytodeath.“HewasthefirstCIAemployeeIknewwhowasmurderedinthelineofduty,”saysRizzo.

InOctober1985,afterImadMugniyah’sIslamicJihadOrganization—acovername for Hezbollah—announced it had killed Buckley, the CIA begandeveloping a covert-action operation to kill or capture Mugniyah. The StateDepartmentobjected.“Weusedtohaveargumentswithintheexecutivebranchbetween those who advocated assassinations” and those who insisted it was“illegal,” recallsAmbassadorRobertOakley, theStateDepartmentcoordinatorfor counterterrorism at the time. It was Ambassador Oakley’s view thatassassinationwaslikethemythicalbeast,thehydra.Ifyoucutofftheheadofthesnake,tenmoresnakeheadsgrew.

BillCaseydisagreed,andtooktheissuedirectlytothepresident.“TheCIAbelieved[Mugniyah]tobeinParis,”Oakleylaterwrote.OakleyarguedagainsttheCIA takingactionagainst the terrorist.“While Iwasbriefing theSecretary[of State], he got a call from BudMcFarlane of the NSC [National SecurityCouncil]. Bud said that the President had approved Director of CentralIntelligence [Bill]Casey’s recommendation tokidnapMugniyahoff the streetsof Paris.” Paramilitary operators raided the hotel room where Mugniyah wasbelieved to be staying. “They found a fifty-year-old Spanish tourist, not atwenty-five-year-oldLebaneseterrorist,”Oakleyrecalled.

FromtheperspectiveoftheCIA,itwastimetoformalizeoperations,tohaveacenterattheCIAdedicatedtocombatingterrorism.OnFebruary2,1986,theCIA’sfirstCounterterroristCenter(CTC)openeditsdoors(itwasrenamedtheCounterterrorismCenter in2005).CounterterroristCenterofficerswouldworkwithparamilitaryoperatorsandSpecialForcessoldiersfromJSOA.TheCenterwould employ scientists and engineers from the Directorate of Science andTechnologyandanalystsfromtheDirectorateofIntelligence.Itwouldbeanewkindofplace,saiditsfirstdirector,Duane“Dewey”Clarridge.A“fusioncenter.”

VincentCannistraro,amemberoftheNationalSecurityCouncilat thetimeandafuturechiefofoperationsattheCTC,explainedthethinkingin1986.“BillCasey saw theCounterterrorismCenter as basically an all-capability center tostop terrorists.Thatwewouldgooutandsnatch terroristsandhit thembeforethey could act.”Who to go after—the targets—would be determined byCTCanalystspullingdata fromall available sources:human, signals, imagery.“Butthiscenterwouldalsohavethecapabilityofactuallybeinganactionelementtogo out there,” Cannistraro says, to go out and kill or capture enemies of theUnitedStates before theyhad a chance to strike. “Casey’s original conceptionforacounterterrorismcenterattheCIAwastogiveitaparamilitarycapability,an intelligencecapability,andananalyticalcapability—toput itall together inone package. The paramilitary capability would be used to go after knownterrorists, to kidnap themand render them toU.S. justice.”Advocates ofCIAkill-or-capturemissionsinthemodernerapointouthowprescientBillCasey’sthinkingwasin1986.CriticssayCaseyhelpedcreateamonster,amultiheadedhydra.Thatforeveryheaditsevered,tennewheadswouldgrow.

One of the radical ideas at the CTC in 1986, to preemptively neutralizethreats,was tobuild anduse anunmannedaerial vehicle (UAV), also called adrone.With a budget of seven million dollars, Dewey Clarridge initiated theEagleProgram,whichheforesawbeingusedagainsttargetsindifficulttogetto

places,likeLibyaorIran.TwomonthsaftertheCounterterroristCenteropeneditsdoors,apowerfulbombwentoffinsideLaBellediscothèqueinWestBerlin,aplaceknowntobepopularwithAmericansoldiersstationedataU.S.militarybase down the street. Three people were killed; two were American soldiers.Two hundred twenty-nine were injured. After the National Security Agencyintercepted telex messages sent from Tripoli to the Libyan embassy in EastBerlin,congratulatingitspersonnelona“jobwelldone,”theCIAlaidblameonMuammar Qaddafi personally as well as on Libya’s governing body, theRevolutionaryCommandCouncil.

At the Counterterrorist Center, Dewey Clarridge proposed killing QaddafiwiththeCTC’sEagleProgramdrone.“PackitwithexplosivesorengineerittocarryarocketandflyitintoQaddafi’stent,”hesaid.Clarridge’sideawasshutdown. Instead,PresidentRonaldReaganorderedair strikesagainstTripoliandBenghazi. The massive, Defense Department-led operation involved sixty-sixU.S.aircraft.Qaddafi’sresidentialcompoundtookadirecthit,allegedlykillinghis fifteen-month-old daughter, Hana. At least thirty soldiers and seventycivilians were killed. In a nationally televised speech, President Reagandefendedhisactions:“Whenourcitizensareattackedorabusedanywhereintheworldonthedirectordersofhostileregimes,wewillrespondsolongasI’minthisoffice.”AnyonewhodaredsuggesttheUnitedStateshadtriedtoassassinateQaddafiwaswrong, thepresidentsaid, thatAmericawassimplyexercising itsrighttoself-defenseasdefinedbyArticle51oftheUnitedNationsCharter.

AttheCIA,DeweyClarridgecriedfalsevirtue.Itwas“hypocritical,”hesaid,to usemassive air power to take out a single dictator—killingmore than onehundred people—simply because it looked better than a lethal direct-actionstrike targeting one man. “Why is an expensive military raid with heavycollateral damage to our allies and to innocent children okay—more morallyacceptablethanabullettothehead?”

Thequestionwasfarfromanswered.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

ParachuteAssassins,SaddamHussein,andOsamabinLaden

Everyday,LewMerletti thoughtabouthowsomeonemight try toassassinatethe newpresident of theUnitedStates,GeorgeHerbertWalkerBush.Merlettiwasalwaysonthelookoutforachinkinthearmorof theU.S.SecretService.“The assassination of the President of the United States is, quite literally, acataclysmiceventinworldhistory,”Merletti toldtheJusticeDepartment.“It isalsotheworstpossibleincidentthatcanoccurontheSecretService’swatch.Forthis reason, it is the practice of the Secret Service to review and assess allassassinationattempts,whereverandwhenevertheyoccur.”

Inreviewinggruesomeassassinationtapes,itwasimpossibleforMerlettinotto think about ambush scenarios he’d witnessed in Vietnam. His mind wasalways working to find places where presidential protection could improve,somethingingrainedinhimbyhishighlymotivatedboss,JohnMagaw.Oneday,MagawapproachedMerlettiwithanideaforaradicalAOP—attackonprincipal—training exercise. DidMerletti have any trusted contacts with Delta Force,owingtohistimeinSpecialForces?Magawasked.Merlettisaidhedid.

JohnMagawsentLewMerlettidowntoFortBraggtomeetsecretlywiththeDelta Force commander. Delta Force, the 1st Special Forces OperationalDetachment-Delta(1stSFOD-D), isaclassifiedunitwhoseexistence thearmywill neither confirm nor deny. (During the war on terror, Delta’s name waschanged to Combat Applications Group.) With counterterrorism and hostagerescueitsprimarymissions,Deltaoperatorsaretrainedasadirect-actionstrikeforce and are arguably themost elite of all Tier OneU.S.military operators.MerlettipresentedDeltaForcewithachallenge,directfromtheSecretService.

Theywere to comeupwith themost devastating small-footprint ambush theycouldconceiveof—toplanandtrainforanAOPtargetingtheWhiteHouse.

There were specific ground rules in place. “The Delta operators were notallowed to use their clearances to get classified information to devise theambush,”saysMerletti.“Theyhadtouserecononly,andusepubliclyavailableinformation.Figureouttheweakpointinourdefensesystemandtryandbreachit.Wetoldthem,ifwecatchyouinthe[WhiteHouse]tourline,it’sapointforus.”TheDeltacommanderacceptedthechallengeandbegandevisinganAOPoperation.

ThechosenDeltaForceunittrainedforsixtoeightweeks.EvenJohnMagawand Lew Merletti remained in the dark regarding the AOP that Delta Forcewouldattempt:tohaveateamofparachuteassassinstryandinfiltratetheWhiteHouse via high-altitude low-opening (HALO) infiltration. The operation hasneverbeenreportedbefore.

OnthenightofOctober14,1990,PresidentGeorgeH.W.BushwastakentoCampDavid, the presidential retreat in CatoctinMountain Park inMaryland.LiveammunitionwascollectedfromtheSecretServicespecialagentsonduty,anindicatorthatsomethingwasgoingon.Oneoftheagentsondutythatnight,asniperontheWhiteHouseroof,recallswhathappened.“Allofasudden,thereweretheseDeltaguysonthelawn.Itwasthatfast.Itwasa‘holyshit’momentforeverybodyinvolved.”

“The Delta operators did a low-level HALO pull,” explains BillyWaugh.“Theycameinfree-falling[atterminalvelocity],andpulledjustafewhundredfeet above the deck. This is very difficult to defend against, unless you’reprepared.”

AtthetimeoftheAOPtrainingexercise,therewasaradarsysteminstalledatNational Airport, five miles from theWhite House, designed to pick up anyaircraftflyinginthevicinity.TherewasalsoadirectphonelinefromNationaltotheWhiteHouse,hardwiredintotheU.S.SecretServicecommunicationsoffice.“It rangseveral timesaweek,” recallsMerletti,always reportinganything thatwasevenremotelyunusual.ButonthenightoftheAOPexercise,itdidn’tevenring.DeltaForceoutfoxedit.Howtheteamdiditremainshighlyclassified.

With this weakness in the White House defense system thus revealed, amicrowaveDoppler systemwas installed on the roof.ThenDelta conducted asecondAOPtrainingraid.ThistimetheDopplerradarpickeduptheparachuteassassins. The Delta Force commander gave Lew Merletti an infraredphotographofoneoftheDeltaoperators,inaharness,ashewaslandingonthe

WhiteHouselawn.MerlettitapedthephototoawallinhisofficeattheWhiteHousewith thewords “NoComment”written underneath.One hole had beenplugged,buttherewasalwaysanotheronetothinkabout.

Thefollowingyear,inJanuary1991,AmericawenttowarforthefirsttimesinceVietnam. The conflict began in August 1990 when Iraqi president SaddamHusseinorderedhismilitary forces to invadeneighboringKuwait.TheUnitedStates feared that SaudiArabiawas next—that the kingdomwas at risk of anIraqiinvasion.InSeptember1990,ameetingtookplaceattheRiyadhpalaceofCrown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Arabianminister of defense.PrinceSultanwasmeetingwithanunusualgroupofvisitorsregardingadelicatematter thatneeded tobehandledwith theutmost sensitivity.The leaderof thegroup was a wealthy thirty-three-year-old Saudi national named Osama binLaden.

WithbinLadenwereagroupoffriendsandcolleagues,Afghanmujahedin.ThisgrouphadspentthepastdecadefightingRussianinfantryforcesfollowingtheSovietUnion’s invasionofAfghanistan in1979. Itwasa classic irregular-warfare scenario.Amuch smaller rebel force, themujahedin, hadmanaged todefeat one of the largest armies in the world, the Russians, using guerrillawarfaretactics.Training,weapons,andfundingforthemujahedincamefromtheUnitedStates,SaudiArabia,England,Pakistan,andChina.In1989theRussiansleft,defeated.AttheCIA,analystscalleditRussia’sVietnam.Nowrestlessandwithoutpurpose,themujahedinwerelookingforthenextjihad,orholywar.ItwaswhybinLadenwashere,hetoldtheSaudiministerofdefense.

OsamabinLadenhandedPrinceSultanafive-pageproposal.Thedocumentdetailed how his mujahedin fighters would protect the kingdom from whatlooked like certain invasion by Saddam Hussein. The secular hypocrite Iraqileadermustbestopped,binLadenwarned.HispresenceanywherenearthetwoMuslim holy places Mecca and Medina was an insult to Islam. Iraq had apowerful army: 900,000 soldiers in sixty-three divisions, which made it thefourthlargestarmyintheworld.SaddamHussein’sRepublicanGuardincludedsomeof thebest-trained fighters in theMiddleEast.BinLadenand theprincewerebothawareoftherealityoftheSaudiArmy.In1990,itconsistedof58,000poorlytrainedsoldiers,largelybecausethekingdomreliedontechnologytostopanattack.SaudiArabiaownedandmaintaineda$50billionairdefensesystem,supportedbyafleetofBritish-madefighter-bomberaircraft.Butasfarasgroundoperationswere concerned, the only thing betweenSaddam’s infantry soldiers

andSaudiArabia’soilfieldswereafewthousandSaudinationalguardsoldierswho’dbeensenttothefrontline.

AccordingtoawitnessintheroomnamedMohammaddinMohammad,binLadenmadeapitch forapartnership.Pullingoutamap,heproposed todigamassive ditch in the desert sands along the border between SaudiArabia andIraq.Hisgroupof fighterswoulduseearth-movingequipment suppliedbyhisfamily’s Saudi BinladinGroup. TheAfghanmujahedinwould supplement thebigditchwith lotsof littleones,usingshovels,hesaid. In thismanner, they’dcreateallkindsofsandtraps—intowhichSaddamHussein’s5,700-tankarmoredcavalrycorpswouldfall.

“I am ready to prepare one hundred thousand fighters with good combatcapabilitywithinthreemonths,”binLadenreportedlytoldtheprince.

But the prince wasn’t interested in what bin Laden was trying to sell. Hethanked him, and said he appreciated the fact that his family and binLaden’sfamilyhad“alwaysbeenloyalfriends.”ButhedidnotneedOsamabinLaden’smilitaryassistanceinfightingSaddamHussein.BinLaden’sfaceturned“blackwithanger,”MohammaddinMohammadrecalled.

Theprincewasuninterestedbecausehealreadyhadapartnerandadeal inplace.Justweeksbefore,abillion-dollardefensecontracthadbeensignedwiththe Americans. President George H. W. Bush’s secretary of defense, DickCheney, met personally in Jeddah with Saudi king Fahd to secure this deal.Cheney’s advisors on the trip included General Norman Schwarzkopf,commanderinchief,U.S.CentralCommand.GeneralSchwarzkopfwouldleadall coalition forces in the forthcomingGulfWar. TheAmericans had state-of-the-art satellite images, including ones that showed how many of SaddamHussein’stankswerelinedupontheborder.OsamabinLadenhadhand-drawnmaps.

GeneralSchwarzkopftoldKingFahd,“Tanksbeingdeployedfarforwardisanindicationofoffensiveaction.”ItmeantthatSaddamHusseinappearedreadyto strike. The general sharedwith the king the latest imagery intelligence andgeospatialintelligencetomakehispoint.TheU.S.militarywaspreparedtosendfightersquadronsandU.S.troopstodefendSaudiArabiaagainstaninvasionbyIraq.AlltheyneededwasKingFahd’sokay.

“Okay,”thekingsaid.“Wedidadouble-take,”Schwarzkopflaterrecalled.“So,youagree?”DefenseSecretaryCheneyasked.Thekingsaid,“Yes,Iagree.”

AmbassadorCharlesFreeman,whowasalsopresentandwhospokeArabic,confirmedthatthekinghadindeedgivenhisokay.

“Whendoyouexpectthefirstplanestoarrive?”thekingaskedCheney.Cheneytoldtheking,“Withintwelvehours,they’llbehere.”OfcourseOsamabinLadenknewnoneofthis.Buthe’dheardpalacerumors

thattheAmericansmightbeinvolved.ItwaswhyhewashereinPrinceSultan’shome.

“Youdon’t needAmericans,”binLaden is said tohave toldPrinceSultan.“Youdon’tneedanyothernon-Muslimtroops.Wewillbeenough.”

PrinceSultanconsideredwhatbinLadenwassaying.“TherearenocavesinKuwait,”hetoldhim.“Whatwillyoudowhen[SaddamHussein]lobsmissilesatyouwithchemicalandbiologicalweapons?”

“Wewillfighthimwithfaith,”binLadensaid.Buttheprince’smessagewasclear:hewasnotinterestedinwhatbinLaden

wasselling.IfbinLadendidn’tyetknowforcertainthathe’dlostthecontracttothe U.S. Department of Defense, he’d learn soon enough, when the first ofnearly 500,000 American soldiers began arriving in the kingdom, along with1,500internationaljournalistswhowouldbroadcastnewsoftheAmerican-Saudipartnership to the world. When the war began, on January 16, 1991, theAmericans were already firmly planted on sacred soil. War, the president’ssecondoptionafterdiplomacy,hadnotbeenauthorizedbyCongressintwenty-sevenyears—not since theGulf ofTonkinResolution approvingU.S.militaryactioninVietnam.

BinLadenwas outraged.Hemoved toKhartoum and began plotting jihadagainsttheUnitedStates.Withinmonths,theCIAsentBillyWaughtheretorunreconnaissanceonhim.

Khartoumwasa lawless,brutishplace in1991,ruinedbydecadesofcivilwarthat had engulfed the country ever sinceSudangained independence from theUnitedKingdom in 1956. It had been seventeen years sinceU.S. ambassadorCleoNoel,U.S. embassy chargé d’affairesCurtMoore, andBelgian diplomatGuy Eidwere taken hostage and assassinated by Black September during theattack on the Saudi embassy in 1973.WhenBillyWaugh first arrived, in thespringof1991,Sudanremainedahornet’snestofterroristactivity.

The president of Sudan was Brigadier General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, awarlordwhotookpowerbymilitarycoup.Buttherealreinsofpowerwereheldbyal-Bashir’ssecretarygeneral,aSorbonne-educatedIslamistnamedHassanal-

Turabi. Publicly, Turabi maintained cordial relations with the United States.Privately,hewasvirulentlyanti-American.“AmericaincarnatesthedevilforallMuslimsintheworld,”hetoldlocalcommanders.

ThroughNSAsignalsintelligence(SIGINT)intercepts,theCIAlearnedthatTurabiwas in contactwith numerous high-ranking leaders ofHezbollah,AbuNidalOrganization,andPalestinianIslamicJihad,andwithindividualterrorists,criminals, and rogues wanted by Interpol and the FBI. Turabi offered themsanctuaryinKhartouminexchangeforcash.Manytookhimuponhisoffer,andby 1991, the CIA understood these terrorists to be freely moving aroundKhartoum,outofreachoflawenforcementandplottingthedemiseoftheWest.InApril,TurabihostedtheArabIslamicPeople’sCongressinanefforttounifyAfghan mujahedin and other radical players, all of whom opposed Saudidominance.Attendees includedYasserArafat;Aymanal-Zawahiri,ofEgyptianIslamicJihad;KhaledMashal,ofHamas;andImadMugniyah.OsamabinLadenmayormaynothaveattended.CIAofficersandcounterterrorismexpertsdifferintheiropinionsaboutwhen,precisely,binLadenarrivedinSudan.

TheCIA sentBillyWaugh toKhartoum on a covert operation, to conductsurveillance on these shadowy figures, many of whom maintained multiplealiasesandnomsdeguerretokeeptheiridentitieshidden.OnenotableexceptionwasbinLaden,whowentbythesamenamehe’dbeengivenatbirth.

“Intheveryearly1990sbinLadenwasanobodytous,”recallsWaugh,“butSudanwasananything-goescesspoolofaplace.”FewpeoplehadeverheardofbinLaden,whowasjustbecomingknowntoWesternintelligenceagencies.Hewas on the CIA’s radar, however, because he’d recently cofounded anorganizationcalledAl-Qaeda,ortheBase.

BinLaden’sbasewasmadeupofAfghanmujahedinandanyotherforeignfighterswillingtowageaholywaragainsttheWest.WiththeBerlinwalldownand the communist threat reduced nearly to nil, the CIA was gatheringintelligence on potential threats. A political-religious system rooted in earlyMiddleAges thinking seemedconspicuously anachronistic.BinLaden andhismujahedincalleditglobaljihad.

In 1989, after the Afghan war ended, the stateless mujahedin sought analliancewiththeIslamistclericHassanal-Turabi,who’drecentlyhelpedstageamilitarycoupinSudan.Theywerelike-mindedindividuals.InTurabi’seyes,thefailure ofArab governmentswas rooted in a reluctance to enforce sharia law.TurabibecamethefirstMuslimclerictosuccessfullyimplementshariaacrossanentirenation.BinLadenandhisfollowersrespectedthat.TheCIAtooknoteand

begantomonitorthejihadistsinKhartoum.When Billy Waugh arrived in Khartoum, piles of concrete rubble lay

interspersed with crumbling buildings and plywood shacks across the city.Government soldiers patrolled the streets. Armed militia manned makeshiftcheckpoints at the edges of town. The secret police, the Political SecurityOrganization(PSO),arrestedpeopleatwhim,mostlyongroundsthey’dviolatedsharialaw.Eighty-fivepercentofSudanesecitizenslivedwithoutanysocialorcivilservices.Khartoumwasachallengingplaceforanathleticsixty-three-year-oldwhiteman likeBillyWaugh toconductacovertoperationfor theCIA.Ofmediumheight,he stoodoutamong themajoritypopulation,Dinka tribesmen,manyofwhomwereoversixfeettall.ButheapproachedhisworktherethewayheapproachedanySpecialForcesmilitaryoperation,orCIAcovert action,hesays.“Prepare,rehearse,engagethetarget.”Andfindgoodcover.

WaughwasinSudanasanindependentcontractor,orIC,fortheCIA,notafull-timeemployeeonpayroll—thatwouldbeabluebadger.Rather,hewasagreenbadger,hiscontractsindividuallywrittenandrenewed.However,theblackdiplomaticpassporthecarried,providedtohimbytheAgency,identifiedhimasanemployeeoftheU.S.DepartmentofState.IntheeventhewasarrestedbythePSO,he’dbeaffordeddiplomatic immunity in theformofasingleget-out-of-jail-freecard.ButgettingarrestedwouldalsomeantheendofhisCIAcareer.“Ihadaseriousinterestinwantingtokeepmyjob.TherewasnowayIwasgoingtoallowmyselftogetarrested.Noway.”

One of the advantages of traveling in Sudan on a diplomatic passport, notwith civilian cover, was that he could use a diplomatic pouch to get cameraequipment in. “The government had outlawed cameras and developingsupplies,”Waughsays,fearingphotographswouldportraythedesolatestateofaffairsinsidethecountryandmakeobviousthefailureofTurabi’simpositionofsharialaw.

“Peoplewere starving to death in the streets,” remembersWaugh. “They’dgetpickedup[bypolice]andtransportedtoareasoutsidethecity,lefttodieinalessobviousplace.”Makingphotographyillegalwasthegovernment’ssolutiontothisproblem.

How was he going to use his camera around Khartoum without gettingcaught by the secret police? “I had an idea about how to circumvent theproblem,” he remembers. “I suggested that I use jogging as a cover. StartrunningaroundthecitywiththeideaIwasastubbornoldAmericanonafitnesscraze.”TheKhartoumchiefofstationsaidhe’dthinkaboutit.Hecamebackto

Waughwithan idea thatheadquarters likedbetter.“Theyaskedme toconductsurveillanceagainstterroristtargetswearingadisguisethatmademelooklikeablackAfrican.”

TheTechnicalServicesDivisioncreatedaDinkadisguise,whichincludedarubber facemask, arms, and hands. The concept had been dreamed up anddesignedbyAnthonyMendez,atechnicaloperationsofficerwhowasalegendinside the Agency for having exfiltrated six American diplomats from Iranduring the peak of the U.S. embassy hostage crisis. (In 2016,Mendez wouldbecomefamous to thepublicas the leadcharacterportrayed in theHollywoodfilmArgo.)AHollywoodprophousedidthemaskmoldingandbuilding.

Theproblemwas, themaskdidn’treallyfit,saysWaugh.“Its lipswere toobig,andinordertoseethroughthewindshieldwhileIwasdriving,Ihadtotiltmyheadinsuchawaythatmymouthwasnearlytouchingthesteeringwheel.”There was legitimate concern he’d draw attention to himself driving aroundKhartoumlikethat.Theproblemsdidnotendthere.ThemaskmadehimsweatinSudan’s oppressive heat; summer temperatures hovered around120degreesFahrenheit. The gloves that came with the mask extended from Waugh’sfingertips to his shoulders,where they tied at the backwith strings.The thickrubberfinger-sleevesmadeholdingforbiddencameraequipmentdangerousanddifficult.

Followingorders,WaughdonnedthemaskanddrovearoundKhartouminabatteredRussian-madesedangiventohimcourtesyoftheCIA.“LikejustabouteverythinginSudan,”recallsWaugh,“mycarwasawreck.Itwasmissingabigpieceofthefloor,andwhenIdrovearoundtown,usuallyatseventykilometersanhour,hugecloudsofdustblewupthroughtheopenfloorboards.”

One hot day, a new deputy chief of station (name still classified) came totown.Waugh was given the assignment of showing his new superior aroundKhartoum.Thedeputychiefwantedtobeshownescaperoutesoutoftownandinto the desert, roads Billy Waugh had already mastered while conductingsurveillancedetectionroutes—necessarytradecraftintheeventyouhadtoditchatail.Duringtheouting,thedeputychiefofstationalsoworeaDinkamaskthathad been specially designed for him, complete with gloves and arms.Waughrecalls his colleagues’ deep discomfort with the lawlessness of Khartoum,heightenedbythediscomfortofwearingamask.

Waughandthedeputychiefsetoutdriving.“ItwashotashellandIdrovereallyfast,showinghimtheSaharanscenerywithoutwastinganytime.Hewasquietforawhile.Seemedmiserable,oratleasttense.”

AtonepointheaskedWaugh,“Doyoualwaysdrivethisfast?”Waughrecallsmakingajoke.“Yes,sir,Ido,”hesaid.“Mypassengerdidnotthinkthatwasveryfunny,”remembersWaugh.“Where’sthefloorofyourcar?”thedeputychiefaskedWaugh.“Some of it’s missing,” he said. “If the Agency wants to get me a new

vehicle,that’llbefine,too.”Thedeputychief rodealong insilence.At theedgeof the town,where the

city roadmeets thedesert,Waugh’soldRussiancarwas forced toa stopbyamobofarmedmilitia.OneofthemenstuckthemuzzleofhisAK-47throughthewindow. Waugh knew how to bargain with these people; he always carriedcartons of cigarettes he could use for a bribe. After a bit of negotiation, themilitiawavedWaughthrough.

“Iheardamuffledsoundcomingfrommypassenger,akindoflightgaggingnoise,”herecalls.Suddenly,thewholecarsmelledofvomit.Waughrealizedthatthedeputychiefofstationhadthrownupinsidehismask.

“Hewasangryandembarrassed,buthecouldn’ttakeoffthemaskforfearofblowing our cover,” remembers Waugh. They drove on, headed back toKhartoum.

“It’syourfault,”thedeputychiefsaidafterawhile.“Thewayyou’redrivingthecarcausedmetothrowup.”

Themencontinuedinsilence.Outside,Khartoumrolledby.Waughshowedthe deputy chief numerous escape routes, shortcuts into the desert, andcheckpointstoavoid.Finally,theyarrivedbackatheadquarters.Onceinsidethebuilding,theyweremetbythechiefofstation.Bynow,bothmenhadtakenofftheirsweatyDinkamasks.Thechiefofstationpointedatthedeputy’sfaceandhair,whichwerecoveredindriedvomit.

“Whatthehellhappenedtoyou?”heasked.“The deputy chief was furious,” Waugh recalls. “He fired off a litany of

angryexcuses,endingwith,‘Ican’tputupwiththisshit.’”Hedidn’thavetoforlong. Just a fewmonths later, he was transferred out of Sudan. The chief ofstationagreedtoletWaughjogaroundKhartoumnow,asameansofconductingsurveillanceandreconnaissanceonOsamabinLaden.

BillyWaughworkedbestalone.Tobeassignedamissionandtogetitdone,byanymeanspossible,waswhathewasbestat.Accomplishingataskthatotherscouldnotaccomplishmadehimfeelalive,andgavehimmeaningandpurpose—fulfilled his boyhood dreams of feeling like he was needed in the nation’s

defense.Eachdayhe’drunaneight-mile looparound theal-RiyadhsectionofKhartoum, employing the old-school espionage techniques of groundsurveillance.Hisfirsttaskwastolocateadecentplacetosetupanobservationpost,orOP,inagencyparlance.BinLaden’sprivateresidencewasapinkthree-storyhouseontheoldFrenchEmbassyRoad.Itwassurroundedbyhighwalls.Armedguardskeptwatchovertheplace,usuallysixoreightmujahedindressedliketheywerestillfightingtheAfghanjihad.“Visitorstohishomewoulddriveuptothecompoundwithdrapescoveringthecarwindows,”remembersWaugh.“HehadfourwivesandmorethanadozenchildrenbutIneversawanyofthem.Iftheywerethere,theystayedinside.”

Atthetime,theCIAdidnotknowmuchaboutOsamabinLaden.Waughwasassignedtoprofilehisactionssothataportraitofthemanandhispatternoflifecould emerge. In his jogging excursions,Waugh pieced together bin Laden’sdailyroutine.Themanprayedearlyinthemorning,beforesunrise.At9:00a.m.sharp he left the house, climbed into his whiteMercedes sedan, license platenumber 0990, and drove himself to the Arab Bank on Latif Street. For noonprayers,hewoulddrive to anotherbuildingheowned,downonSouthRiyadhRoad,wheresomeofhisstafflived.Finally,hemadeatripafewblockstothenorth. It was here that bin Laden’s construction company, al-Hijira, owned awarehousefullofconstructionequipment.

Throughtheconstructioncompany,binLadenwasbuildingaseriesofnewroadsinacountrythatalmostentirelylackedinfrastructure.ThisincludedaroadfromKhartoumtoPortSudan,adistanceof520miles.WhatmachineryOsamabin Laden lacked he would import from Russia, through another of hiscompanies, al-Qadurat.Often thegovernmentofSudanwasunable topaybinLadenforhisroadworkandconstructionprojects,soheagreedtoacceptlargeplotsof landasbarter. In thisway,OsamabinLadenacquired theGashRiverDelta,amassiveplotoflandneartheEthiopianborder,aswellasahugefarminGedaref.Atonepoint,hewasrumoredtobethelargestlandownerinSudan.

In Khartoum, Waugh figured out that bin Laden owned at least fourbuildings.Oneof themstoodnear thePalestinianembassy,westofhisprivateresidence. The property butted up against Runway 340 at the KhartoumInternationalAirport,givingWaughasolidviewingperspectiveofgoodsbeingunloaded on the tarmac. But it was while he was observing activities at binLaden’s building on SouthRiyadhRoad that he got his first real break in thecase.DirectlyacrossthestreetwasasafehouseownedbytheU.S.intelligencecommunity.Thissafehouse,itturnedout,wasbeingusedbyanultrasecretU.S.

Army SIGINT unit called Intelligence Support Activity, and that went by thecodenameGray Fox.Created as aReagan-era response to the Iranian hostagerescue attempt, one ofGrayFox’s primary taskswas to collect intelligence inadvance of a paramilitary operation. AsWaugh understood it, Gray Fox waslistening toactivitiesgoingon inan Iraniansafehousenearby.ThisGrayFoxfacilitypresenteditselfastheperfectplaceforWaughtosetupanobservationpostandtaketheCIA’sfirstproprietaryphotographsofOsamabinLaden.

“Oneofthemostimportantelementsofwarfareandofspyingistheabilitytolookdownonyourtarget,”saysWaugh.InKhartoum,thisgeneraltruthprovedbothaproblemandasolution.Becauseitwassohotoutside,manyofthelocalssleptontherooftopsoftheirbuildingsatnight.Waughwouldusethisactivityasa cover story. He constructed a bamboo structure, designed to look like asleeping shack, upon topof the roof of theGrayFoxbuilding.He set uphiscamera equipment inside the sleep shackandwaited. Itwas fromhere thathetookwhatareconsideredtobethefirstCIAsurveillancephotographsofOsamabinLadenandhisfollowers.Theyhaveneverbeenreleasedtothepublic,saysWaugh. The photographs show bin Laden seated cross-legged and facing hisfollowers. “There were twenty or twenty-five of them, and they sat theremesmerizedbyhim, listeningwith theirmouthsopen.Theyhungonhiseveryword.”

With Gray Fox as support, and while jogging around the neighborhood,Waughwas able to plant additional devices for gathering signals intelligence.But his singletonoperation camewith an unforeseen threat.OsamabinLadenunleashed guard dogs. “He had six or eight big white desert dogs,” recallsWaugh.“Theyweremeaner thansnakes.”Theywould runup toWaughashejoggedby,threateningtosinktheirteethintohisbarelegs.Tocounterthethreat,Waughbeganrunningwitha leadpipe.“Acoupleofsmackson thesnoutandthedogsdecidedIwasn’tworththetrouble,”herecalls.

Mostofthetime,OsamabinLaden’sAfghanbodyguardsletWaughjogby.Sometimes they’d tail him. “They followed me in a vehicle, staying abouttwentyfeetbehindmeasIjogged.IranlikeIwasaboxertrainingforafight.Afterapoint,theguardswouldloseinterest,gettired,andgohome.”Finally,hewasabletogetphotographsfromclosein,whilejoggingbythecompound.

WaughleftSudanandreturnedmonthslater.InFebruary1993,heobservedthe tail end of an assassination attempt against bin Laden at the mosque inOmdurman,onthewesternbanksoftheNile,wheretheAl-Qaedaleaderandhisfollowers were known to pray. A gunman leapt out of a car, sprayed the

worshippers with gunfire, and sped away. Nineteen people inside themosquewere killed, another fifteen worshippers injured.Waugh was at the Gray Foxsafehouseatthetime.“Thetwowould-beassassinsspedacrosstheWhiteNileBridgeanddroveallthewaytobinLaden’shouse,morethantwenty-fivemilesaway,” he recalls. “They were never stopped by the police.” From Waugh’srooftop perch on al-Riyadh Street, he “heard a flurry of gunfire from thedirectionof binLaden’s residence.TwoofbinLaden’sbodyguardswaxed theassassins,butbinLadenescapedunharmed.”SoitwentinKhartoum.

The localpapers reported thearrestofan“IslamistofLibyanoriginwho’dfought inAfghanistan”whowas triedandconvictedof thecrime.Was it true?Had one of bin Laden’s former fighters tried to kill him? “Hard to say,” saysWaugh.Threemonthslater,themanwasexecuted.TheassassinationattemptgotWaughthinking.

“Inmy capacity, I was never in [a position] to make planning decisions,”Waughexplains.“ButsometimespeopleaskedwhatIthoughtwasthebestthingtodo.Sointhisparticularinstance,IdrewupaplantokillbinLaden,”hesays.

ItwasatransitionaltimefortheCIAinKhartoum.Thechiefofstation,code-namedBlackjack,had just left thepost.An intruderhadbroken intohishomethrough awindow in hiswife’s bedroom, and in self-defense he had shot andkilledhim.Thestorynevermade it into the localpress,butBlackjackhadhiscoverblown,andhewasreplacedbyaforty-three-year-oldlongtimeveteranoftheclandestineservicenamedCoferBlack.

As a teenager at theCanterbury Preparatory School, inConnecticut,CoferBlackfirstbecameenamoredwiththeconceptofespionage.Inaninterviewforthisbook,heremembershowheandhisfriendsstayeduplateonenighttryingtoimaginethemostexciting,mostdangerousjobintheworld.“IcameupwithCIA officer,” recalls Black. A decade later, when he was pursuing a PhD ininternational relations at the University of Southern California, he decided toleaveschoolandjointheCIA.

“As a new recruit in 1975,” saysBlack, “Iwas assigned the job ofwatchofficer,monitoringforeigncablesastheycameinfromoverseas.IlearnedaboutthefallofSaigoninrealtime,sittingthereintheoperationscenteroftheCIA.Ithadtohavebeenmyfirstmonthonthejob.”

The event had a profound effect on him, he says, as hewatched somanyevacuees clamoring to get out. “I will never forget the moment. It was totalcollapse.All our efforts, sucked away to nil. I thought tomyself,This shouldneverhappenagain.”Blackvowedtobethemosteffectiveclandestineservice

officerhecouldbe.Headaptedwell toKhartoum.“Ifyouareacounterterrorist,Khartoumwas

theSuperBowl,” saysBlack.“Hezbollah,Hamas, IslamicJihad, theywereallthere in the early 1990s. I’d been doing this kind of work for a long time.[Before Sudan] I administered field operations in Angola for the CIA, withmercenaries.WhenIarrivedinKhartoum,Ihadoperationalexperience.”

WhenBillyWaughpresentedCoferBlackwith thephotographshe tookofOsamabinLaden,Blackwasimpressedbytheclarityandtheproximity.“Billy’snever afraid of putting his personal safety in jeopardy to get the job done,”explainedBlack.Waughrecallsbeingaskedhisopinionregardingwhatmightbedone next with Osama bin Laden. “I said we should kill him,” remembersWaugh,“then takehisbodyandthrowitover thewallof theIranianembassy.SetoffafewflashgrenadestodrawawholebunchofattentiontotheIranians,makepeopleshowupandseewhatwasgoingon.”Waughsatdown,wroteuphis plan, and gave it to Cofer Black to submit to the director of CentralIntelligence.

There are two differing versions of what happened next, one from CoferBlack and the other fromBillyWaugh. “Billy’s conversational remarks aboutUBL[OsamabinLaden]wereneverputto[sic]writingand[never]sentforwardtoWashington,”saysBlack.“ThiswasabadideaforsomanyreasonsIwon’tgofurther.”

Waughtellsadifferentstory.“TheproposalwentallthewaytothedeskofPresident Clinton. I was told he read it, thought about it, and replied in amemorandum thatwent to the director of theCIA.The president’s reply said,andI’m[paraphrasing],‘Wewillnotdothis.Andpleasedonotsuggestthiskindofthingtomeeveragain.’”

Waughwasagroundoperatorandanexpertinirregularwarfare.Heplayedbymanyofthesamerulesofwarastheenemy,themostimportantbeingtherearenorules. Surprise, kill, vanish.Terrorists likeOsamabinLaden lived in adenofsnakesfilledwithrogues,assassins,anddouble-crossers.Waughbelievesintyrannicide,incuttingofftheheadofthesnake.

He leftSudanforanothermission.Thisone involved teaching thenineteensons of HRH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of United ArabEmirates (UAE), how to parachute-jump. But soonWaugh would once againreturn to Sudan. In 1994, Turabi is said to have hosted another conference ofrogues,albeitmuchsmaller thantheconferenceheldin1991.EgyptiandoubleagentAliMohamed,whoworkedforbinLadeninKhartoumwhilealsodouble-

crossingtheU.S.ArmySpecialForces,sayshepersonallysetupthismeeting,whichwasattendedbybinLadenandImadMugniyah.Itisbelievedthatduringthismeeting,MugniyahsharedwithbinLadentechniquesforhowtobuildtruckbombstobeusedinmasscasualtyattacksagainstU.S.embassies.Bythen,theU.S.StateDepartmenthadplacedSudanonitsStateSponsorsofTerrorismlist.

In1995,OsamabinLadenbeganplanning theassassinationofCIAstationchiefCoferBlack. The plot advanced to the pointwhere bin Laden’s fightersrehearsed theambushon the streetsofKhartoum.CIAofficersdetermined thetime and place of the assassination, on a small road near the U.S. embassy.Things escalated.One day, after being aggressively tailed, a CIA paramilitaryteamdrewgunsonagroupofOsamabinLaden’smen.

ThroughtheU.S.ambassadortoSudan,theCIAlodgedanofficialcomplaintandwarnedHassanal-Turabiagainstcarryingouttheassassination.AtLangley,theCIAcreatedaunitdedicatedtogatheringintelligenceonOsamabinLaden.Itwas calledAlec Station. Therewas a long, dangerous road ahead. Bin LadenvowedtoattacktheUnitedStatesfromtheland,thesea,andtheair.Hewouldsucceedoneveryfront.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

OperationLoveStorm

GeorgeH.W.BushhadbeenoutoftheWhiteHouseforlessthanthreemonthswhen,inApril1993,hetraveledtoKuwaitonanofficialvisit.Hewastheretoreceive theMubarak the Greatmedal, the nation’s highest civilian award, forhaving pushed the Persian Gulf War Resolution of 1991 through Congress,authorizingtheuseofU.S.militaryforceagainstIraq, thenoccupyingKuwait.TheresulthadbeenOperationDesertStorm.

It was a lavish celebration resplendent with swordsmen, drummers, andhundredsofcheeringchildrenwavingflags.TheKuwaitipresscalledthethree-dayaffairOperationLoveStorm.TheemirofKuwait,SheikJaberal-Ahmedal-Sabah, thanked the former president for the 541,000 U.S. military personnelwho’d helped free Kuwait the year before. “This award [is] in gratitude andappreciation for your enormous efforts in liberatingKuwait and your servicestoward world peace,” said the emir. George H. W. Bush responded in kind.“Mere words cannot express how proud I feel to be here with you on thehallowed ground of Kuwait,” he said. The emir then knighted the formerpresident and presented him with the Mubarak the Great medal, named forKuwait’sfounder,whofamouslyassassinatedtwoofhishalf-brothers—politicalrivals—toascendthethrone.

Allwentwell during the festivities. The emir neglected tomention to anyU.S. official that a team of sixteen assassins had tried to assassinate formerpresidentBushwithapowerfulcarbomb.NotforanothertwoweekswouldtheClinton White House learn about the alleged plot. Richard Clarke, specialassistanttothepresident,laterwrotethathewasthefirstpersontohearaboutit.“IwasreadingheadlinesfromanArab-languagenewspaper,”saysClarke,when

“Isawasubject line thatgrabbedmyeye.”AshSharqAlAwsatwas reportingthat a band of Iraqi assassins had tried to kill Bush when he was in Kuwait.“There had been no such report from the Secret Service, FBI, CIA, or theembassy,” Clarke insists. Alarmed by this news, Clarke telephoned the U.S.ambassadorinKuwait,RyanCrocker.

Did Crocker know anything about an attempted assassination of formerpresidentBush,Clarkeasked?Hadheseen thearticle inAshSharqAlAwsat?The ambassador said no, that this near attack was news to him. Clarke thencalledAnthonyLake,PresidentClinton’snational-securityadvisor.

“SaddamtriedtokillBush,”hesaid.“The next morning there was a sealed envelope on my desk,” remembers

Clarke, “amessage so sensitive that it could not be sent tome electronicallyfromtheSituationRoom.”ClarkelearnedthatseventeenmenaccusedofbeingtheassassinswerepresentlybeingheldinaKuwaitiprison.ThemoretheWhiteHouse staff learned about the plot, the crazier it seemed to get. Two of theprisoners, both Iraqi nationals, had implicated the Iraqi intelligence service,suggesting a conspiracy. Clarke advised Anthony Lake to have the StateDepartmentputpressureonKuwaittofindoutwhat,exactly,wasgoingon.Whyhad theKuwaitis told a newspaper about the conspiracy before they’d sharedinformationwiththeirfriendsintheUnitedStates?

“Theyhavetocomecleanwithus,”ClarkerecallsLaketellinghim.Thefactthat the Clinton White House was just now learning about this assassinationattemptmadethenewpresidentlookweak.

Ambassador Crocker telephoned Kuwait’s minister of defense. “Details oftheplotwerenot suppliedat the timebecausePresidentBushwasonhiswayhome and the plot had been thwarted,” the defense minister said. He toldCrockerthatthegovernmentofKuwaitwasmovingforwardwithatrial.

TheWhiteHousedemandedimmediateaccess toall theprisoners.Becausethe attack was against a former U.S. president, the CIA and FBI had to beallowed to conduct their own independent criminal investigations, the WhiteHouse said.OnApril 29, 1993,CIA officers from theCounterterroristCenterand FBI agents arrived in Kuwait City to interview suspects and examineevidence.Fromthere,anarrativeemerged.

The group of assassins and accomplices included four Iraqis, oneKuwait-born Iraqi national, and twelve stateless Bedouins. The information the CIAfoundmostcrediblecamefromthegroup’sringleader,aformermilitaryofficerturned nurse,Wali al-Ghazali. TheCIA accessed his records and learned he’d

beentrainedtouseexplosivesasamemberofIraq’snationalguard.In1993,hewas working at Al-Najaf Hospital outside Basra, he said, when militaryintelligenceserviceagents,theMukhabarat,informedhimhewasbeingsentonamission he could not refuse: “to assassinate the former president [Bush as]revengeforthedevastationcausedbyCoalitionforcesduringOperationDesertStorm.”TheMukhabarat,alsoknownastheDepartmentofGeneralIntelligence,was themostheavy-handed instrumentof Iraq’sstatesecuritysystem.With itsmultipledivisions,ordirectorates,theorganizationwasfundamentaltoSaddamHussein’s preservation of autocratic rule. Like most Iraqi citizens, al-Ghazaliknewbetterthantochallengearequest.Fearingretributionagainsthisfamily,heagreedtotakepartintheMukhabarat’sassassinationoperation.

TakingadvantageoftheporousKuwait-Iraqborder,hewastoldtoposeasawhiskey smuggler and infiltrate Kuwait with a car bomb: he was to park thevehicleonabusyKuwaitCity street and thendetonate thebomb remotely, asPresidentBush’smotorcadedroveby.TheMukhabaratprovidedal-GhazaliwithaLandCruiserprefittedwithexplosivedevicesthathadbeensolderedintotheside panels. He was given two Browning pistols with suppressors, two landmines, two hand grenades, an AK-47, a passport from the UAE, a case ofcontrabandwhiskey,$1,100incash,andasuicidebelt.Ifthecarbombfailedtodetonate,al-GhazaliwastowalktoKuwaitUniversity,getasclosetoPresidentBush as possible, and detonate the explosives belt as a fedayeen, or suicidebomber. Directions understood, Wali Al-Ghazali set off into the night,accompaniedbythestatelessBedouins.

TheassassinscrossedtheborderintoKuwaitanddrovetheLandCruisertoapredesignatedrendezvouspoint ina towncalledAl-Jahra.There, theyhid inagoatbarnbelongingtoanuncleofoneoftheBedouins.Themendranksomeofthewhiskey theyweregiven and fell asleep.When they awoke, thegoat barnwas surrounded by Kuwaiti police. Al-Ghazali said that he and two othersescaped,stoleavehicle,andspedtowardIraq.Buttheircarbrokedownandtheywereforcedtoabandonitonthesideoftheroad.Astheywalkedintothedesert,theywerespottedbylocalbirdhuntersandreportedandarrestedbyaKuwaitipolicepatrol.

It’simpossibletoknowifthetestimonywasfabricatedthroughcoercion,oragenuineaccountofanactualassassinationplot.ThedeclassifiedfindingsbytheFBIforensicsteamwereequallyvague.“ThecarbombfoundinKuwaitcloselyresembles the corresponding components of Iraqi-made bombs that wererecovered in February 1991 during Operation Desert Storm,” the report

indicates, with details redacted. FBI agents warranted that the bomb’s fusingsystem,faceplates,andradio-controlledreceivingdevices,aswellasthetypeofcircuitboardsused,gaveagentswhattheyfeltwas“arecognizablesignature”toaknownIraqibombmakeraffiliatedwiththeMukhabarat.“Thewiresranundertheon-offswitchandweresolderedtothecircuitboardinauniquelyexpertway,provingthatthesamepersonwasresponsible.”Afterpagesrifewithredactions,theFBIforensicsteamreachedaconclusion:“ExaminationofothercomponentsusedintheexplosivedevicesrecoveredinKuwait, togetherwithacomparisonof the techniques used to assemble them, once again provided ample proof ofdirect Iraqi responsibility.” Ample proof is hardly the same as beyond areasonabledoubt,butthetrialwasbeingheldinKuwait,nottheUnitedStates.

CIA officers with the CTC included Saddam Hussein’s long history ofassassinationsandsummaryexecutionsinitsreportforPresidentClinton.Sinceassumingpower in the late1970s,SaddamHusseinhadordered thekillingsofpolitical rivals andpeoplehe felthadbetrayedhim.Religiousclerics,KurdishPeshmerga leaders, and scientists who attempted to defect had been shot,strangled,andblownupbytheMukhabarat.

After the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein became more emboldened with hisplots, CTC officers wrote, exemplified in an assassination attempt againstDanielleMitterrand, thewife of theFrenchpresident, ninemonths before.OnJuly6,1992,Mrs.Mitterrandwastravelinginadiplomaticconvoythroughthetown of Sulaimaniya, in northern Iraq, when a parked Toyota Land Cruiserexplodedintoasixty-foot-highfireball.Sheescapedinjury,butfourmembersofher security detail were killed and nineteen others wounded—mostly peoplewho’d gathered towave as she passed by. This brazen attack,wrote theCIA,“demonstrated [Saddam Hussein’s] willingness to disregard internationalopinionandpossiblemilitaryretaliation.”

Therewereotherwarningsigns,wroteCTCanalysts,includingBa’athPartythreats against President Bush. Shortly before the plot unfolded, Iraqigovernmentofficialshintedataforthcomingattack.“Bushwillbekilledbasedonauniversaljudicialsystem,”Saddam’spresssecretarytoldareporterforAl-Thawrah, one “that goesbeyond the lawof the jungle.”AnotherBa’athPartyofficial promised, “This [President] will be cursed, along with his ancestors,until the day of judgment”—that “he and others would be hunted down andpunished…heldpersonally responsible foreachdropofbloodspilledon Iraqisoil.”

What to do? President Clinton called his advisors to the Oval Office.

SecretaryofStateWarrenChristophersaid,“Aplottokillaformerpresidentisan attack against our nation.” President Clinton agreed. He ordered the JointChiefsofStaffandtheCIAtodevelopatargetlist.Thetargetswouldincludetheheadquartersbuildingof theMukhabarat.The strike shouldoccuratnight, theJointChiefsofStaffsaid,tominimizecasualties.ColinPowellsuggestedcruisemissileslaunchedfromadestroyerintheRedSea.

OnJune26,1993,twenty-threeTomahawkcruisemissileswerelaunchedatBaghdad,levelingmuchoftheIraqiintelligenceheadquartersandkillinganightwatchman.Threeof themissilesmissed their targetsandexploded inanearbyresidential neighborhood, killing eight civilians. Among the dead were thedirector of theSaddamHusseinCenter for theArts, a painter namedLeila al-Attar,herhusband,andtheirhousekeeper.Thecouple’ssonanddaughterwerebothseriously injured.Al-AttarwasreportedlyaclosefriendofSaddam’s;herhomehadbeenhitbyamissileinthePersianGulfWar,andshehadsufferedaseriouswoundtoherleg.Nowshewasdead.

In a nationally televised speech, President Clinton called the assassinationplot against former presidentBush “particularly loathsome and cowardly” and“revengebyatyrant.”ButtheU.S.responsewasnotanattempttokillSaddamHussein,hesaid,ratherameanstopreventfutureattacks.Itwastwodayslaterthat the twenty-three cruise missiles were fired. Madeleine Albright, U.S.ambassador to the United Nations, citing Article 51 of the United NationsCharter,saidthatAmericawasexercisingitslegalrighttoself-defense.

In Baghdad, anti-American crowds held demonstrations in the streets.“RevengetoAmerica!”theychanted.“ShameonAmerica!Glorytothemartyrsof Iraq.” They issued a warning to America’s new president: “Clinton, payattention;wearethepeoplewhotoppledBush!”

It was the fall of 1993, and LewMerletti sat at his desk inside the Treasurybuilding, surrounded by piles of paperwork. He was no longer on thePresidential Protective Division and on rare occasions would stop to wonderhowonearthhe’dwoundup inaplacedoingexactly theoppositeofwhatheexcelledat.Formorethanadecadehehadbeeninthepresident’sinnercircle;nowhewasbeingaskedtoserveasabureaucrat.“ItwasthejobIwasassignedtodo,andIacceptedthat.Butitwasreallydepressing,”Merlettirecalls.HefeltlikeBillyWaughdidwhenhewasworkingatthepostofficeafterVietnam.

Everything had been going so well back in 1992. As the assistant to thespecialagentinchargeofthepresidentduringtheGulfWar,Merlettihadbeen

entrusted with tremendous responsibility. When President Bush and GeneralSchwarzkopf traveled to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm,Merlettiwasinchargeoftheirsecurity.BecauseofhiscombatexperiencesasaGreenBeretinVietnam,hefeltentirelyconfidentintherole.Hismissionshadallbeenasuccess.Andnow,twentymonthslater,herehewassittingatadesk,loadeddownbypaperwork.

Priortothepresidentialelectionof1992,MerlettiwasselectedbytheSecretServicetoassumethetoppositioninthePresidentialProtectiveDivision—wereGeorgeH.W.Bushtobereelected.WhenBillClintonwontheelectioninstead,Merletti was assigned to the Treasury Department, the organization thatgovernedtheU.S.SecretService.

At Treasury, he had been asked to lead the team investigating what wentwronginWaco,Texas,whenfederalagentsraidedthecompoundofareligiouscultsuspectedofstockpilingillegalweapons,andseventy-sixpeopledied.ThefiascowouldbecomeknownastheWacosiege.Merletti’sofficialtitlesummedup the labyrinthine world into which he’d been pulled. He was the deputydirectorofthereviewteamfortheReportoftheDepartmentoftheTreasuryontheBureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Investigation ofVernonWayneHowell,alsoknownasDavidKoresh.

Theworkwas laborious and painstaking. It was not pleasant investigatingwhere fellowcivil servantswentwrong.Because the investigationwas such ahigh-profileevent,asthetoplawenforcementofficerontheteam,Merlettiwasunwittinglyshovedintothelimelight.WhenitcametimetoreportthefindingstoCongress,hissituationwentfrombadtoworse.“TheTreasuryDepartment’stoplawenforcementofficerhastoldfederalfirearmsadministratorsthataprobeinto theirFeb.28 raiduncovered ‘seriouserrors inagents’ judgment,’and thatsomeofficialshadknowinglymademisleadingstatementsabouttheraidtotheirsuperiors and to themedia,” reported theWashington Post. “People lost theirjobs,”Merlettiexplains.Thenaverystrangethinghappened.

“At the congressional hearing, under oath, a congressman said tome, ‘I’dlike tomeet the individualwhowas inchargeof this report,’”Merletti recalls.Theinitialtoneofthecongressman,afellowRepublican,atfirstledMerlettitobelieve that he was expressing appreciation for the truth. Most Republicansseemedtowantblamelaidat thefeetofPresidentClinton,whichtheTreasuryReporthaddeterminedshouldnothappen.

“Iwrotethereport,”Merlettitoldthecongressman.“Helookedatme,”recallsMerletti,“andhistoneswitched.Hesaid,‘I just

hadtomeetthepersonwhowrotethispackoflies.’”Merletti was stunned. “So you’re a Clinton guy,” the congressman said,

smirking.Inthatmoment,Merlettiunderstood“itwasallpolitics.”AsaSecretServiceagent,LewMerlettiwastrainedtoleavepoliticsoutof

thejob.“Theofficeofthepresidentiswhatmatters,”heexplains.“Thereisaninstitution to uphold.Weused to have a sign on thewall in theWhiteHouse[field]office that said, ‘Youelect ’em,we’llprotect ’em.’Weallworkedwiththatconceptinmind.”

That Merletti was no longer on the Presidential Protective Division hadnothingtodowithpolitics,hetoldhimself;ithadtodowithcircumstance.HereportedtheWacofailingshe’ddiscoveredbecauseitwasthetruth,notbecausehewasaDemocrat—whichhewasn’t.

Severaldayslater,hereceivedwordthatPresidentClintonwantedtoseehimintheOvalOffice.

“Iwent intohisoffice,”Merletti recalls. “Iwas told tobringacopyof thereport.Thepresidentgavemeacomplimentregardingthework.Hepointedtothereportandaskedtoautographitforme.”

Therewasalongpause,Merlettirecalled.Thenthepresidentspokecandidly.“Hesaidsomethingtotheeffectof,‘Youdidagoodjobupthere,’meaningonCapitolHill.Hesaidthathe[andhisstaff]knewtheinvestigationwasgoingtobepoliticizedandtheywere[aware]thatI[probably]hadnoideamytestimonywasgoingtobeaboutthat.”ThepresidentwasthankingLewMerlettiforbeingapolitical.Themeetingwasover,andMerlettiwenthometohisfamily.

Perhaps President Clinton said something to the director of the SecretService,ortothespecialagentinchargeofthePresidentialProtectiveDivision,ormaybewhathappenednextwascircumstantial.Eitherway,Merletti’slifewasabouttochange.

On September 12, 1994, seventy miles north of the White House, nearAberdeen,Maryland,anunemployedtruckdrivernamedFrankEugeneCorderspenttheeveningwithhisbrother,drinkingalcoholandsmokingcrackcocaine.Aroundmidnight,CorderaskedhisbrothertodrophimoffnearasmallairportinChurchville.Once there,Cordersomehowmanaged toscale the fence,dropdownontothetarmac,andstealaCessnaaircraft.Highondrugs,hetaxieddowntherunwayandtookoffintothenightsky.

Corder was not a licensed pilot but had taken a few Cessna lessons thesummerbefore,apparently learningenoughtoallowhimtofly thestolencraftoverPennsylvaniaandMarylandforroughlyfortyminutes.At1:06a.m.,FAA

radarsystemsatBaltimore/WashingtonInternationalAirportdetectedtheaircraftandnotedthatitwas6.5milesnorthoftheWhiteHouse,flyingatanaltitudeof2,700feet.Theplanedroppedto1,000feet,turnedaround,andheadedsouth.At1:48,itenteredtheprohibitedairspaceoftheWhiteHousecomplexandbegandescending rapidly. With its wing flaps up and its throttle position in full-forward, Corder crashed the Cessna onto the lawn, skidded across the grass,struck a magnolia tree, and slammed into the first floor of theWhite House,killing himself. President Clinton and his family were across PennsylvaniaAvenueatBlairHouseforthenight.

Itwasacalamitoussecuritybreach,madeworsebyaninterviewtheSecretService gave toNewsweek magazine. “National [airport] shuts down at 11:00p.m. and controllers in the tower were absorbed in other duties,” an officialspokesmansaid.Whenthereporteraskedhowthatwasevenpossible,whytheFAAhadn’tdetectedthesecuritybreach,theofficialsaid,“TheFAAisn’treallyin thebusinessofprotecting thepresident fromflying suicides.”Towhich theNewsweekreporterresponded,“Thatleavestherealquestion:whois?”

Theentireeventwasadisaster.ToLewMerletti’seye,presidentialprotectionwas contingent on three fundamentals that never changed. The world is adangerousplace;itdoesn’tmatterwho’stoblame,onlythatyoudefendagainstit;theU.S.SecretServicemustneverappearweak.Anattackcouldcomefromanywhere, including a lone wolf, a terrorist organization, or a foreigngovernment.

Because Merletti had foreseen this kind of attack from above—thePresidentialProtectiveDivisionhadtrainedforitduringtheDeltaForceHALOassassin AOP exercise—he was called to the White House. Secret Servicedirector Eljay B. Bowron asked him how security could be tightened. Thesedetails, like all Secret Service protocols, are classified. Bowron also askedMerlettitocometotheSecretServiceteamroomintheWhiteHouse,totalktothe PPD agents about what it meant to protect the president. The speech isclassified,butLewMerlettisayshewroteitwithhisoldfriendMikeKuropasinmind.BowrontransferredMerlettibacktotheWhiteHousePPD.Hewouldnowserveasdeputyspecialagentincharge,whichmeanthewasthenumbertwoinchargeofthesafetyandsecurityofthepresidentoftheUnitedStates.

In the middle of October, President Clinton called Lew Merletti into hisoffice to tellhim toprepare for travel toSyria, Jordan,Egypt,and Israel.Thiswas one of the most difficult and dangerous parts of the world in which toprotectthepresidentoftheUnitedStatesagainstassassinationattempts.

LewMerlettiwasreadyforthejob.

CHAPTERTWENTY

CarlostheJackal

ItwasChristmastimewhenBillyWaughwas summoned tohisCIA reportingsite innorthernVirginia.Hewasbeing sentonaTopSecretgamma-classifiedmissionasthesenioroperatoronafour-personreconnaissanceandsurveillanceteam. During the classified briefing, Waugh learned that the target was IlichRamirezSanchez,nomdeguerreCarlos theJackal, themastermindbehind thespectacular 1975 OPEC siege. Unseen for years and believed by many to bedead,hewasnowhidingoutinKhartoum.CIAchiefofstationCoferBlackwasdeterminedtogethim.

TheCIAdidn’twanttokillCarlostheJackal—theywantedtocapturehim.Foreighteenyearshe’dbeeninhiding,abletofunctionoutofreachofInterpol,the CIA, the FBI, Mossad, and France’s General Directorate for ExternalSecurity(DGSE).Eachhadplacedasignificantbountyon information leadingto his arrest. The Jackal moved around the globe as the guest of one statesponsorofterror(officialandunofficial)afterthenext:Libya,Syria,Cuba,Iraq,Hungary,Romania.FortheCIA,learningwhathisquidproquowaswiththesecountries would help the Counterterrorist Center better understand how theglobal terrorist network worked—how assassins operated and who pulled thestrings.

“Carlos the Jackal was a dangerous killer who’d machine-gunned downpeoplewhowereafterhim,”CoferBlackexplainedin2017.“BillyWaughwastheperfectperson”toconductahidden-handoperationtocapturehim.

On December 13, 1993, Waugh flew from Dulles Airport to Frankfurt toKhartoum.Hisdiplomaticpassport saidheworked for theU.S.DepartmentofState.LookingdownoverKhartoumasheflewin,heobservedtheWhiteRiver

andtheBlueNile.Thedirtstreets.Theramshacklehousesmadeofmudandtin,allbarelyvisiblethroughathickbrownhazethathunglikefog.“BeinginSudanwas like being behind enemy lines,” Waugh recalls. “It’s a nonpermissiveenvironment.Everystepmustbetakenwithgreatcare.”

At the airport, he showed his credentials. A Dinka woman examined hispassport and marked his travel bags with white chalk, indicating he was adiplomatandcouldnotbesearched.Insidethebagswerechemicalsnecessarytodevelopfilm.

BythetimeWaughgottohisembassy-ownedvilla,itwaspastcurfew.He’dbeen stopped by soldiers, called Jundis, on theway in and had given them acarton of cigarettes as a bribe. The U.S. sanctions against Sudan had mademoney even tighter, and everyonewas looking for a bribe.At the safe house,Waugh’steammateswerewaitingupforhim.Theyallhadlast-namealiasesandwoulduse their regular firstnames:Billy,Greg,Don,Santos.The team talkedforhours.First thing in themorning,Waughacclimatedhimself to thecitybyheadingoutforajog,thequickestwaytoreestablishareafamiliarization.

Backtothevilla,theteamclimbedintotheirLandCruiserandheadedtotheU.S. embassy complex on Abdel Latif Avenue. The pace of the SudaneseintelligenceserviceshadpickedupsincethebinLadenjob,Waughnoted.Thevehicle they were driving in was almost immediately tailed. A white ToyotapickuptruckfilledwithsoldierscarryingAK-47sfollowedalongafewcarsbackinasignatureshowofforce.

TheLandCruisercrossedtherailroadbridgeandheadedintoKhartoumCityand over to theU.S. embassy compound. In the parking lot there, the guards,Dinkatribesmenandmarinecorpscommanders,keptdiligentwatch.The teampassedthroughheavysecurityandtraveleduptothethirdfloor,wheretheCIAstation was then located, next to the Regional Security Office, the StateDepartment’s lawenforcementagencyresponsible forall in-countrypersonnel.Theymadetheirwaythroughanentrylock,pastthepasscodepanel,andthroughseveralmoredoorsbeforetheywerefinallyinside.

CoferBlack led themeeting.EverybodywantedCarlos theJackal,he said.Mossadwanted him. Francewanted him. The FBIwanted him. TheCIAwasgoingtogethim.Butthefirstpartoftheequationhadbeenthemostdifficulttodate:identifyingwhoCarlostheJackalactuallywas.Noonecouldsayforsure,sincetherehadnotbeenaphotographtakenofIlichRamirezSanchezinroughlyeightyears.In1985,theHungariansecurityserviceshadsecretlymadeavideoofhimmeetingwiththeirchiefofsecurity.Lookingfat,slovenly,andunshaven,

CarlostheJackalpleadedthathenotbeforcedtoleaveHungary.Theimagewasalltheteamhadtogoonfornow.TheJackalwasaheavydrinkerandsmoker,apartier in declininghealth.But how to find a single, debauched-lookingwhiteman—whohappenedtobeamostwantedperson—inachaotic,lawlesscityofoveramillionpeople?Thiswasthefirstcriticalpartofthejob:photographtheJackaltoestablishproofoflife.

It was the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate (GID), Jordan’sequivalentoftheCIA,thathadprovidedtheinitialintelligencethatindicatedtheJackal hadmoved to Khartoum. Under the pretense of being aMuslim, IlichRamirez Sanchez hadmarried a second time, a twenty-six-year-old Jordaniannamed Lana Abdel Salem Jarrar. GID tracked the two of them to Khartoum.Jordanian intelligence provided the CIA with a photograph of Jarrar. InKhartoum,theJackalstartedmakingmistakes.

“Itwashislackofdisciplinethatwouldleadtohisdownfall,”recallsWaugh.Hisfirstmistakewasgettingdrunkandstartingafight.“Hegotintoanargumentwithashopkeeperandpulledagunontheman,whichlandedhiminjail.Localpolice do not take kindly to foreigners. He had to call Turabi, President al-Bashir’ssecretarygeneral,tocomegethimout.”Thatwasonlythefirstmistake,saysWaugh.“Hedecideditwastimetogethimselfaforeignbodyguard.Thatwasthefatalmove.”

CarlostheJackalmadeaninternationalcalltooneofhisoldassociatesfromthedaysoftheBlackSeptemberterroristattacks.TheIsraeliIntelligenceCorpspicked up the signals intelligence. Theman, believed to be an Iraqi national,wentbythealiasTarek.MossadprovidedtheCIAwiththisfirstrealbreakinthecase.TheyhadphotographsofTarek,whichwere sent to theCIA’sKhartoumstationviasecurefax.

“We all studied the photographs carefully,” remembersWaugh. “Whatwasunusual about Tarekwas that he lookedCaucasian,withwhitewavy hair.Hewasaround fortyyearsoldand fit.Hehadbigmuscles, likeabodybuilderonsteroids.”

Waugh was assigned the job of photographing Tarek when he arrived atKhartoumInternationalAirport.ButCarlostheJackalhadfriendsinhighplaces.A state-sponsored handler met Tarek before he entered the public area andcovertlyescortedhimaway,throughanairportsidedoor.

On January 20, 1994, Waugh and Greg went to the Meridian Hotel on areconnaissance mission. Carlos the Jackal frequented international hotels—alcoholwas served—and itmade sense he’d send his new bodyguard to case

these places in advance. Disguised as businessmen eating dinner,Waugh andGreg spottedTarek sittingon a couch in the lobby, doing a crosswordpuzzle.Hotelclerkswereknowntobeonthepayrollof thesecretpolice, thePoliticalSecurity Organization. Hanging out doing surveillance was not an option, soWaugh and Greg finished their dinner, went outside, and sat in their parkedvehicle.Withasolidviewofthefrontexit,theywaited.

Aftersometime,Tareksaunteredout.Hewalkeduptoawhite1990ToyotaCressida, license plate 1049, and climbed inside.Thiswas a tremendous lead.Nowitwastimetofollowhim.TarekpulledoutofthelotanddrovetowardtheBlueNileRiver.HemadeanimmediateU-turn,tradecraftforhowtoloseatail.WaughandGregfollowedhimforafewblocks,butafterafewmoreU-turnsitwas time to drop the surveillance. Back at the CIA station,Waugh and Gregshared their findings with Cofer Black. “The search was narrowing in focus,whichmeantitwasgainingmomentum,”saysWaugh.

Over the next fewweeks the team divided up, eachman spending sixteenhoursadaysearchingforthewhiteCressida,licenseplate1049.Eachmemberoftheteamhadaportableradiothatwaslinkedbacktoacommsystemat theCIAstation.Thisenabled themto trackoneanother’swhereaboutsatall timesandtocommunicatewiththeKhartoumstationinrealtime.Transmissionswereencrypted. “Anyone trying to listen in to what we were doing would hearnothingbutloudnoise,likehowlingwind,”recallsWaugh.

Eachman had a specific talent, just as in Special Forces operations. TeammemberDon,aformerpoliceofficer,wasararegeniusinvehiclesearches,saysWaugh. He had a remarkable ability to recognize vehicles and identify platesfromgreatdistances, almost a sixth sense.Witha list of theplacesCarlos theJackalwasmost likely tovisit, theywaitedandwatched.TheMeridianHotel,the Hilton Hotel, and the Diplomatic Club were the three top spots. EveryThursday night, theDiplomaticClub threw a huge party, completewith discodancingandafullbar.Itwaslocatedfifteenmilesoutsidethecitycenter.OnthefirstThursdayinFebruary,theCressidawasspottedintheparkinglot.

Waughpickedup the car as it left thedisco andheadednorth.Trafficwascrazyouthereinthesuburbs,withcars,trucks,anddonkeycartsallfightingforaspaceonthedirtroad.Therewerenolightsandlotsoftallpeoplemeanderingacross the road.He lost the car in no time and headed back to theKhartoumstation. The excitement of locating theCressidawore off, followed by a longperiodofsurveillance.Theywerebacktogroundzero,thehuntforthevehicle.Afterdaysofsearching,excitementgaveway tomonotony.Theysearched the

cityinvain,eighteenhoursaday.MostoftheapartmentcomplexesinKhartoumwere surrounded by ten-foot-tall mud walls. Trying to find Tarek felt likesearchingforaneedleinahaystack.

When he wasn’t out conducting surveillance, Waugh practiced his photo-developingskillsintheCIAphotographiclaboratorylocatedintheU.S.embassycompound, on the sixth floor. Developing film inKhartoumwas challenging.Thewatercameoutof thepipessomewherearound90degreesFahrenheit.Togetaproperwaterbathcooleddowntobetweentherequisite68to70degreesFahrenheit involved theskillfuluseof icecubes.WaughandGregwere insidethe film lab when the encrypted radio sprang to life. Don had spotted theCressidainKhartoum’sNewAdditionneighborhood.IthadjustpulleduptoIbnKhaldoun Hospital, on Nineteenth Street. Waugh told Don to take up asurveillanceposition.Ifthecarmoved,hesaid,followit.

WaughandGreghurriedoutofthelab,downtheembassy’sprivateelevator,andout into theparking lot.The twoPSOintelligenceofficersassigned to tailthemhadfallenasleepintheirpickuptruck.WaughandGregclimbedintotheirLandCruiser and began driving fast, headed toward the hospital.Waugh toldGreg toopen the lockbox thatwaswelded to the floor, takeout thecamera, a35mmCanonF-80witha300mmlens,andassembleit.

Fiveminuteslater,theywereatthehospital.WaughspottedDon’scar,drovepastit,andpulledhisvehicleintoaspottwentymetersawayfromtheCressida.Fromhisbackwindow,henowhadaclearshotofTarek’scar.“Less than tenminutesbefore,we’dbeeninthelabattheembassy,mixingchemicals.”

Twowhitemen sitting in a carwould surely get the attention of the ever-presentPSO.WaughtoldGregtheplan.Onthedirtshoulderoftheroad,therewas a vendor selling wares. Greg should go over there and consider buyingsomething.Hangout.WaituntilCarlostheJackalexitedthehospital.Thenmakesomekindofcommotiontogetattention.

Waugh got out of theLandCruiser and opened the hood. Feigning enginetrouble,hefiddledaroundinside.Then,leavingthehoodopen,heclimbedbackinside and set up the camera, using the space between the front seat and itsheadrestasaplatformforthelonglens.Hefocusedthelensonthehospitalexitdoors.“AsIwasadjustingthelens,thefaceofaprettywomancameintofocus,”herecalls.“ItwasLana,Carlos’ssecondwife.”Hequicklysnappedfourorfivepictureshebelievedwereproperlyfocusedandframed.AsLanaJarrarwalkedtoward the Cressida, there was a sudden outburst near where the vendor wassellinghiswares,onthedirtshoulderoftheroad.

“You’ve cheated me!” Greg shouted at the vendor. Agitated, like he waswillingtofight.Waughwatchedasthemanstoodup.“Hewasaboutsevenfeettall,”recallsWaugh.HetoweredoverGreg.

Gregcontinuedtoplaytheroleofthecustomerwho’dbeencheated.Waughkept his lens trained on the hospital door.Aman emerged. “Caucasian, in hisforties.Wellgroomed,withreddishhair,combedback.Amustache.Fat:fortyorfiftypoundsoverweight,”recallsWaugh.Hecarriedasmallweaponsbagoveroneshoulder.“Ispotteda legholsternearhis rightankle.Heworeashooter’svest.Sleevelessandwithpocketsinthefront.Behindhim,ablackAfricanmanwascarryingalargemanilaenvelopeinonehand.”FollowingtheJackaltohiscar.

Greg continued arguing with the tall Dinka vendor. “The situation hadescalated tosuchadegree,” recallsWaugh, that ithad theattentionof“the fatmanwho’demergedfromthehospital.”

Click. Click. Click. Waugh took photographs of Carlos the Jackal. Onephotograph after the next, until he’d used the entire roll of film. Lana Jarrarclimbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. Carlos climbed into thepassengerseatasthehospitaltechniciansetthelargemanilaenvelopeinsidethecar, on the backseat. X-rays, thought Waugh. There was a quick exchangebetweenWaughandGreg.Timetoclosedowntheoperation,Waughsaid.Gregpulleda largebill fromhiswalletandpaid theunwittingDinkavendor forhistroubles. It was time to get out of there, fast. The Cressida pulled out of itsparkingspot.Ahead,WaughwatchedDonpulloutofhisspotandfollowalong.WaughandGregheadedbacktotheembassy.

“WetriedgettingCoferBlackontheencryptedradio,buthewasnowheretobe found.” At the embassy, they rushed into the photo lab. “It was the mostimportantrolloffilmI’dhandledtodate,”recallsWaugh.

Undertheglowoftheredlightbulb,Waughworkedpatientlytogetthewaterbathtotheprecisetemperature.Afewdegreesoffandhecouldruinthefilm.Itwasquietinthelab.ThesmelloftheGermanphotographicchemicalsfilledhissenses.Whenhewasconfidenttheelementswerecorrect,hedevelopedthefilm.Was thisCarlos the Jackal?Thepictureswere sharp.Clear. “The target jumpsout at you,” remembers Waugh. “And for a minute, it’s like you’ve alreadycapturedhim.”

Rightafterthefilmwasdeveloped,Doncalled.He’dtailedtheCressidatoanapartmentcomplexinaresidentialarea,wherethecarwasnowparkedbehindagate.He’dobservedthemanandthewomanwalkupaflightofstairsandhead

inside. It was very likely that this waswhere Carlos the Jackal lived.Waughcontinued developing the film. Waugh and Greg couldn’t wait to tell CoferBlack.Morethantwohourshadpassedandtheystillhadn’theardfromhim.

“Screwit,”thoughtWaugh.“IdecidedtobreakprotocolanddrivetoCofer’shousemyself.”

WaughandGregdroveoutoftheembassy,downalongtheBlueNileRiver,past theChineseembassy,pastTurabi’shome,pastwheretheaspiringterroristOsama bin Laden lived. They drove over to the eastern side of the al-RiyadhneighborhoodwhereCoferBlackresided.“Wesaidhellototheguard,whorangthebell.”CoferBlackemergedinrunningattire.

“I’dbeenexercisinginmyhome,”Blackrecalls.“Iaskedthemwhatinhelltheywanted.Whatwassoimportantitcouldn’twait.”

BillyWaughhandedCoferBlackanenvelopecontainingthephotographs.“JesusChrist,Billy,”BlackrecallstellingWaugh.“ThisisCarlos’sgoddamn

wife.”“Keeplooking,”Billysaid.Theymovedinsidethehouse,whereBlackspreadthephotographsoutacross

hisdiningroomtable.“Whothehelltookthese?”heasked.Greg said Waugh did. Two hours before, outside Ibn Khaldoun Hospital.

Time to get the photos toCIAheadquarters inDC,CoferBlack said.At 2:00a.m., a lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Department of State diplomatic staffboarded a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, continuing on to Dulles Airport inVirginia.TwoCIAofficersmetthelieutenantcolonelattheplane.

“Cofer sometimes said I took actions without bothering to think of thepossible repercussions, which was sometimes true,” Waugh recalled in 2017.“That’swhatitmeanstobeanindependentcontractor.Asingleton.Youcandothe job. Get it done, without having the CIA monitor your every move. Itinvolvesrisk.Youcan’tmakeamistakeoryourbacongetskickedout.Whenitpaysoff,itpaysoffbig-time.”

The photographs went to the seventh floor at CIA headquarters at Langley.There, twodivisionchiefsgave theiropinions.Next,anagencyoperative flewthe pictures back the other way to Amman, where Jordanian intelligenceconfirmedthatthiswasIlichRamirezSanchez.TheCIAwantedtocapturehim.The paramilitary operation needed tomove fast, but not too fast. There werespieseverywhere.IftheJackalgotwindofthefactthattheAgencyhadlocatedhimandwouldnowcreateaplantocapturehim,he’dgetoutofKhartoumfast.

ShortlyaftertheJordaniansconfirmedtheJackal’sidentity,alocalassettoldhishandlerthatCarloswasmovingtoCyprus,transitingthroughCairo.Waughand a teamwere sent to the Africa terminal of Cairo International Airport toconduct surveillance. For six days, they watched the terminal. Carlos nevershowedup.“Covertactionisnotallaction.Sometimesyousitaroundboredoutofyourmind.Alotofyourtimeisspentrunningdownabadtip,”saysWaugh.In March, Cofer Black authorized a team to watch the house that Don hadidentified. They located a dilapidated six-story apartment building across thestreet. The apartment on the top floor had a direct line of sight to Carlos’sbuilding.Itwasperfect.

“Itwas a hellhole,” recallsWaugh. “Filthy beyondwhat you can imagine.Ceilingscrumblingdown.Holesinthewall.Norunningwater,notoilet.Butithadadirectviewoftheentranceandexit.AndtheToyotaCressidaparkedrightoutfront.”

Waugh and Santos told the building manager that they were surveyorsworkingfortheU.S.government.“Sensingmoney,heaskedforsevenhundreddollars a month,” recalls Waugh, an exorbitant amount in Sudan, where theaverageincomewasaboutthreehundreddollarsayear.“Healsoaskedforthreemonths up front. In a place like Sudan, you can’t hide the fact that you’reAmerican.Someofthemoneyiskeep-your-mouth-shutmoney.Hedidn’treportustothePSObecausehewantedthefourthmonth’srent.”

The next challenge was getting the surveillance equipment into theapartment.Toavoiddrawingattentiontothemselves,WaughandSantosworkedat night. The camera equipment included several camera bodies and anassortmentoflensesandtripodsthattogetherweighedseveralhundredpounds.The lens that was hardest to conceal was a 4,000mm Questar, 24 inches indiameterand140pounds.ItwassecretedintoKhartoumviadiplomaticpouch,inacasethesizeofafootlocker.

Inside the observation post (OP), they had two folding cots, blackoutcurtains,andaBunsenburnerforboilingwaterandcookingrice.CreatingafastwayoutoftheOPintheeventofaraidbythesecuritypolicewaskeytosuccessaswellaspeaceofmind.“IfwewerecaughtintheOP,weweretoldwewouldalmostcertainlybeshotonsight,”saysWaugh.“Sowedevisedanescaperouteusingrappellingropes.Welocated thesturdiestpipes, thenriggedupasystemwithropes.Weleftapairofrappellingglovesinanairventontheroof.”WiththeOPsetup,theybegansurveillance.Forthis,Waughfashionedalargechartonthewall,ontowhichhewoulddocumentwhocameandwhowent,andwhen.

Waughwasintriguedbyhowreckless,pathetic,anddebauchedCarloswas,andyethowpredictablewashisroutine.“Hewasadrunkenpartier.Hewentout,drank, came home, slept, went out again. His security detail were all Arabs.TheirstyleappearedtobemodeledaftertheU.S.SecretService,”saysWaugh.They kept perimeter guard around the house. “Before a visitor arrived, they’dopenthegate,lookaroundforanambush,thengobackandgetCarlosorLana,thenget them into thecar.” Itwas the sameeveryday,Waugh says. “Butonethingtheyforgottodowaseverlookup.TheyneversawourOP.Thatwastheirbigmistake.”Plansforacapturemissionwerebeingdrawnup.

Onedayattheembassy,CoferBlacktoldBillyWaughthathewantedashotoftheJackalthatwasreally,reallyclose.BillyusedtheQuestarlensandtookaphotographofCarlos’steeth.

“Hehappenedtohaveatoothpickinhismouth,”recallsWaugh.“What the hell is this?” Cofer Black asked when Waugh showed him a

photograph that, at first glance, looked more like postmodern art than asurveillancephotograph.

“It’satoothpickbalancedbetweenCarlostheJackal’steeth,”saidWaugh.Blackchuckledandgotbacktowork.WaughphotographedeveryonewhovisitedtheJackal’sapartment.“Itwasa

parade of bad guys,”Waugh says. For theCounterterrorist Center at Langley,thiswasanintelligencegoldmine.

One week, the CIA chief of station in Paris, Richard Holm, visited. DickHolmwasalegendattheCIA.He’dservedasacovert-actionoperatorinLaos,ashadWaugh,althoughthetwomenhadnotworkedtogether.Later,stationedinCongo,Holmhadbeensurveillingmilitarytargetsfromatwo-seaterT-28whenhisplanecrashedintorebel-heldterritory.Hesurvivedbutsufferedthird-degreeburnsover 35percent of his body.He livedonlybecausehewas rescued andtakencareofbylocalAzandetribesmenwhodugbugsoutofhiswoundsusingaknifeandcoveredhiminahomeopathicblue-blackpaste,madeofsnakeoilandtreebark,tokeephisburnsfrombecominginfected.AnotherCIApilotalsoonthemissionthatday,amannamedTunon,wascapturedbyadifferentgroupoftribesmen, the Simbas, who killed and ate him, according to reports by localmissionaries.“TheSimbasbelievedthatifyoueatthefleshandvitalorgansofyourenemyyougainstrength,”Holmexplainedinanoralhistory.Theworldofcovertactionwasperilous;itmadenosensewholivedandwhodied.

DickHolm had been tracking Carlos the Jackal since the early 1980s. HewouldnowactastheliaisonbetweenDGSEandtheCIA.Themaninthelead

on theFrench sidewasPhilippeRondot, a special services investigatorwho’dbeentracking theJackaleven longer,back towhenthe terroristhadkilled twoFrenchintelligenceofficersbeforetheOPECsiege.Waughbriefedbothmenonwhathe’dseenfromtheobservationpost.ThetwoseniorofficerschosenottosharewithWaughdetailsabout the snatch-and-grabcapturemission theywereplanning.

OnAugust12,1994,WaughwatchedCarlostheJackalandLanaJarrarleavethe house at the usual time.He photographed them exiting, as he always did.Thensomethingunusualhappened.Theydidn’treturnafterthediscoclosed,aswascustomary.AllnightWaughwaitedandwatched.Then, into thefollowingday.Hewassurprised.HadCarlostheJackalgottenaway?

“I got a call from Cofer Black over the encrypted commo. ‘Come on in,Billy,’”wasallhesaid.

Anxious to learn what was happening,Waugh drove fast over to the U.S.embassy.Pullingintothedriveway,hewassurprisedtoseetheU.S.ambassador,DonaldPeterson,standingoutfront.Waughparkedhisvehicleandclimbedout.Petersonwalkedtowardhim,hishandextended.“Theambassadorsaid, ‘Greatwork, Billy,’ and as he shook my hand, he said, ‘Carlos the Jackal has beencaptured.’”

InsidetheCIAstation,thestaffcelebratedwithchampagne.Itwasabigday.Inthesnackbar,ontheoverheadtelevisionset,WaughwatchedtheAirFrancenetworkpresentanewsbroadcast.TheFrenchhadcapturedCarlostheJackalinKhartoum,anannouncer said.The terroristwasonhisway toParis,wherehewouldfacejusticeforamyriadofattacksandcrimes.TheroleoftheCIAinthismissionremainedentirelyhidden.

For several days, news crews gathered around the apartment complexformerlyinhabitedbyIlichRamirezSanchez.Bythethirdday,theyweregone.At3:00a.m.,Waughwentoutforalast jog.HepassedbytheoldOPonelasttime. Running down Riyadh Road toward Airport Road, he spotted traffic infront ofCarlos the Jackal’s apartment building.What the hell is going on?hewondered.Itwasthemiddleofthenight,hoursbeforedawn.

“Therewereanumberofvehicles.A fewstationwagonsanda large truckwiththeenginerunning.Thereweretwentyorsopolicemen.They’dcreatedaperimeteraroundthebuilding.”Waughrecognizedamanfromphotographshe’dviewedduringAgencyintelligencebriefings.

“Hewas large and had very black skin,” recallsWaugh. “Hewore a crispwhiteturbanandacrisp,cleanwhiterobe.”Therewasalargesecuritypresence

aroundtheman.“IrealizeditwasSudan’snumbertwo,Hassanal-Turabi.Intheflesh.”Waughstoppedjoggingandtookcover.HecalledSantosontheportableradiohekepttiedtohisbodyatalltimes,incaseofemergency.

“Iwokehimup.ItoldhimtogetupandlookoutthewindowoftheOP.”Santos did as instructed. “Use the night lens and get some photographs,”

Waugh said. “Use high-speed night film.” If Santos could get photographs ofTurabi, the CIA would have evidence linking Carlos the Jackal to his statesponsor,Sudan.FromwhereWaughhid in thebushes,hewatchedLanaJarrarexitthebuilding.“Shewascarryingasuitcaseandcrying,”herecalls.“Hassanal-Turabi comforted her like they were old friends.” Lana climbed into thebackseatofapolicevehicleandwasdrivenaway.

Inthemorning,WaughcalledCoferBlacktotellhimaboutthenewphotos.“Whatinhellwereyoudoingoutsideat3:00a.m.?”Coferasked.“Stayingfit,boss,”Waughsaid.Attheembassy,WaughlearnedwhathadhappenedtotheJackalafterhewas

captured.“They jabbedhimwith sodiumpentothal,” saysWaugh.“Theyputabagoverhisheadandsaid,‘Startansweringquestions’—orhe’dbeturnedovertoMossad.Noonewants tobe turnedover toMossad.Carlos theJackal sanglikeabird.”AccordingtoBillyWaugh,theCIAgottheintelligenceithopedfor,andmore. TheCIA files on IlichRamirez Sanchez remain classified.Hewastaken to France, where he was tried, convicted, and sentenced by anantiterrorism court to serve multiple life terms in a French prison. There heremains.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

TheEngineer

As deputy special agent in charge of security for President Clinton, LewMerlettipreparedfor travel—toIsrael,Syria,Egypt,Jordan,SaudiArabia,andKuwait.ItwasOctober19,1994.ThefocusofthetripwaspeaceintheMiddleEast,butallMerletticouldthinkaboutwereassassinationattemptsandpotentialmasscasualtyattacksagainsthisprotectees.

NofanofCIAcovertoperations,PresidentClintonwaspursuingdiplomacyinstead—always the first option for a commander in chief.The centerpiece ofthis trip was the historic signing of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, set to takeplaceonOctober26ina tinyborder townbetweenthe twowarringnations.Ifsuccessful, the signing ceremonywould be a step toward peace in theMiddleEast—progress not seen since the Camp David Accords of 1978. Then, inadvance of the visit, the Shin Bet updated the Secret Service with escalatedthreat information. It involvedaHamasbombmakerwhowentby thenomdeguerretheEngineer.

ThePalestinianterrororganizationHamashadrecentlydeclaredwaragainstIsrael, setting off a wave of guerrilla warfare tactics including hit-and-runkillings, assassinations, and now suicide bombings. Since its officialestablishment in1987,Hamasmaintainedahit squad,calledMajmouathJihadu-Dawa,astrikeforcetrainedtokillPalestinianssuspectedofcooperatingwithIsrael. Hamas called these traitors “moral deviants” and made their deathspublic, to serve as a warning to others. “Israel, as the Jewish state, mustdisappear from the map,” declared Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the nearly blind,quadriplegicfounderofHamas—wheelchair-boundsinceawrestlingaccidentatthe age of twelve. Palestine was and would always be Islamic land, Sheikh

Yassinsaid,“consecratedforfutureMuslimgenerationsuntilJudgmentDay.”AftertheendoftheGulfWarin1991,andwithrumblingsthatYasserArafat

wasconsideringmakingpeacewithIsrael,HamasvowedtotakepowerfromthePLO.TheHamasassassinationsquadwasfoldedintothegroup’smilitarywing,the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades.Without a standing army, the organizationreliedonguerrillawarfaretactics.SuicidebombingsbecamethenewfocusforHamas, the work of a shy electrical engineer fromBir Zeit University in theWestBanknamedYahyaAyyash,alsoknownastheEngineer.Todate,he’dbuiltfoursuicidebombsthatkilledfifteenpeopleandinjuredthirty-nine.

The lethality of a suicide bomb attack is contingent upon the size of thebomb. In 1994, the master bomb makers in the Middle East were withHezbollah, Shia Muslims. Hamas was an organization made up of SunniMuslims.BecausemilitantsfromthesetwobranchesofIslamwereengagedintheirownsectarianwars,terroristsfromHezbollahandHamasdidnotgenerallymix. When Sudan hosted a terror conference, the Arab Islamic People’sCongress, in April 1991, the CIA feared this calculus might change. Hamasleader Khaled Mashal attended, and so had Imad Mugniyah, Hezbollahoperationschief.NowtheShinBethadinformationsuggestingthataperniciousnewpartnershipbetweenthesetwoorganizationsmightbeunderway.

YahyaAyyashhadbeenontherun.HeandotherHamasmembersweresaidtobelivinginarefugeecampinLebanon,justovertheborderfromIsrael.Theplace was built into a hillside and difficult to get to, with Lebanese mediareporting that convoys of donkeys andmuleswere bringing supplies in to theHamas fighters living here, including weatherproof tents, food, clothes, andsupplies. “Then came the military and terrorism instructors” from Hezbollah,saysRonenBergman.“[Imad]MugniyahhimselfcametothecamptotalkwithAyyash and some of his comrades.” Were Hamas and Hezbollah workingtogether?With ImadMugniyah’s training, the power of theEngineer’s bombscouldgrowexponentiallymorelethal.

InWashington, LewMerletti, bags packed,was preparing to leave for theMiddleEastwhen the deadliest suicide bombing in Israel’s history rocked thecenterofTelAviv,justafewblocksfromwherePresidentClinton’smotorcadewasscheduledtotravel.ThebombhadbeenbuiltbytheEngineer.

Itwasmorning rushhour, and theNo. 5 passenger buswasheadingdownRothschildBoulevardtowardDizengoffStreet,theChamps-ÉlyséesofTelAviv.Approachingtheheartofthecafédistrict,atall,thintwenty-seven-year-oldArabmanfromtheWestBankboardedthebus,satdowninanaisleseat,andplaceda

smallbrownbagathisfeet.Athinwireranoutofthebagthroughaholeintheman’s trousers, up his leg, and into his pocket. There, it connected to anelectrical switch, which connected to an improvised explosive device (IED)containing20kilogramsofmilitary-gradeTNTandwrappedinnailsandscrews.

At8:56, thesuicidebomber in theaisleseat flipped theelectricalswitch inhis pocket. The heat and blast produced a fireball so intense, it separated thevehicle’s cabin from its chassis,melted the fiberglass frame, crushed a nearbycar, and shatteredwindows all down the street. In a flash, twenty-two peoplewererippedapart,theirlimbshurledacrossthestreet,wheretheylandedoncaféfloors and up in the branches of the chinaberry trees. Dazed and in shock, ayounghairdresserwho’dbeenridingthebustoworkmiraculouslysurvived.“Isawfire,”shetoldajournalist.“Isawawomanwithoutaface.”Orthodoxmeninlongblackcloaksappearedonthescene,carryingplasticbagsandtweezers,which they used to pick up fingers, toes, and pieces of skin. Even the mosthardenedIsraelicounterterrorismofficersfoundthecarnagetoomuchtobear.Auniformed soldier vomited in the street. “How much more can we take?”screamedayounggirl,herfaceandhandscoveredinblood.Twenty-twopeopleweredead,fiftyinjured.

Reporters took to the streets, seekingopinionsonwhetherornot thepeacetreatycouldsurvive.“Ifpeacecomesonlyfromoneside,ours, it isn’tpeace,”storeownerMosheBar tolda journalistwitha camera, emphasizing thewordours. SusanaHalperin, a passenger on the buswho had been hospitalized forburns, shared a different opinion. “Iwant the peace process to continue,” shesaid.“Iwantmychildrentoliveinpeace.”Butasthehoursworeon,theancient,archetypal desire for revenge reemerged. “Death to the Arabs!” shouted thegrowingcrowd,asKevlar-cladsecurityforcesworkedtoquellriots.InGazaandtheWestBank,vendorstooktothestreets,sellingT-shirtsemblazonedwiththeimageoftheEngineer.TomanyPalestinians,YahyaAyyashwasthenewfaceoftherevolution.FortheShinBet,hewasthemostwantedmaninIsrael.

LewMerlettitraveledtoAndrewsAirForceBase,accompaniedbyamilitaryaide and several staffers. They boarded a ten-person aircraft and flew to theMiddleEast,withMerlettinowleadingtheadvancetripforPresidentClinton’ssecurity. “Typically theDSAIC [deputy special agent incharge]and theSAIC[specialagentincharge]travelwiththepresident,butthethreatassociatedwiththistrip”wasunprecedented,Merlettiexplains.“Iwould[now]visiteachofthecountry’stopsecurityofficialsforsixoreighthours.Wewouldgooversecurity”andthenflytothenextcountry.“Itwasmyjobtomakesure[eachof]thehost

nations understoodwithout any hesitationwhat was required of them by us,”Merlettisays.ThefirststopwasTelAviv.

“I was focused on the threat,” he remembers. “We were aware of theEngineer.”Toprotect thepresident inside theUnitedStateshas its challenges,Merlettiexplains,but theSecretService isahighlyefficient securitymachine.Countersniperswithshoot-to-killordersarepositionedatopbuildings,preparedtoneutralizeanyonewhotakesaimatthepresident.CounterAssaultTeamsareready to repel an attackwithoverwhelming force. “Protectionof thepresidentoverseas is an entirelydifferentball game,” saysMerletti. “We just don’t takethatlightly.”Whiletheteamwasairborne,PresidentClintonissuedastatementon the Hamas bombing, calling it “an outrage against the conscience of theworld,”andvoweditwouldhavenoimpactonhisdiplomaticefforts“towardarealandlastingpeaceintheMiddleEast.”

After landinginTelAviv,Merlettiandhis teamtraveledto theKingDavidHotel, in Jerusalem, and checked in.Merletti hadwith him an eighteen-pointsecurityplan,whichheintendedtosharewithhisShinBetcounterpart,BennyLahav. “All eighteen requirements had to bemet,”Merlettiwould insist. “Wecouldn’tsettleforanythingless.”Notinthisenvironment.

Israelwas a particularly dangerous place at thismoment in time.Hamas’smasscasualtyattackagainst theNo.5passengerbus thedaybeforehad likelyemboldened them. With their expressly stated goal of stopping the peaceprocess,Hamas sawPresidentClinton as a high-value target (HVT).While inIsrael,Clinton’ssecuritydetailwouldbejointlyrunbytheU.S.SecretServiceandtheShinBet.Ontwoseparateoccasions thepresidentwouldbeout in theopen,saysMerletti,themostchallengingenvironmenttodefendagainst.

Afterapartialnight’ssleep,MerlettitraveledtoTelAvivtomeetwithBennyLahav, who served as assistant director for the Shin Bet protective divisionresponsibleforPrimeMinisterYitzhakRabin’spersonalsecuritydetail.Merlettirecalls feelingunsettledduring themeeting.“Wedidnotseeeye toeyeon theeighteen points.”A contentious discussion ensued. “Their attitude, as I recall,wastosolveproblemsthroughuseofforce.

“I was flabbergasted and frustrated,” Merletti says, “but after two hoursLahavconcededseventeenoftheeighteencriteriatheSecretServicedemandedforthevisit.ThepointIdidn’tgetwasCAT[CounterAssaultTeam]comingtoIsrael. Most foreign countries were very sensitive about allowing CAT inbecausemostforeigncountriesviewedCATasa‘militarytype’unit.”

Withthemeetingover,Merlettiheadedoffonafast-pacedtrip,meetingwith

theheadsofsecurityfortheleadersofSyria,Egypt,Jordan,SaudiArabia,andKuwait.ItwasatoughfewdaysandhefeltthegreatestpressurewhenPresidentClintonwas in Israel. At one point, when “wewere out in the openwith thepresident,itwascleartomethataShinBetagentnamedS [redacted]wasnotpayingattention” to thedegree theU.S.SecretServicerequires.“[AgentS

]wasnotwatchinghisarea.Withoutsayingtoomuchaboutsecurity,Icantellyou thatarrivalsanddeparturesarecritical times. In theseareas, therecanneverbe lapsesorholes.”Concerned for thepresident’s safety,Merletti spokedirectly toAgentS about this issue. “He said something tomealong thelinesof,‘ifanythreat[approaches],we’regoingtospraybullets.Askquestionslater.’Iwasappalled.”ForU.S.SecretServiceagents,“Protectingthepresidentislikegoingonamissioninthejungle,behindenemylines.Asniper,ahit-and-rungrenade attack, a firefight, an ambush…anything is possible, at any time.Youhavetoacceptandprepareforthis.That’showwearetrained.”

OnOctober25,1994,withhighhopesforpeaceandsecurityintheMiddleEast,PresidentClintonbeganasix-nationtour,withLewMerlettialwayswithinarm’sreach. In Damascus, Clinton met with Hafez al-Assad, the first AmericanpresidenttomeetwithapresidentofSyriainmorethantwentyyears.Duringthevisit,Assad lauded Syria’s capital as one of the oldest continuously inhabitedcitiesintheworld,aregionthatplayedaroleinthedawnofhumancivilizations.“Syria [is] committed to the peace process,” Assad promised. “We aspire totransformtheregionfromastateofwartoastateofpeace.”In1994,SyriahadbeenontheU.S.StateDepartment’sStateSponsorsofTerrorismlistlongerthananyothernation,arecorditstillholdsin2019.

InCairo,PresidentClintonmetwithPresidentMubarakandYasserArafat.Twoweeksprior,Arafat hadbeen awarded theNobelPeacePrizewith Israeliprime minister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign minister Shimon Peres. In KingKhalidMilitaryCity, SaudiArabia,ClintonmetwithKingFahd,whopraised“the relentless efforts of PresidentClinton and his government tomove aheadthepeaceprocess.”InKuwaitCity,hemetwiththeemirofKuwait.Ithadbeenonly a year sinceClinton’s predecessor, former presidentGeorgeH.W.Bush,had been the target of an Iraqi assassination plot. In a region wrought bycenturiesofconflictandbloodshed,couldtheseneighbornationsreallyputasidetheir blood feuds and live in peace? PresidentClintonwas the firstAmericanpresidentsinceCartertopursuepeace,notcovertaction,intheMiddleEast.

AtabordercrossingbetweenJordanand Israel,LewMerletti stoodbehind

the president in the bright sunwhile the first-ever peace treaty between Israeland Jordanwas signedbyPrimeMinisterYitzhakRabin andKingHusseinofJordan, ending forty-six years of enmity. “This vast bleak desert hides greatsigns of life,” said President Clinton. “Peace between Jordan and Israel is nolongeramirage.Itisreal.”JordanwasnowthesecondArabnationtoenterintoapeaceagreementwithIsrael.Egypthadbeenthefirst,sixteenyearsearlier,inSeptember 1978. Three years later, Anwar Sadat was assassinated.Was it anauspicioustime,oratimeofominousforeboding?Noonecouldpredict.

When it came time to leave Israel,Merletti felt compelled to speak out toBennyLahavoftheShinBet.“IwasstandingatthebottomofthestepsofAirForceOne, about toboard.Someonemade a remarkkindof suggesting Iwasoverzealous.Lahavpointedoutthateverythinghadworkedoutfine.HeaskedifIhadanythingelsetosayaboutShinBetsecurity.”

Merletti thoughtabouthisexperiences inVietnamandspecificallyofMikeKuropas, his friend and fellow soldierwhodied just after turning twenty-two,beforeheeverhadachancetoreallyshine.Merlettidecidedhewasunwillingtostay silent. “So I said, ‘You’reweak on arrivals and departures.AndAgent S

doesn’t understand protection. Someone is going to get hurt.’ Then IclimbedthestairsandboardedAirForceOne.”

Merletti took his seat, located just a few feet from the door to the privatecabin for thepresidentof theUnitedStates.For the first time indays,hewasabletoreallysleep.

Fromasecuritystandpointthetripwasasuccess,andthiswasalsotruefromadiplomaticperspective.Butnoteveryonefelttriumphant.Duringthesigningofthepeace accord, as celebratoryballoonswere released into thehotdesert air,Hezbollah,headquarteredinnearbyLebanonandfinancedbyIran,firedrocketsinto Israeli villages in northern Galilee. As the details of the treaty emerged,YasserArafatbecameenraged.Anyonedumbenoughtoabidebyitcould“drinkGazaseawater,”Arafatfumed.AttheurgingofHamasandthePLO,morethanonemillionPalestinianswentonstrike,declaringa“dayofmourning”inprotest.

Butnoonecouldhavepredicted that thegreatestdirect threat to thesafetyand security of Israel’s prime minister was not necessarily from Hamas orHezbollah. Peril was brewing at home,within a group of radical nationalisticright-wingOrthodoxJews.TheysawRabinasatraitortotheirhard-lineviewsandtookto thestreets toburneffigiesofhim.“Death toRabin!” theyshoutedfromparadesandfrompodiumswheretheygathered.Oneof theirmembers,a

twenty-five-year-old Jewish law student named Yigal Amir, had begunexperimentingwithhomemadebulletsinsidehisgarage.

During the first week of May 1995, Prime Minister Rabin traveled toWashington,DC,wherehemetwithPresidentClintonattheWhiteHouse.TheShin Bet agent Benny Lahav led the detail. “We recognized one anotherimmediately,”Merlettirecalls.“BennyLahavsaidtome,‘I’dlikeyoutocomehave lunchwithmeoverat thehotelwe’re stayingat,’”Lahavhadsomethingimportant to tell Merletti, he said. Over lunch, he asked Merletti if heremembered theargument the twoof themhadhad in Israelover theeighteenpointsofsecuritytheSecretServicestronglyrequestedfromtheShinBet.

Merletti told Lahav that of course he did. The way Merletti recalls theconversation,LahavthensharedwithhimsomethoughtsabouttheAmerican’shypervigilance.“BennyLahavtoldme[aman]alwayshastofightforwhat[he]believes is right.” Lahav said, “‘Let me tell you, if Rabin were ever hurt, itwould bemy head. And if Clinton was ever hurt? It would be your head.’”MerlettiknewLahav’swordswerethetruth.

Four months later, on September 3, 1995, LewMerletti was promoted tospecial agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division. With theexceptionofdirector,thiswasthehighestpositionaSecretServiceagentcouldhold.WhenMerlettimovedintohisnewoffice,hebroughtwithhimitemsthatremindedhimofwhatwasatstake:gravestonerubbingsofhisfriendswhodiedfightinginVietnam.

Twomonthslater,onSaturday,November4,1995,LewMerlettiwasathisson’s football gamewhen his pager went off. Themessage indicated that thesituationwasurgent.Merletti rantohiscarandusedhisSecretService–issuedcellulartelephone.“Theysaidtherehadbeenanassassinationofaworldleader,”he remembers.On the drive to theWhiteHouse, a breaking news story cameovertheradio.YitzhakRabinhadbeenkilledinTelAviv.

AsMerlettisattherestunned,thetelephoneinhiscarrang.ItwasPresidentClintoncalling.“Hesaid tomesomethingalong the linesof, ‘Youheardwhathappened.Ihavetogotothefuneral.Ineedtotalktoyou.Ineedyoutobeonboardwith this.’” Because the funeralwas in two days, travelwould have tohappeninamatterofhours,Merlettiremembers.“Isaidtohim,‘Ifyouwanttogo,we’llgo.Butweneedyoutodoeverythingwetellyoutodo.We’regoingtogo[toIsrael]andwe’lldowhatweplanondoing.Therecanbenosideevents.And ifwedetermine there’s somethingwecan’tdo,we’renotdoing it.’”The

presidentagreed.Merletti went home, changed his clothes, and drove to the White House.

“Thesituationwasfrenetic.Peopleracingaroundtryingtopreparestaffforthetrip.”Thereweredifficultlogisticstosortout.“Thiswasnotanormalgroupofpeople traveling to the funeral forYitzhakRabin,” he recalls.Therewouldbethree livingpresidents traveling to IsraelonAirForceOne:PresidentClinton,formerpresidentJimmyCarter,andformerpresidentGeorgeH.W.Bush.AlsointhedelegationwereWhiteHousechiefofstaffLeonPanetta;Houseminorityleader Newt Gingrich; Speaker of the House and Senate majority leader BobDole; Senate minority leader Tom Daschle; and others. “Besides the vicepresident, who stayed in Washington, nearly the entire line of [presidential]successionwasontheplane.”

Ontheflightover,Merlettigaveasecuritybriefingandtookquestions.Whateveryonewantedtoknowwas,“HowwasRabinassassinated?”ButMerlettihadnoidea.

The delegation arrived in TelAviv, drove up themountain into Jerusalem,andcheckedintotheKingDavidHotel.

“AguycameuptomeandintroducedhimselffromtheShinBet,”Merlettirecalls. “He said, ‘The director [Carmi Gillon] wants to meet with you rightnow.’Thefirstthingthatwentthroughmymindwas,Ahhh,there’sbeenanotherassassinationattempt.” Itwasalmostmidnight.The funeralwas the followingday.Whateveritwashadtobeimportantenoughthatitcouldn’twait.Merlettitoldhisdeputyhe’dberightback.TheShinBetagentswhiskedhimintoacaranddroveaway.Itwasdarkoutsideandthestreetswerenarrow.ThecarmovedquicklythroughwhatfeltlikeJerusalem’sbackalleywaysanduptoadarkenedrestaurant that looked closed. The agents got out of the car andmotioned forMerlettitofollow.Oneofthemtappedonadoor.Thewindowblindsseparatedandamanpeekedout.Thedooropened.

Inside the restaurant the chairs were all up on the tables. The place wasdefinitely closed.Merletti was taken through the front room and into amuchsmallerroomattheback.

“Therewas a big table in there, with all thesemen sitting there in a row,underverybrightlights.”Merlettiremembersthinkingtohimself,Whatonearthisgoingon?

CarmiGillonintroducedhimself.“Hesaid,‘I’mthedirectoroftheShinBet.AreyouLewMerletti?’”Merlettisaidhewas.Gillonsaid,“‘Iwastold—soI’maskingyou—isthistruethatlastyearwhenyouwerehere,yousaidtheShinBet

wasweakonarrivalsanddeparturesandthatAgentS didn’tknowwhathewasdoing?’”

MerlettitoldGillonyes,that’swhathesaid.GillonaskedMerlettiifheknewhowtheprimeministerwaskilled.Ifhewas

awareof“thedetailsoftheassassinationofRabin.”Merlettisaidno.“Itwasonadeparture,justasyoupredicted,”Gillonsaid,andtoldMerletti

thattheadvanceagentwasAgentS .“ThatAgentS wasstandingnexttoRabinwhenhewasshot.”Merlettifeltsick.

“AnddoyouknowwhowasstandingnexttoAgentS ”Gillonasked.“No,”Merlettisaid.“BennyLahav,”Gillonsaid.

Therewasacodatothetragedy.GillonaskedMerlettiiftheU.S.SecretServicewouldbewillingtotrainShinBetagentsonarrivalsanddepartures,aswellasothersecurityprotocolsthatremainclassified.MerlettisaidhewouldintroduceGillontotheappropriatepeople.ThemenshookhandsandtheShinBetagentstookMerlettibacktotheKingDavidHotel.

WhenIsrael’sShamgarCommission released its reporton theassassinationofYitzhakRabin,ShinBetagentBennyLahavwassingledoutandfired.AgentS resigned. Carmi Gillon assumed full responsibility for the securityfailuresandresigned.

Thestatefuneral,atJerusalem’sMountHerzlCemetery,wasasolemnaffair.President Clinton read a eulogy that remained focused on peace, which hereferencedninetimes.Aftertheserviceended,thedelegationdrovebackdownthemountain,boardedAirForceOne,andflewhome.

There was a second coda, which, like the first, has never been reported.Rabin’s assassinationwas formany Israeli Jews a time of great suffering andsoul-searching. Hamas took advantage of the national despair, upping itsirregular-warfare campaign with lethality unmatched in its prior terrorcampaigns.Over a one-month period inFebruary andMarch,more than sixtyIsraeliswere killed in awave of suicide bomb attacks. The explosive deviceswerebuiltbyYahyaAyyash.

ThehuntfortheEngineeraccelerated,andtheShinBetaskedtheU.S.SecretServiceforassistance.Theexactroleofthepartnershipremainsclassified,butitinvolved surveillance equipment used by Gray Fox, the army’s classifiedintelligenceunitandCIApartner.ThistechnologywaslenttotheShinBetinits

huntfortheEngineer.

Meanwhile,intheUnitedStates,atechnologydevelopmentintheprivatesectorwasgivingtheU.S.SecretServicegraveconcerns.Mobilephoneshadrecentlybecomepopular.AsspecialagentinchargeofthePPD,LewMerlettiwashavinggreat difficultymaking the affable president understand the danger in holdingsomeoneelse’sphone.

Ononeoccasion,recallsMerletti,“anindividualinacrowdheldouthercellphone and asked the president to say hello to her mom.” President Clintonobliged.Merlettisuggestedtothepresidentthatheshouldnotreceiveanyobject,including a cell phone, that wasn’t approved by the Secret Service first. Thepresidentnotedtherequestandseemedtoagree.Butafewweekslater,asimilarsituationcametopass.Thenithappenedathirdtime.

“Ispoketohiminthecar,”recallsLewMerletti.“Isaid,‘Mr.President,youmust understand how serious the threat is. You can’t take a cell phone fromanyone.Notunlessithasbeenapprovedbyusfirst.’”

Merlettiwasprivy to informationabout theEngineer thathadnotyetbeenmade public. Shin Bet operators learned that the Hamas bomb maker wouldsometimesspendthenightintheGazaCityhomeofachildhoodfriendnamedOsamaHamad.InordertospeakwithHamasleadersclandestinely,theEngineerwould sometimes borrow Osama Hamad’s cell phone. The Shin Bet hadpreviouslyusedanuncleofOsamaHamad’s,amannamedKamilHamad,asapaid informant. In the fall of 1995, the Shin Bet blackmailed the uncle intoworkingforthem,threateningtotellHamasofhistreacheryifhedidn’thonorasimplerequest.TheShinBetgavetheuncleacellphoneandtoldhimitneededtobeputintothehandsoftheEngineer.TheShinBetsaiditwantedtolistentotheEngineer’sconversationswithHamas.Theunclewasnotmadeprivytothefactthatthecellphonewasanengineeredexplosivedevice,outfittedwithfifteengramsofRDXexplosives.

On January5, 1996,while visitingwith his childhood friend, theEngineerreceived a call from his father on Osama Hamad’s cell phone. Overhead, anIsraeliSIGINTaircraft, equippedwith technologyprovidedby theU.S.SecretService,listenedinonthecall.WhenvoicerecognitionsoftwareconfirmedthecallerID,theShinBetremotelydetonatedthecellphonebomb,instantlykillingtheEngineer.

WiththeHamasbombmakerassassinated,LewMerlettirequestedfromhisShinBet counterparts two postmortemphotographs of theEngineer. TheShin

Betobliged.“Iwenttoseethepresident,”Merlettisays.“Isetdownthephotographson

his desk and asked him to take a look. The first was a photograph of thebomber’shead,thesideoppositefromwherethecellphonehadbeen.”Themanwasclearlydead,butthegruesomeresultsofthecellphoneexplosionwerenotevident. Clinton took note, then moved on to the second photograph. “Thesecondphotographhadbeen takenfromthesidewhere theEngineerhadbeenholding the cell phone containing the explosive charge. This side of theEngineer’sheadwasalmostentirelydestroyed.”

Merletti’srecollectionisthatPresidentClintonneveragainacceptedanothercellphonethathadnotbeenhandedtohimbyaSecretServiceagent.

In the summer of 1996, in Khartoum, Hassan al-Turabi banished Osama binLaden and his followers from the country. The Al-Qaeda leader and hisentourage moved to Afghanistan, where they were given sanctuary by theTaliban, the militant Islamist group who’d recently seized the capital city ofKabul.InafinancialarrangementwithTalibanleaderMullahOmar,binLadenbegantoexpandhisAl-Qaedaorganizationbysettingupterroristtrainingcampsin Afghanistan where fighters prepared for jihad against the United States.OsamabinLaden’sfirsttarget,notwidelyknown,wasPresidentClinton.

ItwasNovember24,1996,andLewMerlettiaccompaniedPresidentClintonto the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the Philippines. Securitywas intense, with an estimated 26,000 police and soldiers assigned to protectvisitingdignitaries.TheU.S.StateDepartmentwarneditscitizenstobeonalertforapossibleterroristattack.InManila,PresidentClintonwasscheduledtovisita local politician.The route chosenwould take him across a bridge in centralManila.

“As the presidential motorcade began to move,” recalled Merletti, hereceiveda“cracklymessageinoneearpiece.”Intelligenceagentshadpickedupamessageusingthewords“bridge”and“wedding,”whichMerletti“interpretedtobeterroristcodewordsforassassination.”Merlettiorderedthemotorcadetochangecourse,somethingonlyhehadtheauthoritytodo.“ThemotorcadeagentNelson Garabito did a great job rerouting the president under those difficultcircumstances,”hesays,andthatagents“discoveredabombonthebridge.”Theassassination attempt was not made public. The Secret Service keeps allassassinationattemptsagainstaU.S.presidentclassifiedTopSecretsoasnottoencouragecopycatattacks.ThedetailsoftheManilabombweremadeknownto

onlyahandfulofmembersoftheU.S.intelligencecommunity.The following year, on June 6, 1997, Lew Merletti was sworn in as the

nineteenthdirectorof theU.S.SecretService, thefirst formerCounterAssaultTeammember tohold theposition,and theonlydirector tohaveserved in theU.S.ArmySpecialForcesinVietnam.Sixmonthsintothejob,inJanuary1998,Merletti was driving to the White House one morning when he heard NPRreportersMaraLiassonandRobertSiegelinterviewingPresidentClinton.

“Is thereanytruthtotheallegationofanaffairbetweenyouandtheyoungwoman?”oneofthereportersasked.ThepresidentwasbeingaccusedofhavingconductedanaffairwithaninternnamedMonicaLewinsky,andofhavingaskedthe Secret Service to help keep it a secret.Merletti was stunned. Hewas thespecialagentinchargeofthepresident’ssecuritydetailatthetimethisaffairwasallegedlytakingplace.He’dneverheardawordaboutitfromanyofhisagents.He hurried back to the White House. “Our chief counsel, John Kelleher,informed me that we would be getting subpoenas from the [Office of the]IndependentCounselforagentsonthePresident’sProtectiveDetailtotestify”inopencourt.Merlettiremembersthinking,“WhatisthisguyKenStarrthinking?Doesheknowwhatthismeans?”IfSecretServiceagentswereforcedtotestifyagainstapresident,itwouldrockthefoundationoftrustandconfidence,Merlettibelieved.

Merlettiwas summoned toStarr’s office onPennsylvaniaAvenue to speakwith the independent counsel and his deputy, Robert J. Bittman.Merletti toldKenStarrthatSecretServiceagentClintHillwaslivingproofthatproximitytothe president is critical to the success of the Secret Service. As we learnedearlier,onthedaythatPresidentKennedywasassassinatedinDallastherewereno Secret Service agents riding on the running boards of the president’slimousine. This protocol change, authorized by President Kennedy just a fewdaysearlier,putseveralyards’distancebetweenthepresidentandhisprotectivedetail. “Proximity is the difference between life and death to our protectees,”MerlettitoldStarr.“Ifourprotecteescannottrustus,iftheybelievethattheywillbecalledtotestifybeforeagrandjurytorevealconfidences,thepresidentwillnotallowusthatcriticalproximity.”

KenStarrseemedunconcerned.“It’slikeitdidn’tregister,”Merlettirecalls.“Instead he asked questions about lipstick, hair… other things.”Merletti wasfurious.Hisjobwasaboutprotection,notpolitics.Ashowdownensued.InMay1998,ajudgescheduledahearingonMerletti’sclaimthatSecretServiceagentsshouldbegranteda“protective function”privilegeandkept from testifying in

opencourt.AccompanyingMerlettiwasformerSecretServiceagentClintHill.LawyersfortheSecretServiceshowedthejudgerarehistoricalphotographsofagents, including Clint Hill jumping off the rear bumper of the presidentiallimousine to ride in the vehicle behind, on President Kennedy’s orders, justminutesbeforeheadingtowardDealeyPlazaindowntownDallasonNovember22, 1963. The case headed to trial. Immunity deals were negotiated. SecretServiceagentswereforcedtotestifyincourt,revealingunderoaththattheyhadnotknownabouttheLewinskyaffairandhadneverhelpedthepresidentkeepitsecret.InlateJuly,PresidentClintonvolunteeredtotestifyregardingallegationsthathe’dcommittedperjurybycoveringuptheaffair.

In themiddleof thisunfoldingdrama,onAugust7,1998,suicidebombersdrovetruckbombsintotheU.S.embassiesinTanzaniaandKenya.Amongthe224 people killed, in nearly simultaneous explosions, were 12 Americans.Another4,000peoplewerewounded.ThetruckbombswerereminiscentoftheonesHezbollahhaddrivenintotheU.S.embassyandmarinecorpsbarracksandtheFrenchparatroopbarracksinBeirutfifteenyearsbefore.ButtheEastAfricaembassybombingsprovedtobetheworkofAl-Qaeda.

Three months before the embassy attacks, in February 1998, Osama binLaden issued a fatwa against theUnited States, calling for themurder of anyAmerican,anywhereonearth,asthe“individualdutyforeveryMuslimwhocandoit inanycountryinwhichit ispossible todoit.”InMay,CIAlawyerJohnRizzo drafted aMemorandum of Notification for a snatch-and-grab operationagainst bin Laden, an updated version of a Reagan-era finding againstHezbollah.“IhaddraftedtheReaganfinding,”saysRizzo,“Iwroteitinanotherera, to deal with terrorists in another era,” and Clinton had a “very differentthreshold”oftoleranceforcovertactionthanReaganhad,Rizzosays.HisguesswasthatinthecourseoftryingtocapturebinLaden,there’dbeafirefight,andtheAl-Qaedachief—andmaybesomeofthewomenandchildrenaroundhim—wouldbekilled.RizzowrotetheMemorandumofNotificationforthepresidentto sign, but Clinton would not sign it and it was shelved. After the embassybombingsinEastAfrica,theCIAwantedtokillbinLadenoutright—usinglethaldirect action by a covert-action paramilitary team. President Clinton orderedmissilestrikesinstead.

OnAugust20,fourU.S.NavyshipsandasubmarinestationedintheArabianSea firedbetweensixtyandseventy-fiveTomahawkcruisemissilesat terroristtrainingcamps inKhost,Afghanistan,and theAl-Shifapharmaceutical factoryallegedlylinkedtoOsamabinLadeninKhartoum.BillyWaughwasinSudanon

aclassifiedmissionatthetime.“AcolleagueandIwentbythefactorytolookatthedamageinflictedbytheTomahawks,”hesays.“Itwasabigpileofrubble.Anunnecessarymove,ifyouaskme.OsamabinLadenwasthousandsofmilesaway. Still alive as could be.” American officials later acknowledged theirintelligenceonAl-Shifawasthin.

Officers at the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center began thinking about how toactually kill Osama bin Laden. John Rizzo drafted another covert-actionMemorandumofNotificationforPresidentClintontosign,onethatwouldallowateamofAfghanassetsledbyCIAparamilitaryoperatorstogoafterbinLadeninAfghanistan. But theMON came back “with Clinton’s handwritten notes,”Rizzorecalls,“notsomethingI’deverseenapresidentdobefore.”Beforelethaldirectactioncouldbetaken,Clintonnoted,acertainsetofconditionshadtobemet, including the right to self-defense. “There were so many caveats andconditions,itmuddiedthewaters”andbecameprohibitive,accordingtoRizzo.CIAdirectorGeorgeTenettookanewdraftofRizzo’sMONtoattorneygeneralJanetReno.“TheAttorneyGeneralinformed[Tenet]thatshewouldconsideras‘illegal’anyCIAoperationintendedsolelytokillbinLaden.”

TherewereadditionalplansintheworksaimedatkillingOsamabinLaden.Back in1986,DeweyClarridge,oneof theCTC’scofounders,hadenvisionedusingadroneinatargetedkillingoperation.ItwashisideatoflyanunmannedaerialvehicleloadedwithexplosivesandballbearingsintoMuammarQaddafi’stent. In thewake of the embassy bombings in East Africa, Cofer Black, nowchiefoftheCTC,andhisdeputyHenry“Hank”Crumpton,hadasimilaridea.

Blackallocateda$5millionbudgettotheCIA’sSpecialActivitiesDivision,authorizingthedevelopmentofaUAVcalledthePredator.Originallyconceivedasasurveillancedrone,the27-foot-longPredator,withits55-footwingspan,hadamaximum altitude of 25,000 feet and amaximum speed of 138mph.Moreimportantly,itcouldhoveraboveasingletargetforupto40hoursatatime,takevideo,andsenditbacktotheCTC.

In the summer of 2000, the CIA sent a Predator drone over bin Laden’straining base in Afghanistan, Tarnak Farms, outside Kandahar. The Predatorgathered video data, identified vehicles, and established a pattern of life.Oneday, with the Predator watching, bin Laden appeared in the driveway—tall,robed, and surrounded by followers. The CIA was certain it was him. TheClintonWhiteHousewasnotified.TheCTCwastolditwouldtakesixhoursforthepresidenttosignoffonamissilestrikeagainstTarnakFarms.

“Unbelievable,”recallsCoferBlack.

CoferBlackandHankCrumptonagainproposedsendingaparamilitaryteamtoTarnakFarmstokillOsamabinLaden.JohnRizzowroteupanotherMON.

“We were driven by an immediate imperative: find bin Laden. Engage inlethal force,” Crumpton explained, in an interview for this book. “To ourfrustration,thepresident’scovert-actionfindingincludedmanycaveats[stating]wecouldseektokillOsamabinLadenonlyifitwaspartofacapturemission.”ThesituationstruckCrumptonashypocritical.“Therewasnoapparentproblemkillinghimwithacruisemissile.”

Cofer Black later gave Crumpton his assessment. “Imagine the pre-9/11headlines,” Black said. “CIA Assassinates SaudiMilitant.” Assassination wasun-American.

“Noonehad the foresight tounderstand theconsequences”down the road,Crumptonlaments.Hereinliestheenigmaofpreemptiveneutralization.

In 2000,CoferBlack andHankCrumpton remaineddetermined to kill binLaden, but unable to act without a MON, or Presidential Finding, from theClintonWhiteHouseauthorizinglethaldirectaction.“TheyallbutwantedustotakealawyerfromtheJusticeDepartmentintoAfghanistanonamission,”saysBlack.“ReadbinLadenhisrightsbeforearrestinghim.”“Clintonissuednonewfindings or MONs on counterterrorism from mid-’99 through the end of hisadministration,noteveninthewakeoftheAl-QaedabombingsoftheUSSColeinOctober2000,”saysRizzo.

HankCrumptonforesawasolution.“IrealizedthatarmingthePredatorwasperhaps our only chance of achieving our lethalmission,” he says.An armedUAVwasmorelikelytogetapprovalfromPresidentClintonthanacovert-actionstrikeinvolvingabullettotheheadorchest.Isitthedesireforpublicapprovalthatmakesapresidentloathtokillamaninclose-quarterscombat?Toinsteaddefendaslegitimateamissilestrikecosting$75millionto$100millionthatkillsciviliansanddestroysbuildings in itspath?AndhowwouldHankCrumpton’sarmedPredatordronefitintothiscalculus?Itinvolvedamissile,butitwasalsoalethaldirect-actionstrike,intendedtokillasingleman.WithhelpfromWhiteHouseNationalSecurityCounciladvisorRichardClarke,theCIA’sCoferBlack,Charlie Allen, and others, Crumpton explains, the development, testing, anddeploymentofthearmedPredatordronewouldbegin.

Thepretenseofvirtueattachedtokillingsomeonefromadistanceiscurious.Perhapsdangerousaswell.Thecurrentlawsofwarprohibittreacherouskilling,and that includes assassination. It is also considered treacherous to shoot theenemywhile he is taking a bath. But covert action occurs in the in-between,

governedbyTitle50ofthenational-securitycode.Itisundertakenatthebehestofthepresidentandistoremainhiddenfromthepubliceye.Dothelawsofwarneed to be updated for guerrilla warfare, seeing as it is the only kind of warAmerica has engaged in since World War II? Can terrorism be defeated bygentleman’srules?

War is wicked, violent, and treacherous. A horror of chaos, anarchy, andrevenge. Just ask the covert-action operators who run lethal direct-actionmissionsfortheCIA’sSpecialActivitiesDivision,includingitsGroundBranch,all ofwhich remain classified. I spoke to scores of its operators, some on theconditionofanonymity.

“Wherethelawsofwarend,”oneGroundBranchoperatortoldme,“GroundBranchbegins.”

PARTIV

2001

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

WarinAfghanistan

Billy Waugh stood in line to draw money at CIA headquarters in Langley,where a clandestine operator goes to get advance money for a trip, usuallyhundred-dollarbillsinbandedstacks.Itwasabright,sunnyday,notacloudinthesky this secondTuesday inSeptember2001.Waughwasheading toKualaLumpur,Malaysia,foraclandestinemeetingwithKhunSa,thenotoriousAsiandrug lord and guerrilla leader of the heroin-financed Shan State Army inMyanmar. Khun Sawas one of themost dangerousmen in theworld. In thehierarchyofSoutheastAsia’sGoldenTriangle,hewasthetoptyrant,thePrinceofDeath.Withanestimatedpersonal fortuneof$5billion,hewas theworld’sfifth-richest drug lord on record (four slots behind Pablo Escobar, who wasworth$30billionwhenkilled).Once,theDrugEnforcementAgencycalculatedthat45percentofallheroinintheUnitedStatescamefromKhunSa’sempire.Thecovert-actionoperation that theCIAwasengaging inwithKhunSa in thefallof2001remainsclassified.

Standing in line atCIAheadquarters,Waugh kept one eye on an overheadtelevisionset.Oneofthenewsprogramswasreportingthatapassengerairplanehad hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A few minutes later, asecondairplanehittheSouthTower,makingclearthiswasaterroristattack.Analarmsounded.Emergencylightsbegantoflash.“InallmyyearsattheAgencyI’d never seen or heard that before,” remembersWaugh.Over the intercom, aprerecorded voice instructed all employees to exit the building and leaveCIAgrounds immediately. “Everyone except for Special Activities Division,” saysWaugh.“Weweretoldtoreporttothenorthparkinglotandwaitthere.”

Lawyer John Rizzo heard the evacuation order over the CIA’s intercom

system, too. But standing in his office on the top floor of the originalheadquarters building,watching hundreds of employees evacuate the grounds,he decidednot to leave. Insteadhe closedhis door, sat down at his desk, andpulledout ablankyellow legalpad. “Ibeganwritinga list ofpotential covertactionstheCIAmightundertakeinthecomingweeks,”Rizzorecalls.

Waughheadedovertothelot.ItwasfilledwithmanyfacesthathadbecomefamiliartohimafterfortyyearsofworkingwiththeCIA.Nerdsinsuits,knuckledraggersandbeardedguys.Forroughlythirtyminutes,thegroupsatinthesundiscussing what had happened. Suddenly someone shouted out that a thirdhijacked aircraft had crashed into the Pentagon. The White House and theCapitolwerebeingevacuated,andU.S.airspacewasnowshutdown.Aminutebefore 10:00, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. On anaverageworkingday,50,000peopleworked there,not includingdailyvisitors.Just a fewminutes later a fourthhijacked aircraft crashed into aPennsylvaniafield. At 10:28, the North Tower collapsed. “Pretty much everybody wasthinkingthesamething,”saysWaugh.“Americawasgoingtowar.”

Afterafewhours,oneofthemoreseniormembersofthedivisioncameouttotheparkinglotandaddressedthegroup.“PreparetoRON,”hesaid.Remainovernight.Thenhetoldeveryonetogogetbacktowork.

Inside the building, Waugh found a large wooden table in an upstairsconference room, sat down, and began reading everything available onAfghanistan.

Thatnight,around9:30,CIAdirectorGeorgeTenetmetwithPresidentBushandhis top advisors inside a bunker beneath theWhiteHouse.VicePresidentDickCheney,SecretaryofDefenseDonaldRumsfeld,SecretaryofStateColinPowell, and national-security advisor Condoleezza Rice were among thosepresent. Tenet told the president and his inner circle that the CounterterroristCenter had identified Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda as being behind theattacksandthatahard-linegroupofIslamicfundamentalistscalledtheTalibanwereproviding the terroristorganizationwithasafehaven insideAfghanistan.Themeetingin theWhiteHousebunkerfocusedonanincontrovertiblereality,Tenetsaid.Theterroristthreatwasnotaone-countryproblem.

“We have a sixty-country problem,” he said. A follow-up wave of attackscouldcomeatanytime,fromanywherearoundtheworld.

“Let’spickthemoffoneatatime,”thepresidentsaid.Thefollowingmorning,at8:00,TenetarrivedbackattheWhiteHouse,this

timetodeliverthePresident’sDailyBrief.HedescribedtheCIA’srecentcovert-

actionoperationsinAfghanistan,explaininghowtheSpecialActivitiesDivisionhadspentyearsdevelopingassetsinsideanti-Talibanguerrillagroups.Themostpromisingof these fighting forceswas theNorthernAlliance, but their leader,AhmedShahMassoud, had been assassinated byAl-Qaeda three days ago—astrategicpreemptivemove.TheCTCwasworkingaroundtheclockonaplanofaction for Afghanistan, and it would be ready for the president to view thefollowingday.

“Whateverittakes,”thepresidentsaid.OnSeptember14CoferBlack,chiefoftheCTC,accompaniedGeorgeTenet

to the White House to lay out a plan of attack unprecedented in Americanhistory. The CIA, not the DefenseDepartment, should lead the attack againstOsama bin Laden,Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban inAfghanistan, Tenet said. TheCIA’s Special ActivitiesDivisionwas best suited towage an unconventional-warfarecampaigninAfghanistan.U.S.specialoperationsforceswouldaugmenttheCIAparamilitaryoperationsbeingproposed,butTenetwasveryclearaboutthefactthattheCIAwouldlead.

WhenitcametimeforCoferBlacktospeak,theroomgrewquiet.Blackwasahugeman,sixfootthree,withenergyreservesasbigashisframe.Atwenty-six-yearveteranoftheclandestineservice,hehadspentdecadesrunningcovert-actionoperationsinwar-torncountriesandfailedstateslikeAngolaandSudan.With the terrorist attacks just a few days old, and the dead still thought tonumber 10,000, Cofer Black presented his plan of lethal action against Al-Qaeda,springingoutofhischair,throwingpapersonthefloor,andhurlinghisfistintheairtoemphasizehispoints.Timingwaseverything,hesaid.Anotherattack likely loomed on the horizon.America needed to respond immediately,with a heavy aswell as a hidden hand.TheCIA’s SpecialActivitiesDivisionwas fast, flexible, and lethal, Black said, and if given the mission it woulddestroyAl-Qaeda’sleadership.“They’llhavefliesontheireyeballs,”hetoldthepresident.Afterthat,CoferBlackbecameknownamongthewarcabinetasthe“flies-on-the-eyeballsguy.”

In the days since 9/11, President Bush had been candid about hisdeterminationtohuntdownandkilltheterroristsresponsiblefortheworstattackever onU.S. soil. Now hewas being told by an impassioned CTC chief thattherewas away to do this immediately. Everyone in the room knew that theDefenseDepartmentwouldneedmanymonthstogetbootsonthegroundinsidea hostile, land-locked country like Afghanistan. Just a few hours later, at aNational Security Council meeting in the White House Situation Room, the

president toldhisadvisors thathewasgoing toapprove theCIAproposalandallowtheAgencytoleadthewarinAfghanistan.

The group reconvened the following day at Camp David to discuss whatwouldhappennext.Tenetdeliveredapresentationcalled“Going toWar.”TheTop Secret proposal called for what the CIA termed the Worldwide AttackMatrix,ahidden-handantiterrorismcampaignthatwouldspaneightycountriesaround the globe. The opening phase of the war would focus on Osama binLaden,Al-Qaeda,and theTaliban regime inAfghanistan.After that, thescopewouldwidentoincludealloftheMiddleEast,muchofAsiaandAfrica,andahostofothernations.

In order to implement the Worldwide Attack Matrix, the president wouldneed to grant the CIA what Agency lawyers called “exceptional authorities.”PresidentBushwouldhave to signoffon aMemorandumofNotification thatwould allow the CIA to conduct covert-action operations around the worldwithouthavingtocomebackforanotherMONeachtimeanewoperationwasproposed. This MON would modify and supersede the findings signed byPresident Reagan and those later amended by President Clinton, whichhamstrung the CIA’s paramilitary teams under legal constraints. When themeetingended,PresidentBushtookGeorgeTenetasidetosayhewasgoingtoapprove all of Tenet’s requests.All he needed nowwere documents from theCIA’slawyers.

AtCIA headquarters, JohnRizzo reviewed the language of theMONhe’dbeendraftingonelasttime.“IwrotetheSeptember2001MON,”saidRizzo,inaninterviewforthisbook.“Lethaldirectactionwas[expressly]stated.Sowastheauthority tocapture,detain, interrogate.”At the time, therewasnoway toforeseewhere thiswould all go. “How those two [sets] of threewords [each]wouldlaterbeinterpreted.ThisisthetrickythingaboutMONs,”Rizzoexplains.Lethaldirectactionwouldbecomeknownas targetedkilling.“Capture,detain,interrogate”wouldbecomeknownasenhancedinterrogation,ortorture.

InSeptember2001,JohnRizzowasthenumbertwolawyerattheCIA.He’dservedelevenCIAdirectorsandsevenpresidents.“ThefirstMONIeverdraftedwasduringtheIranianhostage”crisis,heexplains,and“this[September2001]MemorandumofNotificationwasnothing shortof extraordinary,”he says.Ashewrote inCompanyMan, “Itwas themost comprehensive,most ambitious,most aggressive andmost riskyFinding, orMON, Iwas ever involved in.”Asecond document drafted by Rizzo delineated the orders and steps forauthorization to be followed and taken by the president’s war cabinet. This

included financial investigations, diplomatic efforts, military planning, andadditional covert actions necessary to go after terrorists around the world.Satisfied with the language, Rizzo had the documents sent over to theWhiteHouseforsignature.BothdocumentswereclassifiedTopSecret.Bothremainineffecttoday.

TheMemorandumofNotificationwas radical in terms of scope, ambition,aggression,andrisk.Italsocontainedanotherauthoritythatwouldrevolutionizetheway inwhich individualpeoplewouldbe targetedandkilled.At theCTC,ever since President Clinton had forbidden the CIA from killing Osama BinLaden with a paramilitary team, Hank Crumpton and Cofer Black had beentrying to weaponize the Predator drone. Recently, they’d figured out how toretrofittheairframewithlaser-guidedmissilestostrikeatargetfrom25,000feetoverhead.On9/11, theCTChada totalof twoPredatordrones,oneofwhichwasarmed.ThisnewMONauthorizedthedirectoroftheCIAtopullthetriggerona lethalPredatordronestrike.Tenetpassed thisauthorityon to thechiefoftheDirectorateofOperations,whopassedthejobontoCoferBlack.

The following day, President Bush signed the MON and summoned hisadvisors.“Thepurposeofthismeeting,”thepresidentsaid,“istoassigntasksforthefirstwaveofthewaragainstterrorism.Itstartstoday.IwanttheCIAtobefirst on the ground.” The CIA, not the Department of Defense, was the leadagencyinawar.

BillyWaughdidnotwanttobeleftbehind.IntentongettinghimselfonaCIAparamilitary team headed to Afghanistan, he went directly to Cofer Black’sofficeandknockedonthedoor.

“Comein,”Blacksaid.BillyWaughstoodinthedoorframe.Blackwasinundatedwithresponsibility.

Manyofhisdutiesapproximatedthoseofamilitarygeneral.WaughaddressedhisformerbossusingBlack’soldcodenamefromSudan.

“Crusader,”Waughsaid,“getmeinonthiswar.”Blackremembershowabsurd itseemedat the time,whatBillyWaughwas

askingofhim.Waughwasold—he’dfoughtasaninfantrysoldierintheKoreanWar. “I askedhimhowoldhewas,”Black recalled in2017. “He saidhewasabout to turn seventy-two. I toldhimhewasn’tgoing toAfghanistan.He saidyeshewas.Isaidhewastooold.”

AlthoughBillyWaughwasnotaware,his legacyat theCIA—hisdecades-longworkasaclandestineoperator—loomedlarge,andnot justat theAgency

but at the White House. Enrique “Ric” Prado, one of Cofer Black’s SeniorIntelligence Service advisors and a longtime colleague of BillyWaugh’s, waspreparingabriefingforVicePresidentDickCheney.

RicPradowasararebreedofCIAofficer—amanascomfortableoperatingbehindenemylines indisguiseashewasstrollingthehallsofpower inasuit.Having grown up in the Special Activities Division, first as a paramilitaryoperator and later as an operations officer, he was uniquely familiar with thekind of dangerousworkBillyWaugh had done for theCIAover the previousdecades.Inthistimeofnationalcrisis,PradohadconceivedofhowtomakeuseofWaugh’s tradecraft.Waughandahandfulofmaleandfemaleoperators likehim had managed to photograph the world’s most wanted terrorists in theworld’smostdangerousplaces.Thiswasakeyelementofanewwayforward,Pradotoldmein2018.

The Counterterrorist Center was putting together a list of Al-Qaedaleadershipithadidentifiedaspotentialtargetsoflethaldirectaction.RicPrado’splanwastowidenthatlistandtoputadditionalfocusonthemid-toupper-levelterrorists—the facilitators that the Al-Qaeda leadership relied upon: bombmakers, weapons traders, money men, recruiters, trainers, commanders, andradicalimams.PradodiscussedhisplanwithCoferBlack,whosetupameetingin the White House Situation Room with Vice President Dick Cheney. AlsopresentatthemeetingwereCheney’schiefofstaff,I.LewisLibby,WhiteHouselegalcounselDavidAddington,andtheCIA’sJohnRizzo.

Ric Prado was considered tough and intimidating by friends and enemiesalike. At the CIA, he held the rank of SIS-2, which made him the civilianequivalentofamilitarymajorgeneral. Inaddition tobeinga strategic thinker,Prado, a former U.S. Air Force Pararescue veteran, was a highly trainedwarfighter.Hewasanexpert inparachute insertion, scubaexfiltration,evasivedriving,knifefighting,andahostofotherclose-quarterscombatskills.Withhisfourth-degreeblackbeltinmartialarts,PradospenthisfirsttenyearsattheCIAwith the Special Activities Division, some of it as a Ground Branch officer,including nearly four years in the jungles of South America. Over the nextdecade,hewaspostedatsixCIAstationsoverseasandservedasdeputychief,EastAsiaDivision for theKoreas. In1996,he returned toLangley tobecomedeputyinchargeofAlecStation,theoriginalbinLadentaskforce.In2000,hewasnamedchiefofstationinKhartoum,where—likeWaugh—hedrovearoundthe city disguised asAfrican,wearing a rubbermaskdesignedby theCIA. In2001, Prado became chief of operations at the Counterterrorist Center. In a

matter of months, he would move into an ultrasecret unit called SpecialInvestigationsGroup.

AccompanyingRicPradotothemeetingintheWhiteHouseSituationRoomwasacolleaguefromtheLatinAmericaDivision,JoseRodriguez,alsoalarger-than-life figure from the Senior Intelligence Service. Rodriguez had recentlybeenmovedovertotheCTCtoserveasCoferBlack’schiefoperationsofficer.

During the meeting at the White House, Ric Prado and Jose Rodriguezshowed Vice President Cheney photographs of terrorists taken by singletonoperators like Billy Waugh. These photographs were acquired the old-schoolway, they explained, with a 35mm camera and a long lens. They includedpicturesofAbdulQadeerKhan,theroguenuclearscientistwhohaddevelopedPakistan’satomicbomb,andMamounDarkazanli,whotheCIAcalledtheDarkMan,amemberoftheSyrianMuslimBrotherhoodwhojoinedAl-Qaedatohelpfinance the 9/11 attacks. The reason for showing the vice president and hisadvisorsthephotographswastodemonstratetheobvious:theSpecialActivitiesDivisionhadfordecadesbeendevelopingacapacitytogetasingletonoperatorwithinstrikingrangeofaterrorist,closeenoughtokilltheman.

Before 9/11, theClinton administration’s Presidential Findings allowed theCIA to conduct reconnaissance and take photographs but not engage in lethaldirect action against terrorists. The September 17, 2001, MON signed byPresidentBushchangedallthat.RicPradowasproposingthattheCIAmaximizeitsabilitytolocatehumantargets,fixtheirposition,andifnecessary,killthem.Theconcept,derivedfromSpecialForcesdoctrinedevelopedinLatinAmericainthe1980s,wouldlaterbecomeknownattheDefenseDepartmentasFind,Fix,Finish.Accordingtothreeindividualsfamiliarwiththeprogram,VicePresidentCheneyagreedthattheCIAshoulddevelopthiscapacity.Itwasprovidedforinthe MON and was precisely the kind of covert action theWorldwide AttackMatrixrequired.ItcalledfortheexpansionoftheCIA’sparamilitaryarmy.

Atthetime,saysCrumpton,“TheCIAparamilitaryarmwastinyandweakintermsofrawkineticfirepower.”Withindaysofthe9/11attack,thatchangedastheSpecialActivitiesDivisionexpanded inunprecedentedways.AnewentityinsidetheCounterterroristCentercalledCTC/SpecialOperationsemerged,madeup of “more than fifty rabidly dedicated officers scrambling in a disciplinedfrenzyofdutyandrevenge.”HankCrumptonwouldruntheinternalpartoftheCIA’swarinAfghanistan.RicPradowouldoverseecounterterrorismoperationsaround the globe, including those for the bin Laden group, Hamas group,Hezbollah group, and others. “We started recruiting people in the hallways,”

Prado recalls. “A deliberate mix of officers with a range of disciplines fromdifferent parts of the clandestine service and even the larger CIA,”Crumptonexplains,“personnel fromNearEastDivision,CentralEurasiaDivision,AfricaDivision, communications officers, medics, bomb experts, all came togetherundertemporaryassignmenttoCTC/SO.”

Roughly fifty percent of the men on the teams deployed into AfghanistanwerefromtheSpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch.Highlyclassifiedandtotally deniable, Ground Branch is like a human version of the Predatorprogram: zealous, uncompromising, and deadly when necessary. In 2001,roughly half of its efforts were directed at reconnaissance and surveillancemissions,with the other half acting as a lethal direct-action strike force.Overtime, Ground Branch—like the Predator drone program—would radicallytransform.

The day after President Bush signed the CIA’sMON, he signed into law theAuthorization forUseofMilitaryForce. ItwasdirectedagainstAl-Qaedaand“associatedforces.”Daysearlier,CoferBlackhadcalledaveteranfieldofficernamed Gary Schroen into his office and asked him to lead the first of nineSpecialActivitiesDivision teams into thewar zone.Fluent inDari, thenativelanguage of roughly 50 percent of Afghanistan, Schroen had worked covertoperations in the region since 1978, including ones involving the recentlyassassinatedrebelleaderAhmedShahMassoud.DuringtheTalibanyears,from1996to2001,whentherewasnoU.S.embassyinKabul,SchroenservedasCIAchiefofstation,Afghanistan,byworkingoutofanofficeinIslamabad,Pakistan.WiththeAgencyrankofSIS-4,GarySchroenwasaseniorintelligenceserviceofficer at the very top of the ladder. And yet he was going to fight inAfghanistan, age sixty.That theCIAwas sendingSchroen directly into awarzone to lead a direct-action team is nothing short of remarkable. It alsodemonstratesjusthowfaraparttheCIAandthePentagonareintheirthinking,theirdoctrine,andtheirmoves.

The Defense Department is a war machine: a labyrinth of rules andregulations, field manuals, and chains of command that make up a massivetrillion-dollarbureaucracythatpridesitselfonbeingthemostpowerfulfightingforceintheworld.TheCIA’scovert-actionarmlivesattheoppositeendofthespectrum.Itsmanualsaremostlyunwritten.Agencyoperativesaretaughthowtobreak laws of foreign countries. How to circumvent the rules. No one callsanyoneelse“sir.”ThesmallnessandsecrecyoftheCIA’sparamilitaryarm—its

light, flexible footprint—is exactly what allows its officers and operators tomake quick-thinking life-or-death decisions on the fly. “Men calculatinglyrecklesswithdisciplineddaringwhoaretrainedforaggressiveaction,”washowWilliamDonovandescribedtheunconventionalwarrior-spiesoftheOSSSpecialOperationsBranch.TheSpecialActivitiesDivisionistheclosestthingtoanheir.

Covert action was created to act as the president’s hidden hand, the thirdoption when military force is inappropriate and diplomacy has failed. Theconceptofplausibledeniabilityhasbeenbuilt into thevery fabricofacovert-actionmissionsinceitsinceptionin1947.Whenanoperationisover,theroleoftheCIA is togoback to remaininghidden from theworld. InAfghanistan,anentirely new hybrid way of war was under way. Part unconventional, partconventional.Partcovert,partovert.PartTitle50,partTitle10.How,exactly,wasaCIA-led,Pentagon-augmentedwargoingtowork?

“Letmeexplainsomething,”Crumptontoldmein2018.“Ididn’treallycareaboutthehiddenhand.Themissionwassoimmediate,sodrivenbyspeedandprecision—ifsomethingleaked,thatwasbeyondmycontrol.Thecountrywasina panic. Everything was driven by need. Need and speed. Some of our guyscarried AKs because of the availability of ammo.… Our teams [were] inconstantdangerontheground.”

OnSeptember20,2001,Schroenand thefirstparamilitary teamof thewarflew into Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in a CIA cargo plane. Six days later theyboarded an old Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter and were inserted into thePanjshirValleynorthofKabul.FlyingintoAfghanistaninaflashyBlackHawkhelicopterwasoutof thequestion, because no onewanted to convey the ideathattheAmericanshadarrived.

The CIA personnel were armed with weapons, secure satellitecommunicationsgear,GPSmappingequipment,and$10millioninboxedcash,highlighting yet another difference between the CIA and the DefenseDepartment.TheU.S.military cannot legally pay cashbribes.TheCIA’smenwere met by guerrilla fighters from the Northern Alliance and taken to thevillageofBarak.There,theyestablishedthefirstofmorethanadozenforwardoperating bases across Afghanistan. The first order of business was to set upsecurecommswiththeCTCbackatLangleyforthisintelligence-drivenwar.

If the Pentagon is a war machine, the CIA is an intelligence factory.“Intelligence was the foundation of everything we did,” says Crumpton. “Wewereproducingintelligenceandwewerealsoaconsumeroftheintelligencewewereproducing,”heexplains. “Wecouldbemuchmoreproductive thatway.”

Theparamilitary teamswereon thegroundtoforgeapartnershipwithAfghanalliesandtofightwiththem,but theirultimategoalwastogatherintelligence.“Thinkofeverythingyoucan learn from thepocket litteronadeadAl-Qaedaleader,”Crumptonadds.

Inthefield,Schroenandtheparamilitaryteamsstartedlearningasmuchasthey could about Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership from local fighters on theground.“OurAfghanalliesdescribedtheenemypositionsinsharpdetail,”saysCrumpton. “They even knew Taliban commanders by name and sometimescommunicatedwiththem.Theyroutinelyranreconteamsacross[enemy]lines,”tolearnmore.Humanidentitywasatthecenterofthehunt—potentialtargetsfortheCIA’skill-or-capturelist.TheCIAcouldnotidentifythesemenonitsown,because the leadersof terrorist organizations aremastersofdisguise.ThinkofCarlostheJackal,howhewasabletoliveontherunfornearlytwentyyears,orImadMugniyah,themostwantedmanintheworlduntilOsamabinLadentookhisplace.

With the president’s Memorandum of Notification in place, the SpecialActivitiesDivisionwouldtransformhowterroristswouldbeidentified,located,and captured, or killed. Technology would be leveraged, and the concept oftargetingwouldundergoarevolution.Forthat,theCIAwouldbuildanewtoolcalledtheMagicBox.

In the fall of 2001, Ken Stiles had beenworking as an overt CIA officer forseventeenyears,meaningthathedidnothavetohidethefactthatheworkedfortheCIA.Ageospatialand imageryanalystby training,Stileswasoneof thosepeoplewhocouldsee things insatellite imagesothersdidn’tknowwere there.Whatmight look like ablack spot tomostpeople,Stiles could identify as theentrance to an undergroundweapons facility.Hewas excellent atwhat he didandneverintendedtohaveanotherjob,heexplained,ina2018interviewforthisbook.

“OnOctober1,Ireceivedaphonecallfromapersonwhoidentifiedhimselfas ‘Dan’wanting to talk tome,” remembers Stiles. “Iwas taken down to thebasementinnewheadquarters, intothiscramped,windowlessspacefilledwithcomputers, copiers,briefingbinders,books,maps,andcommunicationsgear. Iwastold,‘HankCrumptonneedsamap.’Andnotjustanymap.WhatCrumptonwantedwasacomplex,three-dimensionalimagesystem,”thatcouldaccuratelyrepresent the battle space inAfghanistan, in real time. In 2019 this is easy toimagine, not that different from a GPS system fused with a video game like

Fortnite.In2001,itwasgroundbreaking.Thismapwouldincorporatelayersofinformation—dataoneverythingfrom

geography to anthropology. From the location of schools and mosques toterroristtrainingcampsandcaves.“IwasconfidentIcouldbuildit,”saysStiles.“I said, ‘What Crumpton is looking for is called a geographic informationsystem,GIS.’”Atthetime,thesoftwarealreadyexistedinthepublicdomain.

SomeonehandedKenStilesaPost-itnotewitha telephonenumberwrittenononeside.“Theytoldmetogogiveittomyboss,andcomerightback.TellthebossIworkedfortheCounterterroristCenter,now.”KenStiles’slifewouldneverbethesame.Inaninstant,hewentfrombeingaGISanalystatadesktobeingthemanresponsibleforbuildingtheCIA’sroadmapforitstargetedkillingprogram. At the time, he had no idea that one day he’d deploy into thebattlefield,weara flak jacket, carrya9mmGlockandanM4, ride inaBlackHawk helicopter with a team of paramilitary operators and their Black SOFpartnersfromDeltaForce.Fornow,hewastheheadnerdworkingovertimeinthebasementattheCIA.

By that afternoon Ken Stiles began building CIA’s three-dimensionaltargeting map. One of the first layers of intelligence entered into the systemcamefromhand-drawnbattlemapscreatedbyRussianArmycartographersafterthe Soviet invasion ofAfghanistan in 1979. “The informationwas still highlyaccurate,” remembers Stiles. “There hadn’t exactly been a construction boomsince the Soviets’withdrawal.” TheCIA invited itsNational SecurityAgencypartnertoLangleytoaddalayerofsignals intelligenceintothesystem,thingslikethelocationofcellphoneandfaxintercepts.ThesamewentfortheNationalGeospatial-IntelligenceAgency,whosetechniciansaddedsatelliteimagery.“Thecombination of layers ran into the scores,” remembersCrumpton. “EventuallyKenandhis teamcouldcalculateanddisplayhundredsofcombinations.”Thisnew system “enabled a new perspective [on] war for the CIA, military andpolicymakers,”Crumptonlaterexplained.

InAfghanistan,GarySchroen’steamworkedwithAfghanwarlordsandrebelarmies to send human intelligence back to Langley to be inputted into thesystem.This included data like locations of existingminefields andAl-Qaedasafehouses,asdescribedbyAfghansources.Now,withthestrokeofacomputerkey, the CTC staff could see these locations. And CIA paramilitary operatorscould better understand the physical environment from a geospatial point ofview.But thereweretechnicaldifficulties in thefield,andtheCTCdecidedtohave Ken Stiles personally train one member of each team, usually the

communications officer, on how to input data into the system before theydeployed.WhichishowaGreenBeretnamedNathanRossChapmanwounduponaCIAparamilitaryteam.

“I trained him for a week,” remembers Stiles. “We became friends. Wesharedapassion forhuntingand shooting, sowewerealike in thatway.Natewasverysmartandthekindofpersonwhoalwaysdidanexcellentjob.”Aquietprofessional with a host of warfighting skills including combat scuba diver,sniper,andparachutist.AfteraweekofworkingwithKenStilesinthebasementat CIA, Nate Chapman left to be part of a team deployed into Khost,Afghanistan. With the geographic information system up and working, Stilesbriefed CIA director Tenet, who briefed President Bush. The system was soimpressive,theWhiteHousestartedcallingittheMagicBox.

TheCounterterroristCenterwasgrowingatafuriouspace.Bylatefall2001,therewereovertwothousandCTCemployees.TheOfficeofTerrorismAnalysisexpandedfromtwenty-fivepeopletomorethanthreehundred.Operationswerebeingdriven24/7frominsidetheCIA’sGlobalResponseCenter,locatedonthesixth floor of the original headquarters building. The center shared a securedirect line to theDefenseDepartment’s Joint IntelligenceOperationsCenteratCentralCommand,inTampa,Florida.InAfghanistan,theactiononthegroundwas about to shift gears as the war moved from covert to overt. The CIA’sparamilitaryteamswouldnowbeaugmentedwithspecialoperationsforcesfromthe military, mostly Green Berets and Delta Force. And the Pentagon wouldbeginitsbombingcampaign.

ShortlyaftermidnightonOctober7,2001, fifteenU.S.AirForcebombers,twenty-fivestrikeaircraft,andanunspecifiednumberofU.S.andBritishshipsandsubmarinesfiredmorethanfiftyTomahawkmissilesagainstterroristtargetsacrossAfghanistan.Inapressconference,theDefenseDepartmentidentifiedthetargets hit as the Taliban’s defenseministry, its command centers, air defenseinstallations, airfields, electrical grids, and other energy production facilities.Thehybridwar—partcovertaction,partconventionalwarfare—hadbegun.

UpstairsatLangley,ontheseventhfloor,CoferBlackreturnedfromameetingattheWhiteHouse to findBillyWaugh in frontofhisoffice, stretchedoutonacheapfoldingchair.“Thekindyou take to thebeach,”Black recalled in2017.More CIA paramilitary teams were being put together for Afghanistan, andWaugh had not been chosen for any of them, which infuriated him. Blackrefused to assign him a spot on a team;Waugh’s protest was the beach chair

setup. Cofer Black was annoyed. “There was a war going on. I had twosecretaries running around. All kinds of people were coming to see me, andevery goddamn one of them had to step around Billy Waugh in that cheapfoldingchair.”

CoferBlackwentintohisofficeandslammedthedoor.Thedemandsonhimwerestaggering.HealsohadBillyWaughonhismind.ItwasWaugh’sdoggedinsistence,hisnever-give-upferocityinthefield,thathadhelpedhimachievesomanyhidden-handwins for theCIA, thekindonlyahandfulofpeoplewouldeverknowabout.Bigvictoriesinplaceswherealessdeterminedoperatorwouldhave likely been captured, compromised, or killed.CoferBlack thought abouthow,onnumerousoccasions,hehaddirectlybenefitedfromWaugh’swins.Thisincluded the Carlos the Jackal reconnaissance operation and capture—whosesuccessisoftenattributedtoBlack.

“Billyleanedhisheadinmyofficeagainandsaid,‘Goddamnit,Crusader,getme in on this war.’ This time I said, ‘Fine. Get the hell out of here. Go toKabul.’”

Four days before Thanksgiving, BillyWaugh departed for Afghanistan bywayofUnitedArabEmirates.WaitingonthetarmactherewasaC-54pilotedbysomeoneWaughrecognizedimmediately.“Anoldclandestineoperatorwhoflewcovert missions for SOG, in Vietnam and Laos,” forty years before. “It is asmall, smallworld,” saysWaugh.Heboarded theaircraft and, togetherwithahalf-dozenoperatorsandofficersfromtheCIA’sSpecialActivitiesDivisionandits Near East Division, flew to the newly captured Bagram Airfield, outsideKabul.

ThetarmacwaslitteredwithrustingSoviet-eraaircraft.Thewindowlessairtraffic control tower was pockmarked with bullet holes, the perimeter of theairfieldringedwithunexplodedantitankmines.Withhim,BillyWaughcarriedan M4 carbine, an AK-47 assault rifle, a Heckler & Koch 40mm grenadelauncher,andasuitcasewith$6millionincash.Hewasgoingtowarandhewasabouttoturnseventy-twoyearsold.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

PoketheBear

BillyWaughmadehisway the sixtykilometers fromBagramAirfield to theCIAfacilityinKabul,whichwaslocatedinsidetheArianaHotelonSiloRoad.ThesquareoutsidetheArianawasinfamous: itwaswheretheTalibanin1996hadbeatenandcastrated the lastcommunistpresident,MohammadNajibullah,before layingsiegeto thecityandtakingcontrol.After tyingNajibullahto thebackofapickuptruckanddragginghisbodythroughKabul,theyhadsuspendedhisbodyfromapoleoutsidethehoteltodemonstratethataneweraofIslamicpiousnesshadbegun.Najibullah’sbrotherwasexecutedinthesameway.Forthenextfiveyears,TalibancommanderMullahDadullahconductedpublichangingsof people deemed “would-be assassins” here. BillyWaugh crossed the squareandwentintotheArianaHotel.Whilecheckingin,helearnedfromtheclerkthattheTaliban’stopwarlordshadtakenoverthehoteltheyearofNajibullah’sdeathandlivedhererightupuntiltheirexodusfromKabultwoweeksago.BeforetheCIAwasallowedtomovein,itwasrequiredtopaytheTaliban’soverduehotelbill.

InNovember2001,theguestsattheArianawereasighttobehold.Theplacewas filled with Special Activities Division and special operations forcespersonnel.Ifyouwerehere,youwerethebestinyourfield:DeltaForce,GreenBerets,U.S.ArmyRangers,NavySEALs,AirForceCombatControlTeams,AirForce Pararescue, Marine Force Recon, and others. The few who weren’tunconventional warfighters were Olympic-level performers in their particularfield, be it language, anthropology, signals intelligence, or spycraft. Waughsettled inanddidwhathealwaysdid inahostileenvironment,wheresurvivaldependedonknowingthelayofthelandandhowtoescapeifcornered.Hewent

outfora jog.Thisprovedfortuitouswhenagroupofspecialoperationsforcesarrived to join the CIA paramilitary teams, mistakenly dressed in militaryfatigues.Waughknewtheroutetothelocalbazaar,wherethesoldierswereableto buywoolen shawls, caps, and shalwar kameez to blend inwith theAfghanpartnersthey’dbefightingalongside.

The Pentagon’s original plan for Afghanistan was to put 300,000 infantrytroopsontheground,youngAmericansoldiers,themajorityofwhomhadneverseen combat before. Instead, the CIA sent 115 veteran Special ActivitiesDivision officers and operators to lead the charge, augmented bywhatwouldtotalaround2,000specialoperationsforces.Eachteamconsistedofeightorninemen: a team chief, a deputy chief, an operations officer, someone with locallanguage skills, a paramilitary officer, a communications expert, amedic, andoneortwotacticalweaponsexperts.Eachunitwasmadeupofeighttotwelvemen,mostlyGreenBerets andDelta Force.Attached to each teamwas an airforcecombatcontrollertocallintacticalairstrikes.

The CIA teams spread out across the country. Schroen’s team had beenleading the ground war up north alongside General Abdul Rashid Dostum, awarlordofquestionablerepute.TeamAlphahadalreadybeenmadefamousforridingintobattleonhorseback,somethingAmericansoldiershadnotdonesinceWorldWarI.TeamBravodeployedintoMazar-e-Sharifupnorth.TeamCharliewas assigned to central western Afghanistan, to link up with warlord IsmailKhan and fight all theway to the Iranian border. TeamDeltawas inBamyanProvincetofightalongsideaHazaratribe,ShiaMuslimswhoclaimedancestrywithGenghisKhan.TeamEchowasledbyGregVogle,consideredbymanytobe one of themost competent paramilitary fighters in SAD. Echowas taskedwith securing the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and fighting alongside aguerrilla force assembled byHamidKarzai, the soon-to-be future president ofAfghanistan.TeamFoxtrot,ledbyDuaneEvans,wentsouthtooccupyTakhteh-Pol.TeamHotelwasinchargeofsecuringAfghanistan’sporouseasternborderwithPakistan.TeamRomeo,Waugh’s team,would insert intoLogarProvince.TeamJulietwouldfightAl-QaedainToraBora,theplacefromwhichbinLadengotaway.

After threedays inKabul therewas alreadybadnews, including aTalibanprisoneruprisingupnorththatoccurredduringacovertoperationnearMazar-e-Sharif.Inpreparingforacovertwar,theCIAhadoverlookedtheissueofwhattodowithPOWscapturedonthebattlefield.Agencylawyersneglectedtocreateapostcapturewrit. In the fogofwar,eachparamilitary team’sdefaultposition

wastoturnthecapturedTalibanfightersovertotheirAfghanallies,inthiscasetothewarlordGeneralDostum.

Themoveproveddeadly.DeclassifiedStateDepartmentintelligencereportsrevealthatGeneralDostumorderedhismentoherdthesurrenderedTalibanintometalshippingcontainers,withoutventilationorwater, thencloseandlockthedoors. While waiting to be trucked to a prison facility, 1,500 Taliban POWssuffocatedtodeath.ThosewhotriedtoescapewereshotbyDostum’smen.ThebodieswereburiedinamassgraveunderastretchofdesertoutsideShibarghan.PhotographswereincludedintheStateDepartmentreport.

Roughly one hundred captured Taliban prisoners lived, American JohnWalker Lindh among them. General Dostum transported these prisoners to amedieval fortress called Qala-i-Jangi, outside Mazar-e-Sharif. Dostum’s menfailedtosearchthesurrenderedmenforweaponsandinsteadherdedthemintothe basement of the citadel. When CIA paramilitary operations officer John“Mike”Spannwentinsidetogatherintel,hewasambushed,shot,andkilled.Asecond CIA paramilitary officer identified as David fought his way outside,where hemet aGerman film crew,who lent him a satellite phone to call theCIA. The Qala-i-Jangi prison uprising became an international news story,SpannbeingthefirstCIAofficertodieinthewar.HisdeathmarkedthemomentthattheCIA’sparamilitarypresenceinAfghanistanbecameknownpublicly.

The following week, Waugh and Team Romeo were inserted into LogarProvince,southeastofKabul.LogarwasaTalibanstrongholdandAl-Qaedasafehaven. There was a cave complex in the mountains that served as sleepingquartersforAl-Qaeda,andwherefourofthe9/11hijackerstrained.Theteam’shelicopterwasmet by a Special Forces unit led byColonel JohnMulholland,commanderofthe5thSpecialForcesGroup.Theysetupcampinanabandonedschoolhouse,alongsideafightingforceofsixtyheavilyarmedHazaras.ThecashWaughcarriedwasusedtobuyallegiance,security,andinformation—asimilarbargainthatwasbeingstruckbyCIAparamilitaryteamsacrossAfghanistan.

“Thefoundationfor thealliancewassimple,”HankCrumptoninsists.“TheCIAwantedAl-Qaeda.OurAfghanallieswantedtheircountryback.”

Backtowhat?WhentheTalibantookoverinAfghanistanin1996,thegoaloftheIslamistswastoputanendtotheanarchy,violence,andrevengekillingamongwarring tribes that hadplagued society since theSovietwithdrawal, in1989.TheTalibanmadethingsworse.BythetimeoftheU.S.invasionin2001,less than 6 percent of the country had electricity. Eighty-five percent of thepopulationwasilliterate.Infantmortalitywasthehighest intheworld.Women

were routinely beaten by their husbands, boys routinely raped by older men.Afghanistan, a five-thousand-year-old civilization, was the Mad Max of themodernworld,adystopiannightmare.Howwasanyofthisgoingtowork?Afterafewweeksincountry,aGroundBranchoperator,callsignShark,remembersthinking,“NowonderAlexandertheGreatlosthismindhere.”

NothingwassimpleinAfghanistan.Noonepersoncouldpretendtohaveanyidea what the Afghan definition of allegiance was. “You can never buy theloyalty of an Afghan, only rent it,” a British officer of the Great Game oncefamouslysaid.Andwhoshouldbetherightfulrulerofacountrymadeupofapatchwork quilt ofwarring ethnic groups? In Logar Province,Waugh and theCIA paramilitary team met with assets, gathered intelligence, and madeassessmentsaboutwhoandwhattheyencountered.“Ididn’ttrustanyofthem,”Waughrecalls.“Fromthelookintheireyes,Iknewthey’djustaseasilycutmyheartoutasthey’doffermetea.Itwaswhatevertheirwarlordtoldthemtodo.”

Over time, shifting allegiances would threaten every team. One of thewarlordsworkingwithSchroen’steam,GeneralFahim,demandedanoutrageoussum ofmoney, to be paid in cash everymonth.Awarlord in Logar Provincecharged theCIAa fifty-dollar-a-head toll every time its operators drovedownthe town’sonly street.Guerrilla fightersworkingalongsideTeamDeltapulledguns on the team in ToraBora, just a thousand yards fromwhereOsama binLadenandhisAl-Qaedacommanderswerehiding inacave.Oneof theDeltaForceoperatorsworkingwiththeCIAteamthatdaylatertoldSixtyMinuteshewasconvincedthatholdupallowedOsamabinLadentovanishintoPakistan.

TheCIAand themilitarywere facedyetagainwith thecentralquestionofguerrillawarfare:CantheUnitedStateseverreallybuyloyaltyfromtheforeignfighters it pays to armandequip?Theconundrumhasplagued seasoned spiesandsoldiersforaslongaswarshavebeenwaged.AfterWorldWarII,duringtheKoreanWar,RussellVolckmann,AaronBank, and JohnSinglaub fought overthis unanswerable question. And here, now, in Afghanistan, CIA paramilitaryofficersandoperators,and theirDefenseDepartmentcounterparts,werefacingthesameconundrumyetagain.ShouldAmericabefightinganunconventionalwar in a foreign land in the first place—after so many grave missteps andfailures in Vietnam? Or was the president’s third option, these hidden-handoperations,goingtobeawiseandfruitfulwayforward?

When Al-Qaeda attacked the United States on 9/11, U.S. air force lieutenantgeneralMichaelHaydenhadbeendirectoroftheNSAformorethantwoyears.

After 9/11, he became an advocate of the find, fix, finish approach tocounterterrorism.As director of theNSA,Hayden also served as chief of theNSA’s Central Security Service, which was in charge of providing combatsupport for the Defense Department. The war on terror “was an intelligence-driven war,” Hayden told colleagues. “All wars are, of course, but this oneespecially.”Acareersoldier,hehadspentmuchofhisprofessionallifefightingtheColdWar.“Theenemywasprettyeasy tofind”whentheSovietswere theenemy, he says, meaning Russian tank armies and Soviet intercontinentalballisticmissilefields inSiberiawerevisible insatellite imagery.“Justhard tokill,”headds.Inthisnewwaragainstterrorists,thecalculushadbeeninverted.“This[war]wasdifferent,”Haydensaid.“Thisenemywasrelativelyeasytokill.Hewas just very, very hard to find.”Hayden and his intelligence communitypartnersweredeterminedtochangethat.

One night in the fall of 2001,Michael Hayden recalls having dinner withU.S. air force lieutenant general Charles Holland, the commander of SpecialOperationsCommand(SOCOM),atHolland’shome.The twomenhadknowneachotherforyears.Thatnight,overdessert,theydiscussedthecentralproblemfacingtheCIAandSpecialForcesdirect-actionteamsinAfghanistan.Thattheenemywas proving impossible to find, let alone fix and finish. The CIA hadkilled Al-Qaedamilitary chiefMohammadAtef, but Hayden pointed out thattherehadbeennosignificantkillssince.Hollanddroppedhisfistonthetable.“Ineed actionable intelligence!” he said.The reasonAl-Qaeda leadershipwasn’tbeing killed or captured enmassewas an intelligence problem, not a combatone,accordingtoHolland.

The way Hayden recalls the story, in this moment he was finally able toconveytoSOCOMCommanderCharlieHollandwhathebelievedwasthewaytowinanunconventionalwar.Theconceptwasasoldashunting,killing,andspying,Haydensaid.Itinvolvedtheactofprovocation.

“Let me give you another way of thinking about this,” Hayden proposed.“YougivemealittleactionandI’llgiveyoualotmoreintelligence.”

Inotherwords,Hayden explained, “Weneedoperationalmoves topoke atthe enemy, make himmove and communicate, so we [can] learnmore abouthim.”U.S.specialoperationsforcesandCIASpecialActivitiesDivisionteamsneededtoaggressivelypokethebear.

Asix-yearveteranofGroundBranchexplaineditthisway:“Youworkwithabadguyand lethimthinkyou thinkhe’sagoodguy.Doesn’tmatter.He’llgohome and make contact with another bad guy, who will make contact with

anotherbadguy,goingrightupthechainofcommand.”Thereasonthissystemworks, they both say, is because the NSA can listen in. “To everything,everywhere,”saysathirdGroundBranchoperator,aformerteamleader.“We’dput ears on a person,” he says, referring in a general way to the classifiedtechnique that allows theNSA topull electronicdata froman enemy fighter’scellphoneandotherelectronicdevices,andfromhislandlineandfaxmachine.“The goal would evolve—to get the actionable intelligence to send a GroundBranchteamin.”

Often it worked well—as in the case of Taliban intelligence chief QariAmadullahinDecember2001.ThroughAfghanintermediaries,theCIA’sTeamDeltagotamessagetoAmadullah.MuchtotheCIA’ssurprise,Amadullahsaidthat he wanted to broker a deal for himself in exchange for information onseveral topAl-Qaeda leaders.But theNSAhad listened inonhim formonthsandtolditsCIApartnersthatitsuspectedthemancouldnotbetrusted.Tony,thedeputyteamleaderoftheCIAteam,wastoldtosetupameeting.

In2001itwasdangeroustomeetwithanyoneinGhazniProvince,Al-Qaeda-controlled territory.The teamheaded in, firstbyvehicleand thenonfoot.TheCIA’s two Predator drones were each assigned missions elsewhere inAfghanistan,whichmeantthattheCTCdidnothaveeyesonthetarget;nordidthe paramilitary operators have air support. As happens with many SpecialActivitiesDivisionmissions,theteamwasonitsown.

QariAmadullahdidnotshowupatthesafehouse,asagreed.Instead,hesentasubordinate.Whentheteamarrived, theroomwasfilledwithhostileTalibanfighters. Weapons were drawn. On Tony’s signal, the team overpowered theTalibanfighters.Themenwereflex-cuffed,bound,andleftonthedirtfloor.Theemissary for theTaliban’s intelligencechiefwas rolledup intoa largeAfghancarpet, carried out of the house this way, taken down the mountainside, andloadedintoaGroundBranchvehicle.

“Within twenty-fourhoursofhiscapture, theTalibanprisoner revealedAl-Qaeda and Taliban command posts and other positions along the Pakistanborder,”saysHankCrumpton.

Based on this new information, the CIA moved its Predator drone intopositionovernewtargetsobtainedfromthesource.Thebuildingwaslargerthancould be eliminated by the Predator’s Hellfiremissiles, so the CIA asked theDefenseDepartmentforanairstrike,turningtheenemycompoundintopilesofrubble and rock. At the CTC, Hank Crumpton recalls watching the operationthrough the viewfinder of the Predator drone, hovering 25,000 feet above the

target site. After the dust from the air strike cleared, says Crumpton, “ThePredatorpickeduponeindividualfleeingonfoot.Hemadeittoamotorbikeandtriedtoescape.Hedidnotgetfar.Hedisappearedinafieryblast.”IntelligencelaterconfirmedthatthemantryingtofleeonthebikewasQariAmadullah.“Heshouldhavetakenouroffer,”Crumptonsays.

The pairing of technology and human intelligence did not alwayswork insync,andsometimestheresultsweredeadly.OnDecember5,2001,nearShahWaliKot,outsideKandahar,TeamEchowasinputtingbombingcoordinatesintothegeographic informationsystemwhen theoperator’sbatterieswentdead. Inchanging them,hedidn’t realizehewaserasing theenemycoordinateshehadjust loaded into thesystem, replacing thosebombingcoordinateswithhisowncurrentlocationasthesystemrebooted.AB-52Stratofortressbomberflewintothebattlespaceanddroppeda2,000-poundbombonTeamEcho.CaptainJasonAmerine,aGreenBeretattached to the team,wasstudyingamaponanearbyhill when the bomb hit. Amerine was wounded. Killed in the debacle weretwenty-sevenAfghansoldiersandthreeGreenBerets:MasterSergeantJeffersonDavis,SergeantFirstClassDanPetithory,andStaffSergeantBrianProsser.

Whenthebombhit,teamleaderGregVoglewastalkingwithatriballeadernamedHamidKarzaiinabuildingnearby.Astheroomexploded,VoglethrewhisbodyoverKarzai’sbody,likelysavinghislife.Thedustsettled,andVogle’ssatellite phone rang. It was a United Nations delegation calling from Bonn,Germany—asking to speakwithHamidKarzai.Therewasnews regarding theBonn Agreement, the international agreement on Afghanistan, the caller said.Hamid Karzai had just been named the head of state of Afghanistan. It wasofficial: the Taliban regime had been overthrown. The CIA’s hybrid war wasbeinghailedasasuccess.

In the last days of December 2001, Team Hotel was infiltrated into KhostProvince, along the porous border with Pakistan. The operators came in on aRussian-madeMi-17belonging to theCIA.OnboardwasNateChapman, theGreenBeret communications expertwho’d been trained byKen Stiles, in thebasement of the CIA, on how to collect intel and input the data into thegeographicinformationsystem.AfterflyingninetymilesfromBagramAirfieldoutsideKabul, theteamwouldreconthearea,setupaforwardoperatingbase,and secure the old airfield here inKhost, abandoned by the Soviets ten yearsbefore.

Locatedtwenty-fivemilesfromthePakistanborder,Khosthadservedasthe

epicenterofOsamabinLaden’sterroristplanningandoperationsforyears.Withitsplungingvalleys,mile-highmountains,andwarrenofsandstonecaves,Khostwasagarrisontownandaguerrillaarmy’sdream.WhentheSoviets tried,andfailed, to rule Afghanistan, they are said to have fired every weapon in theirarsenal atKhost, except for a nuclear bomb. InAugust 1998, after binLadenbombedthetwoU.S.embassiesinEastAfrica,PresidentClintonhitKhostwithdozensofTomahawkcruisemissiles.ThiseffortaimedtokillbinLadenwithoutlooking like it was trying to kill him. The strike cost U.S. taxpayers tens ofmillionsofdollars.

NowNateChapmanwaspartofaCIAparamilitaryteamhereinKhost,onacovertoperation togather intelligenceonenemy fighters in the area—to inputdataintothegeographicinformationsystemthatwouldhelpbuilduptheCIA’skill-or-capture list. On the morning of January 4, 2002, at a meeting withregional warlords already being handsomely paid by the CIA, things wentdangerouslyawry.Shortlyafter the teamarrived, therewasaheatedargument.Gunsweredrawnandthensetaside,recallsteammemberScottSatterlee,inaninterviewforthisbook.Thencamethetea.Finally,amiabletermswereagreedupon.Aftermoreteaandmoretalk,theteamwasabletogetwhatithadcomefor: information from the tribe. The warlords identified a building on theoutskirtsoftownasbeinganAl-Qaedasafehouse.LocalAfghans,armedwithweaponsandknowledgeaboutthelocation,agreedtobehiredtotaketheCIAparamilitaryteamtothistarget.

The operators climbed into four Toyota pickup trucks and headed out oftown, down a single-lane dirt road.Aswas the case all overAfghanistan, theroadthatgotyouinwasthesameroadyouneededtotravelontogetout.Inthisfour-vehicleconvoy,NateChapmanhadbeenassignedaspotinthelastpickuptruck. Itwas harshwinterweather, and the roadwasmostly frozenmud.Thefirst three trucksmoved quickly down themuddy, rutted road, but the fourthtruck,theonecarryingChapman,gotstuck.

NateChapmanwassittinginthebackoftheflatbedtruck,fiddlingwiththeantenna on his satellite comms, when bullets struck. From roughly thirty feetaway,threemenwithAK-47shadopenedfirefromagroveoftrees.Oneoftheparamilitaryofficersinthevehicletookabullettothechest,butfortunatelyhewaswearingbodyarmor,whichprotectedhimfrombeingkilled.NateChapmanwas struck by a bullet in the pelvis, severing his femoral artery. Bleedingheavily,Chapmanfiredbackuntil themagazineonhisM4carbinewasempty.Thenhepassedoutfromlossofblood.

Theteam’sAfghandriverracedbacktotheschoolhousewhiletheoperatorsworkedhard tokeepNateChapmanalive.Everyoneknewthat theAirBranchhelicopter was on its way down from Kabul, but the flight took forty-fiveminutes,andbythetimethehelicopterlandedinthewheatfieldoutsidetheoldRussian schoolhouse, Nate Chapman was dead. Because the mission was aclassified covert-action operation, Chapman would not be officially identifiedforanotherthirteenyearsashavingworkedfortheCIA.

Over in Logar Province, Billy Waugh’s tour of duty in Afghanistan wascomingtoanend.HislastorderwastotraveltotheCIAbaseinKabulandpackupNateChapman’sthings.

“He was a young soldier,” recalls Waugh. “A Green Beret, tasked to theAgency,justlikeme.”Packingupthebelongingsofayoungmankilledinbattlewas something Billy Waugh had done countless times, across fifty years ofcovert-action operations and war. “Some people die, others do not,” Waughreflects.“There’snoexplanationforanyofthis.Neverhasbeen,neverwillbe.”

The classified CIA forward operating base at Khost was named FOBChapman,inhonorofNateChapman.Ineightyears’time,thisotherwisesecretfacilitywouldbecomeknowntotheworld.InDecember2009,FOBChapmanwas the scene of the deadliest attack against CIA employees since ImadMugniyah planned and executed the truck bombing of the U.S. embassy inBeirut in1983.AtKhost,anAl-Qaedasuicidebomberwearinganexplosives-ladenvest,anderroneouslybelievedtobeaspyworkingfortheCIA,wouldkillsevenCIAofficers andcontract personnel, including the chiefofbase and thebasesecuritychief.AJordanianintelligenceofficerandanAfghansecuritychiefwerealsokilledintheblast.

ButitwasJanuary2002,andthishybridwarinAfghanistanwasjustgettingstarted.JusthoursafterNateChapmanwaskilledinKhost,atCIAheadquartersinLangley,KenStileswastoldtopackabag.HewasbeingsenttoAfghanistanto set up a geographic information system for theCIA station chief inKabul,partofanexpandingneweffortcalled“targeting.”TheCIAwasdoublingdownon its plans to kill or captureAl-Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Targetingwouldbecome the new way forward, the practice of identifying an individual forplacement on the kill-or-capture list. From there, the goal was to find thatperson, secure his location, and kill him—either with a Predator drone or aGroundBranchteam.

Three hundred analysts, called “targeters,”were nowworking at theCTC,leveraging information in the geographic information system, then pushing

targeting packages back out to CIA paramilitary teams. “[Targeters] spend alltheir time looking at one target, [a terrorist] with one name,” explains PhilMudd,deputydirectoroftheCTCfrom2003to2005.“Theirwholegoalinlife[was]followingonehumanbeing,” tracking thatpersonuntilhe iscapturedordead.

“Everythingwashappeningsofast,”saysKenStilesofthistimeattheCIA.Before September 11, he spent his days behind a desk at Langley, providinggeospatial analysis for CIA reports and briefings. Here he was now, just fourmonths later, heading into the war theater. In Afghanistan, he rememberswalkingdown thehallwayat a classified facility inKabul, justmoments afterarriving,whenhespottedsomethingthattookhisbreathaway.“NateChapman’sbelongings,”herecalls.“Hispersonaleffectsthereonthefloor,packedupinapile.” Thesewere the last thingsChapman carried before hewas killed.Nowtheywerebeingsenthomewithhisbody,toagrievingwifeandtwofatherlesschildren,agesoneandtwoyearsold.

TheSpecialActivitiesDivisionhadbegunitstransformationfromthesmallsecret strike force at the CIA to a paramilitary army of such profoundsignificance it would soon move into its own center, at CIA headquarters inVirginia. Under Title 50 authority, the Special Activities Center would beginusing its Ground Branch arm to run covert-action operations not just inAfghanistanbutaroundtheworld.Firsttherewouldbeanotherwar.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

WarinIraq

It was the fall of 2002, a year after 9/11, and the Pentagon was secretlypreparingtogotowarinIraq.TheCIAwasassignedamoretraditionalroleinthe lead-up to thiswar: to prepare the battlefieldwith hidden-hand operationsincludingsabotage,subversion,andassassination,OSS-style.

Anunmarkedaircraft filledwitheightyanti-Saddamguerrilla fighters fromIraqcrossedintoNevadaairspaceandmadeitswaytowardaclassifiedfacilitywithintheNevadaTestSite,asecrettestandtrainingfacilityknownasArea51.This newly created foreignparamilitary force, code-named theScorpions,wascommandedbyGeneralMohammadAbdullahal-Shahwani,exiledarch-nemesisof Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The aircraft curtains were closed onapproachsonooneinsidetheairplanecouldidentifythetrainingfacilityorleakinformation. Plausible deniability was essential; Americans had no idea theWhiteHousewaslayingplansforanotherwar.

TheScorpionguerrillawarfarecorpswasoneelementofaCIAcovert-actionoperationcode-namedDB/Anabasis.DBwastheAgency’scryptonymforIraq.Anabasis referred to the soldier-historian Xenophon’s epic masterpieceAnabasis, the story of an army of Greek mercenaries who tried to seize thePersian throne in 370 BC but failed. “One of the great adventures in humanhistory,” remarked historian Will Durant of the effort. The planners ofDB/Anabasishadequallyhighhopesfor theirprogram,whichpresagedoneofthemostegregiouswrongsinAmericanmilitaryhistory.Thetwomeninchargeof the programwereLuisRueda, chief of Iraq operations, and JohnMaguire,deputychief.

“IknowIraq,”saidMaguire, ina2018interviewfor thisbook.Hehadrun

operationsinthecountrysince1991.“IstillhaveahomeinBaghdad,whichIvisit.” The pair brought range and experience to the table. Rueda, a CubanAmerican,camefromafamilyof freedomfightersandspies.His fatherwasamemberofBrigade2506,whichstormedthebeachattheBayofPigs.Enamoredwith paramilitary operations since childhood,LuisRueda joined theCIA aftercollege and spent years working covert operations in Latin America and theMiddle East. He’d served as chief of station in Delhi, India, and was now amemberoftheeliteSeniorIntelligenceService.FromhisofficeontheseventhflooratLangley,RuedawouldoverseeDB/Anabasisplans.ThefieldworkwouldbehandledbyMaguire,alegendaryparamilitaryoperationsofficerwhoseareasofexpertiseincludedexplosivesandsabotage.

Maguire was old-school and proud of it, trained in the Directorate ofOperations under Bill Casey. “Bush wanted an Iraqi version of the OSSJedburghs,” says Maguire. “He was already thinking about this when I wascalled back to Washington on September twelfth.” Maguire believed in theeffectiveness ofOSSSpecialOperationsBranch–style operations, he says.Hediscussed this in ameeting at theWhiteHouseduring the firstweekafter the9/11attacks.

Maguiresawcounterterrorismoperationsthroughahistoricallens.“Iworkedon the issue even before there was a Counterterrorist Center” at the CIA, heremembers, including when Bill Casey, taking a page from Mossad’s book,drafted the original plan to train Lebanese hit squads to eliminate Hezbollahterrorists.“Casey’sthinkingwaswayaheadofhistime,”Maguireinsists.WithPresidentBush’ssignatureon theSeptember17MemorandumofNotification,“theCIAgotwhatBillCaseyenvisionedtwodecadesbefore,”headds.

In2002,theconceptofusingkill-or-capturemissionsasaprimarymeansofcombating terrorismwas in its first official year.How to use a rebel army offoreignfighterstoaugmenttheselethaldirect-actionoperationsgavewaytotheScorpions,thefirstofmanywar-on-terrorpartnershipstocome.ButoutatArea51,problemswiththeseIraqiémigrésbeganalmost immediately.Theunitwassupposed tobemadeupof elite commandos,manyofwhomclaimed tohavepreviously worked for Saddam Hussein’s paramilitary army, the FedayeenSaddam (Saddam’s Men of Sacrifice), before defecting. But one of the U.S.paramilitary operators assigned to train these Iraqi nationals complained toheadquarters that anunusualnumberof theScorpion fighters appeared to lackeventhemostbasicmilitaryskills.JohnMaguireacknowledgedtheconcernbutwas not worried, he says. The Scorpions’ commander, General Mohammad

Abdullahal-Shahwani,wasalongtimetrustedallyoftheCIA.GeneralShahwanihadacomplexbackstory.In1984,duringIraq’swarwith

Iran,ShahwaniledasuccessfulhelicopterattackagainstanIranianstrongholdinnorthern Iraq, elevating him to national hero status.But this popularitywas acurse,causingtheparanoidandjealousSaddamHusseintoviewthegeneralasathreat.Shahwaniwasarrestedandjailedonsuspicionofplottingacoup.Hewasquestionedandreleasedwithoutcharge,buttheexperienceledhimtodefecttoEngland, where he began working with the CIA. With Agency backing,Shahwaniplotted another coup, this time fromoutside the country.Before thecoup happened, he was betrayed as a co-conspirator. In revenge, Saddam’sMukhabarat rounded up eighty-five men suspected of working with GeneralShahwaniandexecutedthem.Shahwani’sthreesons,allstilllivinginIraq,werearrestedandtorturedtodeath.“Ifighttoavengemysons,”ShahwanitoldTimemagazinein2004.“I[willdo]whateverisrequired.”

OutintheNevadadesertinthefallof2002,GeneralShahwani’sScorpionswere trained in unconventional warfare, ambush, hit-and-run operations, andhelicopterinsertion.Theylearnedhowtouseexplosivestoblowuprailwaylinesand power plants inside Iraq.They trained in close-quarters combat and long-range sniper assassination. “Were they good soldiers?” a paramilitary operatorwhoworkedwiththeScorpionsaskedrhetorically,inaninterviewforthisbook.“No comment.Were they wild? Yes. Very wild,” he says. “But GeneralMoe[MohammadShahwani]wasinchargeofthem.Hekeptthemincontrol.”

Tounderstandhowthegeneral’sparamilitaryunitcametobe,it’snecessarytobackuptoFebruary16,2002,justfivemonthsafterthe9/11terroristattacks.PresidentBush signedaPresidentialFindingauthorizingDB/Anabasis in Iraq.TheCIA’slawyerswereconcernedthatTitle50operationsinIraqwouldnotbecoveredundertheSeptember17MemorandumofNotification,becausenolinkbetween Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda had beenfound. The Presidential Finding was to grant the CIA the authority to makecertaina rebel fighting forcewas inplacewhen thewar theWhiteHousewasnowplanningcametopass.

AnargumentoverwhichrebelgroupinsideIraqwasbestsuitedtoworkonDB/Anabasis ensued. Some people within the Iraq operations group believedthat themostcompetentand loyalanti-Saddamfighterswere thePeshmerga,aguerrillaarmyofKurdishfightersfromnorthernIraq.ThePeshmergahadbeenoppressed by Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party for decades. In 1988, Iraq’smilitaryusedmustardgasandnerveagents,includingsarinandVX,onKurdish

civilianslivinginHalabja,killing5,000peopleinthelargestchemicalweaponsattackinhistory.ButthePeshmerga,whosenametranslatesas“thosewhofacedeath,”hadtheirowninternecineproblemsandwerepresentlydividedintotworival groups. In April 2002, John Maguire flew to Iraqi Kurdistan to meetseparatelywiththeregionalKurdishleadersofthesegroups:MassoudBarzani,presidentof theKurdishDemocraticParty,andJalalTalabani,presidentof thePatrioticUnionofKurdistan.

“Barzani and Talabani were very skeptical of what we had planned,”remembersMaguire.“They’dheardthiskindofproposalfromusbefore.Itoldthem, ‘This time, it’s for real.’” After listening to Maguire’s briefing onoperations being planned under DB/Anabasis, Barzani and Talabani eachexpressedwariness.Theeffortswouldbethreefold,saidMaguire:locateassetsinside SaddamHussein’s regimewho could be turned; sabotage existing Iraqiinfrastructure;andassassinateMukhabaratofficials.Therewasriskinvolved,headded. The hit-and-run operations against the Mukhabarat would almostcertainlyresult inretaliatoryattacks.RivalsBarzaniandTalabaniagreedtosetaside their differences and work with the CIA to fight their common enemy,SaddamHussein.

BeforeleavingIraqiKurdistan,Maguireaskedtobetakeninbehindenemylines. He wanted to observe an Iraqi military base for himself, he says. IfMaguirewerecaptured,he’d likelybeexecutedon thespot,orputon trial forbeing the spy that hewas.As adisguise,Maguire’sPeshmergahostsoutfittedhiminthestolenuniformofanIraqiArmycolonel,completewithredstripesontheshoulders.InacarfavoredbyIraqicolonels—afour-doorToyotasedan,likeanAmericanpolicecruiser—thePeshmergatookMaguiretotheoutskirtsofanIraqiArmybase,whereheobservedthroughbinocularssoldierskeepingguard.“They were sitting around in shorts and flip-flops,” Maguire recalls. “I waslooking at the Iraqi V Corps, and they looked entirely unprepared for war.”Missionaccomplished,MaguireheadedbacktoLangley.

Upon his return, Vice President Cheney requested a personal briefing onDB/Anabasis.Themeetingtookplaceinaconferenceroomontheseventhfloorof CIA headquarters. Rueda andMaguire sharedwith the vice president theirplansforcovert-actionoperationsinIraq.

“Cheneyaskedmanyquestions,”recallsMaguire.“Therewasalotofback-and-forth.We answered his questions, he listened, then askedmore questions.He was interested in… who we were working with. We said the Kurds. Hewantedtoknowspecifics.Hewasveryinvolved.”

Therewas another problem that needed to be addressed, an issueMaguireinsistshe’dbroughtupthelasttimehe’dbriefedthevicepresident.“Fourdaysafter9/11,”saysMaguire.ThemeetinghadbeenattheWhiteHouse.“Theissuewas Iran. Iran, Iraq,Syria.The threewere tied,we said. Ifyoupullonebrickout, thewhole region could collapse.We tried building this into our thinking.Iran,Syria,Iraq.”

Maguirewasnotaloneinhisassessment.InIsrael,Mossadhadbeentrackinga devil’s bargain made recently between Syria and Iran involving Hezbollah,Iran’s guerrilla army corps. For decades, Syrian presidentHafez al-Assad hadallowed the Iranians to fly weapons into Damascus, then disperse them toHezbollahterroristsintheregionviatrucks.Inexchangeforpassage,PresidentAssad received cash and anonymity, meaning Syria’s involvement remainedhidden.In2000hedied,andhissonBasharbecamethenewpresidentofSyriaandrenegotiatedwithIranthetermsofthesecretbargainwithHezbollah.

According toMossad, a year and a half into his presidency, in early 2002,Bashar al-Assad struck a new deal with the Iranians. “Assad opened his ownarmy’sarmoriestoHezbollah,providingtheorganizationwithmodernRussianweaponrythatevenIranlacked,”explainsRonenBergman.Iran,Hezbollah,andSyriahad formedan alliance that posed an existential threat to Israel.Mossadcalled this triumvirate theRadical Front.Maguire says he toldVice PresidentCheney that if Iraqwere to becomedestabilized, theRadical Front could takeadvantage of this weakness, move its hidden-hand forces into Iraq, and takeground.

CheneydidnotneedtobeconvincedofIran’sintenttoharmtheWest.Inaspeech at theNixonLibrary twomonthsbefore, hehad called Iran “a leadingexporter of terror.” But during theDB/Anabasis briefing at theCIA,Maguiresays the potential for Iran to meddle in a weakened Iraq was not furtherdiscussed, that “Cheney was focused on Iraq.” The briefing ended. The vicepresidentexpressedhisapprovalfortheCIA’scovert-actionoperationswiththePeshmerga.“Hetoldus,‘Youhavemyfullsupport,’”saysMaguire.

Maguire returned to his office.He picked up the telephone and spoke to aveteranofficerfromtheNearEastDivisionnamedCharles“Sam”Faddis,givingFaddis thego-ahead to lead covert operations insidenorthern Iraq.Faddis hadthreemonthstoprepare.

SamFaddishadbeenaclandestinecaseofficerattheCIAsince1988.HespokefluentTurkishandconversationalArabic,hadadegreeinpoliticalscience,and

wasalsotrainedasamilitarylawyerwiththeJudgeAdvocateGeneral’sCorps,or JAG. In the months since 9/11, Faddis had been working clandestineoperationsinPakistan,alongitslawlessfrontierborderwithAfghanistan.NowhewouldbeleadingaCIAparamilitaryteamintoIraqiKurdistantoworkwithPeshmergarebels.

Ordersinhand,Faddisputtogetherthemostexperiencedspies,soldiers,andcombat veterans he could find, experts in reconnaissance, surveillance, covertoperations, and warfare. Among them they spoke Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, andKurdish.TwohadservedinAfghanistan,fightinginKabulandToraBora.OnehadbeenattheQala-i-JangiprisoneruprisingandfoughtalongsideMikeSpann.In northern Iraq, the planwas for the teams to eventually be augmentedwithoperatorsfromDeltaForce,GreenBerets,U.S.ArmyRangers,andotherspecialoperationsforces.

On July 7, 2002, Faddis and a CIA paramilitary team arrived in Incirlik,Turkey,whereregionalpoliticsweregrowingincreasinglycomplex.TheKurdshada long-standingfeudwith theTurksandit tookseveraldaysofbargainingbefore theCIA teamwas allowed in.Once approved, they climbed into jeepsloadedwithweaponsandammunitionanddrove425milestoabordercrossingalongtheKharburRiverinnorthernIraq,justnorthofaKurdishvillagecalledZakho.Once insideIraqiKurdistan, theyweremetbyPeshmergafighterswhobrought them tomeet separatelywithMassoudBarzani and Jalal Talabani, asJohnMaguirehaddonethreemonthsbefore.

FromBarzaniandTalabani,theteamswerebriefedonadevelopingsituationalongtheborderwithIran. Islamist fightersalignedwithAl-Qaedahadmovedintothemountainsthere,Peshmergaleaderssaid.They’dsetupatrainingcampandwererunningguerrillawarfareoperationsinanarrowsetofhillsthatroseupfromtheHalabjaplain.“ThePeshmergahadcaptureddozensoftheseguerrillafighters,”recallsFaddis.ThisIslamistarmy,whichnumberedbetween200and1,000 men, had taken over several Kurdish towns. Local villagers describedbrutish,Taliban-likerestrictionsandsaidtheforeignfightersdestroyedlocalSufishrines.TheradicalgroupcalledthemselvesAnsaral-Islam,DefendersofIslam.Therewere localKurds in their ranks butmostly theywere nonlocals, said tohavejourneyedherefromAfghanistan.

There was open source information supporting these eyewitness accounts.Earlier that winter, in January 2002, the Kurdistan Observer reported on adocument found inKabul thatcalleduponSunniKurds to“joinAl-Qaedaandcreate a Little Tora Bora” in northern Iraq. The goalwas to create a fighting

forceto“expelJewsandChristiansfromKurdistan,jointhewayofjihad,[and]rule every piece of land with Islamic Sharia rule.” By summer of 2002 thefighting had begun. Ansar al-Islam attacked and killed 103 Peshmerga in anambush. They tried to assassinate a Peshmerga military commander inSulaymaniyah,butkilledhisofficemanagerandfourbodyguardsinstead.

Faddis asked tobe taken to the front lines, toview the trainingcampsandinterview captured POWs. Dressed like Peshmerga fighters and armed withPeshmergaweapons,theCIAteamwastakentothelawlessborderregionwithIran. “We got eyes on Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam,” recalls Faddis. “Theirheavy machine-gun positions and mortar sites [were] hidden inside medievalcastles”acrosstheregion.TheteaminterrogatedprisonersanddeterminedthatthefighterswereAl-Qaedawho’descapedfromAfghanistan.They’djourneyedacross Iran, using ancient smugglers’ routes, and were rebuilding an army tofightAmericansoldiersinthecomingwarinIraq.

InthesecondweekofAugust2002,saysFaddis,“weputtogetheraplantoattack and destroy the Ansar enclave.” He sent CIA headquarters a list ofweaponsrequiredtoarmthePeshmergarebels.“Fivehundred120mmmortars;2,000Kalashnikovrifles;50,0007.62mmrounds,”thecableread.Washington’sanswershockedFaddis.“TheWhiteHousedecidedthattheywouldnotapproveusstandingupaKurdishforcetofightwithusagainstAnsar.ThepresidenthaddecidedtoplacethepriorityoninvadingIraqinstead.”Thiswasaradicalchangeofplans, he says. “TheWhiteHouse [now]wanted anArab face.”The rebelsneededtobeIraqiArabs,notKurdishPeshmerga,hewastold,andthatGeneralShahwani’sIraqiScorpionsweretobehisArabface.“TheywerenottobeusedagainstAnsar;theyweretobeusedagainstSaddam.”

AfterfinishingtrainingintheNevadadesert,theScorpionswereflowntoasecond trainingbase, in Jordan.By the time they arrived in northern Iraq, thegroup numbered several hundred. To Faddis, the idea of working covertoperations behind enemy lines with men he had no proven relationship withseemedunwise.Hediscussedhisconcernswithateammember,callsignDoc,the medic who’d been at Qala-i-Jangi when Mike Spann was ambushed andkilled. Faddis saysDoc agreed that they should conduct additional vetting ontheir own. They would screen General Shahwani’s paramilitary forceindividuallybeforeagreeingtoworkwiththem.

A neutral facility was chosen, inside a hotel near Shaqlawa, Iraq. EachmemberoftheScorpionswasstrippedofhisweaponsandinterviewed.“Mostofthemwere common criminals,” according toFaddis. “Nomilitary background

whatsoever. General Shahwani got paid per person he supplied to the CIA.”After screening more than one hundred men, the CIA team agreed that therewerejusttwenty-fiveoftheIraqiScorpionstheywerewillingtofightalongside.But with close-quarters combat training, Faddis says a complex new set ofunforeseenproblemsarose.

“TheScorpionswererapingeachotherduringtraining,”saysFaddis,“whichpossesses its own set of problems, including medical ones. What do you dowhen people start committing felonies during paramilitary training, at a blacksite?They’recommittingfeloniesbutofficiallytheydon’texist,andneitherdoestheprogram.”Faddishadspentmorethanadecadeengagedincovertoperationsacross the Near and Middle East. “Man-on-man sex is not unusual in thisculture,”he says. “It’snot frownedupon. Itoccurs.The [fighters]gohome totheir wives, if they have them.” But as the leader of the highly classifiedDB/Anabasisoperation,beingprivytorapepresentedFaddiswithanethicalandoperational conundrum. “What I was dealing with was nonconsensual sexamongthefighterssentbyWashington.”

The ongoing rapes among the Scorpion fighterswere reported to the IraqiOperations Group at Langley. Headquarters sent veteran Special ActivitiesDivision officer Greg Vogle to Kurdistan to assess the situation. It was GregVoglewho’dsavedHamidKarzai’slifeinthebombingincidentinKandaharinDecember 2001. Vogle went by the code name Snake. “Snake declared theScorpions unfit for combat,” according to Faddis. They were undisciplined,unskilledfightersnowcommittingcriminalacts.“HetoldheadquartersthattheScorpionswereunabletoperformanyofthemissionsthey’dbeentrainedfor.”

“Wearegoingtogetgoodmenkilledfornoreason,”Snakewarned.ButtheplantousetheScorpionfightersmovedforwarddespiteprotestations

from the CIA paramilitary team in the field. General Shahwani was suppliedwithRussianMi-17helicopters,“millionsofdollars’worthofairassets,”recallsFaddis,“allpaintedwithscorpionlogos,allbrightandshinyandbrand-new.”InAttheCenterof theStorm,hismemoir,CIAdirectorGeorgeTenetpraised theScorpions, identifying them as an Agency-sponsored paramilitary group that“producedextraordinarysuccesses.”GeneralShahwani,Tenetwrote, servedas“oneoftheU.S.government’smostcriticalpartnersworkingagainstSaddam’sregime.” He was “a born leader with a significant following, someone whocommanded the respectof everyonewhoworkedwithhim.”MichaelHayden,whobecameCIAdirectorin2005,alsopraisedShahwaniinhismemoir,PlayingtotheEdge,callinghim“afriend”whowas“clearlytalentedandcourageous.”

Thediscrepancy inopinionbetween the covert-actionoperatorson thegroundand the top brass at the CIA is puzzling. According to Faddis, “WashingtonwantedtheIraqiJedburghstory.”Whattheygot“wasanunmitigateddisaster.”

AsSamFaddisfocusedhisoperationsinpartnershipwiththePeshmergarebels,SaddamHusseinsentMukhabarathitsquads to try toassassinate them,Faddissays. The assassins also included Islamists from Ansar al-Islam. In February2003,CIAliaisonShawkatHajjiMushir,aPeshmergaguerrillacommanderandPatrioticUnionofKurdistangovernmentofficial,wasshotintheheadatcloserange by a man posing as a peace negotiator. The Peshmerga pushed backagainst Ansar al-Islam, while the CIA team focused their attention on theMukhabaratassassinationteamsdispatchedtoeliminatethem.

Iraq’s state-run intelligence organization was notorious for torturing andkillingitsenemies.Itsstaffnumberedroughlyfourthousand.LiketheCIA,theMukhabarat was responsible for international intelligence collection andanalysis, but it also performed paramilitary, or hidden-hand, operations insideIraq. The unit responsible for assassinations was called Directorate 9, SecretOperations. As part of DB/Anabasis, the CIA sought to turn a MukhabaratassassinintoaSpecialActivitiesDivisionasset.

“Onthreeoccasions,”recallsFaddis,“wesetup…meetingsinlocationswecouldcontrolandthencaptured[membersof]Mukhabaratassassinationteams.”The operators found the double agent they were looking for in a lieutenantcolonelwhoworked for theMukhabarat office inMosul. From this asset, theteamlearnedthatSaddamHusseinalsowantedtocaptureanAmericanalive,“toputhimontrialinBaghdad,getCNNandBBCworldcoverage[and]thenhanghim.”

TheMukhabarat officer agreed to act as a double agent in exchange for alargequantityofAmericancash.First,theCIAteamcreatedascenariowherebythislieutenantcolonelappearedtohavesucceededinassassinatinganAmerican.TheydressedoneoftheirownintheuniformofaU.S.Armycolonel,puthimina ditch on the side of a mountain road, covered him with mock blood, andphotographedhimasifhe’dbeenassassinated.Theassetbroughtthepicturestothe Mukhabarat field office in Mosul. The branch chief was pleased, andforwardedthephotographsontoBaghdad,tobeshowntoSaddamHussein.Thereplywashighpraise.TheassetbroughtFaddisamemohe’dreceivedthatread,“You’vekilledahigh-rankingAmericanSpecialForcesOperationscommander.Nowgetonealive.”

The CIA paramilitary team sought to lure a Mukhabarat snatch-and-grabteamtoameetingpointinErbil,wheretheycouldambushtheteam.Messageswere exchanged by courier. But at the lastminute, the asset’s branch chief inMosulrequestedacellphonecallwiththeassetbeforehesenttheunittoErbil.Thecallwasarranged,with theCIAlistening in.“Youcouldalmost feelsorryfor thatMukhabarat [chief] inMosul,” remembers Faddis. “You could almosthearexactlywhatwasgoingoninhishead…topullthisoffandbeagreathero”intheeyesofSaddam.“Ontheotherhand,youcouldalsohearthathewasnotan idiot.” In the world of espionage and betrayal, nuance is key. The CIAinterpreterlistenedcarefullytotheArabicsubtletiesinthewordsspoken.Whenthe call ended, the interpreter told the case officer that he believed the team’sMukhabaratassethadbeenmade.Themissionwascalledoff.“Thecaseofficerwasright,”saysFaddis.“WeneverheardfromtheMukhabaratofficerinMosulagain.Buttheyheardfromus.InresponseforallthetimestheMukhabarattriedtokillus,wehadateambuildasatchelchargeinabriefcasewhich[oneof]ourKurdishasset[s]tookintoMosul.”

Faddis was referring to a World War II–era demolition device made ofdynamiteorC-4plasticexplosiveanddesignedtolooklikeasimplecourierbag.TheassetwalkeditintotheMukhabaratheadquartersinMosul,placeditontheground floor, and quickly left. “It blew the shit out ofmost of the building,”remembersFaddis.“Theensuingfiredestroyedtherestofthestructure—burneditdowntotheground.”

That there was pressure fromWashington, DC, to find a pretext for militaryactionwasincreasinglyimpossibletoignore.TheWhiteHousewasdeterminedto go to war in Iraq regardless of the evidence at hand. In February 2003,Secretary of State Colin Powell went before the United Nations citinginformationprovidedbyDB/AnabasisthatAnsaral-Islamwastrainingterroristsin themountainsofnorthernIraq.Thencame theuntruthful twiston thefacts.“Baghdad has an agent in themost senior levels of the radical organization,”Powell said, insisting that SaddamHusseinwasworkingwithAnsar al-Islam.ThespeechwouldprovedisastrousforPowell,whowouldlatercall ita“blot”onhis recordofnationalservice. Iteventuallybecameentwinedwith the falsefoundationsuponwhichtheIraqwarwasbuilt.This isanexampleof thedarksideofcovertaction,howoperationsdesignedtoremainhiddencansoeasilybedeliberatelymanipulatedorcontrived.Theconstructofplausibledeniabilitycanbeusedbyapresidentandhisadvisorstobuildahouseofcards.

As theUnitedStatesprepared to invade Iraq in2003, theCIAparamilitaryteam watched Ansar al-Islam fighters who’d been holed up in the mountainspackupandmoveout.Andon theeveof thewar, theywatched theScorpionguerrillawarfarecorpscommitmutinyandvanish.“Theysimplydisappeared,”Faddismaintains.

IntheearlymorninghoursofMarch21,sixty-fourTomahawkcruisemissileswerefiredagainsttheAnsaral-IslamterroristtrainingcampinIraqiKurdistan.Paramilitary officers with the Special Activities Division, alongside GreenBerets,infantrysoldiersfromthe10thMountainDivision,andmorethan1,000Peshmergafightersfoughtaten-hourbattlewiththeterrorists,withorderstokillorcaptureanyoneleftalive.Fromthedead,theteampulledpassportsidentifyingthefightersashavingansweredthecalltojihadfromasfarawayasSomalia,inAfrica, and Dhaka, in Bangladesh. Among the prisoners captured, six weredeemed Al-Qaeda enemy combatants and sent to the U.S. prison complex atGuantanamoBay.

The opening salvo in the Pentagon’s war in Iraq began with a display ofshock-and-aweforcemeant toparalyzeBa’athParty infrastructureanddestroythewillofSaddamHussein’sfighters—togetthemtosurrender.SusanHasler,aCTC analyst and earlymember of Alec Station, saw the writing on the wall.“Shockandawedoesnotendwarsonterrorism.Itonlycreatesmoreterrorism,”shesays.Duringthe1990s,HaslersometimeseditedthePresident’sDailyBriefandonoccasionwroteportionsofClinton’scounterterrorismspeeches.Uniquelyfamiliar with covert operations against terrorist organizations, she considershidden-handoperationstobethemosteffectivewaytocombatterrorisminthemodern world. Big military operations encourage more terrorism, she says.“Moneystartstoflowtoterroristgroups.Peoplebecomemoreradicalized.Warson terror should be fought under the radar, as quietly as possible. Butcounterterroristoperationsare,bytheirnature,notverysatisfyingtoafrightenedpublic.”Afteramasscasualtyattacklike9/11,thepublicbecomesenragedandunnerved,andthinkstheywantrevenge.

After Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, on April 9, 2003, Saddam Hussein’sMukhabaratwasdisbanded.TheU.S.-ledMulti-NationalForce releasedOrder69,establishingacharterforanewIraqiNationalIntelligenceService,orINIS.CIA strongman General Shahwani, commanding general of the mutiniedScorpionparamilitaryteam,wasnamedIraq’snewintelligencechief.ShahwaniwasinstalledinBaghdadandpresentedbythePentagontonewsoutletscovering

thewar as being a “nonsectarian force [able to] recruit its officers and agentsfromallof Iraq’s religiouscommunities.”Hiscredentials for impartialitywerelistedashisbeingaSunnifromMosulmarriedtoaShiitewoman,whosedeputyhailedfromKurdistan.

But privately it was a different story. Revenge-based justice began toundergirdthenarrative:lextalionis,thelawofretaliation,asitwascalledintheancient world. From Mosul to Najaf, vengeance was the new normal, andassassinationbecamea lawenforcement tool.Muwaffakal-Rubaie, Iraq’snewnational-securityadvisor,toldTimemagazine,“[General]Al-Shahwanicallsfora mix of aggressive tactics, reinstating Saddam-era Mukhabarat intelligenceprofessionals and carefully picking fights that can be won.” Newly appointedlocal officials began making public threats, and encouraged violence: “Beruthless.Eithertheykillyouoryoukillthem,”and“Withthem,therecanbenomercy”—the “them” being thosewho’d held power before.A kill-or-be-killedapproachemerged.Iraq’snewprimeminister,AyadAllawi,echoedthecallforretaliation-basedjustice.“Isaythatwewillhuntthemdowntogivethemtheirjustpunishment,”Allawisaidoftheoldregime.

One of General Shahwani’s first moves as chief of the Iraqi NationalIntelligence Servicewas to create his own paramilitary units to exact revengeand assassinate former enemies. By July, Time reported the general hadgraduated“atleastfiveclasses”fromtheSpecialTacticsUnit(STU),allegedlyanewnationalparamilitaryforce.Infact,itsmembersweretrainedandoverseenby Special Activities Division, Ground Branch, teams. In time, STU wouldnumber five thousand men. Soon thereafter, the Washington Post’s DavidIgnatius reported that Iran had entered the conflict andwas engagingGeneralShahwani in tit-for-tat assassinations. “Shahwani’s operatives discovered theIranians had a hit list,” he wrote, “drawn from an old Ministry of Defensepayrolldocumentthatidentifiedthenamesandhomeaddressesofseniorofficerswho served under the former regime. Shahwani himself was among thosetargetedforassassinationbytheIranians.”

The situation spiraledout of control. “TheCIAhadhoped thatShahwani’sINIScouldbeaneffectivenationalforceandadeterrenttoIranianmeddling…tomounteffectiveoperationsagainsttheIranians,”thePostreportedinasecondarticle.ButthefactthatGeneralShahwanihadrecruitedthechiefoftheanti-IranbranchoftheSaddam-eraMukhabarat“madetheIraniansandtheirShiitealliesnervous.” The Radical Front—Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah—began to movefightersintothechaosthatwasnowIraq.

Farid al-Khazen, a Christian Lebanese lawmaker allied with Hezbollah,explainshowIranwasabletostepinandconductoperationsinIraq.“Thebigstory [became] Iraq,” he says of theAmericans’ unforeseenmistake. “In theirinvasionin2003,theAmericansunwittinglyopeneditupfortheIranians.ThestakesaremuchhigherinIraq,”heexplains.InIraq,“thereisaShiitemajority,oil, the shrine cities andborderswithSaudiArabia.”Thiswas an opportunityIrananditsproxyarmyHezbollahwereunwillingtooverlook.

SheikhNaimQassem,Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, acknowledgedhis organization’s efforts to pass experience along to other Iranian-alignedforces. “Every group anywhere in theworld thatworks aswework,with ourideas,isawinfortheparty,”QassemtoldtheNewYorkTimes.“Itisnatural:Allwho are in accordancewith us in any place in theworld, that is awin for usbecausetheyarepartofouraxisandawinforeveryoneinouraxis.”

Sam Faddis returned to Washington. A new team of Special ActivitiesDivisionofficers andGroundBranchoperatorswere inserted intoMosul. “WestartedgettingtargetedforassassinationbyoperativesfromIran,”saysaGroundBranchsniper,callsignZeus.“Wehad targetsonourbacks.Thesewere long-rangesnipers.Welltrained.WeweretoldtheywerefromHezbollah.”Arumorstarted to swirl. Imad Mugniyah was directing the operations himself. SountouchableandelusivewasMugniyahthathisnicknamewasFatherofSmoke.

Billy Waugh was sent to Iraq. The missions he was assigned remainclassified, but photographs show him working out of Uday Hussein’s formerpalace inBaghdad.From there,Waughwas sentona singletonmission to theBalkans,wherehereceivedanextraordinarycall.

“Iwas inZagreb,Croatia,” remembersWaugh,when“someoneshowedupandgavemeanewpassport,”withanewidentity.Anewtravelvisa.“Itwasafast,‘go-now’operation,”saysWaugh.“ToSaudiArabia.”

InfortyyearsofcovertoperationsfortheCIA,Waughhadworkedinsixty-fourcountriesaroundtheglobe,butneverSaudiArabia.“Ididn’tknowwhothetargetwas,”hesays.He’dlearnwhywhenhegotthere.

Waugh landed inRiyadh.He traveled to theU.S. embassy,where theCIAstationemployedroughlyonehundredclandestineserviceofficersandoperators.“TherewasaNavySEALwho’dgatheredalotofintelligenceonthetarget.Heknewwhere the target lived.But theSEALdidn’twant togoafter the target,”saysWaugh.

Thetargetneededtobephotographed,notkilled,buttheSEALtoldWaughhe was unwilling to pull out a camera and start taking pictures on a Riyadh

street.Hehadconcernshe’dbecapturedbySaudiintelligence.BeingcapturedinSaudiArabiawasafateworsethandeath,saysWaugh.“They’dtortureyou.Probablylockyouupandthrowawaythekey.”

Whenitcametimetolearntheidentityof thetarget,evenWaugh,abattle-hardenedclandestineoperator,recallsbeingsurprised.

“The target was Imad Mugniyah,” he says. Father of Smoke. A die-hardHezbollahoperativeforIranwholoathedSaudiArabia.“WhatthehellwasImadMugniyah doing in Saudi Arabia?” Waugh wondered. Before 9/11, ImadMugniyahwasthemostwantedmanintheworld.NowBillyWaughwasonamissiontodowhatnoCIAsingletonoperatorhadbeenabletodoinmorethantwenty years: get an identifiable photograph of him. Without getting killed,captured,ormadetodisappear.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

ImadMugniyah

BillyWaughgavehimself twenty-fourhours toget the jobdoneandgetout.TheSaudiintelligenceapparatus,renownedforitsbrutality,reporteddirectlytotheking. “WhateverMugniyahwasdoing there,” saysWaugh, “ithad tohavebeenstrictlyablackmaildeal.”WaughtheorizedthattheSaudishadsomethingonMugniyahthatwassotarnishingofhisreputationwithinHezbollahthathe’dbecome susceptible to blackmail. “What goes on at the top level is a wholebunchofdirtyshit.Itwasouropportunitytogetinonthat.”

To prepare to photograph Mugniyah, Waugh studied geographicalintelligence and satellite images of the city and its streets.He had the target’saddress,andhestudiedtheroadsinandtheroadsoutofthearea.FromtheNavySEAL at the embassy whose operation he was taking over, Waugh learnedeverythinghecouldabout the target’spatternof life.Hebecame familiarwiththeAgencycamerahe’dbeusing,adigitalCanonwitha200mmlensanda2-gigabyteSDcard.Torehearsehismovements,he tiedandretiedeverything tohisbodyincasehehadtorun.

Early thenextmorning, justafter the firstcall toprayer,aCIAdriver tookWaugh on a driving lesson around Riyadh. Confident he’d learned the Saudiroadsystemwellenoughtodriveonhisown,Waughtoldhisdrivertotaketherestofthedayoffandleavethevehiclewithhim.

Waugh drove to the southeastern part of the city, to the address he’d beengiven.Asfortunewouldhaveit,acrossthestreetfromthetarget’sapartmentwasa Sudanese restaurant, a busy establishment where he could conduct decentsurveillance. He parked a few blocks away, walked to the restaurant, and satdownata table.“Therewereabunchofpeople inside.Black.Seven foot tall.

Meantonething,”recallsWaugh.“TheywerefromtheDinkatribe.”Waugh ordered a Sudanese coffee. “I started shooting the shit about

Khartoum.Drankmorecoffee, talkeda littlemore,got theDinka to reminisceabout the home country. Even conversed a little in the nativeDinka tongue.”ChattingwiththeSudanesetribesmen,Waughkeptaneyeonthetarget’saddressacross the street as he began to formulate in his mind where he might bestposition himself in order to photograph the man. “There was a DempseyDumpsterrightoutfront.Itwasgoodcover.”ThedistancefromtheDumpstertothe front door of the buildingwas about 250 feet.Waugh paid for his coffee.BadetheDinkagooddayandleft.

Thefollowingmorning,around7:30,Waughreturnedtothetargetarea.Heparkedthevehicleandwalkeddownthestreet towardtheSudaneserestaurant.Concealedbyhis jacketwas theAgencycameraequipment.Confidentnoonewaswatching,heclimbedintotheDumpsterandwaited.

Aftersometime,recallsWaugh,“thefrontdoorofthehousewherethetargetlivedopenedandhesteppedout.Hewascarryingwhatappearedtobeasetofclean clothes, covered by a see-through cover from a dry cleaner. He was amean-lookingsonofabitch,alittleonthefatside.”Infrontofthebuildingweretenwidestepsleadingdownfromtheentrancetothestreet.“Thismeanthehadtowalkslowlydownthesteps,withhisbodyatananglesohedidn’tfall.”Andit made getting nice, clear photographs of the target relatively easy for BillyWaugh.

As the man walked down the steps, Waugh took photographs in rapidsuccession.“Mugniyahwasalone,carryingtheclothes.Hereachedhisvehicle,opened thedoor, andhung the clothes in theback.”Waugh took severalmorephotographs.HeclimbedoutoftheDumpster,walkedbacktohiscar,anddrovetotheU.S.embassybuildinginRiyadh.

Once inside the CIA station, Waugh slid the camera’s SD card into anAgencycomputerandexaminedthephotographshe’dtakenfromtheDumpster.Excellent.“Theywereofidentificationquality,”heremembers.Hebroughtthemto the chief of station, who stared silently at them for some time. It wasMugniyah,thechiefsaid.“TheysatisfiedthechiefofstationinRiyadh.”

Waughpreparedtoleavethekingdomimmediately.Therewasstillachancehecouldbestopped,arrested,anddisappeared.AnAgencyemployeedrovehimtotheairport.UsingthefalseidentityandvisaprovidedtohimbytheCIA,BillyWaughvanishedfromthekingdomofSaudiArabia,nevertoreturn.

Billy Waugh’s photographs confirmed the existence and location of ImadMugniyah.Now the ultrasecretU.S.Army unit formerly known asGrayFox,later renamed Orange, could gather SIGINT. Hezbollah’s chief of operationscould be fixed and ultimately finished. The United States and Israel hadindividuallybeentryingtokillorcaptureImadMugniyahfordecades.Nowtheywouldjoinforcestoaccomplishthetask.Ormaybetheyalreadywere:“Mossadcan’t operate freely in Saudi,” saysWaugh. “It’s probably the only place theydon’t have a major [footprint].” A secret arrangement was made. Provided itremain the hidden hand, theUnited Stateswould assistMossad in fixing andfinishingImadMugniyah.

JustafewweeksafterWaughtookthephotographofMugniyahinRiyadh,onJuly19,2004,aseniorHezbollahcommandernamedGhalibAwaliwaskilledbyacarbombinthesuburbsofBeirut.Awaliwasgettingintohiscarwhenthevehicle exploded. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel ofassassinatingAwali and vowed to “cut off the hands” of the killers. To honortheirmartyred brother, Hezbollah’s propagandawing created amemorial filmaboutAwali,dispersingcopiestoitsoperativesintheregion.Mossadgotholdofitandscreeneditformembersofacombatintelligenceteam,Unit8200,Israel’sequivalentoftheNSA.

Unit8200collectsSIGINTanddecryptscodes.Itsanalysts,technicians,andfield operators have reach and power. “They are highly focused onwhat theylook at,” says PeterRoberts, director ofmilitary sciences at theRoyalUnitedServicesInstitute,theoldestdefensesciencethinktankintheworld,“certainlymorefocusedthantheNSA,andtheyconducttheiroperationswithadegreeoftenacityandpassionthatyoudon’texperienceelsewhere.”

Foryears,Unit8200operatedwithoutanameoraninsignia.Itsmembersarehighly skilled level-five riflemenwhohaveundergoneextensive special forcestraining.FromaclassifiedbaseintheNegevDesert,whichisoneofthelargestlisteningbasesintheworld,membersofUnit8200followtargetsusingSIGINT.They monitor phone calls, emails, and other electronic communications tocollect and decode. Unit 8200’s Arabist linguists assigned to the MugniyahoperationwereshownHezbollah’smartyrfilmaboutGhalibAwali.Inoneoftheimages,HassanNasrallahisseenviewingelectronicmapsonacomputerscreen.Behindhimstandsabeardedmanwearingglassesandacap.InthephotographsofMugniyah takenbyBillyWaugh,akey identificationmarkerwasobtained,namelythesizeofthetarget’searlobesandthedistancebetweenthem.ThismayhavehelpedconfirmtointelligenceofficersthatthemaninHezbollah’smartyr

film was indeedMugniyah. Unit 8200 confirmedMugniyah’s identity by hisvoice.

Therewasadisagreementabouthowandwhentomove.IfMossaddidn’tactswiftly,onegroupfearedthatMugniyahwouldvanishintothinair.MossadchiefMeirDaganhadthefinalword.“Don’tworry,”hereportedlytoldhisoperatives.“His day will come.” Here began a clandestine joint effort between theintelligenceservicesoftheUnitedStatesandIsraeltotrackdownMugniyahandkillhim.

AnewformofintelligenceemergedcalledHUGINT,thesynthesisofhumanintelligenceandsignalsintelligence.ItissaidtohavebeeninventedatMossad,withcreditforitsdevelopmentgoingtoanofficernamedYossiCohen.HehadworkedforMossad’sJunctionUnit,aspecialoperationsteamthatoverseesassetrecruitment around theworld.Yossi Cohen became the director ofMossad in2016.

IsraelipressdescribesYossiCohenassomeonebelonginginaLeCarrénovel—amasterlinguist,soldier,andspy.Inadditiontohisnativetongueheissaidtospeak flawless English, French, and Arabic. He runs marathons and is called“theModel,”owingtohisgoodlooksandstylishdress.Foryears,whenhewasundercover,hewentbythemoniker“Y.”AtMossad,thedisciplineofHUGINTrequires the acquisition of themost private, scandalous details about enemies,forthepurposeofblackmailingthemandturningthemintoassets.Tothisend,Mossad collects informationon infidelities, illicit sexual encounters, druguse,porn habits, the taking of bribes, and anything else that compromises thereputations of allegedly pious members of terrorist organizations, includingHezbollah and Hamas. Leaked documents indicate such “vulnerabilities, ifexposed,wouldlikelycallintoquestionaradicalizer’sdevotiontothejihadist’scause, leading to the degradation or loss of his authority.” Unit 8200 tappedphonelinesandunderseacables,plantedelectronicmonitoringdevices,andusedmini-dronesandothersurveillanceplatformsequippedwithelectronicdevicestolisten in. Owing to HUGINT, Mossad was able to turn operators insideHezbollahandIran’sIslamicRevolutionaryGuardintoassets.

AfterWaughphotographedMugniyahinSaudiArabia,MugniyahreturnedtoLebanon, where he was assigned by Iranian commanders to undermine U.S.forces in Iraq. “Hezbollah [had]developed a dedicated unit to train Iraqi Shiamilitia under ImadMugniyah and several of his key deputies,” saysMatthewLevitt, an expert on Hezbollah. General David Petraeus, U.S. commander offorces in Iraq, told Congress that Iran was arming, training, and directing

fightersintoa“Hezbollah-likeforcetoserve[Iran’s]interestsandfightaproxywaragainsttheIraqistateandcoalitionforces.”HesaidthatitwasIranthatwassupplying armor-piercing IEDs called explosively formed projectiles to theMahdiArmy—Iran’s action arm in Iraq. These explosive devices had alreadykilled more than two hundred U.S. soldiers in 2004. A declassified DefenseIntelligence Agency report identified a Hezbollah-funded assassination unit,called Unit 3800, that provided “training, tactics and technology to conductkidnappings [and] small unit tactical operations… to bleed the United Statesmilitarily.” To the U.S. intelligence community, it was time to kill ImadMugniyah.

Meir Dagan met with CIA director Michael Hayden; the minutes of themeetingremainclassified.AftercompletingawaveofregionalassassinationsinLebanon, Mugniyah moved to Damascus in 2006. Damascus was one of themostdifficultanddangerousplacesforMossadtooperate.ButtheUnitedStatesmaintained an embassy there. CIADirectorHaydenmetwith President Bush,whosignedoffonaPresidentialFindingthatallowedtheCIAtouseitsTitle50authority to kill Mugniyah. If there was backlash, if the hidden hand wererevealed,theWhiteHousewouldciteArticle51oftheUNCharter,therighttoself-defense. General Petraeus had testified that a “Hezbollah-like force” wassending assassins into Iraq who’d been targeting and killing U.S. militarypersonnel.

Therewere conditions, President Bush is said to have told Hayden. Therecouldbenocollateraldamage.Nocivilianspassingbycouldbeinjuredorkilled.The targeted killing operation had to be precise. Kill Imad Mugniyah, andMugniyahalone.

In2007,ateamofAgencyoperatorstraveledtotheSyriancapitalandbegantrackingMugniyah’smovements.Forsometime,Mossadhadconsideredusingacell-phone bomb, similar to the one that killed Hamas bomb maker YahyaAyyash, theEngineer.That ideawas ruledoutafterUnit8200determined thatMugniyah toooftenchangedoutcellphones.Oneversionof theevents is thattheUnited States now took the lead in engineering the device: at theHarveyPointDefenseTestingActivity,inNorthCarolina,ateamofexplosivesexpertsdesigned,built,andtest-firedanarrayofdevices.Whenengineersfeltconfidentthatthey’ddevelopedonewithablastradiuspreciseenoughtokillasinglemanonly, they turned thedeviceover toMossad.Anotherversionofevents is thatMossadbuiltthebomb.Butaccordingtonumeroussourcesinterviewedforthisbook, both organizations were involved. “This was a gigantic, multi-force

operation, with crazy resources invested by both countries,” said a Mossadcommanderinvolvedintheoperation.“Tothebestofmyknowledge,themosteverinvestedtokillaloneindividual.”

On the evening of February 12, 2008, Imad Mugniyah met with seniorHezbollahcommandersandmembersof theRadicalFront inabuilding in theKfar Sousa neighborhood of Damascus. Shortly after 10:30, he exited thebuilding.Ashewalkedtowardhis2006MitsubishiPajero4×4,parkedinalotdown the street, twoCIAparamilitaryoperators and a local asset had eyesonhim.

Theexplosiondetonatedaround10:45.Amassive fireballengulfed thecar,incinerating Imad Mugniyah. It is said to have been detonated remotely byMossadofficerswatchinginTelAviv.Dozensofpeoplerushedtothelocation,includingseveraloftheHezbollahcommanderswithwhomMugniyahhadjustmet.TheCIAoperatorsonthestreettookphotographs,andtheseimageswouldbeuploadedintoAgencydatabasesforfutureuse.

“WewereshockedtolearnthathewaskilledinSyria,”Mugniyah’saunttoldAgenceFrance-Presse.“Wethoughthewassafethere.”

For seven years, the United States remained the hidden hand in thisoperation. Then, in January 2015, five former intelligence officials confirmedwithWashingtonPost reportersAdamGoldman andEllenNakashima that theUnited States had built the bomb that killedMugniyah. The CIA declined tocomment. Mark Regev, chief spokesman for Israeli prime minister BenjaminNetanyahu, told reporters, “Wehavenothing to add at this time.”MeirDagantold60Minutes, “I’mnot sorry to see the fact that hewas perished from thisworld.”

TheU.S.banonassassinationagaincameto thefore,with theoft-repeatedstatement“ExecutiveOrder12333prohibitsassassination”printedandreprintedaround theworld.MichaelHayden, as director of theCIA, acknowledged thelesspalatabletruth.

“Assassination,” said Hayden, is defined as forbidden lethal acts “againstpoliticalenemies.”Terroristsarenotpoliticalleaders.Theydonotrunsovereignstates. “U. S. targeted killings against Al-Qaeda are against members of anopposing armed enemy force,” Hayden clarified. “This is war. This [targetedkillingofMugniyah]isunderthelawsofarmedconflict.”AsforthereportsthattheoperationwasajointeffortwithMossad,hesaid,“Israelisprobablytheonlyothercountryin theworldwhothinks like theUnitedStates—thatwhatwedothere[thatis,inthiscalculus]islegal.”

“TheAmericans remember,”Dagan said ofMugniyah’s attacks against theUnited States. He was referring to those killed in the U.S. embassy and themarinecorpsbarracksinBeirut,in1983;tothekidnapping,torture,andkillingofstationchiefBillBuckley,in1985;andtothedeathsofhundredsofsoldiersinIraq.“Theyappeartobeliberals[merciful],buttheyarefarfromthat.”

Oneof themostcuriousfootnotes toMugniyah’sassassination is that therewere no immediate retaliatory attacks byHezbollah, neither against Israel northe United States. No assassinations. No bombing attacks or kidnappings ofprominent people in revenge. Perhaps BillyWaugh was right, that blackmailreallyisthenameofthegameatthetop;thatwhateverMugniyahwasdoinginSaudiArabiainvolved“ablackmaildeal,”thedetailsofwhich,ifreleasedtothepublic, wouldmake themartyrMugniyah appear shockingly treacherous. Butthere was much more going on than has been reported before. It would beanother tenyearsbefore a radical truth about theCIA’shidden-handoperationwouldbecomeknown,throughmyreportinginthisbook.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

TheMoralTwilightZone

Itwasthelatefallof2007,andagroupofSpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch, operators sat around a firepit at a classifiedCIA facility inKandaharcalled Gecko base, wondering what to do about someone on their team, anAfghanfighterwhotheysuspectedwasadoubleagentfortheTaliban.SomeoftheGroundBranchoperatorsfeltthattheirliveswereindanger.

Theywere takingavoteonwhetherornot theyshouldkill this indigenousfighter,whowent by the name of SaifMohammad.TheGroundBranch teamcalledhimSaiftheSnake.Althoughthisproposedkillinghadnotbeeninitiatedfromhigherup,toanoutsideobserverthescenariofeelsreminiscentofthe1969GreenBeretAffairinVietnam.

InthesixyearssincetheCIAhadfirstdeployeditsparamilitaryteamsintoAfghanistan, one element had significantly changed. “The teams got GroundBranchheavy,”aSeniorIntelligenceServiceofficewhooversawthisexpansionclarifiedforthisbook.TheemphasisinAfghanistanandelsewherewasnowonlethaldirectaction,whichiswhatGroundBranchdoesbest.

Fewpeople have ever goneon record to discussGroundBranch activities.ThatGroundBranchtrainsindigenousfighterstogoonkill-or-capturemissionswiththemisanevenmorecloselyguardedsecret.ThesesoldierswerenotpartoftheAfghanNationalArmy,meaningthattheydidnotappearonanyofficialbooks.Theywerepaidby theCIA incash,every twoweeks,according to theGroundBranchoperatorswhorelayedthisstory.

In 2010, reporter BobWoodward first identified these CIA-led indigenousforce units as Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams, but almost nothing substantivehasbeenwrittenaboutthemsince.NoGroundBranchoperationshaveappeared

in any classified documents stolen by whistle-blowers and leakers (andsubsequentlypublishedonline).Atmost, occasionallyone finds a reference to“OGA”: Other Government Agency, a euphemism for the CIA. The idea ofhavingindigenoussoldiersfightalongsideCIAparamilitaryoperatorsisadirectdescendantoftheCivilianIrregularDefenseGroupinVietnam.BillyWaughandothers spent years teachingSouthVietnamese indigs to sabotage, subvert, andkillVietcong.Thegoalwastotrainlocalfightershowtopushbackagainstthecommuniststryingtotakeovertheircountry,sotheAmericanscouldleave.

InAfghanistan, the paradigmwas the same.TheGroundBranch operatorswereheretotraintheAfghanindigstosabotage,subvert,andkillTalibanwhowere trying to take over the country, so the Americans could leave. But theindigswerealsoaWhiteHousemandate,meanttoserveastheso-calledAfghanface,similartohowtheScorpionsweremeanttoserveastheArabfaceinIraq.WhenaGroundBranchteamraidedahomeorcompoundinsearchofahigh-valuetargetonakill-or-capturelist,theideawasthatlocalcivilianstheyranintoalongthewaywouldfeelasiftheirownpeoplewerefightingthiswar—nottheAmericanCIA.

AtGecko,manyproblemsgotsolvedaroundthefirepit.Thepitwaslocatedjust a few dozen yards away fromwhere theGround Branch operators lived,each man inside his own Conex shipping container, stacked two high. TheAfghanslivedseparately,inbarracksdowntheroad.SaiftheSnakewasoneofeighty or so indigs assigned to the unit. If the Taliban were to insert a moleinside a Counterterrorism Pursuit Team at Gecko base, the result would becatastrophic.Theteamcouldgetambushedonthewaytoorfromamission,orthebasecouldgetblownupwithanIED.

PartoftheproblemhereatGeckowastheprovenanceoftheindigfighters.On most other CIA bases around Afghanistan, the indigs were independentlyscreenedbeforeemployment.ButatGecko, theAfghansoldiersweresuppliedto the CIA by Hamid Karzai’s notoriously corrupt half-brother, Ahmed WaliKarzai,aformerrestaurantownerwho’dbeenlivinginAmerica—inChicago—untilhisbrotherbecamepresident.Aneighbor inChicagowhoowned thehotdogstandnexttoAhmedWaliKarzai’srestaurantrecallsseeinghimstandingonastreetcornertheweektheTalibanfellinDecember2001.AhmedWaliKarzaiwascarryingasuitcaseandwaitingforthebus.

“Whereareyougoing?”theneighborasked.“Afghanistan,”hereplied.“Mybrotherispresident.”Now, six years later, AhmedWali Karzai was in charge of Kandahar, the

second-largestcityinAfghanistan.SinceDecember2001,AhmedWaliKarzaihadbeenlivinginKandaharasa

kindofMafiaboss.Hisofficial titlewaschairmanof theKandaharProvincialCouncil,buteveryoneknewhimtobeemperor.Localnewspaperscalledhimthe“LittlePresident.”ToAmerican infantry soldiershewas “theGodfather.” In aleaked classified State Department cable, the ambassador’s office informedWashington:“Asthekingpin inKandahar, thePresident’syoungerhalf-brotherAhmedWaliKarzai(AWK)dominatesaccesstoeconomicresources,patronageand protection.… The overriding purpose that unifies his political roles asChairman of theKandahar Provincial Council and as the President’s personalrepresentativeinthesouthistheenrichment,extension,andperpetuationoftheKarzaiclan.”

InKandahar, itwasthesameoldstoryrepeatingitself:AhmedWaliKarzaiwas a corrupt, treacherous bad guy, but he was our bad guy. Like PresidentTrujilloortheshah.LikethecorruptDiembrotherswho’dbeenproppedupbytheCIAandtheDefenseDepartment inSouthVietnamforty-fiveyearsbefore.GroundBranchoperators recall seeingAhmedWaliKarzaidropby theGeckobase, alwayswith a posse of local bodyguards, sometimes as often as two orthreetimesaweek.“Healwaysleftwithasuitcasefullofcash,”saysaGroundBranchoperator,callsignHatchet.

“We were absolutely convinced that AWK was the source of all evil” inKandahar,LieutenantColonelKettiDavison,U.S.militaryintelligencechieffortheKandahardivision,saidinaninterviewwiththeWashingtonPost.ButattheCIA’sGecko base, the StateDepartment and theDefenseDepartmentwere toacceptwhattheCIAwasattemptingtoaccomplishwithitshiddenhand.

Aroundthefirepit,theGroundBranchoperatorswonderedwhattodoaboutthepossibletraitor,SaiftheSnake?

He’s called the Snake, one of the operators, call sign Shark, emphasized.Sharksuggestedthatthiswasdownrightbiblical.

“That’sjustwhatwecallhim,”someoneelseremindedShark.Andthattheyallusedmade-upcallsignsonablackprogram.

The CIA chief of base at Gecko had been brought into the loop; Saif theSnakehadbeenidentifiedtohimasapossibledoubleagent.TwooftheGroundBranchoperatorscaughtSaifsittingonarooftopinsidethecompoundsketchingamapof thebase.“Entrancesandexits.Wholivedwhere.Thelocationof thearmory.”WhenSaifwasformallyquestioned,hesaidhelikedtodraw.

Therewasmore.SaifhadbeencaughtwithalistofnamesoftheAmericans

on base, aswell as “the vehicle count,with numbers identifying each vehicleattached to the teams.” He’d been seen with a cell phone on a mission. Cellphones were not allowed on missions; a traitor could phone in the team’slocation for an ambush. But the CIA’s rules of engagement stated that youcouldn’tsearchtheindigenousAfghansoldiers,“sameasyoucan’tshootabadguy in the back, even if he’s running away from the gunfight you were justhaving with him.” On the operation where SaifMohammad was seen with aphone,theteamwasambushed.TwoAfghansoldiersgotblownupwithanIEDandlostlimbs.OneGroundBranchoperatorhadbeenshotinthechest,hislifesavedbyhisbodyarmor.Allthreesoldiersweremedevacedoutandsurvived.

“Circumstantialevidence,”oneoftheteamguyssaidofSaif’scellphone.TherewasanotheroperatoratGeckowhowasconcerned,aGroundBranch

officernamedBrianRayHoke.HokewasyoungforGroundBranch,justthirty-three.HewasakindofRenaissanceman,aphilosopher-poetandwarfighterinone.HehadstudiedoceanographyattheU.S.NavalAcademy.Ranmarathons.Playedtheviolin.Aftercollege,hepassedHellWeekandbecameanofficerwiththeNavy SEALs, deployed to Europe and into thewar theater in theMiddleEast.

In2004,BrianHokeretiredfromtheNavySEALsandjoinedtheclandestineservice of the CIA, becoming a paramilitary operations officer in the SpecialActivitiesDivision.He had awife and three children at home inVirginia.Hewanted togethome to seehiskids.He’dbeenonamissionwithSharka fewmonths backwhereSaif theSnake had simply disappeared in themiddle of agunfight.Later theyfoundhimsitting inoneof theGroundBranch trucks.Hesaidhewascold.

AGroundBranchoperatorwiththecallsignStingraywasunconvincedSaifwasabadguy.“Noway,”he insisted.StingrayhadbeenatGeckolonger thananyoneelseon the team.He’dalsobeenonmissionswithSaif theSnake.Hemaynotbethebestfighter,Stingraysaid.HardlyanyoftheAfghanswere.Buthewasloyal.

Shark remained unconvinced. “This is not a tough one to figure out,” heinsisted.SaifMohammadwasatraitorwhoneededtobedealtwith.Therewastoomuchtolose.

SaifhadalreadybeenreportedtotheNationalDirectorateofSecurity(NDS),Afghanistan’s equivalent of the CIA. He’d been questioned, released, andreturned to Gecko base. “Everyone knows NDS is a kangaroo court,” saidanother operator, call sign Axe. Besides, he’d been supplied to the CIA by

AhmedWaliKarzai,sohewasprotected.TheGroundBranchoperatorshadtowaititout.Fornow.

TrainingtheAfghansoldiersfortheCounterterrorismPursuitTeamswasitsownsecret nightmare, starting with the general incompatibility of the two groups’codes of conduct.GroundBranch operators are among themost qualified andexperiencedTierOneandTierTwoparamilitaryoperatorsintheUnitedStates.Theyhavenear-impeccable service records, noblemishesorblackmarks.Themenmust regularly pass a polygraph test.Must be accountable to theCIA. Ifyoufailyourpolygraph,you’reoutofGroundBranchforgood.

Ground Branch officers and operators are high-level problem-solvingwarriorswhooperateinthemostradical,nonpermissivecombatenvironmentsintheworld.Theymustthinkclearlyandactflawlesslyina360-degreegunfight;in close-quarters combat; in ambush, hit-and-run, snatch-and-grab, and rescueoperations.Toinfiltrateatarget,theymustbeabletofast-ropeoutofhelicopters,performHALOandhigh-altitudehigh-opening(HAHO)jumpsoutofairplanes,walk twelve kilometers or more behind enemy lines, carrying seventy-fivepoundsofgearorawoundedsoldier.Allofthismustbeperformedinanyterrainortemperature,onthetopofa10,000-footmountainorinsubsurfaceunderwaterenvironmentssuchasanoceanorariver,fromsubzerofreezingto122-degreeFahrenheit heat. The operators need Olympian confidence and stamina whentheygoonkill-or-capturemissionsandrescueoperations.

“Youmust be completely amoral and completelymoral at the same time,”says a Ground Branch operator, call sign Lightning. Amoral meaning“unconcerned with the rightness or the wrongness of something because thelaws,rulesandcodesyouareoperatinginsidehavebeenalreadysetbyothers.”BylawmakersintheUnitedStates.

“YouaredoingwhatyouaredoingontheordersofPOTUS,”thepresidentofthe United States, says an operator, call sign Cheetah. Amoral must not beconfusedwith immoral,Hatchetclarifies.“Immoralmeans inviolationofyourmoralcode.”

TheearlydaysoftheTalibanbeginrighthereinKandahar,atGeckobase.Whenthe Taliban took over Kabul, in 1996, the CIA started keeping a file on thegroup’s founder and supreme leader, a one-eyedmujahid from the SovietwarnamedMullahMohammadOmar. “Notmuch is known aboutMullahOmar,”deputychiefofmissionJohnC.HolzmanwroteinaclassifiedcabletoLangley.

“He formed the Taliban in late 1994 as a reaction against ‘immoral’ localcommanders” who had raped several girls in their village outside Kandahar,Holzmanwrote.

Like many guerrilla warfare leaders before him, Mullah Omar’s statedpurposewastoridthelandofacorruptingandevilforce.Thewaythenarrativegoes,MullahOmarandseveralfriendsambushedthesuspectedwarlord-rapist,executedhimonthespot,thensuspendedhiscorpsefromatankbarrelparkedinthetownsquare.MullahOmarcommandeeredthetown’sradioandexplainedtothevillagerswhyheandhisfriendshaddonewhatthey’ddone.

“ThereligionofAllahisbeingsteppedon!Thepeopleareopenlydisplayingevil.Theystealthepeople’smoney,theyattacktheirhonoronthemainstreet,”MullahOmarcried.“Theykillpeopleandputthemagainsttherocksonthesideof the road, and the cars pass by and see thedeadbody.”Thiswas a horriblecrimeagainstIslam—anditwasexactlywhatMullahOmarhadjustdonetohisvictim’s body, the suspected warlord-rapist. Clearly the Taliban was notsuggestinganykindofGoldenRule tobeginwith, theGoldenRulebeingDounto others as you would do unto yourself. Omar’s group claimed it would“standupagainstthiscorruption.”

MullahOmarbecamepopular.He took risks.Once,duringapublic speechonarooftop,agatheringofthefaithfulinKandahar,hepulledaholyrelic,thecloak said to beworn by the ProphetMohammad 1,400 years before, from asacredholdingplaceanddrapeditoverhisownshoulders,declaringhimselftheemirofallMuslims.“Peopleinthecrowdsthrewuptheirturbanstobeblessedbyit,”observedaBBCreporteronhandtofilmtheevent.“Itwaslikebeinginsome great religious ceremony in the Middle Ages.” The action marked thebeginningofMullahOmar’s rise topower. In less than twoyears, theTalibanseizedKabul.

A spokesman for the Taliban attributed Mullah Omar’s greatness to threetraits regarded by the fundamental Islamists as admirable: “his religious piety,his reputation for incorruptibility, and his bravery in the jihad.” Under hissupremerule,theTalibanfamouslybannedmusic,football,andkiteflying.Theycutoffthehandsofthievesandthefingersofwomenwearingnailpolish.Theycut off the heads of infidels, adulterers, and anyone caught carrying“objectionableliterature.”Homosexualswerethrownoffrooftopsortorturedtodeathbyamedievalpracticeofbeingburiedunderamud-and-wattlewalluntildeathcomesbysuffocation.

MullahOmarwas renowned for his piety.Hewas said to sleepon cement

floors and consumeonlybroth anddrybread.But it did not take long for thesupremeleadertobecomecorrupt.SoonhewasdrivingaroundAfghanistaninaLand Rover and living in a garish palace, the one where the Ground Branchoperatorsnowlived.Theseluxuries—thefancycarsandthepalace—weregiftsgiventoMullahOmarbyhisbenefactorOsamabinLaden.

AfterbinLadenwaskickedoutofSudanandarrivedinAfghanistanin1996,the Al-Qaeda leader moved his family to Kandahar and pledged loyalty toMullah Omar. In exchange, bin Laden was allowed to operate his terroristtrainingcampsinthecountry,includingonecalledTarnakFarms,inKandahar,andanothercalledtheLion’sDen,inKhost.

TheKandahar palace that bin Laden built forMullahOmarwas a tawdryaffair. It had gold-plated chandeliers and murals of waterfalls and mud-hutvillages painted on its cheap Formica walls. Canadian soldiers who foughtalongsideGroundBranchoperatorscalleditGraceland,foritsElvis-levelkitsch.There was a private mosque with a mirrored minaret, stables for horses andcamels,awaterfountain,andaswimmingpool.

MullahOmaroccupiedituntilsometimebeforeOctober19,2001,whenanunusually large, thirty-manDeltaForce teamconductedanairborneassaultonthepalace,with the intent ofkillingor capturingMullahOmar.FourChinookhelicopters setdown inside thepalacewalls andunloaded theDeltaoperators,several all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and sixty U.S. Army Rangers assigned tosecuretheperimeter.Thepalacecompoundwashuge,roughlyfivekilometersindiameter,andtheATVsunloadedfromtheChinookshelpedtheDeltaoperatorsquicklysecurethecompound.Thefortresshadbeenbuiltupagainstamountain,into which a warren of caves had been carved. Some had showers and squattoilets,U.S.forcesdiscovered.

TheoriginalassaultonthecompoundwasaDefenseDepartmentoperation.Afterafour-hoursearchofthepalace,theDeltaoperatorsandtherangerswereambushedbyTalibanarmedwithrocket-propelledgrenadesandwereextractedfrom the compound under fire.AnAmericanwas injured during the firefight,reportedlylosingafoottoanRPG,andoneoftheChinookslostapieceofitslandinggearaftergettinghit.MullahOmarwasnowheretobefound.TheCIAlater learned that the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, together with his topcommanders,hadfledintoPakistantoregroup.

TheTalibangovernmentthatboastedpiety,incorruptibility,andbraveryleftbehind in its wake one of the most immoral, corrupt, criminal, debauchedsocieties the modern world has ever known. Civil order had been destroyed.

“Adults [left] traumatized and brutalized,” writes Pakistani journalist AhmedRashid,inTaliban.“Childrenrootlesswithoutidentityorreasontoliveexcepttofight.”InthewordsofLakhdarBrahimi,aformerUnitedNationsdiplomat,“Weare dealingwith a failed statewhich looks like an infectedwound.You don’tevenknowwheretobegincleaningit.”

Now,sixyearslater,inlate2007,verylittlehadchanged.MichaelHayden,as director of the CIA, audaciously called Afghanistan “still the good war”despite everything that was known about how dire the situation was—howsecurity forAfghanshadgottenworse, not better. In six years, theAmericanshad set up the Karzai government in Kabul and established the NATO-ledInternationalSecurityAssistanceForce(ISAF)totrainAfghanNationalSecurityForces(ANSF).TheANSFwassupposedtoassistinrebuildingkeygovernmentinstitutions while fighting the Taliban insurgency. But in reality, by the time2007 came to a close, civil society had devolved into anarchy and terror thatrivaledwhatitwaslikebeforetheAmericansarrived.

Improvised explosive devices were introduced into the pandemonium,detonated in mosques, at schools, on roads, and at sporting events. The year2007 marked the most violent year in Afghanistan since the Americans hadarrived,with1,120IEDattacksinKandaharalone.ThebirthplaceoftheTalibanwasnowthemostviolentprovinceinthecountry.

For the Ground Branch operators, the violence was one element, but twoissues thatnooneever talksaboutkeptgetting in theway.Theseweremoral-centerissues,saysAxe,usingadecidedlyWesternterm.

“Moralwoundsofwar,”saysanoperator,callsignSpear.“Thingsnoonewantstodiscuss,”addsCheetah.Cuttingtothechase,saysanotheroperator,callsignSampson,“Afghanistan

isamoraltwilightzone.”Amixofhorror,psychologicalthriller,suspense,andthingssostrangeitfeelslikesciencefiction.“Allusuallyendupwithamacabre,dark,andeviltwist.”

“Therearenewepisodesdaily,”Cheetah recalls.“Youneverhave towatchreruns.”

“It’s like theAlice inWonderlandbook I read tomykids,” saysHawk.HequotesLewisCarroll:“Ifyoudon’tknowwhereyou’regoing,allroadswillleadyouthere.”

“Hellodarkness,myoldfriend,”saysAxe,recallingalyricfromthesixties.“InAfghanistan, you are confrontedwith evil situationsyou think can’t be

outperformed, but then they are,” explains Shark. There’s the moral twilight

zoneoutside thewireand inside thewire,hesays.Butsometimes theevilandwickedness showed up directly at the front gate. Shark relays the story of anindigenousAfghan soldier namedAssadallahwho requested three days off towalktoaweddingtwelvekilometersaway.TheCIAchiefofbasesaidfine.

“Assadallahcameback.Intwoseparatepieces,”recallsShark.“Hisheadhadbeenseparatedfromhisbody.Theylefthimatthefrontgate.”Sharkvolunteeredtogogetthebody.Accompanyinghimwasamedicwho’dgraduatedfromWestPoint. “Themedicwanted to do an autopsy. Find out howAssadallah died. Isaid,‘Isn’titobvious?Theycutoffhishead.’”

Shark found themoral twilight zone unbearable at times. “Sometimes youcan dealwith it, other times you cannot.”A twenty-seven-year veteran of theU.S.SpecialForces—withnearlyadecadespentonaTierOneteam—Shark’sSpartanwarrior values sometimes brought him into conflictwith the behaviorandactionsoftheAfghansoldiershewastraining.Yes,somewereexceptionallybrave soldiers, he says. Of the five to six hundred fighters Shark trained andfought alongside over a five-year period in Afghanistan, three of the soldierswerelikebrotherstohim.

By 2007, when the meeting took place around the firepit, Shark and acolleague had already been awarded one of the CIA’s highest medals, for avoluntaryactofcourageperformedunderhazardousconditionsandwithgraverisktoone’sownlife.DuringanambushbytheTaliban,thetwooperatorshadsaved the life of an Afghan teammate whose limb had been blown off by agrenade. Honored for courage under fire, Shark and his colleague had beenflownback to theUnitedStates to receive the award.All they hadwere theiroperatorclothes.Shark’sex-wifeFedExedasuit tohishotel.The twoGroundBranchoperatorshadtheirpicturestaken,weregiventheirmedals,andweretoldthat everythingwouldbe lockedaway inavaultuntil some futuredate.Therewasalwaysthequestionwhen,orif,programswouldgetdeclassified.MACV-SOGoperatorshad towaitmore than thirtyyears for it tohappen. “By then,”saysAxe,“thepublichasforgotten.Andtherealissuesarenolongeranyone’sconcern.”CheetahpointsoutthatheadlinesappearintheU.S.pressoccasionallyreferringtoassassinationteamsbeingrunbytheCIA.“WeoperateunderTitle50rules,”saysHatchet.“Theindigswetrain,andthebadguyswekill,liveinaworldwheretherearenorulesexcept‘kill.’”

OutstandingAfghan fighterswere rare among those trained for joint indig-CIA operations. Most of them are high on opium a lot of the time, a factreiteratedbyeveryGroundBranchoperatorinterviewedforthisbook.Eightout

oftensoldierswereilliterate.Manyhadtroublecountingbeyondthirty.WhenitcametimetotrainindigenousbodyguardsforPresidentKarzai’ssecuritydetail(heobjected tohavingCIAandDeltaForceoperatorsonly,concerned itmadehimlookbad),eachapplicantwasrequiredtofilloutaquestionnaire.Accordingto theWashington Post’s Joshua Partlow, all but one of the Afghan recruitshanded thepaperbackblank.Onlyone in theentiregroupofapplicantscouldread. Karzai’s recruiter sought to hire the man, but the others in the groupobjected. “He’sour teacher in thevillage,” they toldKarzai’s recruiter. “Ifwegivehimtoyou,wewon’thaveanyonetoteachourchildren.”

On occasion, during heavy snows, when some of the CIA’s more remoteforward operating bases got snowed in, Shark tried teaching math to theindigenous fighters. “This was not math 101,” he says. “This was first-grademath.” Once, in an effort to explain conceptually how big numbers and longdistanceswork,Sharktookagroupofsoldiersoutsidetolookatthefullmoonrising up over the Hindu Kush mountains. “I said to them, ‘So the moon is250,000milesaway.’Andwhile Iwason the subject, I said, ‘By theway,welanded there fifty years ago; the missions were called Apollo.’ One of thesoldierssaid,‘That’simpossible.’Hepointedtothemoonandsaid,‘Themoon’stoosmalltolandpeopleon.’”

Welcometothetwilightzone.“Alotofthemweresostonedsomuchofthetimeitlookedlikethey’dbeen

swimminginaheavilychlorinatedpool,”saysSpear.“Afewhoursbeforewe’dgooutonamission, I’dpersonallygo into their

barracks and confiscate their pipes,” says Shark. “Make them turn over theirdrugsuntilweweredonefighting.”

“Fightingbadguyshighondrugsisareallybadidea,”saysAxe.“Theydoit,”saysHatchet.“We’retoldtoacceptit.It’showitis.”Theotherproblem,saysShark,“wasthattheyseemedtospendalltheirfree

time raping each other in their barracks,” a fact confirmed with ten GroundBranchoperatorsinterviewed.“Wehadacode.IfIneededthem,I’dknockloudon the door to indicate they needed to wrap it up and knock it off, but theyignoredthat.”

“It’sdisgusting,”saysHatchet.“Theydoit.Wehadtoacceptit.We’retold,‘It’showitis.’Someofthemrapeunderageboys.”

Ken Stiles,who set up theCIA’s geographic information system forHankCrumpton in thebasementofLangley in thefirstweeksof thewar,confirmedthatrapewassaidtobea“culturalnorm.”StileswassenttoKabultosetupan

in-countryelectronictargetingsystemfortheCIA.Onoccasion,hewasflowntoFOBs in thewarzone.“IonceaskedanAfghansoldierwhyhe joinedspecialforces as opposed to the regular army,” recalls Stiles. “He said, ‘Because inspecialforcesyougetrapedless.’”

Whywasthisnotreportedmorethoroughlyinthepress?Fourmonthsafterthewar started, theNewYorkTimes ran an article entitled “Kandahar Journal;Shhh,It’sanOpenSecret:WarlordsandPedophilia.”Then,thepresswentsilentforalmostfifteenyears.TherapingproblemwasendemictoallAfghanmilitaryforces, it would later be revealed, not just within the indigenous forces beingtrainedbytheCIA.By2007,ISAFconsistedofapproximately55,100personnelfromthirty-ninecountries,including23,220troopsfromtheUnitedStates.AndyetconspicuouslymissingfromtheconstantrushofwarreportswereanyaboutAfghansoldiersrapingeachotherandrapingandenslavingyoungboys.

Notuntil2018wouldtheU.S.inspectorgeneralproduceadevastatingreportexposing 5,753 cases of “gross human rights abuses by Afghan forces,”including the “routine enslavement and rape of underage boys by Afghancommanders.”What about the LeahyAmendment,which cuts offU.S. aid toforeignmilitary units that commit human rights abuses? Erica Gaston, of thenonprofit organization Afghanistan Analysts Network, explains: “There is ablanket ‘waiver’ in theDoDversion that allow[s] the Secretary ofDefense towaivetheLeahylawin‘extraordinarycircumstances,’ implicitlywhereseriousnationalsecurityinterestsareinvoked.”Asanexample,GastoncitesKandahar.

AretheGroundBranchoperatorscorrectintheirassessmentthatAfghanistanisthemoraltwilightzone?Andwhatdoesthishavetodowithassassinationasapolitical tool? In a rare authorized interview in 2011, a Green Beret captainidentifiedasMatttoldtheChristianScienceMonitor,“TheuglyrealityisthatiftheU.S.wants to prevail against the Taliban and its allies, itmustworkwithAfghanfighterswhosebehaviorinsultsWesternsensibilities.Therearenogoodguysbyour standards.There is no standard tobeginwith.There is no justicesystemorruleoflawtoholdpeopleaccountable.”

No justice system. No rule of law. Nothing to hold people accountable. TwotrillionU.S.dollarsspent inAfghanistan, inmorethanseventeenyearsofwar,not including veterans’ health costs. Every U.S. president has options. Whendiplomacy fails andwar is not—or is no longer—anoption, the president canexercisethethirdoption,theCIA’shiddenhand.Buttowhatend?

To understand the rest of this story, what the Ground Branch operators

proposedtodoaboutthesuspecteddoubleagentintheranks,andtoevaluateitobjectively, it’s important to comprehend how profoundly secret andcompartmentalizedtheworldofaGroundBranchoperatorreallyis.Asspecificand singular as this situation may seem, no Ground Branch operations inAfghanistanhavebeenmadepublic.

For Ground Branch operators, secrecy and anonymity override everymission.GroundBranchoperatorsworkunderpseudonymsandregularlychangetheir aliases. They travel into the war theater using a CIA-engineered secondpassportthathasgiventhemanidentityseparatefromtheonewithwhichtheywereborn.Thedifferentname,different address, evendifferentparentswithinthe backstory—all are elements and attributes of the CIA’s hidden hand. Anoperatorwhouses thepseudonymDavidSmithatGeckomightgobyRichardWhiteatJalalabadorJeffHillatKhost.Andthereisanotheridentitythatexistswithin personnel services at CIA headquarters, a consistent identity thatchronologicallykeepstrackofeachoperator’sassignmentsastheyaccumulate.Thispseudonymusuallyascribesafalseethnicitytotheoperator.

For example, an Irish Catholic Ground Branch operator from Wisconsinmight be identified in the central database as Danny Nooradian (as if he’sArmenian American) or Peter Andropolis (as if he’s Greek American). BillyWaugh’s database identity made him sound Chinese American. If a GroundBranchoperatorwhoworksasacontractemployee(agreenbadger)isauditedbytheInternalRevenueService,theymustfollowstringentprotocolstoensurethattheirtrueemployer,theCIA,isneverrevealed.

Anequallycomplexproblemarisesifagunshotwound,enduredinthewartheater, gets infected back home. U.S. doctors are required to report gunshotwounds to administrators, and patients are required to truthfully explain howthey got their injuries.The general rule amongGroundBranch operatorswithregard to an infected wound is to say to the hospital doctor, “I shot myselfhunting,”butthisbecomesaproblemwhenithappensmorethanonce.

IfaGroundBranchoperatoriskilledinactionoverseas,hisbodyissenttoarefrigeratorlocatedatthenearestCIAstation.There,thedeadmanwaits.OnlywhentheGroundBranchoperator’s“intrue”passportissentfromtheCIAcanthesoldier’sphysicalbodyberepatriatedtotheUnitedStates.Spouse,children,andother familymembers are not told the circumstances inwhich their lovedone died.Nate Chapman’s family had no idea hewas on a SpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch,teamuntil2015,whentheCIAawardedhimastaronitsmarbleMemorialWall.

Identity inAfghanistan forAfghannationals is as strange as it is complex.“Having a proper identity is everybody’s human right,” says NajibullahHameem, a child protection specialist with UNICEF, in Kabul. “This issomething which is lacking in Afghanistan.” Less than 1 percent of thepopulationhaveabirthcertificate.Evenif thegovernmentstartedissuingbirthcertificates, theAfghangovernment is incapableof registeringandstoring thisinformation,saysHameem.IfyouaskanAfghansoldierhowoldheis,saysaGroundBranchoperator,“everyonewilltellyouheistwenty-five.Someofthetwenty-five-year-oldslookeighteen,someofthemlookfifty.Butthey’realljusttwenty-five.”

“Theydon’tthinkoftimethewaywethinkoftime,”saysHatchet.“It’sfight,fuck,eat,sleep,fight,fuck,repeat.”

“Kindoflikeus,”saysCheetah,half-joking.Bloodisamajor issue.Mostciviliansdon’tknowoffhandwhat theirblood

type is,but foracombat soldier in thewar theater, this information iscritical.“Almosteveryoneneedsabloodbagatsomepointorother,”saysAxe.Forthisreason,beforeeachmissionGroundBranchoperatorswrite theirbloodtype inindelibleinkontheirbodyarmorandtheirskin.

“The blood problem is bigger than this,” says Shark. “Because of all the[man-on-man]sex,manyofthefightershavehepB.”

“IfsomeonelookedintohowmuchCiproisgivenouttoAfghanfighters,thatwouldbeastoryrightthere,”saysCheetah.

Settingasidewhatanyonethinksabout thesexualbehavior,saysShark, therealproblemisblood-on-bloodcontactbetweenfightersonthebattlefield.WhenanAfghan soldier named TajMohammad had his leg blown off on a kill-or-capturemission,Sharkworkedquicklytogetatourniquetonhimbeforehebledout.ButSharkhadalsobeenhitbygrenadefragandwasbleeding,meaningthatthetwosoldiershadblood-on-bloodcontactonthebattlefieldwhileSharkwastryingtosaveTaj’slife.

According to a declassified government report, theAfghanNationalArmydoesnothavethesuppliesorequipmenttotestforbloodandrequiresthatnewrecruits go to a doctor and pay to have their blood types tested, withoutreimbursement. Almost no one does this. As a result, “a suspiciously largenumberofsoldierswerereportedtohavethesamebloodtype.”Andeverybodywastwenty-fiveyearsold.

WhattodoaboutSaifMohammad,thetraitoratGeckobase?Theconsensusaroundthefirepitwas:Wait.Gatherevidence.

Shark accepted the Ground Branch team’s decision. Everything thathappenedherehadtobeagreeduponbytheteam.Then,justafewweekslater,twoteammembersfromtheCanadianunitbroughthardevidencetotheGroundBranch team. They had a folder. Inside the folder was a photograph. “In thephotograph, there was Saif the Snake, yakking it up with known Taliban[leaders]inPakistan.”SaifMohammadwasmostcertainlyatraitor.Somethinghadtobedone.

Therewasavoteonthetable.Whynotjustkillhim?But timing iseverything,andbeforeanythingcouldbedoneaboutSaif the

Snake,thechiefofbaseatGeckoapproachedtheteam.“Something’scomeup,”hesaid.Something’scomeupwasaeuphemismfor“there’sakill-or-capturemission

on the board.” Everything on these kinds of missions was extremely time-sensitive.Onceahigh-value targetwas foundandhis locationhadbeen fixed,themovementtofinishtheindividualhadtohappenfast.ThisishowtheCIA’saction arm has worked since the war on terror began. Direct-action missionswerefraughtwithperilandconsequence,potentiallygoodandpotentiallyverybad. “Potential positive strategic effects of HVT operations include erodinginsurgenteffectiveness,weakeninginsurgentwill,reducingthelevelofinsurgentsupport, fragmenting or splitting the insurgent group, altering insurgentstrategy,” reads a leakedCIAdirective on “High-ValueTargetingOperations.”On the downside, “Potential negative effects of HVT operations includeincreasingthelevelofinsurgentsupport…strengtheninganarmedgroup’sbondwith the population… creating a vacuum into whichmore radical groups canenter,andescalatingordeescalatingaconflictinwaysthatfavortheinsurgents.”Thedevilwasalwaysinthedetailsofthemission,astheGroundBranchteamatGeckosoonlearned.

AtopTalibancommanderandhigh-valuetargetwasholedupinacompoundinSangin, eighty-sevenmiles to the northwest ofGeckobase.With himwerethree accomplices, also HVTs. This Taliban commander was responsible forfinancing,building,andplacing IEDsonarea roads.Scoresofcoalition forcesand hundreds ofAfghan civilianswere dead because of his IEDs. Justweeksbefore,asuicidebomberhadblownhimselfupatadog-fightingcompetitioninKandahar, killing eighty people andwounding a hundred, the deadliest attacksincethefalloftheTalibanin2001.Thecommander’slocationhadbeenfixed.Hispatternoflifesuggestedhe’dleaveSanginatdawn.“Thesewerethesameguyswe’dgoneafterbefore,”recallsShark.“Thefactthatthey’dpoppedback

upwashuge.”Adecisionhadtobemadetogoornot.Theteamhadtwohourstodecide.

The teamgathered in the tactical operations center, a huge roomwithhighceilingsandasandtable.Themissionwasheavilydebated.Aconsensushadtobereached.TheTalibancompoundwasstandardfortheregion:square,madeofmud walls, with several inside rooms, a back courtyard with a variety ofvehicles.Itwaslikelythatbomb-makingmaterialswerestoredthere.UsingGPScoordinates, the team was to travel to a specific location. This would be thevehicledrop-offpoint.Theywouldexitthevehicles,setsecurity,andsendtwoteamsouttoassaultthetarget.

TheyhadmorethanenoughGroundBranchguys,augmentedwithTierOneoperators on loan to the CIA. The Canadian operators were on standby asbackup, aswas a quick reaction force (QRF) in the area.AnAC-130Spectregunshipwouldbewiththeteam,overhead,forthemovementthere.Therewouldbeashortgapwithnocoverage,thenA-10Thunderboltsflyingoverheadonthewayhome.Thegearwasset.TheQRFwasset.Theprimarynegativewasthatthereweren’t any helicopters available to infiltrate the targetwith theGroundBranchteam.ThismeantthattheteamhadtodrivetoSangininatwelve-vehicleconvoy on a cratered-out, muddy, ruddy, single-lane road that was hard tonavigateduetorecentheavyrains.Onewayin,onewayout,onaroadnotoriousforambushesandIEDs.

Finally,aconsensuswasreached.Theoperatorsagreedtoacceptthemission.Everyone plugged the coordinates of the target area into their GPS systems.SharkjumpedonamotorcycleandheadeddowntobrieftheAfghansoldiersattheir barracks. “We alwaysgave indigs the editedversionof our plan, for oursafety,” saysGroundBranchoperatorDrewDwyer. “Never specificsofwhereweweregoing.”Aten-yearveteranoftheSpecialActivitiesDivision,Dwyer’sfirst Ground Branch mission was in 2002, and he has participated in covert-actionoperationsonallfivecontinents.

Usingasandbox,theteamshowedtheAfghansoldiersthebasiclayoutofthetarget area in Sangin. After the briefing, the soldiers were told to have theirvehiclesinconvoyformationlinedupatthegate.Theyhadtwentyminutes.

Soon,theywouldsetoutthroughKandahar.ThroughthelandofIEDs.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

JustWar

TherearelotsofwaystodescribeSangin,inHelmandProvince,Afghanistan,and Ground Branch operators describe it in their own ways. The Heart ofDarkness.Thebadplace.TheTaliban’sheartland.Thesordidmatrixofopiumpoppyproduction.Andthenthere’sthis:pureevil.InofficialPentagonparlance,SecretaryofDefenseRobertM.GatessaidofSangin:“Thisdistrict[is]oneofthemostdangerousnotjustinAfghanistanbutmaybeinthewholeworld.”Overaten-yearperiod,moreAmericanmarinesandBritishsoldierswouldbekilledinSanginthaninanyofAfghanistan’sfourhundredotherdistricts.

NowtheGroundBranchteamfromGeckobasewasheadinghere,itstwelve-vehicleconvoylumberingalongtheambush-proneroad.Shark,driving,focusedon the taillightson thevehicle in frontofhim.They’dbeenpaintedoverwithblack and covered in tape so operators weren’t blinded by the night visiondevices theywore. Therewas a decent outline of the truck ahead, and at thesame time, the convoy was hidden from people officials called Taliban, oranticoalitionmilitia.GroundBranchguysknew themsimplyasbadguyswithguns.

“Itwasaperfectnight,asfaraslightconditionswereconcerned,”remembersShark.“Enoughmoonandstarsoutthatnightthatthenightvisionwasperfect,andthroughthosedevicesIlookedasfarasIcouldseedownHighwayOne.”ToShark, the road“looked like itneverended,and it lookedabiteerie, too.Thecompounds that were in eyeshot were scattered around and had only smokecoming fromwithin them,very little light.Somesmall fireswerevisible.Thenight was over for them—the villagers who lived there—they had eaten andwere getting ready to sleep, most of them were.” If it wasn’t war, this night

might have been a beautiful thing, and for a moment, a very brief, verydangerousmoment,Sharkthoughtofhisownchildrenbackhome.

“Forasplitsecond,Iwonderedifmykidsweresafe,”hesays.Theninstantly,instinctively,heshutthatthoughtdown.Inthecombatzone,

behindenemylines,“youneverthinkofanythingthatmakesyouvulnerable,”hesays.“Itinterruptstheforwardmomentumthat’sbeeningrainedinyouthroughtraining.Thisisamomentumyoumustmaintaineverysecondofeverymission,nomatterwhat.”

Suddenlytherewereflashlightsgoingoff.Flashlights.Afghanssignalingtoone another, from just outside their homes. This was optical telegraphing.Shark’sfirstthought:SaiftheSnake.Theenemyhadbeeninformed.

Technically, this was a kill-or-capture mission: four high-value targets, abombmakerandhisthreelieutenants.Butwhensomeoneknowsyou’recoming,captureisoffthetable.Themissionbecomeskillorbekilled.

“HavingSaiftheSnakeonanymissionwasverymuchlikeputtingtogetheraticking time bomb and bringing it along with you for the ride,” says Shark.Drivingeighty-sevenmilesfromGeckobasetoSanginseemedtotakeforever,everycurveintheroadpresentingsomefreshdanger.Thirtyminutesoutsidethetarget, the convoy came to a halt.Therewas a guard tower problem.Aguardtowerproblem?AnoldSoviet-eraguardtowerthatneverhadanyoneinitnowsuddenlyhadsomeoneinit.Commssaidsomethingabout theAfghannationalpolice.

“Everyminute you’re sitting still on an op[eration] is a very badminute,”saysDrewDwyer.

“‘Sittingducks’istheterm,”saysHawk.Sharkaddscontext.“WehadSpooky,the[AC-130]gunship,overhead.And

thattakesawayalotofconcerns,butitdoesn’teliminatethemaltogether.”Finally,theteamwasclearedtomoveontothetarget.Fiveminutesout,the

pilot broke radio silence to announce that the target areawas active—that hecouldseeatleasttenpersonnelinthecompound,nexttoamosque.Theconvoymovedthefinalonehundredmeterstothetarget.Itwaswet,cold,andmuddy.

“The makeshift road was saturated and sloppy,” remembers Shark. “Thesteering wheel felt loose, like there was no traction.” His thoughts wereinterrupted by awhooosh sound streaking right by him. So close, it felt likeinches.Soloud,itsoundedlikethevolumehadbeenturnedup.HewatchedanRPG-7,arocket-propelledgrenade,blastdownthehaltedlineofGroundBranchtrucks.Thenwhooosh, a second rocket fired by the convoy somehowmissing

themonasecondtry.TheTalibandon’thavenightvision,andshootingin thedarkmeansshootingblind.ItwasoneoftheadvantagesaGroundBranchteamhas, that and Spooky tactical air support. The rocket detonated behind theconvoyinanemptyspacethatwassupposedtobetheentrypointintothetargetarea.

“Weexited thevehicles,” recallsShark.“Getoutof thedeathboxand takecover,returnfire.”

A volley of fire. Kill or be killed. There’s always a firefight when you’reGroundBranch.Then,asfastastheambushstarted,theshootersweregone.TheTalibanweremastersofirregularwarfare.Theyknewsurprise,kill,vanishlikethebackoftheirownhand.Inthewinterof2008,Afghanistanhadbeenatwarfor twenty-nine consecutive years. First with the Russian invaders, starting in1979; thenwith themselves after the invaders left, from 1989 until 2001; andnowwithacoalitionofAmerican-ledinvaders,butinvadersnonetheless.

The voice of the pilot flying theAC-130 Spectre overhead came over thecomms.“Threeintheditch,headingtowardyourlocation,”thepilotsaid.Calm,steady.

Ditch, what ditch? The opium-poppy growing land here in Sangin waszipperedwithirrigationcanals,somefilledwithwater,otherswithice.Anotherupdate:“Beadvisedyouhaveeightonfootbehindyou.”Thencamethedistinctpfffmmpggggg sound throughShark’snoise-reducingcomms.A ripping sound,asthegunshipfireddownattheenemyfromoverhead.“Spookylayingwastetowhateverthreatensyourposition,inavarietyofcalibers,”saidAxe.

The AC-130 Spectre gunship—Spooky—is a heavily armed side-firingaircraft.Withitssophisticatednetworkofsensorsandnavigationandfire-controlsystems,thegunshipprovidescloseairsupportatnightinadverseweatherandcanloiterinanoverheadcircleforextendedperiodsoftime.ThesuiteofsensorsonboardallowsSpectrepilotstovisuallydiscernfriendliesfromenemies,andtoattacktwotargetssimultaneouslyfromabove.There’s littlemoraloutrageoverSpooky.It’sawarmachineusedbytheDefenseDepartment,inkeepingwiththelawsofwarandtherulesofengagement.

Thepilotrepeated,“Eightonfootbehindyou…threeintheditch”andbeganfiring.Inamatterofseconds,allelevenhumansweredead.

Then silence. No more shooting. The compound was straight ahead. Thepathway to the targetwas heavilywooded. Sharkwalked along.He had eightAfghan soldiers with him, following along in a line. After a few minutes ofwalking,theareaeruptedingunfireonceagain.

Againtheshootingstopped.Sharkcontinuedtomoveforwardtothetarget,his gun trained ahead. The mission was to locate the bomb maker and hislieutenants. The eleven deadwere almost certainly foot soldiers,whichmeantthat the four high-value targetswere probably hiding somewhere right aroundhere.Thecompoundneededtobecleared.Therewasworktodo.Sharkreadiedtomakeentryoverthecompoundwallwhensuddenlyitoccurredtohimthathewasalone.WherehadtheAfghanindigsgone?Alone?Howwasthispossible?Aloneisdangerous.Tworules:Nevergetinthetrunk.Andnevertrytocleararoomalone.Buthewashere.Therewasworktodo.They’dcomeallthewaytoSangin.Againsthisbetterjudgment,Sharkdecidedtogoatitalone.

Hewalkedacrosstheroofofthecompound.Helookeddownintoahole,likeastairwellminusthestairs.Therewasawoodenladderleadingdowninside.“Itcametomethataflamethrowerwouldhavebeennice,”recallsShark.“Icouldhave cleared the whole roomwith the flamethrower.” But Protocol III of theConventiononProhibitionsorRestrictionsontheUseofCertainConventionalWeaponsprohibitedsoldiersfromusingincendiaryweapons,whichmadelittlesense if you had just seen what Spooky did to the eleven men. “They usedflamethrowers in every other war, so why not here?” Shark wondered. Heheadedbacktothetruckstolocatetherestoftheteam.AttheconvoyhefoundthattheAfghansoldiersweresittingaround,someoftheminsideavehicle.

Therewasmoreworktobedone,Sharksaid,includingtheSSE,orsensitivesite exploitation, of the compound—a search formaterials, paper intelligence,bad guys’ cell phones. There were two or three vehicles parked behind thecompoundthatneededtobesearchedaswell.Halftheteamneededtostaywiththesensitiveequipmentinthetrucks.Theotherhalfneededtogowithhim.

Back at the target, a perimeterwas set up and the compoundwas cleared,thensearched.TheHVTshadlonggone.TheSSEtookfourhours.Spookykeptwatchoverhead.Thenitwastimetogo.

Backatthetruckstherewasanunbelievablecommotionunderway.Abrand-newtruckborrowedfromtherangerswasupsidedowninahole.Sabotage?HadoneormoreoftheAfghanindigstrieddrivingthetruckaway?Theonlythingmoredangerousthanlingeringoninfiltrationwaslingeringonexfil.TimetogetoutofSangin.

But first, the sensitive communications gear in the vehicle needed to bedestroyed. Destroy the entire vehicle—that would do the job. Ground Branchoperatorspoured three jerricansofdiesel fuelover the truck, tosseda thermitegrenade inside,andwatched itburn.Theoperatorspiled in the trucks,and the

eleven-vehicleconvoyinchedhomeacross thesamedark landscape.The indigfighters whose truck had mysteriously been turned upside down squeezed inbeside theGroundBranch team. In eachvehicle, a computer screendisplayedthe bird’s-eye view of the journey back to Gecko base, one layer of thegeographicinformationsystem(GIS)createdinthebasementofLangleybyKenStiles and his team six years before. Themetadata in theGIS had since beenincreased by orders ofmagnitude. Layers of anthropology and geography hadbeenfusedwitheveryformofintelligenceavailable.ButwasthereanyprogressbeingmadehereinAfghanistan,anyatall?CouldAmericaeverwinthiswar?Or was the whole effort like the upside-down truck in Sangin? Expensive,intractable,waitingtobeburnedtotheground.

After the teamgotback toGeckobase,all thedatagathered inSanginwasinputted into the system, including photos from cell phones recovered, papersfound in the compound, pocket litter from dead Taliban. All this informationwouldbeusedtoprovidetargetersworkingataclassifiedCIAfacilityinKabulcalledEaglebasewithmoreinformationaboutwhomtotargetandkillnext.“Wewereproducingintelligenceandwewerealsoaconsumeroftheintelligencewewereproducing,”HankCrumptonsaidoftheoriginalintentofcovertactioninAfghanistan.Now,sixyearslater,allacrossAfghanistan,GroundBranchteamswerestilldoingthesamething.Butthegoal,to“becomemoreproductive,”hadarguablynotbeenmet.ThesituationinAfghanistanhadgottenalotworse.

AfteralltheSSEdatafromtheTalibancompoundinSangingotturnedovertotheCIAchiefofGeckobase,thedebrieftookplace.Sharkbroughtuphisideaabouttheflamethrower.

“Iexplainedmyreasonforit.Itwasvalid,inmyeyes—beyondvalid—andsomeof theguys loved it,butnoteverybody,”herecalls.“Theboss rolledhiseyesandsaid,‘Let’sdiscussthisoffline.’Itwasn’treceivedwell,andIstilldon’tunderstand why. We drop bombs on [bad guys]. Fire cannons from the sky,whichsetspeopleonfire.Whyisaflamethrowersotaboo?”

Only a few of the guys made it to the postmission firepit discussion thatnight.“Wejustsatthereonthehomemadewoodenbenchesandpiecedtogetherthenight.TheissueofSaifMohammadcameup,and,whywouldn’the?Itwasnotanormalsituation,”saysShark.“Havinghimonamissionfeltlikeinvitingsuicide.”

Now,withthemissiontoSanginover,theissueaboutkillingSaiftheSnakewasbackonthetable.

“Let’sgetridofhim,”oneoftheoperatorssaid.

Shark suggested they throw him out of a helicopter. “That would fix theproblem,”hesaid.

SeveraloftheGroundBranchguysagreed.Theywerealmostataconsensusnow.Almost.

“I told the chief what we thought should be done. Take him up on ahelicopter, tell him it was a mission, then throw him out when we were upthere,”remembersShark.Problemsolved.

Sharksaysthechiefofbasewashorrified.“Youcan’tdothat,”hesaid.“Thechiefofbasepulledmeaside,”recallsShark.“HeaskedmeifIwantedtotalktoa doctor. Saidmaybe somethingwaswrongwithmyhead. I didn’t appreciatethat.”

SharkheadedbacktohissleepingquartersatGeckobase,thesecond-storycargocontainerinsideofwhichhelived.“IgrabbedmyCopenhagen[tobacco]andmysatellitephone.Ihadonecalltomake,thekidswouldbegettingreadytogotobedsoon,itwasearlymorningforus.WhenIfoundthatrightspottocallhome,aspotwheremyphonecouldaccessthesatellitesandgetacallout,itallseemedverynormaltome,”herecalls.

“Hello?”Itwasthevoiceofhisex-wife,whomhestilllovedevenaftertheirdivorce.He always experiencedpain and difficulty talking to her. Shewas anexcellentmother, and their children always didwhatever itwas she instructedthemtodo.Theycouldn’tmaketheirmarriagework;hehadtoacceptthat.Theybothlovedtheirchildrenmorethananythinginthisworld.

“Let him say everything first,” Shark’s ex-wife said to the children, backthereintheUnitedStates.

“They always started their first volley of conversationwith, ‘Hi, Daddy,’”Sharkrecalls,“theirsoft,safevoices,withauniquetwangaddeddependingonwhat stage of baby teeth coming in or out theywere in.Many of the times Iwouldbeonthereceivingendofthesatphoneforanextendedperiodoftime,justlisteningastheytoldmeeverythingabouttheday.”

Thistime,likemanytimes,Sharkstareddownathisownphysicalbody.Hisbootswerecoveredinsomeoneelse’sblood.

Sixdayspassed.“Iwasstandinginfrontofmymetalfortresssleepingareaspeakingwith amedicwhen I heard a call over the base radios,” remembersShark.

“Cometotheoperationscenter,there’ssomethingtosee,”Stingraysaid.Heinsisteditwasimportant. Insidetheteamroom,oneof theguyswasgrappling

withsomecablesandahugeflat-screenTVthatwasattachedtoaconcretewall.Afterafewadjustments,theTVscreencametolife.

Whatevertheoperatorswereheretowatch,itwasfromthepointofviewofaPredator drone. You could see the desert floor through a window ofsuperimposedwhite crosshairs.A structure came into view. The Predatorwashoveringhighinthesky,directlyoverabuildinginSangin.Therewastensioninthe air. Someone offered an explanation: the four Taliban they’d pursued sixdaysbefore—thebombmakerandhisthreelieutenants—hadbeenidentifiedaspresently being inside the compound they were now observing through thePredator’sviewfinder.

The room was quiet. The image played without any sound. Everyone satthere, enthralled. A few seconds passed. The screen went dark for a briefmoment. When an image came back into view, there was a small cloud ofsmoke.Debris, ash, and fire blanketed the desert floor below. The cloud heldstrong for a few seconds, until it became clear that all that was left of thecompoundwasarubblepile.Thefocusintheroomwasintense.

Someonesaid,“Fuckyeah.”Someoneelsesaid,“Un-fucking-believable.”“For as dramatic as it was,” recalls Shark, “we knew not to celebrate too

loud, or too often. It takes away from your readiness. That is what we aretaught.”

Everyone stood up and started to leave.Then someone said, “Hey, look atthatshit.”FocuswentbacktotheTVscreen.

Out from beneath the pile of rubble, a human being emerged. Stumbling.Wounded.Alive.Oneofthefourhigh-valuetargets—thebombmakeroroneofhisthreelieutenants—hadsurvivedthedronestrike.Asthemanstoodthereontheground,bendingover,gatheringhissenses,thenumbersatthebottomcenterofthePredator’sviewfinderbegantomove.

“Herewegoagain,”thoughtShark.Hewasright.The screenwent black for amoment.Then the rubble pile cameback into

view.This time, therewasnomovementon theground.Thefourthhigh-valuetarget was dead. There were a few high-fives in the room, and then theatmospherereturnedtonormal.

“Wewentbacktowhatweweredoing,”remembersShark.

SomethinghadtobedoneaboutSaiftheSnake.InAfghanistan,saysLightning,“you have to be willing to take the long route to an objective and a victory,

becausethefightersthere,theTalibanandtheotherbadguyswithguns,they’reunlikeanyoneelseyou’vegoneupagainstbefore.”

TheGroundBranchoperatorshadbeenforbiddentokillSaiftheSnake.“Sowe cameupwith thenext-best idea, and thatwas to shamehim,” saysShark.“Makehimlosehisstatureonthebase.”

Toorchestratehisfallfromgrace,theGroundBranchoperatorsorganizedafriendly—ornotsofriendly—regulationboxingmatch.Abloodlesshidden-handcoupd’état.Therewouldbe rules that had tobe followed.Aboxing ringwasbuilt.Regulationheadgearandboxinggloveswerebrought in fromtheUnitedStates.Thefightersweredrawnrandomlyfromacontainerofnames inabox,saysShark,nofunnybusinessallowed.“ExceptthefunnybusinesswefactoredinsoacertainSaifMohammadwouldbefightingthebiggestmanonbase.”Thecarefullychosenopponentwas theGroundBranch team’sAfghanmechanic,a210-pound heavyweight with teeth so strange he’d been given the nicknameJaws. By luck of the draw, the referee announced over themegaphone, “ThefightisbetweenSaifMohammadandthemechanic!”

Saif the Snake stepped out of the crowd of soldiers and walked into thesandpit,wheretwoAmericanrefereeswaited.“Saifworeastrainedsmileonhispuffy face.He had a full beard and itwaswell-kept,” recalls Shark. “HewasshorterthanmostoftheotherAfghansoldiers,anditlookedlikehehadn’tbeenmissing anymeals.”Hewore desert camouflage trousers and a largewhiteT-shirt.Jaws,themechanic,lumberedintothering.“Hewasbigandslow,likeahighschoolfootballplayerwhohadn’tyetgrownintohisoversizedbody,”andhewasaheadtallerthanhisopponent.

Therefereesgavethefightersinstructions, translatedthroughaninterpreter.Thefightbegan.Outinthestands,thespectatorswentwild.“Agiddycrowdofsoldierswho’d never seen a boxingmatch before,” says Shark. The local dayworkersonbasestoppedworkingandwerescatteredaroundinthebackground,leaningonshovelsorsquattingdown.

The mechanic moved steadily into the center of the ring. Saif the Snakefroze. Themechanicmoved forward until they were face-to-face. It appearedeach man was having second thoughts about the competition. The spectatorswentquiet.Thebodiesofthetwofighterswenttight,“eachasifhe’dcomeuponapredatorthatrequiredtotalstillnesstogetoutalive,”recallsShark.ThenJawshurled himself toward his frozen opponent, swinging at Saifwith his sixteen-ounceregulationgloves.Saifputuphishands,buttheblowscamehardandfast.Oneofthelobsstruckhiminthesideofhishead,protectedbylightheadgear.

Theaudiencewentwildwithexcitement.Therewerecheersandboosatthesame time. The mechanic moved his arms, working hard to generate solidpunches.Mixedinthefightingwasasloppycombinationofslapsandpunches,but theywereall flying inSaif’sdirection.Hehadnotmovedhisglovesfromtheguardposition.Hestoodtherestunnedanddefenselessinfrontofthejeeringcrowd. “His stature in the campwas being denigrated by theminute,” recallsShark.Break.RoundTwo.

Themechanic raced in and unleashed a barrage of punches. Several wentstraight into Saif’s gut. When Saif reached down to hold his stomach, themechanic saw the opening and hurled a volley of punches his way. Saifstumbled, tripped, and hit the sand. “Jaws leapt on him, smothering him andmaking strange jerkingmovements, like someonewasusing a shock collar onhim.ThemechanicengulfedSaif—hewashardlyvisibleanymore.”Therewereseveral more punches thrown, hard blows to the gut and chest. As SaifMohammad lay there looking straight up at the sky, Jaws mounted him andbeganpummelinghim,asifhehadsometraining.Themechanicleanedinandbeganwailingonhim,overandover.Thiswasobviouslynotaregulationmove,andtherefereesmovedin.Break.RoundThree.

TheGroundBranchteamhadadvertisedathree-roundfight,withthewinnerreceiving a ten-dollar prize. Toward the end, the fighters were getting tired.Interestwasfading.“TheAfghansoldiersneededanap,”saysShark,“andtheyprobablyneededtohitthehookahagain,too.Theyhadaroutine,andasmuchastheylikeanything,itisshort-livedandtheygetbored.”ThewholepointofthefightwastohaveallthesoldierswatchSaiftheSnakelose.Thensuddenly,justas some of the fighterswere beginning towander off, themechanic suddenlywent at him again, full-bore. Saif didn’t try to defend himself this time. “Hesimplyabsorbed theblows,” recallsShark.“Therewasnoknockoutpunch;hejustfellover.Legsout,armsup,likehe’draisedhishandtoaskaquestion.Therefereesendedthefight.SaiftheSnakelosthisstature,andthereforehispower.Noneedforwar.”

Shark rotated onto another CIA base, where he trained another one hundredAfghansoldiersandledkill-or-capturemissionsindarkplacesthatfeltevil,too.Afewfightingseasonslater,hewasbackatGeckobaseinKandahar.

“I figure it was two weeks after I returned that we were called into ouroversized coliseumof ameeting room. Itwas an all-handsmeeting,” he says.“Theroomwasquiet,therewerenoterps[interpreters]allowed,itwasonlyus.I

wanted someone to tell a joke, to get rid of this quiet, at least talk normally.Something. Then the boss [chief of base] put out that Saif Mohammad wasfoundguilty.”

Thestorywasexplained:awidevarietyofexplosivesandbulletshadgonemissingfromthearsenalatGeckobase,andwerethendiscoveredwithSaifandanaccomplice.Officialsgotinvolved.SaifwassenttotheNationalDirectorateofSecurity.Hetalkedinprisonandledinvestigatorstohisallegedaccomplice,an Afghan supply officer employed by the CIA at Gecko base. NDS locatedinformation about a plan to attack the Ground Branch team on base. It waswritten out in the accomplice’s workbook, including sketches and maps. TheplanwastostealaGroundBranchtruck,fillitwith2,000poundsofexplosives,thendriveitintotheareaneartheConexboxesandthefirepit—wheretheteamguysmade satellite phone calls home to their kids. For reasons no one couldexplain,buteveryoneunderstood,SaifMohammadhadbeenreleasedfromtheNDSandhadsimplyvanished,atleastfornow.

AfterseveralmonthsfightinginKandahar,Sharkrotatedoutagain.Hewastransferred to yet another CIA base, where he trained another one hundredAfghanindigsandwentoutonwhatbynowamountedtohundredsofmissionswiththem.

In2011,AhmedWaliKarzai,thepresident’sbrother,wasassassinatedinhishomebyhisclosestconfidant,amannamedSardarMohammad.Intheensuinginvestigation,more informationabout theAfghan indig fighters atGeckobasesurfaced. The unitwas called theKandahar Strike Force, the papers said, anddescribed the fighters as Karzai’s personal paramilitary force. These were“highly-trained and elite troops who [underwent] regular physical training,includingjoggingandcalisthenics,targetpracticeandclassworksuchaslecturesonchoosingtargetsforkill-and-captureraids.”

Why did Sardar Mohammad kill Ahmed Wali Karzai? Rumors flew.Speculative blame was divided. One theory proposed that SardarMohammadwasaCIAassassin.Anotherclaimedhewasadoubleagentfor theTaliban.Athird supposition speaks to life in themoral twilight zone thatGroundBranchoperatorsareaskedtolivein.

InAKingdom of TheirOwn: The FamilyKarzai and the AfghanDisaster,Josh Partlow, aWashington Post reporter in Afghanistan, described what helearned from senior U.S. military officials about the assassination. “SardarMohammadwasapedophile,andhispedophiliahadgottenwayoutofhandandhadbecomeanembarrassment,”Partlowwrote.Agroupoffatherswhosesons

SardarMohammadhadkidnapped,chainedtohisbed,andheldascaptivesforraping“hadgonetoAWKandsaid,‘You’vegottoreinthisguyin.He’soutofcontrol.’ AWK decided he was going to fire [Sardar Mohammad] from hissecurityjobandgivehimsomeotherjob.Hesummonedhimovertherethatdaytodoit.And[SardarMohammad]gotwindofit.”HeshotAhmedWaliKarzaiintheheadandchest,killinghiminstantly.

NineyearsafterthemissioninSanginwiththeupside-downtruck,fivehundredmiles to the northeast, in Jalalabad, Brian Ray Hoke and a Ground BranchoperatornamedNathanielDelemarrewereshotandkilledby the IslamicStateduring a kill-or-capturemission. ItwasOctober 2011.The “potential negativeeffects of HVT operations” warned about in the leaked CIA directive “High-Value Targeting Operations” had come true. The lethal direct-action missionsconducted against HVTs had resulted in precisely what the directive hadforewarned:“creatingavacuumintowhichmoreradicalgroupscanenter,andescalating… a conflict in ways that favor the insurgents.” The CIA has notreleasedanyfurtherinformationaboutthecircumstancesofeitherman’sdeath.

In Afghanistan, the violence continued to escalate. With the 2009inaugurationofBarackObama, therewas thewidelyheldexpectation that thisnew presidentwould bring peace to the troubledMiddle East, that diplomacywould predominate and the two wars America was fighting would end.Nominations for theNobelPeacePrizeoccurred just elevendaysafterObamatookoffice,andhis inclusiononthat listwasapreemptivemovebytheNobelCommittee.“Wearehopingthismaycontributealittlebitforwhatheistryingtodo,”saiditschairman,ThorbjørnJagland.“Theprizeisaclearsignaltotheworld.…Wehavetogettheworldontherighttrackagain.”Publicly,therewashope.Privately,therewastherealityofTertiaOptio.

Inhisfirstthreedaysaspresident,BarackObamatookactionontwooftheCIAprogramshe’d inherited fromtheBushWhiteHouse.After reviewing theenhanced interrogation program, also called the torture program, he signedExecutive Order 13491, revoking it. He ordered the CIA to shut down itsdetentionand interrogationfacilities,alsocalledblacksites,andprohibited theAgency from opening new ones. After reviewing the lethal direct-actionprogram, including the drone strike and Ground Branch programs, PresidentObamaorderedtheseoperationstobeaccelerated.Hisdecisiontoshutdowntheenhancedinterrogationprogramwasmadepublic,buthisdecisiontoacceleratelethaldirect-actionmissionswaskepthidden.

OnObama’sseconddayinoffice,aGroundBranchteamconductedakill-or-capturemissioninKhyberAgency,Pakistan.ThetargetwasaSaudiAl-Qaedaoperative named Zabu ul Taifi, involved in a series of terrorist bombings inLondononJuly7,2005.

Thekill-or-captureoperationwasrunjointlywithindigenousforces,butoneofthemeninvolvedtoldPakistan’sTheNewsthatthemissionhadbeenledbytheCIA.“TheAmericansseemedquiteexcitedaftercapturingtheSaudinationalandimmediatelybundledhimintotheirvehicle,”thePakistanisoldiersaid.Thatsameseconddayinoffice,PresidentObamaalsoauthorizedtwodronestrikesinPakistan, killing one Al-Qaeda high-value target and up to two dozen otherpeople. Critics accused the president of solving the torture program problemwithakillingprogramsolution.

Thatfall,onOctober9,2009,theNobelCommitteeannouncedthatPresidentBarack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. In December, he traveled toOslo, Norway, to receive the award. In a speech entitled “A Just and LastingPeace,”PresidentObama talkedmostlyaboutwar,evoking theconceptof justwar theory, a set of ethical principles based in Christian theology and firstwrittenaboutinAD400.Inthesixteenhundredyearssince,justwartheoryhasbeen providing leaders with a framework in which to rationalize war byreconciling three juxtaposing ideas: taking human life is seriously wrong; anation has a duty to defend itself and its citizens; defendingmoral values canrequire the use of violence.Morality and warfare have been entwined acrosshistory, always with the strongest opinions reserved for assassination. Isassassination that is carried out in the name of defending the country, or themoralvaluesofthecountry,virtuousorcorrupt?

Inhisacceptancespeech,PresidentObamadefendedthewarinAfghanistanas a “justwar,” awar of last resort, of self-defense, of proportional force.Hesaidthatthegoalwastospareciviliansfromviolence.“Iunderstandwhywarisnot popular,” he acknowledged, but “peace entails sacrifice.” Withoutmentioningcovertaction,heremindedthosefamiliarwith theconstructwhyitevenexistsinthefirstplace:topreventWorldWarIII.“Yes,terriblewarshavebeen fought, and atrocities committed,” he said. “But there has beennoThirdWorldWar.”

The Nobel Committee in Norway applauded the speech sparingly; theaudience gave President Obama a standing ovation at the end. The presidentskippedthehonorarylunchandaconcert.Heattendedthehonorarydinnerandwenthome.

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

TheHiddenHand

President Obama’s decision to revoke enhanced interrogation and acceleratetargeted killing would have a profound effect on the age-old concept ofassassinationasaforeignpolicytool.WhereastheBushWhiteHouseauthorized52 drone strikes outside the war theater in an eight-year period, the ObamaWhite House authorized more than ten times that number, some 542 dronestrikes that killed 3,797 people—supposedly from the kill-or-capture list—atleast three of whom were U.S. citizens. Reportedly 324 civilians were alsokilled.Butthesenumbersarejustestimates.

PresidentObamanotonlyembracedandacceleratedtheuseofdronestokillterrorist leaders and their lieutenants; he became the first president in U.S.history to acknowledge that the hidden hand could be used this way. “Yes,”ObamaadvisorJohnBrennansaidonApril30,2012,“in fullaccordancewiththelaw,andinordertopreventterroristattacksontheUnitedStatesandtosaveAmericanlives, theUnitedStatesgovernmentconducts targetedstrikesagainstspecific Al-Qaeda terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, oftenreferredtopubliclyasdrones.”

ButthetruthwasfarmoreruthlessandcomplexthanJohnBrennanmadeitouttobe.TheWallStreetJournalhadalreadyreportedthatPresidentObama’sdrone program in Pakistan had also been killing fighting-age males withoutknowing exactly who they were. Officially called “signature strikes,” thesedronestrikesweredirectedagainstgroupsofindividualswhohadbeenobservedkeepingcompanywithknown terrorists. In thepress, signature strikesquicklybecameknownas“crowdkills.”“ThejokewasthatwhentheC.I.A.sees‘threeguys doing jumping jacks,’ the agency thinks it is a terrorist training camp,”

reportedtheNewYorkTimes,citingaseniorofficial.The following year, in a carefully worded speech given at the National

DefenseUniversityatFortMcNair,inWashington,DC,PresidentObamafurtherowned his administration’s targeted killing program. “America’s actions arelegal,” he said.He’d canceled the signature strike program inherited from theBush administration, he said, and was working “vigorously to establish aframeworkthatgovernsouruseofforceagainstterrorists—insistinguponclearguidelines, oversight and accountability that is now codified in PresidentialPolicyGuidancethatIsignedyesterday.”Bybringingtargetedkillingoutoftheshadowsandintothelight,PresidentObamaintendedtosilencehiscritics—tomake American citizens accept that killing leaders and prominent people incertaincircumstanceswasnotonlylegalbutmoralandthereforejust.“Sothisisa just war,” President Obama insisted of the war against terrorists. “Doingnothingisnotanoption.”

There was one person whose targeted killing few Americans objected to.OsamabinLadenwaskilledinPakistaninMay2011,notbyadronestrikebutby a CIA-led paramilitary team. While this lethal direct-action mission isfamously credited to the Defense Department’s Navy SEALs, the team wasactingunderCIAauthority,asthepresident’sguerrillawarfarecorps.Outsideawar zone, only theCIA can conduct lethal direct action; itsTitle 50 authoritymakes it legal. The operators on the bin Laden raid wore clothing with nomarkingsoridentifications—ashadtheOSSJedburghsinWorldWarIIandtheMACV-SOG operators in Vietnam, and as do Ground Branch operators allaroundtheworldtoday.Plausibledeniabilityisbuilt-in,shouldthingsgowrong.

AfterPresidentObamaannouncedOsamabinLaden’sdeathonnationalTV,acrowdofpeoplegatheredoutsidetheWhiteHouse.FromLafayetteSquaretoPennsylvaniaAvenue and beyond, thousands ofAmericans chanted in unison:“Obama, Obama!We fucking killed Osama!” Just war theory tells us not torejoiceinthebattlefielddeathsofothers;thatthereisnoplaceforvengeanceorbloodlust.Butwhatisman,ifnotflawed?

AssignificantaswasPresidentObama’snormalizationoftargetedkilling,sowas the reality that he depoliticized it. Herewas a liberal Democrat not onlyembracing and expanding a foreign policy tool previously associated withconservative Republicans but expressing pride in it as well. “There isn’t apresidentwho’s takenmore terroristsoff the field thanme,over the last sevenand a half years,” President Obama told Fox News in his last spring ascommanderinchief.

“Obama succeeded in making Americans comfortable with drone strikes,”saysformeradministrationofficialanddronescholarMicahZenko,“astheyaregenerally supported by theAmerican public andwildly popular inCongress.”Thereissubtexthere:ifCongresscan’tfightabattleonpoliticallines,itactsasifitisnotabattleworthfightingfor.

Howdidweenduphere,withassassination—butnotcalledassassination—normalized, mechanized, and industrialized? Let’s back up to the year beforeBillyWaughwasborn.

One day in the summer of 1928, war became outlawed. Representatives offifteennations ledby theUnitedStates andFrancegathered inside theFrenchForeignMinistry inParisandsignedapactdeclaringwar illegal.TheGeneralTreaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy, or theKellogg-BriandPact, came a decade afterWorldWar I, considered thewar toendallwars.Between thestaggering losses—eightmilliondead, thirtymillionmaimed or wounded—and the appalling barbarity of the weapons used, whatglorythathadpreviouslyexistedhadbeensuckedoutofwar.Warhadbecometoomechanized, people said,with horses replaced by tanks, and bombs beingdropped from theskies.With theuseofchlorineandmustardgason the frontlines, world leaders had betrayed the moral rules of warfare. By the timeKellogg-Briandwasratifiedin1929,sixty-fournationsincludingGreatBritain,Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan, China, Cuba, and Afghanistan agreed to solvetheir differences through peaceful means. The treaty soared through the U.S.Congresswithavoteofeighty-fivetoone.Towagewarwasnowacrime.

A fewmonths later, at aWhite House tea ceremony honoring the antiwarpact, President Herbert Hoover expressed high hopes for a new era. “I darepredictthattheinfluenceoftheTreatyfortheRenunciationofWarwillbefeltina large proportion of all future international acts,” he said.But the peacewasshort-lived.Justtwoyearslater,inthefallof1931,theImperialJapaneseArmyinvadedManchuria,anoccupationthatwouldlastuntiltheendofWorldWarII.In1935,AdolfHitlerbeganmilitaryconscriptionoffighting-agemales,thefirstinaseriesofaggressiveactsthatlaidthegroundworkforWorldWarII.

In1938,onthetenthanniversaryofitssigning,theeditorsoftheNewYorkTimes declared, “theKelloggpact is dead.”The treaty, the editorswrote, “hasnotabolishedwar.…Ithasabolisheddeclarationsofwar.”Whatwasbeingsaidand what was being done were in fundamental conflict. The facade lastedanother year.OnSeptember 1, 1939,Hitler’s army invadedPoland.Twodays

later,BritainandFrancedeclaredwaronGermany.WorldWarIIhadofficiallybegun.

ItwasafterWorldWarIIthattheideaofathirdoptioncametobe.WarandpeacewerenolongertheAmericanpresident’sonlytwoforeignpolicytools,theNationalSecurityActof1947madeclear.Covertactionwouldnowfunctionasthe president’s hidden hand. In thewords of former CIA inspector general L.BrittSnider,“Covertactions…thattheCIAmightundertakeinothercountries[could]accomplishaU.S.foreignpolicyobjectivewithoutthehandoftheU.S.government becoming known or apparent to the outside world.” The mostextreme of all covert-action operations, it was decided secretly, would beassassination. The president’s advisors spoke “in riddles” to achieve theirplausiblydeniablegoals,Congress later found.Or, in thewordsofCIAofficerWilliam King Harvey, assassination was to be “the last resort beyond lastresort…butnevermention[the]word.”

For the next twenty-five years, from roughly 1950 to 1975, this is how itworked. The CIA’s paramilitary force, with assistance from their specialoperations partners, armed foreign rebel groups, taught them to sabotage andsubvert, how to engineer coups d’état, and if necessary to assassinate. Thencametherevelationoftheseassassinations—includingofGeneralissimoTrujilloandPresidentDiemandhisbrotherNgoDinhNhu—followedbytheChurchandPikeCommittee hearings and the creation of the Senate Select Committee onIntelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.Assassinationwas “incompatiblewithAmerican principles, international orderandmorality,”saidCongress.Nowtherewouldberules.

ButCongressdidn’tcreatealawagainstassassination;rather,itleftthingsupto the president and his national-security advisors to decide. Covert-actionoperationsnowrequiredaPresidentialFindingtobesharedwiththeappropriateintelligencecommittee“assoonaspossible”afterissuance,Congressdecreed.

And so, for the next twenty-five years, from roughly 1976 to 2001, this ishow it worked. The attitudes and actions of Republican presidents RonaldReaganandGeorgeH.W.Bushwithrespecttolethaldirectactiontendedtobehawkish,while those ofDemocratic presidents JimmyCarter andBillClintonleaned toward dovish. Congress oversaw the Presidential Findings/MONs andtheactionsoftheCIAparamilitaryoperatorswhoweredispatchedtothefieldtocarryoutthewishesofthepresidentandhisclosestadvisors.

ThencametheterroristattacksofSeptember11,2001.ItwastheSeptember17MemorandumofNotificationthatallowedforthereturnofkillingleadersor

prominent people in foreign lands—which if not for legalesewould be calledassassination—asaforeignpolicytool.“It’sremarkablewhenyouconsiderwhatcameoutofone short paragraph in that [MON],” formerCIAgeneral counselJohnRizzoexplainedforthisbook.ItwasRizzowhodraftedthisMemorandumof Notification. “Three words authorized the [terrorist] capture and detentionprogram, another few [words] authorized taking lethal direct action againstterrorists.” When the MON was delivered to the congressional intelligencecommitteesonSeptember18,“RepublicansandDemocratsalikehad thesamereaction,”hesays,whichwas:“Isthisenough?”

The floodgates reopened.With theBush administration, an armyof dronescalled Predators and Reapers took to the skies, and an army of paramilitaryoperators from theSpecialActivitiesDivision, and itsGroundBranch,movedinto action in hostile territory and behind enemy lines. The Obamaadministration embraced and accelerated targeted killing. The Trumpadministrationfurtherbroadenedtheseprograms,butwiththenationconsumedby political battles, the targeted killing programs have become easier to hide.GroundBranchoperatorsand their specialoperations forcespartnerspresentlyoperate in 138 countries around theworld. Not just in Afghanistan, Pakistan,Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya but inside (and in the airspace above) 70percentof theworld’ssovereignnations, fromColombia toMongolia,AlbaniatoUzbekistan,NepaltotheGazaStrip.GroundBranchoperatorsinterviewedforthisbookhavebeenhelicopteredintoBogotá,Colombia,HALOedontoislandsinthePhilippines,andHAHOedintoremoteterraininIran.AllontheordersofthepresidentoftheUnitedStates.

Covertactioningeneralandtargetedkillinginparticularareacceleratingataratethatfaroutpacespublicawarenessorunderstanding.TheCIAhasopenedaglobal center called the Special Activities Center—the Special ActivitiesDivisionhas thusexpandedfromaparamilitarydivisiontoan interdisciplinarycenter.

Still, the goal of covert action remainswhat it was in 1947: to prevent oravertanuclearWorldWarIII.

To report this book, I interviewedBillyWaugh for several hundred hours andexchangedmorethan1,300emailswithhim.AmajorityofthemissionsWaughparticipatedinwerebornclassified—designedtoaccomplishU.S.foreignpolicygoalswithout theireverbecomingknown to thepublic.Evenwhendiscussingdeclassifiedoperationshewas involved in,Waugh tends toplay itclose to the

vest,speakinginphrasesthattaketimetodiscern.Once,heansweredawrittenquestionwithaseriesofdashesanddots,whichtookmeawhiletodecipherasMorsecode.

Themoreilluminatinginformationoftencameforthwhenweweretravelingtogether internationally, including to Vietnam and Cuba. Billy Waugh is aveteran soldier, paramilitary operator, and spy. He is amaster of intelligence,surveillance,andreconnaissance—ISR, incovert-actionparlance.Hehasspenthis life at the tip of the tip of the spear. Having operated in some sixty-fourcountries around the world,Waugh, I learned, is most at home on themove:ridinginairplanes,waitinginairports,drivingincars,andsittingininternationalhotellobbieswatchingpeoplecomeandgo.

Itwasinsideanairplane,travelingat36,000feetovertheRussianpeninsulaneartheSeaofOkhotsk,thatIlearnedofthemostdangerouslethalcovert-actionoperation perhaps ever designed by theCIA and itsmilitary counterparts—anoperation Waugh led. Dangerous—by way of unintended consequences thatthreatenthesecurityandstabilitynotjustoftheUnitedStatesbutoftheentireworld.Thetactic:parachuteassassinscarryinganuclearbomb.

It was the middle of the night, and the aircraft we were traveling in wasroughlythree-quartersofthewayfromLosAngeles,California,toSeoul,Korea.Icouldn’tsleep.TheKoreanAirA380hada loungeon theupperdeck,and itwas there that I found Billy Waugh, seated on a couch drinking a glass ofpineapplejuiceandreadingTheMinistryofUngentlemanlyWarfare:Churchill’sMavericksPlottingHitler’sDefeat.Isatdown.Webegandiscussingblackentryparachute operations. As part of Operation Grouse, duringWorldWar II, theBritishSpecialOperationsExecutiveparachutedcommandosintoremoteterrainnear the Norsk Hydro plant in Norway, where the Germans were secretlyworkingtobuildanuclearbomb.

“Thenuclearweaponistheultimateweapon,”saidWaugh.Afterhe’dtrainedtoparachute-jumpalivenuclearweaponinbehindenemylinesonOkinawaintheearly1960s,Waughsaid,heandhisGreenLightTeammovedtoaclassifiedfacilityintheUnitedStatesattheNevadaTestSite,whereroughlyonehundrednuclearweaponshadalreadybeendetonatedinthedesert—mushroomcloudandall.Theretheteamconductedafeasibilitytesttoseeifatacticalnuclearweaponcould be detonated after being parachuted in from above and armed on theground.

ItwasthesecondweekinJuly1962,andJohnF.Kennedywaspresident.TheUnitedStates and theSovietUnionwere engaged in talks to ban atmospheric

nuclear weapons tests. As part of Operation Sunbeam, the Atomic EnergyCommissionandtheDefenseDepartmentwerenowjointlytestingfourtacticalnuclearweaponsinandaroundArea18oftheNevadaTestSite,locatedseventy-five miles north of Las Vegas. These were the last four known atmosphericnuclearexplosionsinU.S.history.

“We started out on an aircraft carrier parked on the Pacific near CatalinaIsland,”recallsWaugh.“Ourfour-manteamwassequesteredunderthedeck.Noone said aword to anyof us, andwedidn’t sayboo.Thenuclear devicewasmadeof threeplutoniumrings.Eachoneweighed thirty-threepounds.Wehadforty pounds of commo and a hand-cranked generator, which had its ownportableseat.”

TheGreenLightTeam loaded theirgearand the tacticalnuclearweapon—capable of destroying a small city—into a TF-1. “The seats were removed,”remembersWaugh.

“Wewerecatapultedoffthiscarrier,flewacrossCaliforniaintoNevada,andpreparedtojump.”Thegoalwastojump,land,assembletheteam,andassemblethenuclearweaponinlessthanfourteenminutes.“Wejumpedfromdownlow,”recalls Waugh. “Around a thousand feet above the deck [terrain]. When youjumpthatlow,enemyradarcan’tseejumpers,butitseestheairplane.”

For this reason, as many as fifteen aircraft are used in these kinds ofparachute-insertion operations. The use of multiple aircraft confuses enemyspottersontheground.Inthisoperation,theGreenLightTeamlanded,locatedall four members, assembled the device, and used the commo to send anencryptedmessagetothecommandingofficer.

“Insteadoffiringthedeviceourselves,”saysWaugh,“wehandeditofftoagroupof[nuclearweapons]engineers.”

Theengineersarmedthedeviceandsetthetimer.TheGreenLightTeamwasdriventoabunkerroughlyfivekilometersaway,recallsWaugh.Eachmanwasgiven a pair ofwelder’s goggles, and a seat fromwhich towatch the nuclearweaponexplode.

“It’s a thirty-thousand-degree-centigradeburst,” saysWaugh.“Youwatch itandyousaytoyourself,‘Holygoddamn.’”Goodandevil.Sacredandprofane.

“What’sgoodaboutanuclearbomb?”Iasked.“Itscarespeople,”saidWaugh.“Itshould.HaveyoureadHiroshima?”The

1946bookbyJohnHerseyfollowssurvivorsoftheU.S.bombing.“Itshouldberequiredreading.Inanuclearblast,peopleincinerate.Theymeltanddisappear.”

Thefeasibility testat theNevadaTestSitewasasuccess.Anucleardevice

could be parachuted in by a commando team, armed, and fired in amatter ofminutes. “The [Central Intelligence] Agency tries to prevent things fromhappening,”saysWaugh.“Themilitarypreparesforthingsthatmight.”Ithoughtof Lew Merletti’s Delta Force assassins, who had succeeded in covertlyparachutingdownontotheWhiteHouselawn.

Flyingover theRussianpeninsula,Waughrecalledhow, roughly twohoursafter the tacticalnuclearweaponwasdetonated,a lieutenantcolonelarrivedatthebunkerinthedesertforadebrief.“Theytolduseverythingwedidrightandeverythingwedidwrong.”ThenontoNellisAirForceBase,fiftymileseast,tospendthenight.

“We didn’t talk much,” remembered Waugh. “You don’t sit around andcongratulateyourselfonajobwelldone.That’snothowyou’retrained.”Waughstillrecallswhatheatefordinnerthatnight:“hamandlimabeans,”U.S.Army–style.

Ten days later,AttorneyGeneralRobertKennedy flew to theNevadaTestSitetoobserveatacticalnuclearweaponexplode.Archivalfootageshowshimsitting on a wooden bench, dressed in casual clothing and wearing welder’sgoggles as he watches a weapon, fired from a recoilless gun, explode in thedistance,2.17milesaway.

SeatedinsidetheupperdeckloungeonourKoreanAirflight,Waughpointedoutthewindowandnotedtheheight,36,000feet—roughlythesamealtitudeforamilitaryHALOjump.“Ineverjumpedanypartofanatomicweaponbyfreefall,butIdoknowthishasbeenaccomplished,”hesaid.

The concept of parachute-jumping a nuclear weapon must have remained onWaugh’smindbecausehebroughtitupagain,twodayslater,duringameetingin Hanoi. We were at the former home of General Vo Nguyen Giap, theindomitable leader of the North Vietnamese Army during the war—the warAmericans call theVietnamWar andVietnamese call theAmericanWar. ThepurposeofthismeetingwastodiscusstheMACV-SOGmissiontokillGeneralGiapatOscarEight, inJune1967,aclassifiedoperationforwhichWaugh ledforward observation control. Themission failed andGiap lived to be 102; hediedin2013.

OurhostwasGeneralGiap’ssonVoDienBien,thekeeperofGiap’slegacy.DienBienwasbornin1954,duringthebattleofDienBienPhu,whichhisfathercommanded and for which he is named. We were invited to General Giap’sformer home, located across the street from the Ho ChiMinhMausoleum in

downtownHanoi. Inside, large framed portraits of General Giap hung on thewalls,withdozensofmedalsandawardsneatlydisplayedinglasscases.Incenseburned. We walked through the garden, where General Giap and hiscommanders sat long ago, plotting the demise of the United States.Wewereshowntunnelsbeneath thehomewhereHoChiMinhandhis innercircle tookshelterduringtheNixonadministration’sbombingofHanoi.

JoininguswasGeneralGiap’sformeraide-de-camp,ColonelBonGiong,ageninety-two.Duringthewar,ColonelGiongcommandedBrigade48ofthe320thDivisionoftheNorthVietnameseArmy.HeledoperationsagainstU.S.marinesatKheSanhandorchestratedhit-and-runstrikesagainstMACV-SOGoperatorsduring Top Secret cross-border missions into Laos. Colonel Giong’s fighterskilled SergeantDelmer Lee Laws and SergeantDonald Sain; hismen booby-trappedSainandmutilatedhisbody.Giong’s fighterskilledscoresofWaugh’sfellowSOGoperators,justasWaughandhiscolleagueskilledscoresofGiong’smen.Thegoalofwaristokillinordertowin.

“If you toldme fifty years ago I’d be inHanoi one day, I’d never believeyou,” saidWaugh. He certainly never believed he’d be in Hanoi under theseunusual circumstances. Here were former sworn enemies speaking withoutenmity.Buttoanoutsideobserver,somethingunspokenhungintheair.

Forawhile,throughatranslator,WaughandGiongdiscussedtheotherside’sguerrilla warfare tactics—ambush, commo, and infiltration. Constructs theyremainedcuriousabout,afterallthesedecadeshadpassed.Roughlyanhourintothediscussion,Waughbroughtuphistacticalnuclearweaponstraining.

“IwasonaGreenLightteamthattrainedinOkinawa,”hesaid,followedbya brief explanation of how the team trained to parachute a nuclearweapon inbehindenemylines,whichwouldmostlikelybesomewhereineasternEuropeintheeventofwarwiththeRussians.

“Wewere considering parachuting a SADMnuclear device intoVietnam,”Waughtoldourhosts.

The statement took awhile to translate accurately, requiring repetition andclarification.DienBien andColonelGiongwere stunnedbywhatWaughwassaying.“Iwanttomake[sure]Iunderstandyou,”DienBiensaid.

Waughrepeatedhisassertion.Dien Bien disagreed. “We knew nuclear [use] was not possible for the

Americans,” he said, then clarified: “TheAmericanswould never use nuclearweaponsagainst”Vietnam.

“Nottrue,”saidWaugh.“Iwasontheteam.Weweregoingtodropitonthe

MuGiaPass.Iwroteuptherecommendation,”Waughsaid.ThemissionfelltoMACV-SOG.TheMuGiaPasswasa steepmountain roadway that connectedVietnam toLaos.Countlesscommunist fighters,weapons,andsuppliesmovedthroughthispasseachmonth;itwasachokepointalongtheHoChiMinhTrail.

Therewasalongpause.DienBienturnedtome.“Didhereallyjustsay[the]Americanswere[considering]droppinganuclearbombonVietnam?”

Documentskeptclassifieduntil2003revealthistruth.In1966,SecretaryofDefense Robert McNamara ordered a scientific advisory group, the Jasonscientists, “to evaluate the military consequences of a U.S. decision to usetacticalnuclearweapons[TNW]inSoutheastAsia.”

JasonscientistSeymourDeitchmanexplained.“[Wewereasked]whether itmadesensetothinkaboutusingnuclearweaponstocloseoffthesupplyroutes[along]theHoChiMinhTrail.…TheideahadbeendiscussedatthePentagon.”

To augment the evaluation, theCIA performed a landscape analysis of theMuGia Pass and determined that itwas “themost vulnerable section” of thetrail.

But having a SOG team parachute in a tactical nuclearweapon for use inVietnamwas a very bad idea, the Jason scientists concluded. “A very seriouslong-rangeproblemwouldarise,”theywarned.“InsurgentgroupseverywhereintheworldwouldtakenoteandwouldtrybyallmeansavailabletoacquireTNWforthemselves.”Suchusepresagedadystopianfutureinwhichterroristscouldusenuclearweapons in a gameof existential extortion, the Jasonswarned thesecretaryofdefense.

“AsmallminorityofdissidentswithasupplyofTNWcouldblackmailandultimatelydestroyanybut themost resolutegovernment,” thescientistswrote.“Ifthisweretohappen,theU.S.wouldprobablybefacedwithachoicebetweentwo evils, either to allow nuclear blackmail to succeed, or to intervene withmilitaryforceunderveryunfavorablecircumstances.”Notonlywouldtheuseoftacticalnuclearweaponsopenthefloodgates,itwouldopenPandora’sbox—themythological source of uncontrollable chaos. Prohibiting the use of nuclearweaponsonthebattlefieldwastheultimateredlineinthesand,abarrierthataU.S.presidentsimplycouldnotcross,evenifitmeantlosingawar.

ButWaughtoldourhostsinHanoithathefeltdifferently.“Iwishwe’ddonethat,”hesaid.“Itwouldhaveendedthewar.”Therewasa longsilence.WhenDienBien finally spoke, itwas toexpress

shockanddisgust.“Thisismyhomelandyou’retalkingabout,”hesaid.

“Fifty-eight thousand ofmy people died,”Waugh said. “Half amillion ofyourpeopledied.Alotofthemwouldstillbehere.”

Moresilence.ThenColonelGiongsaid,“Yes,butwemightnothavewonthewar.”

Everynationwantstowinatanycost.Exceptthecostandconsequencesofnuclearwar.

Theclosest theworldever came tonuclearwarwasduring theCubanmissilecrisis.ItwasCheGuevara,moresothanFidelCastro,whoadvocatedfornuclearwar.“Ifthepeople[ofCuba]shoulddisappearfromthefaceoftheearthbecauseanatomicwar isunleashed in theirnames,”Che told theFirstLatinAmericanYouthCongress in1960, “theywill feel completelyhappy and fulfilled.”ThisrhetoriclikelycontributedtoPresidentJohnson’sgrantingtheCIAtheauthoritytooverseeChe’skilling.

InJuneof2017,ItraveledwithBillyWaughtoCuba,wherehewastomakeaHALO jumpwith a group of Cuban ex-military parajumpers.Our hostwasErnesto Guevara. Ernesto was just a baby when his father famously wrote aletter tobereadtohischildrenintheeventofhisdeath.“Growuptobegoodrevolutionaries,”CheGuevaraimplored.“RememberthattheRevolutioniswhatisimportantandthateachoneofus,onourown,isworthless.”FollowingChe’sassassination in Bolivia in 1967, Ernesto was taken in by Fidel Castro andeducated in Spain andRussia, he says.Duringmy trip, I learned thatErnestowasnotarevolutionarylikehisfather.Alawyerbytraining,hewasnowpart-owner of a Harley-Davidson-themed motorcycle bar in Old Havana calledChacón162.

Cubaisagreatenigma,theoriginalColdWarmenaceaftertheSovietUnion.This book begins with Stalin and the very real threat that communism onceposedtothefreeworld,andhereIwasnow,visitingoneofthelastcommunistdictatorshipsontheplanet.TheislandisAmerica’sclosestnonborderneighbor,located justninetymilesoff thecoastofFlorida.Since therevolution in1959,CubahascausedeverysittingU.S.presidentforeignpolicydilemmas,greatandsmall.Andwhilethethreatofcommunismhasnowbeenreducedtonil,Cuba’sroleinAmerica’snational-securityinterestsremainscomplex.TravelingtoCubawithBillyWaugh,IwonderedifsomethingelsemightliebehindtherecreationalHALOjump.Ifperhapsthehiddenhandwasinsomewayinvolved.

During the Obama administration, relations with Cuba had softened, butunderPresidentTrumpnewrestrictionshadbeenput inplace.Finally, in June

2017,theU.S.StateDepartmentclearedourgroupfortravel.

Our group was unique. Our team leader was a former Green Beret, from alegendary family of Green Berets. I knew from my research that our teamleader’s fatherhadonce taughtJordan’sKingHusseinhowtoparachute-jump;that he’d served in MACV-SOG, and later in the CIA’s Special ActivitiesDivision, as part of Ground Branch, alongside BillyWaugh. Also on the tripwere a commercial airline pilot (whose last name happens to be a registeredtrademark) and a beautiful, buxom woman who’d twice been crowned Miss[statewithheld].ShehadabackgroundinU.S.Armyintelligenceandnowranacompany that tracked criminals across state lines and turned themover to lawenforcement.Therewasme, the journalist;abusinessmanwhowouldserveasour interpreter;andBillyWaugh, theformerGreenBeretwhowasalsooneofthe longest-serving CIA operators in the Agency’s history. Waugh’s last CIAmission,hesaid,hadbeeninthefallof2011,whenhewaseighty-two—senttoLibya during the revolution that overthrew Qaddafi to make contact withQaddafi’s former generals.Ormaybe thatwasn’t his lastmission.Maybe thiswas.

OnthedrivefromHavanatoVaraderoBeach,thenumberofbillboardsandotherformsofpropagandafeaturingCheGuevarawasremarkabletome.He’dbeen dead for fifty years and yet his image was everywhere. For every oneposter,sign,orbillboardfeaturingFidelCastro,whoruledCubaforroughlyfiftyyears and who had died only seven months before, there were eight or tenbillboardsofCheGuevarapromotingLaRevolución,someofthemthesizeofapartmentbuildings.

For the parachute jump over Varadero Beach, on Cuba’s north shore, ourteamwouldbeflyinginanoldRussianaircraft,anAntonovAn-2biplanefromthelate1950s.“ThewritingonthegaugeswasinCyrillic,”ourgroup’spilottoldme. He paid careful attention to the instrument dials. “Over the years, there[have] been six hundred twenty-two Antonov An-2 accidents, claiming sevenhundredseventy-fourlives,”hesaid.“Atleastthat’swhat’sofficiallyreported.”As the person in the group chronicling the event, I had a choice: watch thejumpersfrominsidetheoldAntonovaircraftorfromthedeckofanamphibiousrescue craft. Maybe I’d seen too many spy movies like The Good Shepherd,where theunwittingpersongets thrownout theaircraft into theocean. Ichosetherescuecraft.

Down on the white-sand beach, six shirtless Cuban former paratroop

commandosferriedmeoutontotheazuresea.Throughbinoculars,Iscouredtheskies. After about an hour, Waugh and the others came hurtling down fromaboveinafreefall.Theylookedlikeantsfallingfromthesky,tinydotsmovingat terminal velocity. Finally, their individual parachutes blossomed and eachcamefloatingdowntoearth.Waugh,87½,plungedintotheocean,wherehewasmet by fast-swimming Cuban commandos, who made sure his lanyards wereswiftlyunclipped.BillyWaughearnedhisparatrooperwingsin1948,whenhewasnineteenyearsold.He’dbeenjumpingintowarzonesandtraininggroundsandwhoknowswhereelse,eversince.Thiswashislastparachutejump.Icouldseetheemotiononhisexpressiveface.

Atdinner,IaskedErnestoGuevarahowheandourteamleader,theformerGreen Beret, first met. The meeting took place at Chacón 162 a few yearsbefore,hesaid.Thedetailscameoutlaterwhileweweredrivingaroundwiththeinterpreter.

“A few years back,” the interpreter said, “when Fidel was still alive, [theteamleader]cameintothebar.WeknewhewasanAmerican.Wethought,okay,he’seitherheretokillFidelorhe’sanMMA[mixedmartialarts]fighter.”

Everyonelaughed.Theinterpretercontinued.“We had the Cuban intelligence services ask [the team leader] a few

questions.”Morelaughter.“We’veallbeenfriendseversince.”One person in the group handedme a business card. It read:Dirección de

Inteligencia.Cubanintelligenceservices.Thenameofanagent,shouldIneedtocall.

InHavana,ErnestoGuevara tookus toLaCasadelHabano, the legendarycigarmanufacturerandsmokingclubwherehisfatherandCastroandtheirinnercircle of advisors would meet to smoke cigars and plot the downfall of theUnited States. The room’s wood-paneled walls were covered with museum-quality photographs, iconic images—including the timewhen theworld camewithin a hairsbreadth of nuclear war—and was filled with European-styleantique furniture, velvet chairs, bronze andmarble statues. Rare luxuries in acountry where I’d seen people riding horses for transportation, bareback andwithropes,notbridles.

The whiskey began to flow, and in the haze of cigar smoke, a rowdydiscussion ensued. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Then the conversationturnedtopolitics.ErnestoGuevarabeganspeakingoftheillsofcapitalism,and

hesaidthatthebenefitsofsocialismwereworthfightingfor.Waugh,nevershortonearnestopinions,criedbullshit.

“IfoughtfortherevolutioninAngola,”Guevarasaidproudly.“IspentmyentirelifeinthemilitaryandtheCIA,”Waughretorted.Silence.You couldhear a pindrop.Fair is fair:ErnestoGuevarahasgood

reason toharbor illwill toward theCIA.TheCIA trained thecommandos thatkilledhisfather.

Onthewaybacktothehousewherewewerestaying,ourteamleaderaskedWaugh,“Whatthefuck,Billy?Why’dyouhavetosaythat?”

“I’m too goddamnold to hide the obvious,”Waugh said. “Besides, he canreadallaboutmeontheinternet.Google‘WilliamD.Waugh.’”

“Theydon’thaveinternetinCuba,”saidourteamleader,shakinghishead.Driving through Havana, I noticed dozens of people gathered in a park,

seatedonbenchesaroundabanyantree.Itwasaround1:00a.m.“Whataretheydoing?”Iaskedourdriver.“Wi-Fihotspot,”thedriversaid,explainingthattheCubangovernmentoffers

internetaccessforabriefamountoftime,onacertaindayoftheweek,lateatnight. People who want a censored glimpse of the outside world must reallyworkforitinacommunistpolicestate.

Our team was staying at a private home billed as an Airbnb, seeminglyimplausible in a country where citizens haven’t owned private property since1959.TheplacewassurroundedbyconcertinawireandmademethinkofaCIAsafehouse.Aguardsatoutfront,watchingoureverymove.Iaskedhimwhathewasprotecting.

“Lotsofvaluablethingsinside,”hesaid.

EPILOGUE

In the springof2017, I traveled toBillyWaugh’shouse inFlorida for lunch.Lew Merletti, the former director of the U.S. Secret Service, drove up fromdown south to join us.Waugh andMerletti are old friends, going back to thedaysofSpecialForces,whenMerlettiwasjusttwenty-oneyearsoldandWaughwasalreadyaveteranMACV-SOGwarriorwhosereputationforruthlessbraveryprecededhim.

ThebackboneoftheconversationwasSpecialForces.Eachmanbelieveshisbestqualitiesareaby-productoftrainingandfightingfortheU.S.ArmyGreenBerets. After leaving the military, Lew Merletti spent the rest of his careerprotectingpresidentsoftheUnitedStatesfromassassination—national-securitydefense. Billy Waugh spent the rest of his life conducting covert-actionoperations for presidents of the United States—national-security offense. Thetwoworkhandinglove.

On the walls of Billy Waugh’s Florida home there are so many medals,framedcommendations,awards,andhonorsthattheeyedoesn’tknowwheretoland.NumerousofthesemedalsandcitationsarefromtheCIA,andasmyeyeslockedinononeofthem,IthoughtaboutsomethingtheformerdirectoroftheCIA’sCounterterrorist Center, CoferBlack, said tome during an interview inVirginiain2016.

“Goodthatyou’rewritingaboutBilly[Waugh],”hesaid.Thenhechuckled.“What’s funny?” I asked.Wewereeatingdinner inan Irishpub just a few

miles from CIA headquarters. The feeling I had was that there were spieseverywhere.

“You’llonlyeverknowahundredthofthethingsBillyaccomplishedforus,”saidBlackcryptically.

ItoldhimI’dlearnedmorethanhemightthink.InadditiontointerviewingdozensofWaugh’scolleaguesandfriends,I’dexaminedthousandsofpagesof

declassified documents at the National Archives and obtained hundreds morethroughFreedomofInformationActrequests.

CoferBlackchuckledagain,sphinxlike.“MostofwhatBillyWaughdidwasneverwrittendown,”hesaid.“Almost

everythingwasonverbal[orders]fromsomeonelikeme,tosomeonelikehim.”Thingsstayhiddenthisway,Blackwassaying.OnthewallsofWaugh’shome,oneframedaward—perhapsmoresothanthe

others—spoke to this truth. I’dseen itbefore,duringan interviewIconductedwithWaugh at his home inMay 2015. Itwas from theCIA and included theAgency’sSealMedallion,aCitationofExcellence,andaneleven-inchPersian-style knife. It read: “The Assassin: In Thanks for Your Friendship,ProfessionalismandProtection.”

IaskedBillyWaughtotellmemoreabouttheaward.“YouknowIcan’tdothat,”hesaidagain.

Waugh can’t.Others did. In the fall of 2001—in the chaoticwakeof the9/11terrorist attacks, andwith fear of another attack looming—after reviewing theMemorandumofNotificationthatgavetheCIAunprecedentednewdirect-actionauthorities, Congress asked the question: Is this enough? Senior IntelligenceService officers at theCIAmade a radical decision at this criticalmoment inU.S.history.ItwastimefortheCIAtopullfromitsOfficeofStrategicServicesroots,todevelopateamthatcouldscourtheglobe:tosurprise,kill,andvanishasnecessary.Accordingtoparticipants,theteamregularlydiscussedtheneedtobe“ruthless,relentless,andremorseless”infacingaNazi-likeenemy.

This idea for this radical unit was drafted into a Memorandum ofNotification. Known only to a select few, the unit was informally called theStalkerTeam.“The ideawas taken toPresidentBushandhesignedoffon it,”saysan individualdirectly involved.Themanchosen to lead theStalkerTeamwas a veteran of the Special Activities Division, Ground Branch, someonewho’d risen up through the ranks at the CIA to a Senior Intelligence Serviceposition of great prestige. He vacated his seventh-floor office at CIAheadquartersinLangleysoquicklythatmanycoworkerserroneouslybelievedhehadresigned.

TheStalkerTeamhad roughly twelvemembers.Twowerewomen; one ofthemspokefivelanguagesfluentlyandbecameknownamongthegroupasthefemmefatale.TwoCIAtargetingofficerswereassignedtotheteamandathirdtargeter was brought over from the National Security Agency to assist. All

membersusedcodenames.Orderswereconcise:“makebook”onasetofindividualtargetsaroundthe

world, some ofwhomwere hiding out inmud structures inside the FederallyAdministeredTribalAreas(FATA)innorthwesternPakistan;otherswerehidingin plain sight, in apartment buildings located inside first-world,NATO-partnercountries. Using reconnaissance and surveillance techniques developed andperfectedbytheCIAoverdecades,theStalkerTeamcreateddossiersonviabletargets: names, pseudonyms, locations,workplaces, routines, habits, andmore.Theunit thenconstructedalternativeoptionsforwhena“go”orderwasgiven:compromise (blackmail), snatch-and-grab, sabotage, or preemptiveneutralization.

“Ourmissionwastolocatetargetsandstalkthem,”ateammembertoldmein 2018. “If called upon, to disrupt their operation by going after thempersonally. Duct-tape them and carry them off. Capture, detain, question. Ifnecessary,neutralize.”MostontheStalkerTeamwerelong-servingmembersofthe SpecialActivitiesDivision. “In the old days, SADwere knuckle draggersandsnakeeaters.Second-classcitizensasoperationsofficers.Notanymore.The[current]DDO[deputydirectorofoperations] is a formerknuckledragger.Soarealotofguysontheseventhfloor—SAD-bornand-raised.Cameupthroughtheranks.Youknow,theAgencyusedtobegun-phobic.Notanymore.ThedaysofEuropeandcocktailpartiesinArgentinaareover.It’sadifferentworldnow.Terrorismwasthecatalystforchangingtheplayingfield.”

Starting in 2002, the work of the Stalker Team was so secret andcompartmented it needed itsowncover story inside theCIA, and so anofficewasconstructedbehinda seriesofdoors insideBudget andFinance.Oneday,CIAdirectorGeorgeTenetstoppedbytodiscusstheStalkerTeam’shidden-handoperations.Henoticedaplacard fastened to anexteriordoor.Enigmatic ifnotironic,itreadACCOUNTSPAYABLE.

Adiscussionensued.ManyofthetargetsbeingpursuedbytheStalkerTeamwereprominentindividualsandleadersintheircommunities—foreignnationalswho’dbeenplanningandorchestratingterroractsagainstAmericans,somesincethe early 1980s. As far as the unit was concerned, these accounts were nowoverdue.

The details of the program remain highly classified, and the only knowntarget that the Stalker Team was looking at who is now confirmed dead isHezbollah’sformerchiefofoperations,ImadMugniyah.Theidentityandfateofthe other targets remain obscured, as intended, because the most successful

covert-actionoperationsaredesignedandorchestratedtobeplausiblydenied.

TheOSSJedburghs,predecessoroftheCIA.Theirmottowas“Surprise,Kill,Vanish.”(Central

IntelligenceAgency)

DuringtheKoreanWar,CIAparachuteinfiltrationeffortswereledbyformerOSSJedburghJohn

“Jack”Singlaub.ThemenworkedunderthecovernameJointAdvisoryCommission,Korea(JACK),8132ndArmyUnit.ThousandsofAmericansand

indigenousfighterstrainedandequippedbytheCIAvanishedwithoutatraceinthiseffort.(Collectionof

JohnK.Singlaub)

NeartheendofWorldWarII,VietnameserevolutionariesHoChiMinh(goatee)andGeneralVoNguyenGiap(tie)weretrainedinguerrilla

warfarebytheOSS.Bytheearly1960sbothmenwereontheCIA’skill-or-capturelist.(Central

IntelligenceAgency)

AnearlyhelicopterusedbytheCIA’sAirBranchduringtheKoreanWar.(CentralIntelligenceAgency)

AftertheassassinationofKingAbdullahofJordanin1951,theCIAandtheDefenseDepartmentbuiltasecretpartnershipwiththeshahofIran.Thearrangementlastedtwenty-eightyears.(DwightD.EisenhowerPresidentialLibrary,Museum,and

BoyhoodHome)

CIASouthBuildingintheoldEStreetcomplex,circa1960.Locatedat2430EastStreet,NW,thiswastheoriginalCIAheadquarters—afacilitytakenoverfromtheOSS.(Central

IntelligenceAgency)

PresidentKennedyandU.S.AmbassadorHenryCabotLodgespenthoursintheOvalOffice

discussingthecovertwarinVietnam.AfterSouthVietnamesepresidentDiemandhisbrotherNhu

wereexecutedbymilitarysubordinates,theirbullet-riddledbodieswerephotographedandburiedinanunmarkedgraveadjacenttotheSaigonresidenceofAmbassadorLodge.(JohnF.KennedyPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,photographbyAbbieRowe)

BillyWaughasayoungGreenBeretmastersergeant,1964.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

TheCIDGprogramwasadirect-actionstrikeforcemadeupofindigenousVietnamese.GreenBeretsandCIAadvisors

taughtthemtosabotage,subvert,andkillVietcong

communists,buttheprogramfailed.“FromthepointofviewoftheVietnamese…theCIDGprogramwasanAmericanproject,”unconventionalwarfareexpertCol.FrancisKellywarnedthePentagon.(CollectionofTerryMcIntosh)

In1965,BillyWaughreceivedtheSilverStarforgallantrywhenhewasstillapatientin

thelower-extremityamputationwardatWalterReed.SoonhewasbackinVietnam,assignedtoMACV-SOG—aunitsodangerousitwasinformallycalledSuicideontheGround.(Collectionof

WilliamD.Waugh)

PresidentLyndonB.JohnsonbeingshownareliefmapofKheSanhfirebasebynationalsecurityadvisorWaltRostow.TheclassifiedMACV-SOGbasetherewasSpecialAccessonly,surroundedby

concertinawireandlocatedpartiallyunderground.(LyndonB.JohnsonPresidentialLibrary,photographbyYoichiOkamoto)

BillyWaughonboardaSOGhelicopterin1967,shortlybeforebeingdroppedbehindenemylinesonareconmissioninLaos.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

MACV-SOGconductedthefirst-everwartimeHALOmissionsintoLaosstartingin1970.Waugh,twentyyearsolderthanmanyofhisteammates,wasinchargeoftraining.SeenhereonthenightofthethirdjumpareSOGwarriorsJ.D.Bath(left),Waugh,andJesseCampbell(right).Shortlyaftersuccessfulinfiltration,teammateMadisonStrohleinwascapturedandkilledbyenemyforcesonthe

ground.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

CIAparamilitaryoperationsofficerFelixRodriguezwithCubanrevolutionaryCheGuevaraandCIA-

trainedBolivianArmyRangersshortlybeforeChe’sexecution.RodrigueztoldChethathewasworkingfortheCIAandthattheagencywantedChealive.

(CollectionofFelixI.Rodriguez)

RobertF.MarascocommandedCIADetachmentB57,partofaSpecialForcescampontheVietnam-Cambodiaborder.Aftertheunitdiscoveredthatoneoftheirindigenousassetswasaspy,themanwaskilled.Theinternationalscandalbecameknownas

theGreenBeretAffair.(CollectionofTerryMcIntosh)

MembersofDetachmentB57believedthatthemaninthehat—shownhereinaphotograph

besideaNorthVietnamesegeneral(obscured)—wastheir

asset,ThaiKhacChuyen.InthisU.S.Army–issuedphoto,ChuyenisshownnexttohisDefense

Departmentidentificationphotograph.Thestory

raisedcomplexquestionsaboutmorality,therules

ofwar,andthemysteriousrelationshipbetweentheCIAandtheGreenBerets.(Collection

ofTerryMcIntosh)

LewMerlettivolunteeredforVietnam,becomingamedicwiththeGreenBerets.HewouldlaterbecomethenineteenthdirectoroftheU.S.SecretService,andthefirsttohaveservedasamemberof

itssecretiveparamilitaryunit,theCounterAssaultTeam.(CollectionofLewisC.Merletti)

PresidentNixonandCIAdirectorRichardHelmshadacomplexrelationship.HelmshadoverseenKennedy-eraassassinationplotsbutcautioned

againsttheact:“Ifyoukillsomeoneelse’sleaders,whyshouldn’ttheykillyours?”(Central

IntelligenceAgency)

TheexpansivegroundsofthenewCIAheadquartersasseenfromtheair.(LibraryofCongress,CarolM.

HighsmithArchive)

NixonandHenryKissingerintheOvalOffice.KissingerknewthatPLOchairmanYasserArafatorderedthemurderofU.S.ambassadorCleoNoelandU.S.chargéd’affairesGeorge

“Curt”MooreinKhartoum,Sudan,butencouragedtheCIAtouseArafat’sterroristsasassets.(RichardM.NixonPresidential

LibraryandMuseum)

DuringtheChurchCommitteeinvestigationsintoWhiteHouse–levelassassinationplots,KissingerwarnedPresidentFordthatifcertainrevelationsbecamepublic,“theCIAwouldbedestroyed.”FordmetwithChiefofStaffDonaldRumsfeldandDeputyChiefofStaffDickCheneytodiscusshowtokeepsecretsandrestorepresidentialpower.(GeraldR.FordPresidentialLibrary,photographby

DavidHumeKennerly)

BillyWaughinLibyain1978withLibyandictatorMuammarQaddafi’smilitarycommanders.WaughwenttoLibyatoworkforanAmericanweaponsdealerdoingbusinesswithQaddafi;noonecould

knowthathewasalsoworkingfortheCIA.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

WhilecultivatingrelationshipswithQaddafi’smilitarycommandersinthelate1970s,WaughsecretlyphotographedclassifiedLibyanmilitaryfacilities,includingoneatJebel

Akhdar,theGreenMountain.Thirty-threeyearslatertheCIAsentWaughbacktoLibyaduringtherevolutionthatoverthrewQaddafi.HismissionwastolocateQaddafi’sformermilitarycontacts.Waughwaseighty-twoyearsold.(Collectionof

WilliamD.Waugh)

TheCIAthatBillCaseytookoverin1981hadbeenrockedbytheChurchCommitteehearings,thendecimatedbytheFord

andCarteradministrations.InsiderscallittheTimeofTroubles.Casey,theformerOSSofficerbehindtheplotto

assassinateHitler,vowedtobringchange—andhedid.(RonaldReaganPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,photographby

MichaelEvans)

CIAclandestineservicelawyerJohnRizzowastravelingintheMiddleEast,in1985,whenthissurveillancephotograph—takenwithouthisknowledge—wasslippedunderhishotel

roomdoor,“apparentlyjusttoletmeknowthatmymovementswerebeingwatched,”saysRizzo.(CollectionofJohnRizzo)

Afterlone-wolfassassinJohnHinckleyJr.triedtokillPresidentReagan,theSecretServiceCounterAssaultTeambeganshadowingthepresident24/7.LewMerlettiwasitsseventhmember.Heis

shownherein1986accompanyingPresidentReagantotheReykjaviksummittomeetwithMikhailGorbachev,thelastgeneralsecretaryoftheSovietUnion.(RonaldReaganPresidentialLibraryand

Museum,photographbyPeteSouza)

InApril1993,assassinstiedtoIraqattemptedtokillformerpresidentGeorgeH.W.BushwithapowerfulcarbombduringastatevisittoKuwait.CitingAmerica’slegalrighttoself-defense,PresidentClintonrespondedwithacruisemissileattackonBaghdad,levelingmuchoftheIraqiintelligenceheadquartersandkillinganightwatchman.ThiswasnotanattempttokillSaddamHussein,PresidentClintonsaid,butameanstopreventfutureattacks.(GeorgeH.W.BushLibrary

Center,photographbySusanBiddle)

PresidentClintonandLewMerlettiontheWhiteHouselawn.“TheassassinationofthePresidentoftheUnitedStatesis,quiteliterally,acataclysmiceventinworldhistory,”MerlettitoldtheJusticeDepartment,addingthatSecretServiceagentsmustalwayshavethetrustandconfidenceofthepresidentsthey

protect.(WilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,collectionofLewisMerletti)

In1994,LewMerlettitraveledwithPresidentClintontoIsrael,Syria,Egypt,Jordan,SaudiArabia,andKuwait.ThefocusofthetripwaspeaceintheMiddleEast,butallMerletticouldthinkaboutwereassassinationattemptsandpotentialmasscasualtyattacksagainsthisprotectees.(WilliamJ.

ClintonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,photographbyBobMcNeely)

AftertheassassinationofIsraeliprimeministerYitzhakRabinbyJewishlawstudentYigalAmir,PresidentClintoninsistedonattendingthefuneral.TherequestputMerlettiinchargeof

securityforthreelivingpresidentsandnearlytheentirelineofpresidentialsuccession.Thegroup,seenhereonboardAirForceOne,listenstoasecuritybriefing.(WilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,CollectionofLewis

Merletti)

YitzhakRabin’sstatefuneralattheMountHerzlCemeteryinJerusalemwasasolemnaffair.Here,MerlettistandsdirectlybehindPresidentandMrs.Clinton.(WilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibrary

andMuseum,photographbyBobMcNeely)

DuringacovertoperationintheNorthAfricandesert,twomenfromtheCIA’sSpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch,workfasttofixa

broken-downvehicle—primetimeforanambush.(Private

Collection)

AfterlayingsiegetoOPECheadquartersinViennain

1975,terrorist-for-hireCarlostheJackallivedontherun.OnassignmentfortheCIAin

1994,BillyWaughtookoneofthefirstknownphotographsoftheterrorist,inKhartoum,leadingtohiscaptureafew

monthslater.CreditwasgiventotheFrenchintelligence

service,DGSE,nottheCIA.(CollectionofWilliamD.

Waugh)

ThissurveillancephotographofCarlostheJackalwastakenbyBillyWaughusinga140-pound

QuestarlenssecretedintoKhartoumviadiplomaticpouch.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

InsixdecadesofcovertoperationsfortheCIA,BillyWaughworkedinsixty-fourcountriesaroundtheglobe.SeenhereinCairoin1997,heposesasatouristwhileconductingsurveillance.(Collectionof

WilliamD.Waugh)

Anunidentifiedteaminanunidentifiedcountry,chasing“tangos,”ortargets,ofaCIAcovertoperation.(Private

Collection)

After9/11,PresidentGeorgeW.BushagreedthattheCIA,nottheDefenseDepartment,wasbestsuitedtowagetheunconventionalwarfarecampaigninAfghanistan.CIAoperatorswereonthe

groundwithinweeks.Here,CIAdirectorGeorgeTenetbriefsthepresidentandhissenioradvisorsonOctober7,thedaytheDefenseDepartmentjoinedthewareffortwithamassiveairbombing

campaign.Thepresident’sdecisionputSecretaryofDefenseDonaldRumsfeldatoddswiththeCIA.(GeorgeW.BushPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,photographbyEricDraper)

Initsglobalterrorcampaign,Al-Qaedaleadershiprelieduponbombmakers,weaponstraders,moneymen,recruiters,trainers,commanders,andradicalimams.Senior

IntelligenceServiceofficerEnrique“Ric”Prado’sideawastowidenthatlistand

focusonmid-toupper-levelterrorists.PradodiscussedhisplanwithVicePresidentDickCheney,whoagreed.Pradois

seenhereasayoungPararescueoperatorduringatrainingoperationin1974.

(CollectionofEnriquePrado)

ForthecovertwarinAfghanistan,KenStilesbuilttheCIA’sthree-dimensionalGeographicInformation

System,laudedattheWhiteHouseastheMagicBox.In

thiswayStilesbecamethefirsttargetingofficerinCIAhistory.Sentintothewar

theater,heisshownherewithindigenousfightersataclassifiedCIAfacilityinAfghanistan.(Collectionof

KennethL.Stiles)

ForitsAfghancampaign,theCIAsentroughlyahundredSpecialActivitiesDivisionofficersandoperatorstoleadthecharge.Theywerelaterjoinedby2,000Special

OperationsForcesinthewartheater.Waugh,oneofthefirst

menin,wasinsertedintoLogarProvince,southeastofKabul.Heisseenherewith

OperationalDetachmentAlpha(ODA)594.(Collectionof

WilliamD.Waugh)

ChristmasinAfghanistan,2001.Thepinktoiletpaper

wasparachute-droppedin.Thegiftsaroundthetreeare

courtesyoftheCIAandU.S.ArmySpecialForces.Waughcelebratedhisseventy-secondbirthdayinAfghanistan,histhirdwarafterKoreaandVietnam.(CollectionofWilliamD.Waugh)

WaugharrivedinAfghanistanwithanM4carbine,anAK-47assaultrifle,aHeckler&Koch40mmgrenadelauncher,andasuitcasewith$6

millionincash.SeenhereinsideanAfghanfortressinGardez,heholdsa

silencedMP5.(CollectionofWilliamD.

Waugh)

Inthesummerof2002,asthePentagonsecretlypreparedtobeginitswarinIraq,theCIAconductedcovert-actionoperationsinthenorthernpartofthecountrydesignedtotrainandequipindigenous

forces.Here,theCIA’sCharles“Sam”FaddisstandsinafieldsouthofErbil,countingIraqisoldiers

alongsidethePeshmergacommanderswhoseforceswouldaugmentCIAGroundBranchoperations.

(CollectionofCharlesFaddis)

UndergirdingthenarrativeduringthewarinIraqwasrevenge-basedjustice:lex

talionis,thelawofretaliation,asitwascalledintheancientworld.SpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch

teamswereregularlytargetedforassassinationbyShiitemilitia.Amongthemost

dangerousassassinswerethosetrainedbyHezbollahchiefofoperationsImadMugniyah.

(PrivateCollection)

BillyWaugh’smissionsinIraqremainclassified.Inthisphoto,takenin2004,hestandsinfrontoftheformerpalaceofSaddamHussein’ssonUday.TheCIAtookoverthebuildingandranGroundBranchoperationsfromthere.(CollectionofWilliamD.

Waugh)

MembersofaSpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch,teaminAfghanistan,withtheirindigenousforcepartners,atTorkhamgateontheAfghan-Pakistaniborder,neartheKhyberPass.

(PrivateCollection)

InAfghanistan,theprogramtotakeindigenoussoldiersonkill-or-capturemissionsismodeledaftertheCIDGprograminVietnam.InAfghanistan,

manycommandosarepoorlytrainedandoftenhighonopium.Inthisphotograph,theAfghan

commando(atleft)holdshisweaponasifitwereafilmprop.ButtheindigswereandremainaWhiteHousemandate,meanttoserveasthe“Afghan

face.”(U.S.DepartmentofDefense)

PresidentObama’sdecisiontorevokeenhancedinterrogationofcapturedterrorists,andtoacceleratetargetedkilling,hadaprofoundeffectontheage-oldconceptofassassinationasaforeignpolicytool.Heisseenherewithhisinnercircleofadvisors(includingAmbassadorSusanRice,theincomingNationalSecurityAdvisor,andJeffEggers,SeniorDirectorforAfghanistanandPakistan),withwhomheregularlydiscusseddronestrikes—working“vigorouslytoestablishaframeworkthat

governsouruseofforceagainstterrorists.”PresidentObamatoldAmericans,“Doingnothingisnotanoption.”(BarackObamaPresidentialLibrary,photographbyPeteSouza)

BillyWaughinHanoiin2017,seenherewithhisformerenemyColonelBonGiong,ageninety-two.IntheVietnamWar,Giongcommandedhit-and-runassassinationstrikes

againstoperatorslikeWaughduringMACV-SOG’sTopSecretcross-bordermissionsintoLaos.(PhotographbyFinley

Jacobsen)

ColonelGiong,VoDienBien(GeneralVoNguyenGiap’sson),andBillyWaughdiscussingnuclearweapons,arguablythereasonallcovert-actionoperationsremainanationalsecuritynecessity.

(PhotographbyFinleyJacobsen)

BillyWaughdiscusseswarandideologywithErnestoGuevara,sonofChe.TheyareshownwithErnesto’sfriendsinHavanain2017.“RememberthattheRevolutioniswhatisimportantandthateachoneofus,onourown,isworthless,”Chewrotetohischildren,inalettertobereadtothemin

theeventofhisdeath.“Growuptobegoodrevolutionaries.”Ernestoisalawyerandaspiringbusinessman.(AuthorCollection)

LewMerlettiandBillyWaugh,friendssinceVietnam,inWaugh’shomeofficein2017.Afterleavingthemilitary,MerlettispenttherestofhiscareerprotectingpresidentsoftheUnitedStatesfrom

assassination—nationalsecuritydefense.BillyWaughspenttherestofhislifeconductingcovert-actionoperationsforpresidentsoftheUnitedStates—nationalsecurityoffense.Thetwoworkhand

inglove,likeyinandyang,orshadowandlight.(AuthorCollection)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Iamgrateful toall theindividualswhocontributedtothisbook—all thespies,soldiers,officers,operators,diplomats,policymakers,andhistorianswholetmeinterviewandquote them,bynameoranonymously. If amarkofprofessionalhappiness is the breadth of fascinating people one gets to meet and becomeinvolvedinconversationwith,thensurelyjournalismisthebestjobintheworld.Getting to spendsomuch timewithBillyWaughwasanexperience I’llneverforget. Iamparticularlygrateful to thosewhosharedwithmecertainpersonalexperiences they did not want made public but were willing to reveal aboutthemselves privately so that I could better understandwhatmade them tick. Ihaveyet to interviewat lengthanyoneof ruthlessdaringwhodoesn’thaveanAchilles’ heel. More often than not, it is that secret vulnerability that in thedarkesthourkeepsthemaliveandstriving,Ilearned.

Reportingabookislikeahuntforcrumbsinsearchofatrail.Thejourneysinto the archives were almost as interesting as the ones that involved HALOjumpsoutofairplanes;onecanlearnasmuchfromthedeadendsas thefruit-bearingones.OneinitialhuntinvolvedsearchingtherecordforearlyAmericanpresidentswhomight have been pro-assassination. I came across a somewhatshocking op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, from 1991, written by an obscurepolitical theorist and foreign affairs expert named Ernest W. Lefever (who’dbeenchosenbyPresidentReaganforatoppositionattheStateDepartmentbutwhosenominationwasrejectedbytheSenateForeignRelationsCommittee).Inthis piece, “Death to Saddam Hussein? Let His Own People Decide:Assassination:EvenLincolnBelievedthatTyrannicidewasMorallyJustifiable,”Lefever argued thatAbrahamLincolnwas pro-assassination. “It is ironic,” hewrote, “that Lincoln, himself a victim of an assassin’s bullet, believed intyrannicide—the killing of a tyrant.” Lefever cited the president’s own“collectedworks”as therepositorywherehe“discover[edLincoln’s]viewsontyrantsandtyranny.”Unabletolocateanyofthesereferencesmyself,Iwroteto

JamesM.Cornelius,curatorof theLincolnCollectionat theAbrahamLincolnPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,forhisassistance.

Corneliuswrote back. “Theword ‘tyrannicide’ does not occur inLincoln’swritings or speeches,” he assured me. “The ‘tyrannicide’ quotation orimplicationfromamodernscholarnot really involved inLincolnstudies is, inmyview,astretchofthetruth.…ThespiritofLincoln’spresidentialpolicywasin fact in the opposite direction: he sought mercy, pardon, amnesty, againstessentiallyeveryrebelleader”duringtheCivilWar.

As an author who writes about American history, I am grateful for suchhistorianstoturntofortheirexpertise.Thecommitmentandgenerosityofthosewhoworktopreservetherecordandmakeitavailabletothepublicneverceasetoamazeme.Thankyou,RichardPeuser,DavidFort,andJenniferDryer,attheNational Archives and Records Administration; Michelle Meeks, Informationand Privacy Coordinator (FOIA), Central Intelligence Agency; CommanderMasonBrayman,U.S. Secret Service; Robert Rodriguez,U.S. Secret Service;Herbert Ragan, William J. Clinton Presidential Library; Michael Pinckney,RonaldReaganPresidentialLibrary;DarlaThompson,EisenhowerPresidentialLibrary;LizaTalbot,LyndonBainesJohnsonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum;RyanPettigrew,RichardNixonPresidentialLibrary andMuseum; JeffSenger,GeraldR.FordPresidentialLibrary;StephenPlotkinandMaryroseGrossman,John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; Mary Finch, George H. W. BushPresidential Library and Museum; and Steven D. Booth, Barack ObamaPresidentialLibrary.

Thank you, Tina Hagemike Lepene, at Fort Bragg; Catherine Karnow, forarrangingthemeetingwithVoDienBien,inHanoi;ChanandMikeEiland,fortheir assistance navigating Vietnam; our hosts in Cuba who asked not to benamed; RoxanneMerritt, director, JFK SpecialWarfareMuseum, Fort Bragg,who met me on a Saturday, took me around the museum and the base, andsharedherimmenseknowledgeofthelargestmilitaryinstallationintheUnitedStates, its history, and its people; Joe Callahan, for patiently answering mynever-ending questions; Lynn Waugh, Donna Fiore, Jeff Hotujec and LeighHotujec,JakeSopcak,NolanDunbar,DylanWelc,andDavidChasteen.

Thankyou,VanessaMobley,JimHornfischer,SteveYounger,TiffanyWard,Matthew Snyder, Liz Garriga, Janet Byrne, Ben Allen, Sareena Kamath, IraBoudah,LauraMamelok,andAllisonWarner.

Thankyou,TomSoininen,myEnglish-teacherfather,whooncereturnedoneofmylettershomefromboardingschoolwiththeerrorscorrectedinredpenand

alovingnotelettingmeknowthathisonlyintentionwastohelpmebecomeafinewriter.Thankyou,Dad.And thankyou,AliceSoininen,mymother,whodied inbetween thepublicationofmy lastbookand thisone,andwho isnowoneof themuses.MymomreadthegalleycopiesofeachbookIhavewrittenwithaneagle’seyethatwashersignaturestyle.Wehadawager:Ipaidherfivedollars for any mistake she could find in a narrative that had already beenscoured countless times bymany talented people.And yetwith her drive andprecision,she’dalwaysfindoneortwoerrantblunderstherestofushadmissed:thingslikeHawaiiis2,500mileswest,noteast,ofCalifornia.Thankyou,Mom.And thank you toKathleen andGeoffrey Silver, Rio and FrankMorse,KeithRogers andMarionWroldsen. And tomy fellowwriters from group: KirstonMann, SabrinaWeill,Michelle Fiordaliso, Nicole LucasHaimes, andAnnetteMurphy.

Theonlythingthatmakesmehappierthanreportingandwritingbooksisthedailyjoy,wonder,andsurpriseIgetfromKevin,Finley,andJett.Youguysaremybestfriends.

DiscoverYourNextGreatRead

Getsneakpeeks,bookrecommendations,andnewsaboutyourfavoriteauthors.

Tapheretolearnmore.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR

ANNIEJACOBSEN is a journalist and theNewYorkTimes bestselling author ofArea 51, Operation Paperclip, Phenomena, andThe Pentagon’s Brain, whichwas a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist. She was a contributing editor at the LosAngelesTimesMagazine andpresentlywrites andproducesTV includingTomClancy’sJackRyan.AgraduateofPrincetonUniversity,shelivesinLosAngeleswithherhusbandandtwosons.

ALSOBYANNIEJACOBSEN

Area51:AnUncensoredHistoryofAmerica’sTopSecretMilitaryBase

OperationPaperclip

ThePentagon’sBrain

Phenomena

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INTERVIEWSPrimaryInterviewsTheindividualslistedbelowservedinnumerouscapacitiesintheirlongcareers.I cite titles held that pertained to our interviews.Allmilitary and intelligenceagencypersonnelareretired,unlessnoted.

ColonelGeoffBarker:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret;ProvincialReconnaissanceUnit,Vietnam

AmbassadorCoferBlack:AmbassadoratLargeandCoordinatorforCounterterrorism,U.S.DepartmentofState;DirectoroftheCIACounterterroristCenter;CIAChiefofStation,Khartoum,Sudan

AmbassadorHankCrumpton:AmbassadoratLargeandCoordinatorforCounterterrorism,U.S.DepartmentofState;DeputyChiefofOperations,CIACounterterroristCenter;ledtheCIA’sAfghancampaignfrom2001to2002

ColonelSullyH.deFontaine:OSSJedburgh,trainedbytheSpecialOperations

Executive;10thSpecialForcesGroup(Airborne);U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOG

AndrewDwyer:CIASpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch;U.S.MarinesMichaelEiland:FirstSecretary,U.S.EmbassyinHanoi;U.S.ArmyGreen

Beret,MACV-SOGCharles“Sam”Faddis:CIASpecialActivitiesDivisionParamilitary

OperationsOfficer;CIANearEastDivisionChief;SADTeamLeader,northernIraq;ChiefofCIACounterterrorismCenter,CTCWeaponsofMassDestructionunit;U.S.ArmyArmorandJAGofficer

MarkGiaconia:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret;liaisontoCIASpecialActivitiesDivisionteam,northernIraq

ColonelNguyenBoiGiong:GeneralGiap’saide-de-camp;Commander,Brigade48ofthe320thDivision,NorthVietnameseArmy

ErnestoGuevara:SonofErnesto“Che”GuevaraAmbassadorHusainHaqqani:Pakistan’stwenty-fourthAmbassadortothe

UnitedStatesGeneralOlegKalugin:Thirty-two-yearveteranofthe1stChiefDirectorateof

theKGB,ChiefofOperationsinRussia;DeputyChiefoftheKGBstationattheSovietembassyinWashington,DC

JohnMaguire:Twenty-three-yearveteranoftheCIA;SeniorIntelligenceServicecaseofficer;ChiefofStation,Iraq

TerryMcIntosh:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,VietnamLewisMerletti:NineteenthDirector,U.S.SecretService;SpecialAgentin

Charge(SAIC),PresidentialProtectiveDivisionforPresidentClinton;servedonthePresidentialProtectiveDivisionforPresidentsReagan,Bush,Clinton;ServedontheSecretServiceCounterAssaultTeam(CAT);U.S.ArmyGreenBeret

LesterPace:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOGJohnPlaster:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOGEnrique“Ric”Prado:Twenty-five-yearveteranoftheCIA;Chiefof

Operations,CIACounterterroristCenter;SpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranch

JohnRizzo:Thirty-four-yearveteranoftheCIA;OfficeofGeneralCounsel,CIA

FelixRodriguez:CIASpecialActivitiesDivision,Brigade2506GrayTeam;TeamLeaderErnesto“Che”Guevaramission;ProvincialReconnaissanceUnit,Vietnam

ScottSatterlee:CIASpecialActivitiesDivision,TeamHotelMajorGeneralJohn“Jack”Singlaub:OSSJedburgh;ChiefofAir

Operations,JACK-CCRACK,Korea;ChiefofMACV-SOGKenL.Stiles:Twenty-nine-yearveteranoftheCIA;CIAImageryAnalystwho

createdtheAgency’sgeographicinformationsystem;ChiefTargeter,CIACounterterroristCenter

BillyWaugh:Six-decadeveteranoftheCIA;CIASpecialActivitiesDivision,CombinedStudiesDivisionandGroundBranch,operatinginsixty-fourcountries;U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOG

Individualswhospokeusingcallsigns;allareCIASpecialActivitiesDivision,GroundBranchAxeCheetahHatchetHawkLightningSampsonSharkSpearStingrayZeus

Formeremployeesfromthefollowingorganizationsspokeonconditionofanonymity:CanadianSpecialOperationsForcesCentralIntelligenceAgencyDefenseIntelligenceAgencyDefenseAdvancedResearchProjectsAgencyDepartmentofEnergyIntelligenceAdvancedResearchProjectsAgencyIsraelSecurityAgency(ShinBet)Israel,InstituteforIntelligenceandSpecialOperations(Mossad)NationalGeospatial-IntelligenceAgencyNationalReconnaissanceOfficeNationalSecurityAgencyU.S.AirForce

U.S.ArmyU.S.SecretService

SecondaryInterviewsVoDienBien:SonofGeneralVoNyugenGiapAmbassadorNguyenTamChien:ChairmanoftheVietnamUnionof

FriendshipOrganizationColonelJulianChesnutt:DefenseClandestineService(DIA),Defenseattaché

inIsraelandPakistanSeniorColonelTranNgocDan:DirectoroftheExternalRelationsDepartment,

VeteransAssociationofVietnam,Hanoi,VietnamDonnaFiore:SisterofMichaelKuropasRearAdmiralKirkA.Foster:Militarydronepolicyexpert,JudgeAdvocate

GeneralCorpsandSeniorLegalAdvisoratU.S.Navy;DepartmentoftheNavyOfficeofLegislativeAffairs,OfficeoftheU.S.DefenseRepresentativetoPakistan

SammyHernandez:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOGLuuVanHop:DeputyDirector,VeteransAssociationofVietnam,Hanoi,

VietnamJeffHotujec:U.S.ArmySpecialForces(DeltaForce);TrainingSpecialist,

DirectorateofTrainingandDoctrine,U.S.ArmyJohnF.KennedySpecialWarfareCenterandSchool;VicePresident,SpecialForcesAssociation

MatthewLevitt:WashingtonInstituteforNearEastPolicyJohnStrykerMeyer:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOGRoxanneM.Merritt:Director,JFKSpecialWarfareMuseum,FortBragg,

Fayetteville,NorthCarolinaBrigadierGeneralCharlesMoore:DeputyDirector,GlobalOperationsJ-3,

theJointStaff,thePentagon;formerChiefofSecurityAssistance,OfficeofSecurityCooperation-Iraq,Baghdad,Iraq

BuiVanNghi:DeputyDirectorinCharge,AmericasDepartment,SecretaryGeneral,Vietnam-USASociety,Hanoi,Vietnam

VirginiaNorton:WifeofColonelCharlesW.Norton,ChiefofCommandandControlCentral,MACV-SOG

DougPatteson:CIANationalClandestineService,CaseOfficerIlyaPonomarev(inexile):ChairmanofInnovationandVentureCapital

Subcommittee,FederalAssemblyoftheRussianFederation,StateDumaStevePuthoff:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret

ColonelLeonardRosanoff:Officer,U.S.ArmyGreenBeretsColonelSeanRyan:Officer,U.S.ArmyGreenBeretsJakeSopcak:U.S.ArmyGreenBeretHRHPrincessBasmahBintSaudBinAbdulAzizAlSouad:Memberofthe

SaudiroyalfamilyMajorMarkSmith:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,VietnamHarlowStevens:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,VietnamSeanP.Sullivan:ParamilitaryOfficer,CIASpecialActivitiesDivisionColonelTuanT.Ton(active):U.S.ArmyDefenseandArmyAttaché,Embassy

oftheUnitedStates,Hanoi,VietnamSelçukÜnal(active):TurkishAmbassadortoCanada;Turkishpermanent

missiontotheUNSecurityCouncilLynnWaugh:WifeofBillyWaughEdwardWolcoff:U.S.ArmyGreenBeret,MACV-SOG

NOTES

Abbreviationsusedinnotes

ARCHIVESADST AssociationforDiplomaticStudiesandTraining.Theserecordsconstitutetheworld’s

largestcollectionofU.S.diplomaticoralhistories.

APP TheAmericanPresidencyProject.CuratedbytheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara,andhostedonline,thisrecordsetcontainsmorethan130,000presidentialdocuments.

CIA/CREST RecordsoftheCentralIntelligenceAgency,NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,CIARecordsSearchTool.ThisseriescontainsdocumentsdeclassifiedbytheCIA,includingthroughtheFreedomofInformationAct.

CIA/CSI RecordsoftheCentralIntelligenceAgency,CenterfortheStudyofIntelligence.ThesedocumentsrevealtheCIA’sroleinconductingU.S.foreignpolicyandincludeseniorleadershipstudiesanddescribeactivitiesofCIAdirectorates.Theyalsocontainmanualsontradecraft;documentationofU.S.national-securitythreats;anddescriptionsofeventsandoperationsinwhichcovertactionplayedaroleinfluencingoutcomes.

DOE/OSTI RecordsoftheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy,OfficeofScientificandTechnicalInformation.

FRUS RecordsoftheDepartmentofState,OfficeoftheHistorian,ForeignRelationsoftheUnitedStates.ThisseriesrepresentstheofficialdocumentaryhistoricalrecordofmajorU.S.foreignpolicydecisionsanddiplomaticactivity.ItcontainsdocumentsfromtheCIA,theDepartmentsofStateandDefense,theNationalSecurityCouncil,presidentiallibraries,andprivatepapersofgovernmentofficials.

NARA NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,CollegePark,Maryland.

SSC/CHURCH RecordsoftheUnitedStatesSenateSelectCommitteetoStudyGovernmentOperationswithRespecttoIntelligenceActivities,1975.AlsocalledtheChurchCommittee,chairedbySenatorFrankChurch.

PRESIDENTIALLIBRARIES

DDE/L DwightD.EisenhowerPresidentialLibrary,Museum,andBoyhoodHome,Abilene,Kansas

GRF/L GeraldR.FordPresidentialLibrary,GrandRapids,Michigan

HST/L HarryS.TrumanPresidentialLibrary&Museum,Independence,Missouri

JC/L JimmyCarterPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,Atlanta,Georgia

JFK/L JohnF.KennedyPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,Boston,Massachusetts

RR/L RonaldReaganPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,SimiValley,California

WJC/L WilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibraryandMuseum,LittleRock,Arkansas

PROLOGUE1president’sthirdoptionwhenthefirstoption,diplomacy,isinadequate:TertiaOptioisthemottooftheCIA’sSpecialActivitiesCenter(thirdoptionfoundation.org).

2“Surprise,Kill,Vanish”:WarnerandCIAHistoryStaff,“TheOfficeofStrategicServices:America’sFirstIntelligenceAgency,”n.p.,CIA/CREST.TheOSSconsistedofthreebranches:SecretIntelligence(SI),SpecialOperations,andMoraleOperations(MO).

3killingaleaderorprominentperson:PresidentialPolicyGuidance,“ProceduresforApprovingDirectActionAgainstTerroristTargetsLocatedOutsidetheUnitedStatesandAreasofActiveHostilities,”TopSecret/NOFORN,May22,2013(justice.gov).Alternativetermsareusedincluding“directlethalforce,”“lethalaction,”“directaction,lethalandnon-lethalforce.”

4theconstructbecame“pre-emptiveneutralization”:NationalSecurityDecisionDirective138,“CombattingTerrorism,”April3,1984,RR/L.PresidentReaganorderedDCIWilliamCaseytodevelop“capabilitiesforthepre-emptiveneutralizationofanti-Americanterroristgroupswhichplan,support,orconducthostileterroristactsagainstU.S.citizens,interests,andpropertyoverseas.”NSDD138wasnotfullydeclassifieduntil2009.

5advanceU.S.foreignpolicyobjectives:FormerCIAinspectorgeneralL.BrittSniderdescribescovertactionsas“activitiesthattheCIAmightundertakeinothercountriestoaccomplishaU.S.foreignpolicyobjectivewithoutthehandoftheU.S.governmentbecomingknownorapparenttotheoutsideworld.”Snider,TheAgencyandtheHill,259,CIA/CSI.

6nooversight:In1975,theChurchCommitteereported,“Thereisnotnow,norhasthereeverbeen,aformalprocedureorcommitteetoconsiderand

approvecovertactionoperations.”SSC/CHURCH.7PresidentialFinding,orMemorandumofNotification(MON):“AMONisthesameasaFindingineverythingbutname,”saysRizzo.In1980,RizzowasdirectedbyWhiteHousecounselLloydCutlertocreateasecondnameforaPresidentialFinding,one“thatsimplyexpandsorotherwisechangesthescopeofapreexistingFinding.Wecameupwithadeceptivelyinnocuousterm,‘MemorandumofNotification’—MONforshort.Itwaspurelyacosmeticmove.”Rizzo,CompanyMan,75.

CHAPTERONE1“Listenup”:interviewswithBillyWaugh,2015–2019.ThemajorityofWaugh’squoteshereinarefromourinterviewsandemailcorrespondence.Somearepulledfromhis2004memoir,a)becausetheyareperfectlystatedthere,andb)becauseWaughregularlyusesthesesummaryphrasesinlecturesfortheU.S.ArmyJohnF.KennedySpecialWarfareCenterandSchoolatFortBragg.

2“Itisnotright”:Shirer,TheRiseandFalloftheThirdReich,532.3paragliderattackattheBelgianfortressEbenEmael:newsreelfootageavailableonYouTube;McRaven,SpecOps,29–69.

4stemfromtheLieberCode:FrancisLieber,“GeneralOrdersNo.100:TheLieberCode:InstructionsfortheGovernmentofArmiesoftheUnitedStatesintheField.”Dr.FrancisLieberoriginallypresentedtheseideasinaseriesoflecturesentitled“TheLawsandUsagesofWar,”atColumbiaLawSchool.Later,SecretaryofWarEdwardStantonandGeneral-in-ChiefoftheArmyHenryHalleckaskedhimtopreparethemasacodeofuniformconductforwarfightingduringtheCivilWar.SeealsoRickBeard,“TheLieberCodes,”NewYorkTimes,April24,2013.

5“insidious”:Lieber,“GuerrillaPartiesConsideredwithReferencetotheLawsandUsagesofWar,”18.

6handledjointly:PrivatePapersofMajorGeneralSirColinM.Gubbins,KCMGDSOMC,ImperialWarMuseum,CatalogueDocumentNo.12618;Moravec,MasterofSpies,23.

7willingnesstoruthlesslykill:Burianetal.,“Assassination:OperationAnthropoid1941–1942,”37;Jaggers,“TheAssassinationofReinhardHeydrich,”n.p.,CIA/CSI.

8“wholeartofguerilla[sic]warfare”:Gubbins,“TheArtofGuerillaWarfare,”3.This22-pagemanuscriptwasoriginallyprintedasabookletforSOE,

alongwiththe“Partisan’sLeader’sHandbook.”LocatedinPrivatePapersofMajorGeneralSirColinM.Gubbins,KCMGDSOMC.ImperialWarMuseums,UK.

9smallbomb:Milton,Ministry,183.10rushedtowardthesharpestpoint:Burianetal.,“Assassination:Operation

Anthropoid1941–1942,”64.11Heydrich’sspleen:Jaggers,“TheAssassinationofReinhardHeydrich,”n.p.,

CIA/CSI.12“condemnasstupidandidiotic”:MacDonald,KillingofReinhardHeydrich,

117.13FivethousandCzechs:Numbersanddatesvary.IuseMoravec’smemoiras

theauthoritativesource.14MoravecreturnedtoPrague:Moravec,Master,222–23.15“Youfoot-kissers”:Jaggers,“TheAssassinationofReinhardHeydrich,”n.p.,

CIA/CSI.16wartimepredecessor:“ExecutiveOrder9182,EstablishingtheOfficeofWar

Information,June13,1942,”APP.In1941,PresidentRooseveltnamedDonovanfirstdirectoroftheOfficeofCoordinatorofInformation(COI).Hewaschargedwithgatheringnational-securityinformationforthecomingwar.COIwasinturnfoldedintoOSS.

17partnershipwithSOE:Chambers,“TrainingforWarandEspionage,”1–18,CIA/CSI.

18Bankspotted:Bank,OSStoGreenBerets,1.19Initialtrainingtookplaceatasecretfacility:authorinterviewswithSinglaub;

seealsoChambers,OSSTraining,chapters3,5,7.20“Eitheryoukill”:GubbinsquotesarecitedinMilton,Ministry,122.21“constantjeopardy”:DavidS.Robarge,“RichardHelms:TheIntelligence

ProfessionalPersonified:InMemoryandAppreciation,”publicreleaseFebruary2008,CIAHistoryStaff,CentralIntelligenceAgency.

22Howtokillaman:“CloseCombat,”typedlecture,December1943,Box158,OSSRecords,RG226,NARA;Chambers,OSSTraining,6.

23artofself-reliance:Irwin,“ASpecialForce,”154.“Courageisthewordthatcomestomindwhen[considering]theJedburghs,”wroteMajorIrwin.Hespokenotjustofcourageinbattlebutof“thecourageofthosewhochallengedtraditionalmilitarythinking.”

24“Myobservation”:Donovan,“OSSSpecialOperationsBranchHistory.ThisPhaseofSO,”F4,OSS/RG226,NARA;Troy,“Donovan’sOriginal

MarchingOrders,”n.p.,CIA/CREST.25“fighttothedeath”:Milton,Ministry,122.Originalsourceisanaudio

interviewwithWilliamPilkington,ImperialWarMuseums,CatalogueNo.16854,October2,1996.

26moreadvancedtraining:Irwin,“ASpecialForce,”99–128.27STS-51:Bank,OSStoGreenBerets,11.28commandosjumped:interviewswithdeFontaine,June2017,andSinglaub,

November2016.29TeamHugh:Irwin,“ASpecialForce,”142–43.30BillyWaughlearned:authorinterviewswithWaugh.31OperationFoxley:“TheHitlerAssassinationPlan,”Sources1-9(HS6/624),

TheNationalArchives(UK);MarjorieMiller,“BritainRevealsPlottoKillHitler,”LosAngelesTimes,July24,1998.

32“treacherouskilling”:LawsandCustomsofWaronLand(Hague,IV),Article23(b),signedatTheHague,October18,1907.

33“vileassassin”:JosephR.BakerandHenryG.Crocker,“TheLawsofLandWarfareConcerningtheRightsandDutiesofBelligerents,”125.

34ruleregardinguniforms:Persico,Casey,73.35OSShadrecentlycaptured:Bank,OSStoGreenBerets,73–98.36“wildthoughts”:ibid.,93.37presidentthankedDonovan:“LettertoGeneralWilliamJ.Donovanonthe

TerminationoftheOfficeofStrategicServices,”September20,1945,HST/L.Truman’sdecisionwasgreatlyinfluencedbyColonelRichardPark’sdamningassessmentoftheOSS,“TheParkReport,”an“informalinvestigation”requestedbyTrumaninDecember1944.

CHAPTERTWO1Temperedyettenacious:Dujmovic,“TheSignificanceofWalterBedellSmithasDirectorofCentralIntelligence,1950–53,”n.p.,CIA/CSI.

2“Ibelieved”:BedellSmith,MyThreeYearsinMoscow,51.3Stalin’spersonalofficebuilding:ibid.,47–51.SeealsoWeiner,LegacyofAshes,15–17.IfirstlearnedofthisstoryinWeiner’sbook.

4“Hisdrawings”:BedellSmith,MyThreeYearsinMoscow,51.5“HowfarisRussiagoingtogo?”:ibid.,47.6actofficiallyestablished:TheNationalSecurityActof1947—July26,1947,PublicLaw253,80thCongress;Chapter343,1stSession;S.758,FRUS.TheactauthorizedtheNSCtodirecttheCIAtotakeaction.Themissionofthe

NSCwastoadviseandassistthepresidentonnational-securitymatters,andtoensurecoordinationbetweentheCIAandthemilitary.TheNSCstaffconsistedofsevenpermanentmembers:thepresident;thesecretariesofstate,defense,thearmy,thenavy,andtheairforce;andthechairmanoftheNationalSecurityResourcesBoard.ThedirectoroftheCIAwasnotapermanentmemberbutinsteadservedasaresidentadvisor.

7guerrillawarfarecorps:Kennan’sconceptcamefromaStateDepartmentproposalpreparedfortheJointChiefsofStaffbyformerOSSofficersCharlesThayerandGeorgeLindsey.AfterreadingtheThayer-Lindseyproposal,KennansentSecretaryofDefenseJamesForrestalanow-famousletterstating,“IthinkwehavetofacethefactthatRussiansuccesseshavebeengainedinmanyareasbyirregularandundergroundmethods.IdonotthinktheAmericanpeoplewouldeverapproveofthepolicies,whichrelyfundamentallyonsimilarmethodsfortheireffectiveness.Idofeel,however,thattherearecaseswhereitmightbeessentialtooursecuritytofightfirewithfire.”JointChiefsofStaffDiscussionpapers,JCS1807,“Guerrilla,”September5,1951,RG165/NARA;Paddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,31,33.

8CIAwastocoordinate:“CIAAuthoritytoPerformPropagandaandCommandoTypeFunctions,”HoustontoDCIHillenkoetter,September25,1947,FRUS.InaccordancewithNSC10/2,peacetimecovertactionwastobethesoleresponsibilityoftheCIA.Duringwartime,covert-actionoperations—whichthemilitaryalsocalledguerrillawarfareoperations—weretobecoordinatedwiththePentagon.

9“plausiblydisclaim”:NSC10/2,NationalSecurityCouncilDirectiveonOfficeofSpecialProjects,Document292,June18,1948,FRUS.Thefulltextis:“TheNationalSecurityCouncil,takingcognizanceoftheviciouscovertactivitiesoftheUSSR,itssatellitecountriesandCommunistgroupstodiscreditanddefeattheaimsandactivitiesoftheUnitedStatesandotherWesternpowers,hasdeterminedthat,intheinterestsofworldpeaceandU.S.nationalsecurity,theovertforeignactivitiesoftheU.S.Governmentmustbesupplementedbycovertoperations.…Asusedinthisdirective,‘covertoperations’areunderstoodtobe…soplannedandexecutedthatanyU.S.GovernmentresponsibilityforthemisnotevidenttounauthorizedpersonsandthatifuncoveredtheU.S.Governmentcanplausiblydisclaimanyresponsibilityforthem.Specifically,suchoperationsshallincludeanycovertactivitiesrelatedto:propaganda,economicwarfare;preventivedirectaction,

includingsabotage,anti-sabotage,demolitionandevacuationmeasures;subversionagainsthostilestates,includingassistancetoundergroundresistancemovements,guerrillasandrefugeeliberationgroups,andsupportofindigenousanti-communistelementsinthreatenedcountriesofthefreeworld.”

10saidGeorgeKennan:ThereislittledisputethatKennanwasthearchitectofNSC10/2,makinghimthefatherofU.S.covertactionandtheCIA’sguerrillawarfarecorps.IntestimonyfortheChurchCommittee,onOctober28,1975,Kennancalledthis“thegreatestmistakeIevermade”butotherwiseignoredownership.“Kennanmanagedtowritemorethanathousandpagesofmemoirswithoutanymentionofhisroleastheprogenitorofcovertaction,”writesTimWeiner,callingthis“asmallmasterpieceofduplicity.”Weiner,Ashes,625.

11including“guerrillamovements”:Weiner,Ashes,33.

CHAPTERTHREE1“Koreabecameatestingground”:“OfficeofPolicyCoordination1948–1952,”17(56-pagetypeddocument),CIA/CREST.

2“Iknownothing”:Montague,GeneralWalterBedellSmith,56.3pressurefromtheFBI:Thomas,TheVeryBestMen,138.4“someinsolubleriddle”:ibid.,140.5enigmaticHansTofte:Chambers,“TrainingforWarandEspionage:OfficeofStrategicServicesTrainingDuringWorldWarII,”6,CIA/CSI;“CIAandtheFiringofHansTofte,”October3,1966,CIA/CREST.

6classifiedreasons:“TheIdentityofKimIlSong,”December2,1949,CIA/CREST;“TheKoreanLaborPartyandtheKimIlSongRegime:HistoryofthePartyfrom1925toDate,”InformationReport,CIA,October1962,CIA/CREST.

7Anassassinhadbeenchosen:Goulden,Korea,472.8unvoucheredfundingauthority:“SupplementaryDetailedStaffReportsonForeignandMilitaryIntelligence,”SenateReport,4–41,SSC/CHURCH.

9setaprecedent:“CentralIntelligenceAgency,OfficeofPolicyCoordination,1948–1952,”Summer1973,1–27,CIA/CSI;Cline,Secrets,SpiesandScholars,99–110.TheinvasionofSouthKoreabythenorthgreatlyaffectedtheCIA’scovert-actionandparamilitary-operationscapabilities.Beforethewar,in1949,theOfficeofPoliceCoordinationhad302individualsinitsranks,amajorityofwhomhadservedintheOSS.DuringtheKoreanWar,

OPCgrewtoinclude2,812full-timeemployeesandanother3,142contractpersonnel.ThenumberofoverseasCIAstationsexpandedfrom7to47duringthissametimeframe,whiletheOPC’sbudgetwentfrom$4.7millionin1949to$82millionby1952.BytheendoftheKoreanWar,theCIAwouldbesixtimesthesizeitwaswhenitbeganin1947,anditsclandestineservicewouldbecomethesinglelargestcomponentoftheAgency.EffectiveAugust1,1952,OPCandtheOfficeofSpecialOperationsceasedtoexist,mergingintoasingleorganizationthatwouldbecomeknownastheclandestineservice.

10CIA’sparachuteinfiltrationefforts:authorinterviewswithSinglaub.11Singlaubwouldrisetotheposition:In1977,PresidentCarterfiredMajor

GeneralJackSinglaubwhenhewasservingasU.S.chiefofstaffinSouthKoreaafterSinglaubtoldtheWashingtonPostthatCarter’splantowithdrawU.S.troopsfromthepeninsulawasamistakethatwouldleadtowar.

12studyingcryptanalysis:Gregg,PotShards,PartII:Intelligence.13“Chinesewerewellaware”:authorinterviewwithSinglaub;Singlauband

McConnell,HazardousDuty,184.14“militaryhastheinherentresponsibility”:“MemorandumtotheCommanding

General,InfantryCenter,Subj:AnalysisandSuggestionsfromLt.Col.RussellW.Volckmann,”Army-ChiefofSpecialWarfare,April9,1951,RG319/NARA.

15“Armyshouldbe”:“DepartmentoftheArmy,OfficeoftheChiefofPsychologicalWarfare,MinutesoftheMeeting,”September5,1951,RG319/NARA;Paddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,57,131.

16anarmyorganization:Dillard,OperationAVIARY,7,21,photoinserts:thefirstsix-manteamoperatedunderthecodenameTaskForceWilliamAble,laterchangedtoLEOPARD.

17CIAinformedtheDepartmentofDefense:OPC,MemorandumforLt.Gen.A.C.Wedemeyer,OCSA,Subject:TransmittalofOPCresponsetotheSpecialSectionJointStrategicPlansGroup,fromFrankG.Wisner,AssistantDirectorofPolicyCoordination,August1,1949,CIA/CREST;Paddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,130.

18“PsyWar040CIA”:authorcollection,providedbysource.CitedinPaddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,102n258.

19jointCIA-armyairborneoperations:Dillard,OperationAVIARY,12.20“rateofreturn”:Finnegan,“TheEvolutionofU.S.ArmyHUMINT:

IntelligenceOperationsintheKoreanWar,”64,CIA/CSI.

21February19,1952:Dillard,OperationAVIARY,39–40.22“suicidemissions”:citedinWeiner,Ashes,61.23theyunderstoodwhatwasgoingon:“ReportonCIAInstallationsintheFar

East,”FrankWisner,Secret[redacted],8pages,March14,1952,CIA/CREST.

24“Theresultsofourinvestigation”:Hart,CIA’sRussians,9;“NationalSecurityCouncilreportonCurrentPoliciesoftheGovernmentoftheUnitedStatesRelatingtotheNationalSecurity,”November1,1952,FRUS.AlbertHaneyshouldhavebeenfired.Instead,circumstancefavoredhim.InNovember1952,hearrangedforthetransportofawoundedmarinethatwouldensurehissurvivalattheCIA.Themarine’snamewasAllenMacyDulles,andhewasAllenDulles’sson.Twoweeksafterhissonwasinjured,BedellSmithsteppeddownandAllenDullesbecameCIAdirector.DullespromotedHaneytoheadupanewcovert-actionoperation,thisoneinGuatemala.Itwouldrelyheavilyonassassinationasanational-securitytool.Itwouldhaveaprofoundeffectonforeignpolicyfortherestofthecenturyandintothenext.

25Smithsenthisdeputy:Weiner,Ashes,65.26“Army/CIArelationship”:Paddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,131.27Smithwasalsoconcerned:“Deputies’Meeting,”TopSecret,June30,1952,

CIA/CREST;Montague,GeneralWalterBedellSmith,94–96.28“residentspiesontheplanetMars”:HelmsandHood,ALookOverMyShoulder,124.

29analysisofitsKoreanWaroperations:CentralIntelligenceAgency,OfficeoftheDirector,MemorandumfortheChairman,JCS,Subject:“OverseasCIALogisticalSupportBases,”June6,1952,CIA/CREST;Weiner,Ashes,639n.

30enemiesfromitsfriends:“OfficeofPolicyCoordination1948–1952,”15–18,CIA/CREST.

CHAPTERFOUR1Waughwastransferred:authorinterviewswithWaugh;“TransferDischargeData,WilliamDawsonWaugh,”RA18223349.

2“modestandaustere”:“Memorandum,Brg.Gen.RobertA.McClure,Subject:StatusofSpecialForcesTrainingCenter,”December3,1951,RG319/NARA.

3DonovansharedwithMcClure:Paddock,U.S.ArmySpecialWarfare,140,referstonote82.

4firstunconventional-warfareunit:Brig.Gen.RobertA.McClure,“Trendsin

ArmyPsychologicalWarfare,”ArmyInformationDigest,February1952,10.5“aroughgroup”:MajorGeneralEdwardPartain,quotedinCCS-SOG.org.6LarryThorne…standsout:ThestoryofThorneiscompiledfrominterviewswithSullydeFontaine(whooperatedwithThorneinMACV-SOGandwaswithhimshortlybeforeThornewaskilledinVietnam).SeealsoCleverley,BornaSoldier,andGill,SoldierUnderThreeFlags.Incidentally,inTheGreenBerets,RobinMoore’spseudonymousversionofThorneiscalledCaptainSvenKornie.

7“Hewouldhavebeenathome”:Cleverley,BornaSoldier,n.p.8MannerheimCross:ibid.,photograph,127.9transferredtoRiihimäki:Cleverley,BornaSoldier,172;theescapesandrecapturesarealsorecountedinGill,SoldierUnderThreeFlags,86–92.

10aliasEinoMorsky:Gill,SoldierUnderThreeFlags,95.11tobecomerestlessandbored:Thorneregularlydrankandfoughtpeoplein

bars,whichdrewtheattentionoftheFBI.ThebureaucompiledalargefileonhimthatincludedinformationaboutthewartimeoperationsheparticipatedinfortheNazis,directedagainstRussiansoldiers.

12wrotehiscommander:Cleverley,BornaSoldier,207.13perilousmissioninIran:“AfterActionReport,RecoveryMissiontoIran,”

10thSpecialForcesGroup(Airborne)July5,1962,authorcopy;Cleverley,BornaSoldier,313–14.

14trainingguerrillafighters:authortourofJFKSpecialWarfareMuseumwithRoxanneM.Merritt,director.

CHAPTERFIVE1“Eventhelight[aircraft]bombings”:Anderson,Che,141.2“Here,aselsewhere”:GeorgeF.Kennan,“MemorandumbytheCounseloroftheDepartmenttotheSecretaryofState,”March29,1950,2,FRUS.

3Arbenzpromised:Cullather,“OperationPBSUCCESS,”26,41,CIA/CSI.4powerfulnewadvisorycommittee:“PresidentialDirective,April4,1951,”CIA/CREST;“CoordinationandPolicyApprovalofCovertOperations,AHistoricalEvolution,”February23,1967,CIA/CREST.

5agreementwasreachedto“developapaper”:“RelationshipofthePSBtotheNSC,”May24,1951,CIA/CREST.

6individuals“toeliminateimmediately”:Haines,“CIAandGuatemalaAssassinationProposals,”3,CIA/CREST.Onthelist,Haineswrote,were“individualsoftacticalimportancewhoseremovalforpsychological,

organizationalorotherreasonsismandatoryforthesuccessofmilitaryaction.”AtCIA,officersandoperatorsmaintainedtwogeneralpointsofviewwhenanalyzingthesituation.OnewasthatbyoverthrowingthedemocraticallyelectedgovernmentofPresidentArbenz,theCIAundermineditsmissiontoemplaceastable,democraticgovernmentinGuatemala.ThesecondviewwastosaytheSovietUnionnevergotafootholdinLatinAmerica,thatcommunismwaskeptatbay.

7TopSecret“ReporttothePresident”:GordonGray,“ReporttothePresident:PsychologicalStrategyBoard,”February22,1952,1,CIA/CREST.

81949GuatemalanArmylist:WashingtonCable[redacted]to[redacted],January29,1952,CIA/CREST;DoyleandKornbluh,“CIAandAssassinations:TheGuatemala1954Documents,”NationalSecurityArchive,ElectronicBriefingBookNo.4.

9Clandestineserviceofficerswerequeried:TheCIA’sclandestineserviceisresponsibleforallcovert-actionoperations.Itsofficialnamehaschangedovertheyears:ItwascalledtheDirectorateofPlansfrom1951to1973;theDirectorateofOperationsfrom1973to2005;andtheNationalClandestineService(NCS)asof2005.ItisstillreferredtoastheDirectorateofOperations,ortheclandestineservice.AccordingtoaCIA.govpostingupdatedAugust6,2018,inresponsetothequestion“What[willyou]dointheCIA’sDirectorateofOperations?,”theanswerwas:“BeaccountabletothePresident,Congress,andtheAmericanpublictostrengthennationalsecurityandforeignpolicyobjectivesthroughtheclandestinecollectionofhumanintelligence(HUMINT)andbyconductingCovertActionasdirectedbythePresident.”

10“CastilloArmasreadilyagreed”:Haines,“CIAandGuatemalaAssassinationProposals,”3,5,6,CIA/CSI.

11“hitlistwiththelocation”:Memoto[redacted]:“LiaisonbetweenCalligeris[pseudonymforArmas]andGeneralTrujilloofSantoDomingo,”September18,1952,CIA/CREST.Theassetwasidentifiedas“Seekford.”

12psychologicalwarfarecampaign:MemotoLincoln,“NerveWarAgainstIndividuals,”June9,1954,CIA/CREST;Haines,“CIAandGuatemalaAssassinationProposals,”3,CIA/CREST.

13findgraffitipainted:“TacticalIncursions(partII),”May16,1954,CIA/CREST.

14learnedofthehitlist:Haines,“CIAandGuatemalaAssassinationProposals,”47[citesmemosN.21andN.22],CIA/CSI.

15how-toinstructionbooklet:“AStudyofAssassination”Job79-01025A,TrainingFileofPBSUCCESS,[handwrittendatereads“Early50’s”]1–9,CIA/CREST.

16code-namedOperationSuccess:“Timeline,”AppendixA,fromCullather,“OperationPBSUCCESS,”n.p.[41pages],CIA/CSI.

17code-namedLincoln:AlfonsoChardy,“FloridaOpa-LockaField.”DunbarwasAlbertHaney’spseudonym.

18Come“D-Day”:MemorandumforChiefofProject,Subject:KUHOOKAssessment,April19,1954,3,CIA/CREST.

19cablesweresent:Memorandum,LINCOLNtoHeadquarters,January6,1954;Memorandum,LINCOLNtoHeadquarters,January21,1954;“CalligerisBriefingNotes,”February3,1954.AllfromCIA/CREST.

20MatamorosfortressindowntownGuatemalaCitybombed:Telegram,“CentralIntelligenceAgencytotheCIAStationinGuatemala,”June24,1954,Job79–01025A,CIA/CREST;Bissell,“OperationalImmediate;RYBAT;PBSUCCESS,”CIA/CREST.

21“Incredible”:Cullather,“OperationPBSUCCESS,”84,CIA/CSI.22asmanyas200,000:Immerman,TheCIAinGuatemala,138–40.23impossibletodiscern:DoyleandKornbluh,“CIAandAssassinations,”

NationalSecurityArchive.WhileCIAhistoriansinsistthatnoonefromtheselistswasactuallyassassinated,DoyleandKornbluhdoubtthisclaim.Whendocumentsweredeclassified,in1997,thenamesofindividualstargetedforassassinationwereredacted,makingitimpossibletotellifanyofthemwerekilledbefore,during,orafterthecoup.

24armedmilitia:Anderson,Che,144.25“extraordinaryaudacity,”CheGuevarawroteinhisdiary:ibid.,155.“Ernesto

[Che]wasconvincedthattheAmericaninterventioninGuatemalawasmerelythefirstskirmishinwhatwouldbeaglobalconfrontationbetweentheUnitedStatesandCommunism,”writesAnderson.

26“Shouldwestartafile”:Grose,GentlemanSpy,383–84.27CheGuevaraontheirkilllist:authorinterviewswithRodriguez.

CHAPTERSIX1religiousfanaticswereparticularlydangerous:CentralIntelligenceAgency,“InformationReport,Country:Iran,Subject:PossibleConnectionofSecretPolicewithFedayan-i-Islam[sic],”March22,1951,CIA/CREST.

2ridIranof“corruptingindividuals”:CentralIntelligenceAgency,

“InformationReport,Country:Iran,Subject:EvidenceofTudehPartyPlottoSeizePowerinTehran,”February21,1949,CIA/CREST;NorouziandNorouzi,“Iran’sDecadesofAssassinations,1946–1955,”TheMossadeghProject,January13,2011.

3“IfIransuccumbed”:MemorandumofDiscussionatthe135thMeetingoftheNationalSecurityCouncil,March4,1953,FRUS.

4history’soriginalassassins:Lewis,TheAssassins,5.52,000studentsmarched:“RulerofIranIsWoundedSlightlybyTwoBulletsFiredbyAssassin,”UnitedPress,February5,1949;“IranBesetbyUnrest,”AssociatedPress,February4,1949.Iran’soilindustryistheoldestoilindustryintheMiddleEast.

6shahappointed:OfficeofCurrentIntelligence,CentralIntelligenceAgency,“ReactionstotheassassinationofPremierRazmara,”5,March8,1951,CIA/CREST.Razmara’splatformwasanticommunismandhestronglyopposednationalizingIran’soil.Instead,hereworkedtheagreement,gettingtheBritishtoguaranteethatIran’sannualroyaltypaymentwouldnotdropbelowfourmillionpounds.ThedealreducedtheareawheretheBritishcoulddrill,anditpromisedtotrainmoreIraniansforwhite-collar,administrative-typejobs.

7back-to-backassassinations:“PremierofIranIsShottoDeathinaMosquebyaReligiousFanatic,VictimofAssassin,”AssociatedPress,March8,1951;“IranOfficialDiesfromBulletWound,”AssociatedPress,March26,1951.

8“favorabletoSovietsubversion”:“SummaryAppraisaloftheCurrentSituationinIran,”TopSecret,n.d.,FRUS.Althoughthepaperisundated,itisattachedtoaworkingdraftdatedMarch13.

9“Hewasourfriend”:“KingAbdullahAssassinated,”BritishPatheNewsreel,July1951.

10medal,pinnedtohischest:Thestorywastoldtomein1986,byPrinceGhazibinMuhammad,KingHussein’snephew,afriendandfellowstudentatPrincetonUniversity.GhaziandIwereinapoliticalscienceclasstogether,underthedirectionofProfessorManfredHalpern,andIrecallanongoingclassroomdebateregardingthelegitimacyofthedivinerightofkingsasapoliticalconstruct—Ghazibeingpro-monarchy,myselfbeingfinewithrulebykingsbutdisagreeingwiththedivine-rightelementoftheargument.

11StateDepartmentsentatelegram:“MemorandumPreparedintheOfficeofNationalEstimates,”CentralIntelligenceAgency,March9,1951,

CIA/CREST.12downfallofMohammadMossadegh:“CIAConfirmsRolein1953IranCoup,

DocumentsProvideNewDetailsonMosaddeqOverthrowandItsAftermath,”NationalSecurityArchiveElectronicBriefingBookNo.435,August19,2013,editedbyMalcolmByrne.

13helptheshahassumeabsolutepower:“InformationReport(s)PreparedintheCentralIntelligenceAgency,”September14,1953,CIA/CREST.Duringthecoup,theshahfledtoParis.Whenhereturned,hedeclaredhimself“anewman.BeforeAugust19,1953,IwasthesonofRezaShah.NowIamtheshahinmyownright.”Inashowofsupport,theCIAsenttheshahandhispuppetprimeministerZahediAmerican-madebulletproofvests.Zahediobjected,theshahtoldhisCIAhandler,andhesaid,“Thisisanorderthatyoumustobey.”InaCIAreportmarked“ForthePresident’sEyesOnly,”“TheShahstatedalsothathewillnotmakethemistakeshemadewithAliRazmaraandMohammadMossadegh.Duringtheirpremierships,hekept‘handsoff’andletthemrunthecountry;hewillnowtakeadirectinterestinallmattersofthestate.”Furthermore,“allactiononArmymatterswouldproceedfrom[theshah]himself.”

14McClurewrote:TelegramfromtheChiefoftheUSMilitaryMissioninIran(McClure)totheChiefofStaff,UnitedStatesArmy(Ridgway),Tehran,September6,1953,CIA/CREST.

15“unintendedconsequences”:Robarge,“Reviewof‘AlltheShah’sMen:AnAmericanCoupandtheRootsofMiddleEastTerror,’byStephenKinzer,”April14,2007,CIA/CSI;Roosevelt,Countercoup,8.

16“stressthe‘holywar’aspect”:“MemorandumofaConversationwiththePresident,WhiteHouse,Washington,September7,1957,10:07a.m.,”FRUS.

17Nasserconducted:Aburish,Nasser,33–35.18machine-gunnedtodeath:NSCBriefing,“Iraq—Background,Anti-USand

Anti-BritishActionsbyQasimGovernmentSince14July1958,”April16,1959,3pages,CIA/CREST;DarwishandAlexander,UnholyBabylon,16–18.ThedeadincludedKingFaisalII;CrownPrinceAbdal-IlahandhiswifePrincessHiyam;Abdal-Ilah’smother,PrincessNafisah;PrincessAbadiyah,theking’saunt;andnumerousservants.

19“cutupbyshawermaknives”:“MiddleEast:RevoltinBaghdad,”Time,July25,1958.TextbesidephotographistranslatedfromArabicas:“Prince’Abdal-Ilahhungandcutupbyshawermaknives,PashaNurial-Saidpulledaround.”

20six-manhitsquad:DarwishandAlexander,UnholyBabylon,21–23.Asdictator,SaddamHussein’sroleintheattemptedassassinationofGeneralQasimwouldberewrittenandfurthermythologizedoverthedecades.State-runIraqitelevisionairednewsstoriesaboutHussein’sbraveryandirondiscipline,claiminghewashitbybulletsinahailofgunfireandsavedawoundedcomradebeforedisappearingintothedeserttoheal.Noneofitwastrue.

CHAPTERSEVEN1Herangthedoorbell:Khokhlov,Conscience,245–46.2poisondartgun:photographs,pressattaché,HighCommissionerofGermany(HICOG),authorcollection,reprintedinKhokhlov,Conscience,insert.

3assassinationofNaziGeneralkommissarWilhelmKube:Khokhlov,Conscience,45–79.Note:theonlyknownsourceforthisremarkablestoryisKhokhlov.

4ExecutiveAction:“SovietUseofAssassinationandKidnapping.A1964viewofKGBmethods,”n.d.,CIA/CSI.“Strictlyspeaking,theterm‘executiveaction’encompassesdiversionaryactivities(suchassabotage)aswellasterroristicactivities.Thispaper,however,discussesonlytheterroristicaspectofSovietexecutiveaction,namely,kidnapingandassassination,”writestheCIAauthor.

5LaboratoryNo.12:Volodarsky,KGB’sPoisonFactory,33,37.SeealsoBirstein,PerversionofKnowledge,97,113,235.

6nevertobeseenagain:“ActivitiesofSovietSecretServiceTestimonyofNikolaiEugeniyevichKhokhlov,FormerKGBAgent,”U.S.Congress,SenateInternalSecuritySubcommitteeHearing,transcript,May21,1954,1–48;“TheTestimonyofaSovietSecretAgent,”HearingBeforetheCommitteeonUn-AmericanActivities,HouseofRepresentatives,April17,1956,3,755–89.

7traveledtoGermany:Khokhlov,Conscience,350–65.8Pentagonreceivedword:TheanticommunistémigrésheldapressconferenceinFrankfurt,whichishowtheCIAandtheDefenseDepartmentlearnedaboutKhokhlov’spoisoning.

9radioactivethallium:WhenKhokhlovemergedfromacomahewasbald,“sodisfiguredbyscarsandspotsthatthosewhohadknownmedidnotatfirstrecognizeme…livingproof[of]Sovietscience—thescienceofkilling.”ThesimilaritiesbetweenKhokhlov’sunsuccessfulassassinationbypoisoning,in

1954,andthesuccessfulkillingofformerRussianspyAlexanderLitvinenkoin2006,alsobyaradioactivesubstance,areextensive.InthecaseofLitvinenko,assassinsslippedpolonium-210intohistea.Thismini-nuclearattackcostanestimated$10milliontoexecuteandwasdesignedtosendaclearmessagetoanyonethinkingaboutbetrayingRussia.BeforeLitvinenkowasassassinated,hetoldtheNewYorkTimes,“Theviewinsideouragencywasthatpoisonisjustaweapon,likeapistol.”

10CIAthatconcluded:LettertoJ.EdgarHoover,Esquire,fromAllenW.Dulles,May19,1954,CIA/CREST.TwootherKGBassassinsdefectedshortlyafterKhokhlov:YuryRastvorov,inJanuary1954,andPetrDeryabin,inFebruary1954.KhokhlovbecameaU.S.citizenin1970.In1992,RussianpresidentBorisYeltsinpardonedhim.

11BohdanStashinsky,defected:AlexanderJ.Motyl,“AKGBAssassinSpeaks,”WorldAffairsJournal,November18,2011.Stashinsky,ageeighty,toldhissideofthestorytojournalistNatalyaPrykhodko.

12InterrogatedbyanofficernamedWilliamHood:“ArtichokeTechniques,”handwrittennotes,July28,1961,CIA/CREST;“CIAreport:WilliamHood,”n.d.,CIA/CREST.“AfterinitialAgencyinterrogationofStashinskyinFrankfurtonMaininAugust1961…theconclusionwasdrawnthathewouldnotbevaluableoperationallyasadoubleagent,thathewasnotabonafidedefectorandtheindividualhepurportedtobe.”

13sprayedatomizedhydrogencyanide:Gehlen,TheService,241.14Sovietmole:AlexanderJ.Motyl,“AKGBAssassinSpeaks,”WorldAffairsJournal,November18,2011.

15KGBopenedtwonewdivisions:“SovietUseofAssassinationandKidnapping.A1964ViewofKGBMethods,”n.d.,CIA/CSI;Volodarsky,KGB’sPoisonFactory,37.

CHAPTEREIGHT1“Itwasanatomicweapon”:authorinterviewwithWaugh,hereandthroughoutthechapter.

2W54SpecialAtomicDemolitionMunition:“FeasibilityofStudiesofSpecialPurposeConventionalMunitions,”ARPARundle,ARPARedit,February21,1966,Sandia,DOE/OSTI;SeymourDeitchman,“AnInsider’sAccount:SeymourDeitchman,”NautilusInstituteforSecurityandSustainability,basedonaninterviewconductedbyPeterHayes,February25,2003.

3constructedbasesforitsarmy:LaneJohnston,“OkinawaandtheUSMilitary

Post,1945,”ScientificAmerican,June19,2013.4disassembleddevice:“SADMDeliverybyParachutist/ASwimmer,”filmfootage,n.d.,circa1965,Sandia,DOE/CREST(alsoavailableonYouTube);Taslo,“AnArmyViewofNuclearWeaponsHistory,”SandiaNationalLaboratories,slidepresentation,January25,2011,authorcollection.

5Bank’sOSScarbrokedown:Bank,OSStoGreenBerets,116.ThestoryoftheOSSDeerTeam,commandedbyU.S.ArmymajorAllisonB.Thomas,istoldinMaurer,StrangeGround:AmericansinVietnam,1945–1975.SeealsoBartholomew-Feis,TheOSSandHoChiMinh.

6American-madehowitzers:interviewwithPlaster(formerMACV-SOG);footageofGiap’sarmyofciviliansdiggingtrenchesaroundDienBienPhuisonYouTube.

7UnitedStatesdidnotcometotheaid:LaurieandVaart,“CIAandtheWarsinSoutheastAsia,1947–1975,”August2016,3,CIA/SCSI.

8Dullesrelayedasimpletruth:ibid.,19.French-educatedEmperorBaoDaiwasacorruptphilanderer,hunter,gambler,andlazybonvivant.OncethepetmonarchoftheFrench,thisAmericanpuppetrepresentedeverythingacommunistfreedomfighterwasnot:heworetheworld’smostexpensivegoldRolex,huntedtigers,andcollectedconcubines.“Hewasweak,unpredictableandcorrupt,”warnedtheCIA.

9“[G]uerilla[sic]warmustmultiply”:Giap,People’sWar,People’sArmy,107–8.

10LansdaleencouragedDiem:SeeStanleyKarnow’s1979interviewwithEdwardGearyLansdale,from“Vietnam:ATelevisionHistory;America’sMandarin(1954–1963),”availableonlineatwgbh.org,partoftheVietnamCollection;AhernJr.,“CIAandtheGovernmentofNgoDinhDiem,”41–43.

11“GodHasGoneSouth”:Hansen,“B cDiCu,”182–84.12specialactivitycells:Pribbenow,“TheManintheSnowWhiteCell:Limits

toInterrogation,”n.p.,CIA/CSI.HecitesNguyenTai,DoiMatVoi[FacetoFacewiththeCIA],publishedinHanoiin1999.“Itisanextraordinarybookthatdescribeshow[NguyenTai]resistedyearsofunrelentinginterrogationbysomeoftheCIA’smostskilled,andSouthVietnam’smostbrutal,interrogators,”tosurviveandtellthetaleofthecommunists’specialactivitycellassassinationsquads.

13PathetLao:Leary,“CIAAirOperationsinLaos,1955–1974,”CIA/CSI.Untilthetwenty-first-centuryoperationinAfghanistan,theCIA’scovert-actionprograminLaoswouldbecomethelongest-runningandlargestparamilitary

operationinCIAhistory.14MobileTrainingTeams:“WhiteStarMobileTrainingTeams,Vientiane,

Laos,Subject:CivilAssistance,”September22,1961,CIA/CREST.DuringWorldWarII,whenBullSimonswasayoungU.S.ArmyRanger,heparticipatedintheGreatRaidatCabanatuan,inthePhilippines,killinghundredsofJapanesesoldiersbeforerescuing500POWsand33civilians,allsurvivorsoftheBataanDeathMarch.NowalieutenantcolonelwiththeSpecialForces,BullSimonswasinchargeofthe107operatorssenttoLaosaspartofWhiteStar.

15“insurmountabletask”:KenFinlayson,“OperationWhiteStar:PreludetoVietnam,”U.S.Army,SpecialWarfareCenter,June2002.

16WhiteStaradvisor:Paddock,“PersonalMemoriesofOperationWhiteStarinLaos,1961,”SmallWarsJournal,April10,2013.

17Laosasasupplyroute:photocollection,VietnamMilitaryHistoryMuseum,Hanoi,Vietnam(authorvisit);authorinterviewswithformerNorthVietnameseArmyfighters,February2016.TheTruongSonStrategicSupplyRoute,aslocalscallit,wasengineeredbyGeneralVoBamandbuiltbythe559thTransportationUnit,namedforthemonthandyearconstructionbegan.

18NationalSecurityAgency(NSA)report:RobertJ.Hanyok,“SpartansinDarkness,”CenterforCryptographicHistory,NationalSecurityAgency,2002,94;Jacobsen,ThePentagon’sBrain,193–94.

CHAPTERNINE1planstoassassinateforeignleaders:“DullesJanuary1960StatementtotheSpecialGroup,”93;“GeneralCabell’sRemarkstotheSpecialGroupinNovember1960,”98;“TheQuestionofKnowledgeandAuthorizationOutsidetheCentralIntelligenceAgencyintheEisenhowerAdministration,”109;“RichardBissell’sTestimony,”110;“TestimonyofWhiteHouseOfficialGordonGray,”111;“TheQuestionofWhetherAssassinationEffortsWereDisclosedinVariousBriefingsofAdministrationOfficials,”120;“DiscussionwithBundyon‘ExecutiveAction’Capability,”121;locatedin“AllegedAssassinationPlotsofForeignLeaders.”AllsourcesarefromSSC/CHURCH.

2PlanningCoordinationGroup:“CoordinationandPolicyApprovalofCovertOperations,”February23,1967,CIA/CREST.

3“Speakinginriddles”:“IIIAssassinationPlansandPlots,”95,SSC/CHURCH.

4HealthAlterationCommittee:Memo,ActingChiefN.E.DivisiontoDC/Cl,2/25/60,N181,SSC/CHURCH.

5“gettingridofLumumba”:“PlottoAssassinateLumumba:Summary,”19,SSC/CHURCH.

6“disappearsimultaneously”:“Pre-BayofPigsAssassinationPlot,”117–19,locatedin“AllegedAssassinationPlotsofForeignLeaders”[351pages],SSC/CHURCH.

7heexecutedhim:Guevara,“DeathofaTraitor,”essay,n.d.,availableonline.SeediscussioninAnderson,Che,237.

8Castrodeclared:Castrospeech,CampColumbia,Cuba,January9,1959,availableonline.

9executedbyfiringsquad:authorinterviewwithmuseumguardattheprisonwallinHavana,Cuba,June2017.

10SovietizationofCuba:Anderson,Che,474.11“doorstep”:“AllegedAssassinationPlotsofForeignLeaders,”Prologue,

XIII,SSC/CHURCH.12WhatMr.Halldiscovered:“MemorandumfromtheDirectoroftheOfficeof

IntelligenceResearchandAnalysisforAmericanRepublics(Hall)totheDirectorofIntelligenceandResearch,”November18,1959,FRUS.

13prosandcons:UnsignedMemorandum,DirectorateofPlans,“CovertActionAgainstCuba,”n.d.[probablyFebruary24or25,1960],LatinAmericaDivision,CIA/CREST.

14declassifiedminutes:Senatereport,73,SSC/CHURCH.15invadingparamilitaryforce:“AnalysisoftheCubanOperation,”January18,

1962,CIA/CREST.16Brigade2506:authorinterviewwithRodriguez;Quesada,TheBayofPigs,

8–17.TherearelotsofdocumentsonthesubjectatCIA/CREST,largelystillredacted.Quesadainterviewednumerous2506paramilitaryoperatorsandhisbookisanexcellentsummary,withoriginalphotographs.

17Rodriguezwantednoneofit:authorinterviewwithRodriguez;alsoseeRodriguezandWeisman,ShadowWarrior,49,51–52.

18unconventional-warfarelegend:obituary:Col.NapoleonD.Valeriano,CounterinsurgencyExpert,AssociatedPress,January22,1975.

19NewYear’sEveparty:authorinterviewwithRodriguez;RodriguezandWeisman,ShadowWarrior,65.

20CIAwouldassisthim:WesternHemisphereDivision,“Anti-CastroResistanceinCuba:ActualandPotential,”March16,1961,CIA/CREST.

21Trujillo’sdaughterFlor:“‘You’renothingbutatwo-bitdictator’—DealingwiththeDR’sRafaelTrujillo,”oralhistory,AmbassadorJosephFarland,n.d.,ADST.

22“Hekeptlawandorder”:interviewwithConsulGeneralHenryDearborn,AssociationforDiplomaticStudiesandTraining,ForeignAffairsOralHistoryProject,April24,1991,26,ADST.AllDearbornquotesinthissectionarefromthisinterviewandits61-pagetranscript.

23Bissell…oversawplans:“PouchingtheMachineGunsApprovedbyBissell,”202,SSC/CHURCH;Bissell,Lewis,andPudlo,ReflectionsofaColdWarrior,183.

24Dearbornwrote:“DearbornReportsAssassinationMayBeOnlyWaytoOverthrowTrujilloRegime,”195,SSC/CHURCH;“PassingtheCarbines,”200,SSC/CHURCH.

25maintainplausibledeniability:Dearborn,oralhistory,42–43,ADST.26“presighttherifle”:authorinterviewwithRodriguez.27criticalcovert-actionoperations:“MemorandumfromSecretaryofDefense

McNamaratoPresidentKennedy,”January24,1961,FRUS;“ThePresident’sAppointmentsThursday,January19,1961.”

28“treatitasacombatarea”:Shultz,SecretWar,14.29“fourthousandcivilofficers”:JohnF.Kennedy,“SpecialMessagetothe

CongressonUrgentNationalNeeds,”May25,1961,APP.AccordingtodeclassifiedCIAdocuments,thatnumberwouldriseto9,500overthenextfouryears.

30RobertKennedy…overseeingtheCIA’scovertoperations:“Helms’PerceptionofRobertKennedy’sPositiononAssassination,”150,SSC/CHURCH.

31topofthelist:“TheQuestionofKnowledgeandAuthorizationOutsidetheCentralIntelligenceAgencyintheKennedyAdministrations,”116;“TheAugust101962SpecialGroup(Augmented)Meeting,”161,SSC/CHURCH.Note:FromNovember1961toOctober1962,theSpecialGroup(Augmented),whosemembershipwasthesameasSpecialGroup5412plusAGRobertKennedyandGen.MaxwellD.Taylor(aschairman),maintainedauthorityforOperationMongoose,thecovert-actionprogramtooverthrowtheCastroregime.KennedydesignatedBrigadierGeneralEdwardG.Lansdale,assistantforspecialoperationstothesecretaryofdefense,toactaschiefofoperations,tocoordinateMongooseactivitieswiththeCIA,DoD,andState.CIAunitsinWashingtonandMiamihadprimaryresponsibilityfor

implementingMongooseoperations,whichincludedmilitary,sabotage,politicalpropagandaprograms,andassassination.MongoosewasterminatedshortlyafterPresidentKennedy’sassassination.

CHAPTERTEN1intensegunfire:Anderson,Che,471.2notamessage:authorinterviewwithunnamedBulgarian-Cubanintelligenceagent,Havana,Cuba,June2017.

3Guevaraissaidto:authorinterviewwithErnestoGuevara,Havana,Cuba,June2017.

4GrayTeams:ColonelJ.Hawkins,ChiefoftheParamilitaryStaffSection,Branch4[“detailedtotheAgency”],CIA/CREST;“RecordofParamilitaryActionAgainsttheCastroRegimeofCuba:DiversionPlan,”3,22–23,CIA/CREST.

5AirBranchpilots:“InspectorGeneral’sSurveyoftheCubanOperation,ClandestineParamilitaryOperations—Air,”October1961,98–110,CIA/CREST.

6beachheadatArcosdeCanasi:TheGrayTeaminfiltrationaccountisfrominterviewswithRodriguezaswellashismemoir,ShadowWarrior,67–86.

7BenignoPérezVivancos:JuanO.Tamayo,“TheSpyWhoBetrayedtheBrigade,”MiamiHerald,April17,2011;RodriguezandWeisman,ShadowWarrior,60.

8Castro’sgovernmentroundedup:“InspectorGeneral’sSurveyoftheCubanOperation,Security,”October1961,135,CIA/CREST.

9unforeseenpoliticalcard:“CanceltheStrikes!PhaseTwo,April16,”TaylorCommitteeInvestigationoftheBayofPigs,vol.IV,171,234,CIA/CREST;Quesada,“TheBayofPigs,Cuba1961,”19–20.

10middleofthenight:Dearborn,oralhistory,April24,1991,29–30,ADST.11dictator’sdeadbody:TimMansel,“IShottheCruelestDictatorinthe

Americas,”BBCNews,May28,2011.12Dearbornremembered:Dearborn,oralhistory,April24,1991,30–31,ADST.13“afunnyincident”:ibid.,32.14“heshookhandswithme”:ibid.,40.15RafaelTrujillowasassassinated:“SpecificEventsIndirectlyLinking

Dissidents’AssassinationPlots,”205;“SpecialGroupMeetingsofMay4andMay8,1961,”208.Botharefrom“AllegedAssassinationPlotsofForeignLeaders,”SSC/CHURCH.

16BisselltoldSenateinvestigators:“Bissell’sTestimonyAboutMovingtheAssassinationOperationfromPlanningtoImplementation,”36,SSC/CHURCH.

17unsubtlecryptonym:“ZR/RIFLE”[onepage,nomarkings,noattributions],attachedtoacoverletterfromE.H.Knoche,AssistanttotheDirector,CentralIntelligenceAgency,OfficeoftheDirector,April25,1975,CIA/CREST.

18systemof“plausibledenial”:“CovertActionasaVehicleforForeignPolicyImplementation:TheConceptofPlausibleDeniability,”7–11,314–316,SSC/CHURCH.

CHAPTERELEVEN1anticommunistplank:Shultz,SecretWar,18.2Addinginsulttoinjury:MemorandumforthePresident,Secret,TheWhiteHouse,Subject:ConversationwithCommandanteErnestoGuevaraofCuba,August22,1961,[signed]DickGoodwin,FRUS.

3guttedtheexistingparamilitaryauthorityattheCIA:NationalSecurityActionMemorandumNo.57,“ResponsibilityforParamilitaryOperations,”June28,1961,JFK/L.

4“ThefiascoattheBayofPigs”:JohnL.Helgerson,CentralIntelligenceAgency:“CIABriefingsofPresidentialCandidates,”May22,1961,n.p.,CIA/CREST.

5CliftoncurtlyinformedtheCIA:“OriginsofthePresident’sIntelligenceChecklist,”n.d.,CIA/CREST.

6“Historianshaveglossedover”:oralhistoryinterviewwithL.FletcherProuty,“UnderstandingtheSecretTeamPartIII,”withDavidT.Ratcliffe,1989.

7wideningawar:NationalSecurityActionMemo(NSAM)No.55,“RelationsoftheJointChiefsofStafftothePresidentinColdWarOperations”;NSAM56,“EvaluationofParamilitaryRequirements,”andNASMNo.57,“ResponsibilityforParamilitaryOperations.”OnJanuary18,1962,KennedysignedNASMNo.124,establishingaSpecialGroup(Counter-Insurgency)toplanandcoordinateclassifiedparamilitaryoperations.AllJFK/L.

8Facingcertaindeath:Shultz,SecretWar,34.9Eisenhowerforewarned:“TheLaosCrisis,1960–1963,”StateDepartment,OTH,FRUS.TheJuly23,1962,InternationalAgreementontheNeutralityofLaosshutdownallMilitaryAssistanceAdvisoryGroupsoperatinginLaos.

10leaveLaosalone:Shultz,SecretWar,22–26.11Nowinasubordinaterole:InAhern,VietnamDeclassified:TheCIAandCounterinsurgency,seeallofchapter5,“OperationSwitchback,”CIA/CSI.

12Waugh’sgrouptrained:interviewswithWaugh.NotetheCIA’soriginalprograminVietnamwascalledtheCombinedStudiesDivision,anamechosenforblandness.“ItwasalsocalledGroundBranch,orGB,”saysWaugh.

13“CIDGprogramwasanAmericanproject”:Kelly,VietnamStudies,U.S.ArmySpecialForces,1962–1972,39–42.Kelly’schapters2–7coverCIDGoriginsanddevelopmentingreatdetail.

14Wordcameback:never:Karnow,Vietnam,277–79.15uniquehistorywithseveralofDiem’sgenerals:“AllegedAssassinationPlots

ofForeignLeaders,”42–44;“[Section]E.Diem,Summary,”218,N228,SSC/CHURCH.

16preparedhimselfforthecoupd’état:Karnow,Vietnam,305–7;theuniqueparticipantdetailsarelargelyfromKarnow’sseminalinterviewswithConein,Lodge,andotherkeyplayers.

17“deaths…wouldbewelcomed”:“TheAbortiveCoupofAugust1963,”217–22,SSC/CHURCH.Infootnotes,thecommitteecitestheoriginalCIAdocuments,“ConeinAfter-Actionreport,November1,1963,”aswellasConein’sclosed-doortestimonyofJune20,1975.

18gildedfurniture:Karnow,Vietnam,309.19guardedthepresident’smother-in-law:TestimonyofClintonJ.C.Hill,

Agent,U.S.SecretService,WarrenCommissionReport,Appendix5,vol.II,132–54.JFKAssassinationRecords,NARA.AllquotesbyHillcomefromthistestimony.

20president…didn’twantSecretServiceagents:authorinterviewwithMerletti,nineteenthdirectoroftheU.S.SecretService.Seechapter21forfurtherdiscussion.

21Helms…inchargeofthepresident’sExecutiveActioncapability:“HelmsandHarveyDidNotBriefMcConeabouttheAssassinationPlots,”102;“EvidenceBearingonKnowledgeofandAuthorizationfortheAssassinationPlots,”148;“Helms’PerceptionontheRelationofSpecialGroupControlstoAssassinationActivity,”152;allfromSCI/CHURCH.

22“Ifyoukillsomeoneelse’sleaders”:“AnInterviewwithRichardHelms,”transcriptofHelmsinterviewwithDavidFrost,May22–23,1978,CIA/CSI.

23percentagecalculus:McMaster,DerelictionofDuty,236–37.

24BillyWaughwasleading:ThissectionwaswrittenfromauthorinterviewswithWaugh;seealsoWaughandKeown,Jackal,4–28.CaptainParisD.DavisrecountshisperspectiveontheeventsinKelly,VietnamStudies,U.S.ArmySpecialForces,1962–1972,78–80.DavisreceivedtheSilverStarforhisactions.

25“soonbedead”:Obituary:SP4RobertD.Brown,VeteransPartyofMontana,KIA,June18,1965,BongSon,BinhDinhProvince,Vietnam.

26“mercenaries”:authorinterviewwithWaugh.TheDefenseDepartmentobjectedtotheterm“mercenary”;officiallytheindigswerepartofthe883rdVietnameseRegionalForceCompany.

27trieddiscussing:Kelly,VietnamStudies,U.S.ArmySpecialForces,1962–1972,79.

28250feetofopenterrain:“JohnE.Reinburg,III,recipient,DistinguishedServiceCross,”HallofValor,AwardsandCitations,MilitaryTimes,n.d.

CHAPTERTWELVE1amputeeward:authorinterviewwithWaugh,photos,medicalrecords.2GreenBeretsbeganchatting:authorinterviewswithWaugh.3jobofSOGreconnaissancemen:JCS:MACV-SOGDocumentationStudy(July1970)AppendixM.,CommentsofCommandandControl,RecordsoftheSenateSelectCommitteeonPOW/MIAAffairs,NARA;Shultz,SecretWar,45–69.WithGeneralOrderNo.6,datedJanuary24,1964,MilitaryAssistanceCommandVietnam(MACV)inSaigoncreatedtheStudiesandObservationsGroup;seealsoHarveySaal’sfour-volumeseriesonSOG.

4“Nobodyknew”:authorinterviewswithPlaster.5Nungtribesmen:Plaster,SOG:TheSecretWars,29.6countenemytroops:Wilderetal.,“CIAatWar,”December2013,CIA/CSI.7SOG’sfirstcross-bordermission:Plaster,SOG:APhotoHistory,31.FirstfivereconteamswereRTIowa,RTAlaska,RTIdaho,RTKansas,andRTDakota.

8manufacturedinJapan:authorinterviewwithWaugh,observationofWaugh’scollectionofknivesusedoverthedecades;Plaster,SOG:APhotoHistory,18.

9“Allgavesome,somegaveall”:authorinterviewwithMeyer.10neverheardfromagain:authorinterviewwithdeFontaine;Cleverley,BornaSoldier,272–73.

11visiblefromthebase:authortourofKheSanhwithWaugh,February2017;

CIADirectorateofIntelligence,“ConstructionandLogisticActivitiesintheKheSanhArea,”February7,1968,CIA/CREST.

12SOGbaseatKheSanh:authorinterviewswithWaugh;authorinterviewwithSinglaub.

13whitetuxedoandabowtietoprom:VirtualVietnamVeteransWallofFaces,DonR.Sain,DateofBirth:January12,1943,HonoredonPanel9E,Row88oftheVietnamVeteransMemorialphoto.

14Once,duringarescueoperation:Plaster,SOG:APhotoHistory,105–6;authorinterviewwithHernandez,whowastwicerescuedbyMustachio,oncewithWaugh.

15Waughfelttheanger:authorinterviewwithWaugh.SeealsoWaughandKeown,Jackal,40–44.

16Kilburn,ahighlydecoratedcombatveteran:VeteranTributes,GeraldKilburn,LieutenantColonel,U.S.Army,KoreanWar,1950–1953(POW);VietnamWar1962,1963–1964,1966–1967,1968–1969,1970.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN1killGeneralGiap:authorinterviewswithWaugh;“ToAssassinateGeneralVoNguyenGiap,1967,”16-slidepresentation,usedbyWaughinlecturesforSpecialForcessoldiersatFortBragg(authorcopy).SeealsoWaughandKeown,Jackal,40–44.

2SOGoperator…CharlesF.Wilklow:Plaster,SOG:TheSecretWars,73–76.PlasterinterviewedWilklow’schildrentoreportthestory;IinterviewedPlaster.SeeingastheOscarEightmissionremainsofficiallyclassified,thisistheonlynarrativesourcematerialtodate.TechnicalinformationcomesfromDefenseIntelligenceAgencyReferenceNotes,U.S.MarineCorpshelicopterCH-46Atailnumber150955,crash;June3,1967MIA-POWfile:0720.Otherpersonnellistedinthisincident:TimothyR.Bodden,RonaldJ.Dexter,JohnG.Gardner,andBillyRayLaney(allmissing);Mr.Ky(NungCommander,rescued)andCharlesF.Wilklow(rescued);FrankE.CiusJr.(returnedPOW).

3BackattheSOGbaseatKheSanh:authorinterviewswithPace.4manwhosefacehadbeendisfigured:authorinterviewwithPlaster.Wilklowtoldhischildrenthathelaterlearnedthatthiskindofdisfigurementwasoftenpunishmentforasoldier’slyingorthievery.

5“Theserescueoperations”:authorinterviewwithPlaster.6Henevertoldhisfamily:authorinterviewwithPace.

7noideawherehewas:WaltRostow,“MemorandumtoMr.President,”TheWhiteHouse,Washington,May11,1967,JFK/L.

8“staterunprofiteers”:“TheFallofCheGuevaraandtheChangingFaceoftheCubanRevolution,”DirectorateofIntelligence,IntelligenceMemorandum,October18,1965,n.p.,CIA/CREST.

9acallfor“nuclearwar”:CheGuevara,“Revolución,”August17,1964.10communiquéfromLeonidBrezhnev:September1966,CIAFOIA,3.11Chegavehiswife,Aleida,aletter:PacoIgnacioTaiboII,“Guevara,Also

KnownasChe,”233.12slaughteredtheirownhorses:Anderson,Che,690.13SowastheCIA:“TheCheGuevaraDiary,”CIAWeeklyReview,December

15,1967,CIA/CSI.14“What’sthemission?”:authorinterviewwithRodriguez.15RodriguezwasflowntoBolivia:MemorandumforDeputyInspector

General,“StatementbyBentonH.Mizones[headquarterspseudoforFelixRodriguez]concerninghisassignmentinBoliviain1967andhisroleinthecaptureofErnesto‘Che’GuevaradelaSerna,”May29,1975,CIA/CREST.

16“Papácansado”:Rodriguez,ShadowWarrior,158.17Rostowtoldthepresident:CIAIntelligenceMemorandum,WaltRostow

Memorandum,“DeathofCheGuevara,”October11,1967,CIA/CREST.18JoaquinZentenoAnaya:inMay1976,ZentenoAnaya—thenservingasthe

BolivianambassadortoFrance—wasassassinatedinParisbyagroupcallingitselftheInternationalCheGuevaraBrigade.TheassassinapproachedtheambassadorashewalkedalongtheSeine,killedhimwithtwoshotstothehead,andvanished.

19RodriguezsayshespoketoChealone:authorinterviewwithRodriguez.SeealsoShadowWarrior,168.

20“codenumbers500and600”:opcit.MemoforDeputyIG,“Statement,”May29,1975,4,CIA/CREST.

21“Weembraced”:Rodriguez,ShadowWarrior,169.22swappedoutChe’sRolex:ibid.,170.“Theguerrilla’swatch,onmyown

band,wasnowonmywrist,”Rodriguezsays.23helicopter’sskids:MemoforDeputyInspectorGeneral,“Statement,”May

29,1975,5,CIA/CREST.24“ThehandsweresenttoCuba”:authorinterviewwithRodriguez.25“Phoenixwas”:Finlayson,“ARetrospectiveonCounterinsurgency

Operations,”n.d.CIA/CSI.

26“CIAparamilitary”:CIAMemorandum,Subject:ThePhoenixandProvincialReconnaissanceUnitProgram,December16,1969,CIA/CREST.“Phoenixisanintelligenceandoperationaleffortaimedatidentifying,ferretingoutandarrestingtheleadersandkeymembersoftheCommunistpoliticalstructureinSouthVietnam,”theCIAmemostates.

27Rodriguez’scover:authorinterviewwithRodriguez.28Witnessessaythattheprogram:EdwardMiller,“BehindthePhoenix

Program,”NewYorkTimes,December29,2017.

CHAPTERFOURTEEN1murderversusassassination:authorinterviewwithMcIntosh.2ProjectGamma:CIAIntelligenceReport,DirectorateofIntelligence,“CommunismandCambodia,ESAULV/72,Secret,”May1972,CIA/CREST.

3enigmaticCIAcaseofficer:LisaSmith,FaithfulDevotion(e-book,n.p.).ThisisAlvinSmith’swidow’saccountofSmith’slife,career,androleintheGreenBeretAffair.

4“Itwasme,Chuyen,andtenindigenoustroops”:authorinterviewwithMcIntosh.Alsosee“TheGreenBeretAffair,1969,”McIntosh’sessayavailableonlineatwar-stories.com.

5Inoneofthephotographs:Stein,AMurderinWartime,photoinserts.6MarascocontactedtheCIAstation:TerenceSmith,“DetailsofGreenBeretCaseAreReportedinSaigon,”NewYorkTimes,August14,1969;JohnDarnton,“Ex-BeretSaysHeKilledAgentonOrdersofC.I.A.,”NewYorkTimes,April4,1971.

7GeneralAbramssummoned:L.FletcherProuty,“GreenBeretsandtheCIA,”NewRepublic,August23and30,1969.TheyawaitedanArticle32hearingaspertheUniformCodeofMilitaryJustice.

8“lifeinprison,notafiringsquad”:statementofMajorGeneralGeorgeMabryJr.,quotedinStein,MurderinWartime,410.

9Rheault’seleven-year-oldson:FrankMcCulloch,“ABelieverinSelf-RelianceandElitism,”Life,November14,1969.

10Nixonwrote:WhiteHouseMorningNewsSummary,“CIAregardingthedoubleagent,”n.d.,3,RN/L.AcopyisreprintedinStein,MurderinWartime,insert.

11“doubleagentexecuted”:Shultz,SecretWar,279.ThisstorywasfirstreportedbyJohnPlasterinSOG:TheSecretWars,216n.

12“Thiswarwasgoingon”:authorinterviewswithMerletti,2016–19.IncludesallquotesandstoriesinthischapterattributedtoMerletti.

13toseehimofftowar:authorinterviewwithDonnaFiore,MikeKuropas’ssister.

14“flight-lineatKontumAirField”:“DakSeang15April1970,”originalbyDonaldSummers,editedbyRobertL.Noe,authorcopy(availableonlineatmacvsog.cc).

15“anunacceptablefurtherlossoflife”:authorinterviewwithSinglaub.16Summersremembered:TheeyewitnessaccountisfromDonaldSummers’s

essay“DakSeang15April1970.”OthersrecalladifferentwayinwhichKuropasissaidtohavedied;authorinterviewwithWolcoff.

17“Kuropas,KilledinAction”:MichaelVincentKuropasishonoredonPanel11W,Line7oftheVietnamVeteransMemorial.Born:January9,1948.DiedApril15,1970.

18exitinganaircraft:Foramazingphotographsandnarrativeaccounts,seePlaster,SOG:APhotoHistoryoftheSecretWars,245–61,chapter13,“TheUltimateInfiltrationTechnique.”

19leShimaIsland:authorinterviewwithWaugh;8-slidepresentation,“HALOpreparation,”usedbyWaughinlecturesforSpecialForcessoldiersatFortBragg(authorcopy).

20capturedandkilled:DetailedReportofInvestigationofCase1756,MadisonA.Strohlein,JointCasualtyRecoveryCenter,LOC.Today,HALOjumpingisaleadcomponentofSpecialForcesoperations.ToreadmoreabouttheoriginalHALOjumpsinVietnamseePlaster,SOG:TheSecretWars,259–80.

21BackfromVietnam:DeeplyaffectedbythewarandbyAmerica’snegativereactiontothosewhofoughtinVietnam,MerlettifirmlybelievesitwashisSpecialForcestrainingthatsethimonhispathandmadehimamanofcharacter—thatis,hebelievesthatsomeofthemostnegativeexperiencespositivelyshapedhim.“Forthelongesttime,whenwecameback,Imeantherewerenowelcome-home[parades].Itwasbad.Peoplemadelittlecomments,snidecomments.Yes,thereweretruelessonstobelearned.Therewerevaluablelessonstobelearned.Butthatthisgroup…thisarmyofyoungmen,muchofwhatwebroughtback[inpersonalexperience]wassuppressed,becausetheAmericanpublictriedtoshameus.Aftereverythingwedidtosurvive,theyshamedusforit.AndIdon’tknow—Ithinkalotofpeoplecamebackandwerelike,‘Man.Hey,Isurvived.Ijustwanttoputthisthingbehindme.Ijustwanttoforget.’Imyselfthought,Idon’twanttocome

outandsay,‘Ithoughtitwasagreatexperience.’ButItookitasalearningexperience.Itwasanabsolutedoctorate[degree]—itwasaPhDinlife.AndIknewthattherewerewaystousewhatIlearnedthereinVietnamasacivilianhereintheUnitedStates.ThatmomentwaslikeabrightlightgoingoffwhenIsawanoticeonabulletinboard.”Thatsaid,herearesomestatisticscompiledbySFC(Ret.)DavidHack,1stInfantryDivision,LaiKhe,Vietnam(uswings.com).9,087,000militarypersonnelservedonactivedutyduringtheofficial

VietnamerafromAugust5,1964toMay7,1975.2,709,918AmericansservedinuniforminVietnam.58,148werekilledinVietnamover23.11years.75,000wereseverelydisabled;23,214were100%disabled;5,283lost

limbs;1,081sustainedmultipleamputations.240menwereawardedtheMedalofHonorduringtheVietnamWar.FivemenkilledinVietnamwereonly16yearsold.Ofthosekilled,61%

wereyoungerthan21yearsold.11,465ofthosekilledwereyoungerthan20yearsold.Ofthosekilled,

17,539weremarried.Theaverageageofthemenkilledwas23.1years.Two-thirdsofthemenwhoservedinVietnamwerevolunteers.Approximately70%ofthosekilledinVietnamwerevolunteers.Theoldestmankilledwas62yearsold.91%ofVietnamveteranssaytheyaregladtheyserved.97%ofVietnamveteranswerehonorablydischarged.74%saytheywouldserveagain,evenknowingtheoutcome.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN1allhellbrokeloose:Korn,AssassinationinKhartoum,6–10.KornisaformerForeignServiceofficerwhohaswrittentheseminalworkonthistragedy.Hisbook,arigorouslysourcedpage-turner,isrifewithshockingtwistsandturns,includinghisassertionthatBelgianchargéd’affairesGuyEidsocializedwithPLOmembersandmayhavebeenworkingwithBlackSeptemberterroristsbeforehewasexecutedbythem(162–65).

2“Wewilldoeverything”:“HostagesintheSudan,”Item10,WhiteHousepressroom,statementofthepresident,March2,1973,RichardNixon,publicpapers,item10,157,APP.

3Thepolicy:U.S.DepartmentofState,BureauofDiplomaticSecurity,“HistoryoftheBureauofDiplomaticSecurity,”216.

4afterhearingthisnews:“TheTerroristAttackontheSaudiEmbassy,Khartoum,1973,”ADST.InterestedpersonscanreadinterviewswithU.S.StateDepartmentsurvivors.

5Frittsrecalled:ForeignAffairsOralHistoryProject,RobertE.Fritts,ArabIsraeliCrisisandWar,1973,156–58,FRUS.

6“We’veheardtherewasgunfire”:asrecalledbyFrittsin“TheTerroristAttackontheSaudiEmbassy,Khartoum,1973,”n.p.,ADST.

7“CleoandIwilldiebravely”:DepartmentofState,Secret,“TheSeizureoftheSaudiArabianEmbassyinKhartoum,”n.d.,declassifiedMay4,2006,FRUS.

8gunmenweretoldbytheirhandler:Korn,AssassinationinKhartoum,2;Korn’spositionisthatthisassertionwasfabricated,meanttomotivatetheterroriststokillCurtMoore.Inmyresearch,Ilocatednodeclassifiedreport(s)thatsuggestedMoorewasaCIAofficer.

9NSAlisteningpostinCyprus:ibid.,3.10Arafat,whoplannedandordered:DepartmentofState,Secret,“TheSeizure

oftheSaudiArabianEmbassyinKhartoum,”n.d.,declassifiedMay4,2006,FRUS.

11BlackSeptember…“formed…byArafatandhisclosestlieutenants”:BruceHoffman,“AllYouNeedIsLove:HowtheTerroristsStoppedTerrorism,”Atlantic,December2001.

12Mossadgavehim:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,177.13assassinationofWasfial-Tal,Jordan’sprimeminister:AmericanEmbassy

BeiruttoDOS,“Tal’sAssassination,”Beirut10549,December1,1971,RG59,NARA;WalkerandGowers,Arafat,88–89.

14“They’vekilledme!”:IntelligenceMemorandum,CIADirectorateofIntelligence,Subject:ImplicationofWasfialTal’sAssassination,November28,1971,CIA/CREST.

15thisblood-lickingact:PaulMartin,“JordanPrimeMinisterIsShotDeadinCairo,”Times[London],November29,1971.

16“CreateTwo,Three,ManyVietnams”:CheGuevara,“Revolución,”August17,1964.

17keptthemosthorrificdetailshidden:SamBorden,“Long-HiddenDetailsRevealCrueltyof1972MunichAttackers,”NewYorkTimes,December1,2015.Notethisarticlecameout43yearsaftertheevent.

18Nakam:SeeBartropandDickerman,TheHolocaust:AnEncyclopediaandDocumentCollection,361,372.Thomas,inGideon’sSpies,74–75,writes

aboutRaphael“Rafi”Eitan,aseventeen-year-oldassassininpostwarIsrael,whotoldcolleaguesthathedidnotknowofasinglecasewheretheNokmim(ThomasusesthenameofNakam’spredecessororganization)targetedthewrongperson.Othersdisagree.

19Thelogicwas:“JewishAvengersUnapologeticforTargetingNazisafterWWII,”AssociatedPress,August31,2016,aninterviewwithJosephHarmatz,oneofthefewremainingJewishAvengers.

20eliteassassinationunitcalledKidon:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,146.21unleashedkidon:NoamShalev,“TheHuntforBlackSeptember,”BBC,

January24,2006.22murdersfollowed:AteamofMossadagentsshotandkilledBouchiki,a

MoroccanwaiterandpoolcleanerlivinginNorway.HehadnothingtodowithBlackSeptember.SixMossadBayonetagents,includingtwowomen,werearrestedbyLillehammerpoliceandchargedwithmurder.TeamleaderMichaelHarariescaped.Fiveofthosecapturedwereconvictedandimprisoned,thenreleasedandreturnedtoIsraelin1975inwhatremainsasecretarrangement.

23intendedtoshootdownMeir’sairplane:authorinterviewwithformerShinBetsource,TelAviv,2016.

24StateDepartmentkeptsecret:DepartmentofState,Secret,“TheSeizureoftheSaudiArabianEmbassyinKhartoum,”n.d.,declassifiedMay4,2006.

25PresidentNimeirycommuted:Inadditiontoalltheprimarysourcematerialcitedabove,anexcellentsummationis:ScottJohnson,“HowArafatGotAwaywithMurder,”TheWeeklyStandard,January29,2007.

26“personalapprovalofYasserArafat”:“MemofromSecKissingerfromAmericanEmbassyKhartoum,SubjectBSOTerrorists,”datedJune26,1974,KHARTO0153802OF02261234Z,authorFOIA;DepartmentofState,Secret,“TheSeizureoftheSaudiArabianEmbassyinKhartoum,”n.d.,declassifiedMay4,2006,FRUS.

27Salameh,asaclandestineasset:Kissinger,YearsofUpheaval,625.Here,KissingerdeceptivelyreferstohisuseofSalamehas“low-levelintelligencechannels.”Foracomprehensivestudyofwhatthisactuallyinvolved,toincludetheCIA’sRichardHelms,seeBird,TheGoodSpy,149–52.

28twosidesofacoin:Bird,TheGoodSpy,93.29Ames’srelationshipwithSalamehhadwarped:ibid.,173.Birdarguesthat

SalamehdidnotoverseetheMunichmurders;heremainslargelyaloneinthisassessment.BirdacceptsthatSalamehorchestratedthemurdersofthe

diplomatsinSudan.30“giftofagun”:Bird,TheGoodSpy,173–74.31analystcolleagueBruceRiedel:ibid.,174.AsperBird’sinterviewwith

Riedel,whoreadfifteenfilesonMJ/TRUST/2.32“PLOsecurityissogood”:Thomas,Gideon’sSpies,281.33carbombexploded:EdwardCody,“BombKillsPalestinianonIsraeliWanted

List,”WashingtonPost,January23,1979.34WithaCIAhandlerdriving:Bird,GoodSpy,181–83.35“firsttimeinitshistory”:Snider,TheAgencyandtheHill,30.Beforethis,

explainsSnider,“theAgencyhadprovidedinformationtocongressionalcommitteesthroughbriefingsorbyprovidingdocumentsforreviewontheHill.…whiletheWatergateCommitteedidnotrecommendchangetotheoversightarrangementsperse,itsfinalreportdidrecommendthatCongressshould‘morecloselysupervisetheoperationsoftheintelligenceandlawenforcementcommunity’…and,inparticular,itsrelationswiththeWhiteHouse.”

36Schlesingersentamemo:JamesR.Schlesinger,“MemorandumfromDirectorofCentralIntelligenceSchlesingertoAllCentralIntelligenceAgencyEmployees,”May9,1973,FRUS,PublicDiplomacy1973–1975.Schlesinger’snowfamousmemorandumdatedMay9,1973,stated,“IhaveorderedallsenioroperatingofficialsofthisAgencytoreporttomeimmediatelyonanyactivitiesnowgoingon,orthathavegoneoninthepast,whichmightbeconstruedtobeoutsidethelegislativecharterofthisagency.”

37illegallywiretapreporters:SeymourM.Hersh,“WatergateDays,”NewYorker,June13,2005.

38“clearlywereillegal”:MemorandumofConversation,TheWhiteHouse,Washington,January4,1975(CIA/CREST);“Colbymustbebroughtundercontrol,”Kissingersaid.

39“theCIAwouldbedestroyed”:MemorandumofConversation,January4,1975,TheWhiteHouse,Washington,CIA/CREST.

40“CIAneverdidanythingtheWhiteHousedidn’twant”:Pike,quotedinHaines,“LookingforaRogueElephant:ThePikeCommitteeInvestigationsandtheCIA,”April14,2007,88,CIA/CSI.

41Later,Fordexpressedregret:“TheNation:ScenariooftheShake-Up,”Time,November17,1975;GilbertKing,“AHalloweenMassacreattheWhiteHouse,”Smithsonian,October25,2012.

42Ford’snewteamofadvisorsfailed:Snider,TheAgencyandtheHill,276,

CIA/CSI.43undatednotes:RichardB.Cheneyfiles,“WhiteHouseSeniorStaffMeeting

NotesFiles,1974–1977,”GRF/L.Thenoteread:“…bestprospectforheadingoffCongressionaleffortstofurtherencroachontheExecutivebranch.”In2005,Ford’sformerchiefofstafftoldreportersthat“anerosionofpresidentialpowerandauthority”hademergedduringthaterabutthatthependulumhasnow“swungback.…We’vebeenabletorestorethelegitimateauthorityofthepresidency.”From“CheneyHailsBushRestorationofExecutivePower,”WashingtonTimes,December21,2005.

44executiveorderonassassinationandnotanewlaw:Snider,TheAgencyandtheHill,276–78,CIA/SCI.Thecongressionalcommitteesconsidereddoingawaywithcovertaction.“Lookingatthecumulativeeffectofcovertaction,thecommitteequestionedwhetherthegainsfortheUnitedStatesoutweighedthecosts,”Sniderexplains,“especiallythedamagedoneto[America’s]reputationaroundtheworld.…Rather,thecommitteeconcludedthatcovertactionshouldbeemployedonlyinexceptionalcaseswherevitalsecurityinterestsoftheUnitedStateswereatstake.”

45gunmenstormed:ClydeH.Farnsworth,“TerroristsRaidOPECOilParleyinVienna,Kill3,”NewYorkTimes,December22,1975.

46PatriceLumumbaUniversity,abreedingground:SNIE11/2-81:SovietSupportforInternationalTerrorismandRevolutionaryViolence,CIAControlNo.TS815753.FormerlycalledthePeople’sFriendshipUniversityofRussia,theuniversitywasrenamedtohonorLumumba(anearliertargetofaCIAassassinationplot)aftertheCongoleseindependenceleaderwaskilledinacoup.

47Qaddafi,andasecretagreement:“Gadhadhafi[sic]CommentsonTalkswithBoumediene,”December15,1975,cable,CIA/CREST.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN1ForBillyWaugh:authorinterviewswithWaugh.2“basesofimperialism”:Qaddafi,inapublicaddressonOctober16,1969,ascitedinSt.John,Libya,141.

3“aplague”:“Fromthearchive,September8,1973:GaddafiandCastroclashoverSovietUnion,”Guardian,September8,2015.

4BillyWaughlandedinTripoli:authorinterviewswithWaugh.SeealsoLynnHughes,“UnitedStatesofAmericavs.EdwinPaulWilson,UnitedStatesDistrictCourt,SouthernDistrictofTexas,CriminalCaseH-82-139,Opinion

onConvictioninAncillaryCivilActionH-97-831,”October27,2003.5MajorAbdullahHajazzi:BackgroundonHajazziisconfirmedin“SitrepFollowingJune13MilitaryTakeover,CINCEURforPOLAD,U.S.DepartmentofState,”WikiLeaks.org;Maas,Manhunt,62.

6QaddafiwantedtoprovokeawarwithEgypt:RobertCarle,USChargéd’Affaires,Libya,To:DepartmentofState,August26,1976,CIA/CREST.

7QaddaficalledforSadat’sdeath:“LibyanAssassinationTeams:SomePatterns,”For:FrankFarrell,IntelligenceBranch,June18,1980,CIA/CREST.MichaelGetler,ScottArmstrong,“SadatMayHaveHadWarningSignsofAssassinationAttempt,”WashingtonPost,October7,1981.Egyptiansecurityforcesarrested“sixLibyansandfournon-EgyptianArabswho[underinterrogation]admittedbeingsentintoEgyptbyColonelMuammarQaddafiwiththemissionofassassinatingthePresident,”theCIAlearned.

8developingacloseworkingrelationship:authorinterviewwithWaugh;photographcollectionofWaugh;WaughandKeown,Jackal,92–105.

9WaughprovidedtohisCIAhandler:CIAIntelligenceMemorandum,“TheLibyanHand,”n.d.,CIA/CREST.

10lockedinawalk-invault:“EmbassyoftheUSinLibyaIsStormedbyaCrowdof2,000,”NewYorkTimes,December3,1979.

11LiquidationoftheStrayDogs:“Libya’sRecentRoleasaPatronofTerrorists,”May16,1980,IntelligenceMemorandumPreparedintheCentralIntelligenceAgency,308,NorthAfrica1977–1980,vol.17,part3,FRUS.

12Carterdescribedas“would-beassassins”:“LibyaRecalls4EnvoysUnderBritishPressure,”WashingtonPost,May13,1980.

13heclaimedtobeonahitlist:“EveningReports(State)”:October1980.Secret,NationalSecurityAffairs,BrzezinskiMaterial,SubjectFile,Box23,JC/L.Carterinitialedthememorandum.ForacomprehensiveassessmentoftheLibyansituation,includingdocsfromCIAandState,see“NorthAfrica,1977–1980,”part3,328–47,FRUS.

14OfficerMartinezinterviewed:JacyMarmaduke,“UncovertheMysteryofaNotoriousFortCollinsShooting,”Coloradoan,December8,2016.

15FaridaZagallaitoldtheFBI:“PossibleAssassinationAttemptofaUSDissident,”339–40.NorthAfrica1977–1980,vol.17,part3,FRUS.

16“quitbreathing.…permanently”:ibid.17TafoyatoldtheFBI:DouglasVaughan,“Ex-GreenBeretDeniesBeinga

Mercenary,”WashingtonPost,November26,1981.

18juryforeman:WilliamE.Schmidt,“Ex-GreenBeretIsConvictedofAssaultonLibyanStudent,”NewYorkTimes,December5,1981.

19military-gradeC-4explosives:PeterCarlson,“InternationalManofMystery,”WashingtonPost,June22,2004.

20JudgeLynnHugheswrote:Hughes,Lynn,“UnitedStatesofAmericavs.EdwinPaulWilson,UnitedStatesDistrictCourt,SouthernDistrictofTexas,CriminalCaseH-82-139,OpiniononConvictioninAncillaryCivilActionH-97-831,”October27,2003.“Becausethegovernmentknowinglyusedfalseevidenceagainsthimandsuppressedfavorableevidence,hisconvictionwillbevacated,”wrotethejudge.

21“Theyframedaguiltyman”:DouglasMartin,“EdwinP.Wilson,theSpyWhoLivedItUp,Diesat84,”NewYorkTimes,September22,2012.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN1code-namedtheBaron:Perisco,Casey,213.Storyoriginallytoldhere.2TimeofTroubles:“CounterintelligenceatCIA:ABriefHistory,”n.p.,CIA/SCI.

3Turnereliminated:ibid.,n.p.Ofthe820positionseliminated,649jobsweredissolvedbyattrition,154officerswereaskedtoretireinvoluntarily,and17werefired.

4threeideas:“CIA:Confronting‘UndeclaredWar’:CIADirectorWilliamJ.Casey,”TheAmericanLegion,vol.116,no.6(June1984),12–15,35–38,CIA/CREST;WilliamJ.Casey,“WarBehindtheLines,”StudiesinIntelligence26/4(Winter1982),CIA/SCI;WilliamJ.Casey,“OSS:LessonsforToday,”StudiesinIntelligence30/4(Winter1986),CIA/SCI.

5Caseywarned:RemarksofWilliamCasey,DirectorofCentralIntelligence,atLoyHendersonHall,DepartmentofState,June12,1984,CIA/CREST.

6“clear-cutarticulation”:Memorandum:“Agency’sParamilitaryRole,”From:DirectorofCentralIntelligence,WilliamJ.Casey,May15,1981,CIA/CREST.

7“Thiskindofcrap”:Persico,Casey,290.8Reagan’sinnercircleofadvisors:authorinterviewwithRizzo.9anassassinfired:MuchoftheinformationhereincomesfromBehl,“AttemptedAssassinationofPresidentReaganonMarch30,1981,”U.S.SecretService,OfficeofInspection,CO-1-31-833,May4,1981(398pages).

10gamma-classifiedlaunchcodes:Wilber,RawhideDown,154–55.11“Wewerealljuststunned”:authorinterviewswithMerletti.

12cripplingaggression:authorinterviewwithunnamedCATmember(PPD1983–2000).

13worriedaboutthepope:authorinterviewwithMaguire;RhodaKoenig,“BasketCasey,”NewYork,October15,1990:Caseydeeplydistrustedallatheisticcommunistsandwasknowntocallcommunism“theAntichrist.”

14“fanaticcouldtryandkillhim,”Thomas,Gideon’sSpies,224.15Bulgaria’ssecretservices:“Bulgaria:ACountryinTransition,An

IntelligenceAssessment,”DirectorateofIntelligence,March1984,CIA/CREST.

16rift…widened:A.Filippov,“ConcerningtheAttemptontheLifeofJohnPaulII,”Pravda,May15,1981,republishedinCurrentDigestoftheSovietPress,June17,1981,18.

17Mitrokhincommission:DanielC.Scotto,“PopeJohnPaulII,theAssassinationAttempt,andtheSovietUnion,”GettysburgHistoricalJournal,vol.6,2007.

18“professionalassassins”:“LibyanAssassinationTeams:SomePatterns,”IntelligenceBranch,June18,1980,CIA/CREST.

19overthrowtheLibyanleader:DanielSoutherland,“BehindQaddafi’s’81plottoassassinatePresidentReagan,”ChristianScienceMonitor,December7,1982.

20“PresidentNimeiry”:U.S.DepartmentofState,DepartmentHistoryReport,Libya,January1986(1980–1985).

21Theattacklasted:“TheAssassinationofAnwarSadat,PartI,”ADST.22“proudthatmysonkilledAnwaral-Sadat”:postedonlineandtranslatedfrom

theIraniannewsorganizationAhram.org.23CordMeyertooktotheairwaves:CordMeyer,“InterviewwithBradenand

Buchanan,WRCRadio,”October9,1981,CIA/CREST.24“pre-emptiveneutralization”:NationalSecurityDecisionDirective138,

CombattingTerrorism,TopSecret/Sensitive,TheWhiteHouse,Washington,April3,1984.Note,ittook2.5yearsforExecutiveOrder(EO)12333toformalize.

25QaddafiplannedtoassassinateReagan:CharlesR.Babcock,“U.S.TightensSecurityofTopOfficials,”WashingtonPost,November28,1981.

26presidentdecreed:“UnitedStatesIntelligenceActivities,December4,1981(AsAmendedbyExecutiveOrders13284[2003],13355[2004]and13470[2008])”canallbeaccessedatCIA.gov.

27“ambiguouslybroadterm”:MajorTylerJ.Harder,“TimetoRepealthe

AssassinationBanofExecutiveOrder12,333:ASmallStepinClarifyingCurrentLaw,”MilitaryLawReview,vol.172,June2002,16.

28“We’rearmingtheAfghans,right?”:Persico,Casey,428–29.29knownlocally:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,373.30BilalSharara:BlanfordlivedinBeirutstartingin1994,andservedasa

correspondentfortheChristianScienceMonitorstartingin2002.31human-waveassaults:TerenceSmith,“Iran:FiveYearsofFanaticism,”NewYorkTimesMagazine,February12,1984.

32firstreportingofmodern-daysuicidebombers:DavidB.Ottaway,“ChildPOWs,”WashingtonPost,July16,1984.

33MugniyahtoldArafat’sdeputy:Bergman,TheSecretWarwithIran,70.34sayhisfriends:authorinterviewswithRizzo,Maguire,Rodriguez,andothers

whoknewBuckleypersonally.35Mugniyahpersonallyoversaw:authorinterviewwithRizzo;BobWoodward

andCharlesBabcock,“AgencyWatchedHelplessly:CIA’s‘PrivateHostageCrisis’overBuckleyTold,”WashingtonPost,November25,1986.

36“IhadfirstmetBillBuckley”:Rizzo,CompanyMan,102.37“Therewerejust”:authorinterviewwithRizzo.38“Caseyordered”:Rizzo,CompanyMan,102.39“secretcommandounit”:JeffGerthwithPhilipTaubman,“USmilitary

createsSecretUnitsforuseinSensitiveTasksAbroad,”NewYorkTimes,June8,1984.

40StateDepartmentobjected:oralhistoryinterviewwithAmbassadorRobertOakley,“TheFailedAttempttoGetaTerroristMastermind,”ADST.

41CounterterroristCenter(CTC)openeditsdoors:“AboutCIA,Timeline,”CIAMuseum,authorvisit;Clarridge,ASpyforAllSeasons,320–29.

42VincentCannistraro:“TargetAmerica,”Frontline,PBS,October2001.43LaBellediscothèque:NathalieMalinarich,“Flashback:TheBerlinDisco

Bombing,”BBCNews,November13,2001.44ClarridgeproposedkillingQaddafi:Coll,GhostWars,521–22.45allegedlykilling:PhotographsanddocumentsrecoveredinQaddafi’sBabal-

Azizyacompound,in2011,suggesttosomethatHanawasnotkilledandisaliveandworkingasadoctorinTripoli.TheGermannewspaperDieWeltbrokethestory.

46self-defenseasdefinedbyArticle51:RonaldReagan,“AddresstotheNationontheUnitedStatesAirStrikeAgainstLibya,”April14,1986,availableonYouTube.

47“Why…moremorallyacceptable”:Coll,GhostWars,144.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN1toldtheJusticeDepartment:“LewisMerletti,SecretServiceDirector’sDeclaration,JusticeDepartment,”releasedMay19,1998,courtfilinginoppositiontoindependentcounselKennethW.Starr’smotiontocompeltestimonyfromSecretServiceagents.

2radicalAOP—AttackonPrincipal:authorinterviewwithMerletti.3Delta’snamewaschanged:Sometimelater,thenamewasapparentlyagainchangedtoArmyCompartmentedElement,thoughmostspecialmissionunitoperatorsrefertotheunitasDeltaorCAG.

4neverbeenreportedbefore:Themissionwasreferencedin1994,someofthedetailscorrect,othersnot,saysMerletti:“TerrorontheSouthLawn,”Newsweek,September26,1994.

5“‘holyshit’moment”:authorinterviewwithU.S.SecretServicespecialagent.

6AOPtrainingraid:authorinterviewswithMerletti.7PrinceSultanwasmeeting:Burke,Al-Qaeda,124n265.BurkeinterviewedMohammaddinMohammadinOctober2002inPeshawar.SomedetailscomefromWright,LoomingTower,158.

8Iraqhadapowerfularmy:“CommandConcepts,GulfWar,”RAND,58.9MohammaddinMohammadrecalled:Burke,Al-Qaeda,136.AlsoseeAliSoufan,notes,SecurityCommittee,UBL,9/11CommissionReport.

10Cheney,metpersonallyinJeddahwithSaudikingFahd:“OralHistory:NormanSchwarzkopf,”TheGulfWar,Frontline(pbs.org).AlsopresentwasU.S.ambassadortoSaudiArabiaCharlesFreeman.Notethecontroversyhere:theSt.PetersburgTimesreportedthatRussiansatellitephotosshowednoIraqibuildup,asdidthetestimonyofPeterZimmerman,DefenseDepartmentanalyst.

11Cheneytoldtheking:ibid.,SchwarzkopfinterviewwithFrontline,February4,1997.

12“Youdon’tneedAmericans”:Wright,LoomingTower,157.13“Americaincarnatesthedevil”:LawrenceJoffe,“Obituary:Hassanal-

Turabi,”Guardian,March11,2016.14TurabihostedtheArabIslamicPeople’sCongress:Atwan,TheSecretHistoryofalQaeda,48.JournalistAbdelBariAtwansayshediscussedtheeventwithOsamabinLaden.

15CIAtooknoteandbegantomonitorthejihadists:Turabi’svisionwastocreateaMuslimcaliphateacrossAfricaandtheMiddleEast,withSudanastheummah,orheadquarters.PresidentEisenhowerhadoncewonderedaloudtohisNationalSecurityCouncilifIslamicradicalismcouldbeusedasacounterbalancetocommunism.Hisideawasthatitmightbringacuriousformofpeacetotheworld’smostungovernablenations.Turabi’sIslamicregimeinSudanindicatedtotheintelligencecommunitythatthiswasnolongeraviableforeignpolicypursuit.

16greenbadger:AttheCIA’sbehest,Waughbecameafull-timeCIAemployeeduringthe1990s,buthedislikedthis,hesays,mostlybecauseitrequiredhimtoliveinWashington,DC.Afteralittlemorethanayear,hewentbacktobeingagreenbadger,whichishowhedidmostofhiswork.BeinganindependentcontractorintheSpecialActivitiesDivisionisnothinglikebeingaso-calleddefensecontractor(suchworkistypifiedbytheorganizationformerlyknownasBlackwater).TheCIAparamilitaryoperatorsandofficersinterviewedforthisbookmakeclearthatdefensecontractorsarenotauthorizedtoengageindirect-actionmissionsanddonothaveTitle50authority.

17themaskdidn’treallyfit:authorinterviewswithWaugh.ThestoriesinthissectionwereconfirmedwithasecondsourceinK-town,inagencyparlance.SeealsoWaughandKeown,Jackal,120–44.

18fulfilledhisboyhooddreams:authorinterviewswithWaugh.19largestlandownerinSudan:Wright,LoomingTower,169.20IntelligenceSupportActivity:“SubjectHPSCI‘Discovery’oftheArmy’s

IntelligenceSupportActivity(ISA),”fromDC/PCS,February10,1982,CIA/CREST.OrganizationfoundedbyColonelJerryKing.

21localpapersreported:“AttackonMosqueinSudanbyFundamentalistsKills20,”AgenceFrance-Presse,December10,2000.

22“Asanewrecruit”:authorinterviewwithBlack.23“KhartoumwastheSuperBowl”:KevinMcMurray,“CoferBlack,Outofthe

Shadows,”Men’sJournal,November20,2013.24doubleagentAliMohamed:ServiceRecordsofAliMohamed,ascitedinUSAv.OmarAbdelRahmanetal.,S(5)93Cr.181(MBM),andfromtheclosingremarksofdefenseattorneyRogerStavis,September11,1995.

25MugniyahsharedwithbinLadentechniques:ibid.;alsoseeLance,TripleCross,140;Wright,LoomingTower,192.

26planningtheassassination:authorinterviewwithBlack;Coll,GhostWars,

271.SeealsoBlack’s9/11CommissionReporttestimony,September26,2002.NotuntilAugust1993wasthefirstofficialCIAreportonOsamabinLaden—calledUsamabinLaden(UBL)bytheAgency—released.WrittenbyanalystGinaBennett,itwascalled“TheWanderingMujahidin:ArmedandDangerous.”Sixmonthsprior,inFebruary1993,jihadistsstrucktheUnitedStates,detonatingatruckbombbelowtheNorthToweroftheWorldTradeCenterinNewYorkCity,killingsixpeopleandinjuringonethousand.TheambitiousplanwastoweakentheNorthTowertothedegreethatitfelloverandcrashedintotheSouthTower,bringingbothtowersdownwiththehopesofkillingtensofthousandsofpeople.OneofthemenconvictedofconspiracyinthebombingwasOmarAbdel-Rahman,theMuslimclericknownas“theblindsheikh,”who’dorderedtheassassinationofAnwarSadat.“TheperceptionthattheU.S.hasananti-IslamicforeignpolicyagendaraisesthelikelihoodthatU.S.interestswillincreasinglybecometargetsforviolencefromtheformermujahidin,”wroteBennett.“TheArabmujahidin[are]consideredhighlymotivatedandpreparedtodieforthejihad.”

CHAPTERNINETEEN1“Isawasubjectline”:Clarke,AgainstAllEnemies,80.2“nosuchreport”:Thoughnotpresentfortheevent,MerlettimaintainsthattheSecretServiceknewaboutthefoiledbombplotaseventswereunfoldinginKuwait.ThepublicaffairsofficeattheSecretServicewouldnotcommentonthematterbutsentmetwocontradictorynewsarticlesinresponsetoawrittenrequest.In“ClintonAwaitsProbeofBushDeathPlot,”WashingtonPost,May9,1993,BarbaraVobejdawrote,“BushspokesmanAndrewManersaidtheformerpresidentwastoldabouttheassassinationplotwhilehewasinKuwait.”In“BushSaysDeathPlotWouldn’tDeterHimfromKuwaitTrip,”Reuters,May24,1993,MichaelConlonwrote,“GeorgeBushsaidyesterdaythattheplottoassassinatehimduringhisrecentvisittoKuwaitwasgenuineandthathedidnotlearnabout[it]untilhereturnedtotheUnitedStates.”

3Kuwaitwasmovingforwardwithatrial:“TheAttackThatFailed:Iraq’sAttempttoAssassinateFormerPresidentBushinKuwait,April1993,”Secret,NOFORN/ORCON,n.d.(84pages),43–44,CIA/CREST.

4anarrativeemerged:ibid.,40–44.5hewasworking:ibid.,2.6Ifthecarbombfailedtodetonate:ibid.,51.

7Iraqi-madebombs:ibid.,28.8“ampleproofofdirectIraqiresponsibility”:ibid.,30.9CIAofficerswiththeCTC:“Iraq:BaghdadAttemptstoAssassinateFormerPresidentBush,”DirectorateofIntelligence,IntelligenceMemorandum,CounterterroristCenter,July12,1993,1–4.

10LandCruiserexploded:“Mitterrand’sWifeEscapesIraqBombAttack,”AssociatedPress,July7,1992.

11shehadsuffered:“FuneralCrowdDemandsRevenge,”WashingtonPost,June28,1993.

12“reallydepressing”:authorinterviewwithMerletti.13reportthefindingstoCongress:PierreThomas,“TreasuryOfficialSaysATF

MadeMistakesinWaco,”WashingtonPost,August14,1993;DavidWillmanandGlennF.Bunting,“AgentDisputesBossonWacoRaidWarning,”LosAngelesTimes,July25,1995.

14Merlettitoldthecongressman:interviewwithMerletti.ThissectioncomesfrommyinterviewswithMerlettiaswellas:TestimonyofLewisMerletti,WacoInvestigation,Day4,Part1,July24,1995;JointSubcommitteehearingsinvestigatingthefailedFebruary28,1993;Alcohol,TobaccoandFirearmsBureauraidontheBranchDavidiancompoundnearWaco,Texas.

15smokingcrackcocaine:“HistoryofGroundandAirAssaultsontheWhiteHouseComplex,”PublicReportoftheWhiteHouseSecurityReview,Appendix,SecretaryoftheTreasury,12–13.

16Corderwasnotalicensedpilot:ibid.,3.17“protectingthepresidentfromflyingsuicides”:MelindaLiu,“Terroronthe

SouthLawn,”Newsweek,September26,1994.

CHAPTERTWENTY1summonedtohisCIAreportingsite:ThischapterwasreportedbasedonextensiveinterviewswithWaugh,aswellasareviewofdocumentsandphotographsinhispersonalcollection.Itisfurtherauthenticatedbyaninterviewandcorrespondencewiththen–ChiefofStation,Khartoum,CoferBlack,aswellasaSeniorIntelligenceServiceofficerwhowishedtoremainanonymous,andwhoservedinSudanbeforejoiningtheCTC.SeealsoWaughandKeown,Jackal,chapters9–11.

2Jackalmovedaroundtheglobe:DirectorofCentralIntelligence,NationalIntelligenceCouncil,ForChief,CounterterroristGroup,CPN/DO,“FBISExcerpts,”September3,1985,CIA/CREST.Note:GeneralNicolaePlesita,

theruthlesschiefoftheSecuritatesecretpolice,personallyarrangedshelterinRomaniaforCarlostheJackal.In1998,GeneralPlesitatoldcourtprosecutorsontherecordthatPresidentNicolaeCeausescuhadorderedhimtofindtemporaryshelterfortheterrorist,inRomania,afterthebombingoftheRadioFreeEuropeoffices,inMunichin1981.

3“BillyWaughwastheperfectperson”:interviewwithBlack.4quicklysnappedfourorfivepictures:authorreviewofWaugh’sphotos.5“whatinhelltheywanted”:authorinterviewwithBlack.6Helivedonlybecause:RichardL.Holm,“ACloseCallinAfrica:APlaneCrash,Rescue,andRecovery,”CIA/SCI.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE1LewMerlettipreparedfortravel:ThischapterisreportedbasedoninterviewswithLewMerlettiaswellasphotographsfromhispersonalcollection.HerbertRagan,thedigitalarchivesspecialistattheWilliamJ.ClintonPresidentialLibrary,providedmewith792pagesofcontactsheets—MiddleEastpeaceprocessimagestakenbyWhiteHousephotographers,comprisingsome25,000imagesthatchroniclethetravelsdiscussedhere.Seealso“PresidentClinton’sDailySchedule,”Collection,WJC/L.

2NofanofCIAcovertoperations:ThatPresidentClintonavoidedcovertactionasathirdoptionwasasentimentsharedbyamajorityofcovert-actionoperatorswhoservedduringhisWhiteHousetenure.CIAformergeneralcounselJohnRizzowritesinhisbookthatimmediatelyaftertheelection,President-electClinton“begansendingunmistakablesignals.Hewasn’tinterestedin,didn’tcareabout,theAgencyatall.”SeeRizzo,CompanyMan,137;Memorandum,“Subject:UsamabinLadin-relatedActivitiesinKondozProvince,Afghanistan,”October27,2000,WJC/L.

3Hamasmaintainedahitsquad:YosifMahmoudHaj-Yahisetal.,“AllegedPalestinianCollaboratorswithIsraelandTheirFamilies:AStudyofVictimsofInternalPoliticalViolence,”HarryS.TrumanResearchInstitutefortheAdvancementofPeace,HebrewUniversityofJerusalem,18–19.

4“disappearfromthemap”:BradleyBurston,“NetanyahuWantsPeace,VowsWaronMilitants,”Reuters,October18,1997,quotingYassinfromhisinterviewwithSwedishnewspaperSvenskaDagbladet.

5“untilJudgmentDay”:“SheikhYassin:SpiritualFigurehead,”BBCNews,March22,2004;SherifaZuhur,“HamasandIsrael:ConflictingStrategiesofGroup-BasedPolitics,”StrategicStudiesInstitute,U.S.Army,December

2008.6YasserArafatwasconsideringmakingpeace:Inthefallof1991,ninemonthsaftertheendoftheGulfWar,theUnitedStatesandRussiahostedtheMadridConferenceinSpain,designedtorevivepeacetalksbetweentheIsraelisandthePalestinians.FromthepointofviewoftheU.S.StateDepartment,peacebetweenIsraelanditsArabneighborswouldstabilizetheregionandfurtherisolateIranandIraq.Hamasperceivedthismovetowardstabilizationasadirectthreattoitsexistenceandpursuedmass-casualtyattacks.

7assassinationsquadwasfoldedintothegroup’smilitarywing:Al-Qassam,EzzedeenAl-QassamBrigades,InformationOffice,“AboutUs,”authorcopyprovidedbysource.

8theShinBethadinformation:authorinterviewwithShinBetofficer,Jaffa,Israel,2016.

9“Mugniyahhimselfcametothecamp”:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,421.10faceandhandscoveredinblood:“BombRipsBusApartinTelAviv,”

AssociatedPress,October19,1994.11MerlettitraveledtoTelAviv:authorinterviewwithMerletti.SeealsoTheGatekeepers,a2015documentaryfilm,directedbyDrorMoreh,inwhichsixformerheadsoftheShinBetgoonthepublicrecordforthefirsttime.

12“[AgentS ]wasnotwatchinghisarea”:Inourinterviews,MerlettiidentifiedtheShinBetagentbyhislastname,whichbegins“S.”MossadidentifieshimasAgentY,hisfirstnamebeingYuval;Ichosetoredactthenameandgowiththefirstinitialofthelastname.

13ClintonmetwithHafezal-Assad:“ThePresident’sNewsConferencewithPresidentHafizal-AsadofSyriainDamascus,October27,1994,”APP.

14KingFahd,whopraised:U.S.DepartmentofState,Dispatch,vol.5,SupplementNo.10,November1994,39.

15Arafatfumed:ClydeHaberman,“ClintonintheMiddleEast:TheSacredCity;DivisivenessofShrineIssueForcesClintontoDropTour,”NewYorkTimes,October8,1994.

16ShamgarCommission:“TheAssassinationofaPrimeMinister—TheIntelligenceFailureThatFailedtoPreventtheMurderofYitzhakRabin,”NationalSecurityStudiesCenterofHaifa,Haifa,Israel.AsforAgentS ,“Hewasthecommander(4–5agents)oftheadvancedunitwhichwasinchargeofallthepreliminarychecksandreconnaissanceatthevenuebeforetheevent[whereRabinwasassassinated]andcreatedthesecondcircleofprotectionduringit,”HaaretzreporterYossiMelmantoldme.“Hewasfound

guiltyofnegligenceandunprofessionalconduct.”17paidinformant:Theuncle,KamilHamad,promptlydisappearedfromhis

Gazahome.AccordingtospeculationintheIsraelipress,inexchangeforbetrayingtheEngineer,KamilHamadreceived$650,000,anewpassport,andavisatotheUnitedStates.

18“Asthepresidentialmotorcade”:authorinterviewwithMerletti.19interviewingPresidentClinton:Clintoninterview:NPR’sAllThingsConsidered,January21,1998.

20“WhatisthisguyKenStarrthinking?”:authorinterviewwithMerletti.21ClintHillwaslivingproof:“TestimonyofClintonJ.Hill,SpecialAgent,

SecretService.”HearingsBeforethePresident’sCommissionontheAssassinationofPresidentJohnF.Kennedy,vol.II,61,132–44.AccordingtoHill,PresidentKennedymadetheprotocolchangeduringhisvisittoTampa,Florida,onNovember18,1963.

22KenStarrseemedunconcerned:authorinterviewwithMerletti;Gormley,TheDeathofAmericanVirtue,422–23.

23AccompanyingMerlettiwas…ClintHill:ibid.UsingaPowerPointpresentationtodemonstrate,MerlettishowedKenStarrahistoryoftheSecretServicethatcoveredthemurderofPresidentKennedy.“SecretServiceagentsthinkaboutassassinationeveryday,”hesays.“Theystudythewayinwhichassassinationsoccuraroundtheworld.Keepingthepresidentsafeisoneofthemostsignificantpartsofthenationalsecurityapparatus.”MerlettitoldStarr:“Onecouldargueitsitsatthetop.Anassassinationhasgraveeffects.It’snotlikeanyothermurder.It’samurderthathasworldwideimplications.”

24LawyersfortheSecretServiceshowedthejudge:MichaelDuffy,“KeepingItSecret,”CNN,May18,1998.

25suicidebombersdrove:“20thAnniversaryoftheUSEmbassyBombingsinEastAfrica:RecollectionsfromEmployeesandStaffoftheUSEmbassiesinNairobi,KenyaandDaresSalaam,Tanzania,”NairobiRoar,August27,1998,vol.1,issue41,withanotefromtheambassador,PrudenceBushnell.Thenumberofdeathsandcasualtiesvariesamongsources.

26binLadenissuedafatwa:9/11CommissionReport,chapter2,section2.1,“ADeclarationofWar.”

27Clintonwouldnotsignit:authorinterviewwithRizzo;Rizzo,CompanyMan,162.

28CIAwantedtokillbinLadenoutright:authorinterviewwithBlack.29Tomahawkcruisemissiles:9/11CommissionReport,116.Thecommission

found,“TheargumentforhittingalShifawasthatitwouldlessenthechanceofBinLadin’shavingnervegasforalaterattack.”Othersdisagreed,includingtheNationalSecurityCouncil’sMaryMcCarthy,whofeltthattheintelbetweenbinLadenandalShifawas“ratheruncertainatthispoint.”SeealsoMarcLacey,“LookatthePlace!SudanSays,‘SaySorry,’butU.S.Won’t,”NewYorkTimes,October20,2005.

30WaughwasinSudan…atthetime:authorinterviewwithWaugh.31“somanycaveatsandconditions”:authorinterviewwithRizzo.32“shewouldconsideras‘illegal’”:authorinterviewwithRizzo;Rizzo,CompanyMan,162.

33“Unbelievable”:authorinterviewwithBlack.34Crumptonexplained:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.Thesecondandthird

quotescomefromCrumpton,ArtofIntelligence,155–56.35“Imaginethepre-9/11headlines”:CrumptonquotingBlackinCrumpton,ArtofIntelligence,156.IalsodiscussedthiswithBlackinourinterview.

36“Noonehadtheforesight”:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.37“takealawyerfromtheJusticeDepartment”:authorinterviewwithBlack.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO1togetadvancemoney:authorinterviewswithWaugh.Moneyisgiveninexchangeforanauthorizationchitfromanoperationsofficer,orhandler.

2ShanStateArmy:ThomasFuller,“KhunSa,GoldenTriangleDrugKing,Diesat73,”NewYorkTimes,November5,2007.

3“Ibeganwriting”:authorinterviewwithRizzo.4Waughheadedovertothelot:ThissectionisreportedfrommyinterviewswithWaughandfourothermembersoftheSpecialActivitiesDivisionwhoweretherethatday.“TheCIAwasconsideredatargetandpeopleweremovingfast.”ThemembersofSADwatchedasthousandsofCIAemployeeshurriedoutoftheparkinglot.“Thereweremorethanafewfenderbendersthatday.”

5“RON”:“ThisisneveraproblemifyouworkforSAD,”Waughsays.“Youalwayshaveabagwithachangeofclothes,aflashlight,atoothbrush,andsomeotherthingsinyourtrunk.”

6“Let’spickthemoffoneatatime”:DanBalzandBobWoodward,“America’sChaoticRoadtoWar,”WashingtonPost,January27,2002.

7Tenetwasveryclear:authorinterviewwithBlack.8determinationtohuntdown:“Bush:There’sNoRules,”CNN.com,

September17,2001.Therhetoricaround9/11wouldnowcenteraroundhuntingandkilling.Itwouldbeaboutjusticeandrevenge.Areporteraskedthepresident,“DoyouwantbinLadendead?”“Iwantjustice,”thepresidentsaid,andhecited“anoldposteroutwest…thatsaid,‘Wanted,DeadorAlive.’”

9presidenttoldhisadvisors:DanBalzandBobWoodward,“AfghanCampaign’sBlueprintEmerges,”WashingtonPost,January29,2002.

10saidRizzo:authorinterviewwithRizzo.11“ThefirstMON”:Thefirsthalfofthisquoteisfromourinterview;the

secondhalfisfromRizzo,CompanyMan,172.12oneofwhichwasarmed:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.13Tenetpassedthisauthority…toCoferBlack:Coll,DirectorateS,70.14“Thepurposeofthismeeting”:9/11CommissionReport,333;author

interviewwithBlack.Thememorandumwastenpageslong,withtwoappendices,anditauthorizedallthestepsproposedbyTenetatCampDavidtodestroybinLadenandhisnetwork.

15briefingforVicePresidentDickCheney:authorinterviewswithPrado.ThisinformationfirstreportedinMazzetti,WayoftheKnife,122.

16wearingarubbermask:authorinterviewswithPrado;Coll,DirectorateS,84.17meetingintheWhiteHouse:authorinterviewswithPrado.18“CIAparamilitaryarm”:Crumpton,ArtofIntelligence,189.19Pradorecalls:authorinterviewswithPrado.20Crumptonexplains:authoremailswithCrumpton.21askedhimtolead:Schroen,FirstIn,15.22“Letmeexplainsomething”:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.23U.S.militarycannotlegallypaycashbribes:It’sworthnotingthisdollar

amountwaslessthanone-seventhofthemoneytheDefenseDepartmentspentfiringTomahawkmissilesonbinLaden’scavesinKhostonasingledayin1998.

24“Wewereproducing”:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.25“OurAfghanallies”:Crumpton,ArtofIntelligence,237.26“OnOctober1”:authorinterviewswithStiles.27growingatafuriouspace:Coll,DirectorateS,76.28augmentedwithspecialoperationsforces:InthesecondweekinOctober

2001,GreenBeretshelicopteredintothePanjshirValleyandlinkedupwithSchroen’steam.TheGreenBeretsbroughtwiththemalasertargetingsystem,calledSOFLAM,whichwouldinteractwithinformationfromthe

Pentagon’ssystemandalsotheMagicBox.Inthisway,CIApersonnelcouldaccessCentralCommand’sbombingencyclopedia,includingitslistofmilitarytargetsacrossAfghanistan.

29“‘GotoKabul’”:authorinterviewwithBlack.Waughwasgivenonebriefin-countryassignmentbeforeheleft.“IwassenttoFortBraggtotryandwrangleupasmanyretiredSpecialForcesoperatorsasIcouldfind,”Waughrecalls.HescouredthecommissaryatFortBragg’sclassifiedDeltaForcebase,hiddenawayoffChickenStreet,buttherewasalmostnooneavailableforhire.“Themilitaryputafreezeonretirement.Everyonewaspreparingtogotowar.IfoundoneguyfromDeltaandbroughthimbacktoDCwithme.Thatwasit.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE1publichangings:“Afghanistan,TheFallofKabul2001,”BBCTelevision,availableonYouTube,n.d.

2theTaliban’soverduehotelbill:authorinterviewwithWaugh.3BamyanProvince:ThiswasoneofthefewregionsinsideAfghanistanknowntotheoutsideworld:inMarch2001,theTalibanblewupthree175-foot-tallstatuesofBuddhacarvedintoamountainsidethere.

4warlordGeneralDostum:Crumpton,ArtofIntelligence,241.5StateDepartmentreport:JamesRisen,“USInactionSeenAfterTalibanP.O.W.’sDied,”NewYorkTimes,July10,2009;Bernstein,Jawbreaker,262–63.

6wherefourofthe9/11hijackerstrained:NagiebKhaja,“FaultLines:ThisIsTalibanCountry,”AlJazeera,October24,2015.

7“AlexandertheGreatlosthismindhere”:authorinterviewwithGroundBranchoperator.

8aBritishofficeroftheGreatGame:Smith,KillerElite,214.9“Justhardtokill”:Hayden,PlayingtotheEdge,31–32.10Weaponsweredrawn:authorinterviewwithGroundBranchoperator.11Crumptonrecallswatching:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.12whenthebombhit:CaptainJasonAmerine,“CampaignAgainstTerror,

FriendlyFire,”Frontline,PBS,September8,2002.13exceptforanuclearbomb:TimWeiner,“AfghanCamps,HiddeninHills,

StymiedSovietAttacksforYear,”NewYorkTimes,August24,1998.14withoutlookinglikeitwastryingtokillhim:“Therewillbenosanctuary[in

Khost]forterrorists,”PresidentClintondeclaredinapressconferenceduring

avacationinMartha’sVineyard,Massachusetts.TheExecutiveActionbombingsatKhostaccomplishedalmostnothing,saveabillforU.S.taxpayersofmorethan$100million(atthetime,eachTomahawkmissilecost$1.6million).

15Gunsweredrawn:authorinterviewwithSatterlee.16officiallyidentified:ThomasGibbons-Neff,“After13years,CIAHonorsFort

LewisGreenBeretKilledonSecretAfghanistanMission,”WashingtonPost,April17,2016.

17packabag:authorinterviewwithStiles.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR1Plausibledeniability;authorinterviewwithScorpiontrainer;authorinterviewwithScorpionteamleaderinIraq.

2“IknowIraq”:authorinterviewwithMaguire.3Hisfather:IsikoffandCorn,Hubris,6.4underBillCasey:NoteveryoneapprovedofthecovertoperationsrunbyJohnMaguire,which,heisquicktosay,arealwaysatthebehestofthepresident.Once,in1984,thechairmanoftheSenateSelectCommitteeonIntelligence,SenatorBarryGoldwater,wrotetoBillCaseytocomplainaboutacovertoperationMaguirehadrecentlyoverseeninNicaragua.ItinvolvedCIA-hiredlocalcommandosworkingfromspeedboatstomineNicaraguanports,therebycuttingoffweapons,fuel,andsuppliestotheleftistSandinistagovernment,whichtheCIAwastryingtooverthrow.“Iam[expletiveredacted]pissedoff!”wroteGoldwater.“MinetheharborsinNicaragua?Thisisanactviolatinginternationallaw.…Itisanactofwar.”ThesenatorwarnedthedirectorofCentralIntelligencethatshould“anythinglikethishappen[again],I’mgoingtoraiseonehellofalotoffussaboutitinpublic.”Theharbor-miningprogramwasaborted.MaguireescapedtheIran-Contraaffairunscathed.HecontinuedtoworkonCIAcovertactionsthroughouttheeightiesandnineties,includinginIraqandAfghanistan.Seetextof“Goldwater’sLettertotheHeadofC.I.A.,”NewYorkTimes,April11,1984.

5“Bushwanted”:authorinterviewwithMaguire.6appearedtolack:authorinterviewwithGroundBranchoperator;authorinterviewswithFaddis.

7longtimetrustedally:NedParker,“DividedIraqHasTwoSpyAgencies:ASunniHeadstheOfficialCIA-fundedOrganization,”LosAngelesTimes,April15,2007.

8Shahwani’sthreesons:TenetandHarlow,CenteroftheStorm,388;LieutenantColonelRickFrancona,“APersonalNoteontheExecutionofSaddamHussein,”HardballwithChrisMatthews,MSNBC,December29,2006.

9“Ifighttoavengemysons”:JohannaMcGeary,“TakingBacktheStreets,”Time,July6,2004.

10“Yes.Verywild”:authorinterviewwithGroundBranchoperator.11KurdishcivilianslivinginHalabja:JeffreyGoldberg,“TheGreatTerror,”NewYorker,March25,2002.

12“BarzaniandTalabaniwereveryskeptical”:authorinterviewwithMaguire.SeealsoIsikoffandCorn,Hubris.

13“Cheneyaskedmanyquestions”:authorinterviewwithMaguire.14Basharal-Assadstruckanewdeal:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,569–70.15triumviratetheRadicalFront:ibid.Syria’sreasonsforaligningitselfwith

Hezbollah,basedinnearbyLebanon,werepractical.AssadreceivedconsiderablefundingfromIranforhissupportingHezbollahinLebanon.Now,therewasamovementinLebanontoridthecountryofterroristsandalsogettheSyrianstoleave.Therewereanumberofadvocatesinvolved,butleadingthechargewastwo-timeLebaneseprimeministerRafikHarari.“ImadMugniyah,theHezbollahchiefofstaff,begantoassassinatethosefigures,oneafteranother,onbehalfoftheIraniansandtheSyrians,”saysBergman.Theassassinationscametoaclimaxwhen,in2005,RafikHarariandtwenty-twoothersdiedinamassivecarbombassassinationinBeirut.

16foughtalongsideMikeSpann:Extraordinaryfootageofthisevent,shotbyaGermanfilmcrew,isavailableonYouTube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETa9w4o9vy0).

17Localvillagersdescribed:authorinterviewswithFaddis;MajorGeneralJohnR.Landry,NationalIntelligenceOfficerforConventionalMilitaryIssues,“Saddam’sPreparationsforWar:IntentionsandCapabilities,”TopSecret,October2002.

18documentfoundinKabul:JonathanSchanzer,“Ansaral-Islam:BackinIraq,”MiddleEastQuarterly,Winter2004,41–50.

19thefightinghadbegun:“Report,”KurdistanNewsline,July23,2002;AsharqAl-Awsat,December6,2002;“IraqiKurdishLeaderEvadesAssassins,”BBCNews,April3,2002.

20CIAteamwastaken:authorinterviewwithFaddis;TuckerandFaddis,OperationHotelCalifornia,5,18.ThefightersjourneyedacrossIran,using

smugglers’routes,toIran’snorthwesternborderintoIraq.ThegroupwascalledAnsaral-Islam,amergerofJundal-Islam(SoldiersofIslam)andasplintergroupfromtheKurdistanIslamicMovementledbytheradicalclericNajmeddinFarajAhmad,knownasMullahKrekartohisfollowers.

21HesentCIAheadquartersalist:authorinterviewwithFaddis.“Theteamconductedreconnaissancemissionsbehindenemylinesandchartedten-digitGPSgridlocationstoestablishthelocationoftheterroristencampmentsinthemountainsofIraqiKurdistan.The[CIA]hadimageryonalltheselocationsthatmatchedupwithourownfieldintelligence.Allweneededwasthegreenlighttostrike,”Faddissays.

22“Scorpionswererapingeachotherduringtraining”:authorinterviewwithFaddis.SeealsoTuckerandFaddis,OperationHotelCalifornia,47.

23VoglewentbythecodenameSnake:IanShapiro,“TheCIAAcknowledgestheLegendarySpyWhoSavedHamidKarzai’sLife—andHonorsHimbyName,”WashingtonPost,September18,2017.

24“Wearegoingtogetgoodmenkilled”:TuckerandFaddis,OperationHotelCalifornia,45.

25TenetpraisedtheScorpions:TenetandHarlow,CenteroftheStorm,389.GeneralMichaelHaydenalsopraisedShahwaniandhiswork;seeHayden,PlayingtotheEdge,201–3.

26Shahwani:Hayden,PlayingtotheEdge,201.HaydenfondlyrecallsvisitingShahwaniathishomeintheal-KharkdistrictofIraq.There,thenewheadoftheIraqiNationalIntelligenceServicekeptapetgazelleandadoghe’dnamedChalabi,“aftertheIraqiexileturnedpoliticianthatCIAlovedtohate,”Haydenwrote.

27Theassassinsalsoincluded:authorinterviewswithFaddis;TuckerandFaddis,OperationHotelCalifornia,90;Schanzer,“Ansaral-Islam,”41–50.

28manposingasapeacenegotiator:C.J.Chivers,“ThreatsandResponses:NorthernIraq;KurdishLeaderIsAssassinatedinMilitantRaid,”NewYorkTimes,February10,2003.

29Directorate9,SecretOperations:SaddamHusseinwasanalumnusofprecursororganizationJihazalKhas,servingaschiefofspecialapparatusbetween1964and1966.

30“Mukhabaratassassinationteams”:authorinterviewwithFaddis.31captureanAmericanalive:TuckerandFaddis,OperationHotelCalifornia,

91.32teamwatchedAnsaral-Islam:authorinterviewwithGiaconia.Seealso

Giaconia’sexcellentOperationVikingHammer.33Order69:L.PaulBremer,“Order69:DelegationofAuthorityRegarding

EstablishmentoftheIraqiNationalIntelligenceService,”CoalitionProvisionalAuthority,April2004.

34tit-for-tatassassinations:DavidIgnatius,“ASectarianSpyDuelinBaghdad,”WashingtonPost,June14,2007.TheinvasionofIraqtoppledthegovernmentandunleashedasavagelyviolent,all-encompassingconflictsectarianwar,somethingthatthegreatmajorityofAmericanshadneverheardofbefore.Atthecenteroftheconflictwasanancientschism,orideologicaldivision,betweenIslam’stwosects,ShiiteMuslimsandSunniMuslims.SaddamHussein,hardlyreligious,wasaSunnistrongmanwhocrushedanyonewhothreatenedhim.ManyofhismostviciousactionsweredirectedagainstShiitesandKurds.

35“Thebigstory”:“Iraqis:HezbollahTrainedShiiteMilitants,”AssociatedPress,July2,2008.

36Hezbollah’sdeputysecretarygeneral,acknowledged:BenHubbard,“IranOuttoRemakeMideastwithArabEnforcer:Hezbollah,”NewYorkTimes,August27,2017.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE1renamedOrange:authorinterviewwithWaugh.2killorcaptureImadMugniyah:In1994,MossadkilledMugniyah’solderbrotherFouad,withtheintentionoftryingtodrawoutImad—tokillhimorphotographhim.“FouadhadtodiebecausetheIsraelisdidn’thavetheslightestideahowelsetofindMugniyah,whoremainednomorethanagrainyphotographintheirintelligencefiles,”saysRonenBergman.FouadwaskilledwithacarbombparkedonthestreetinfrontoftheBeiruthardwarestoreheran.Theblastdestroyedthestore,Fouad,andthreepeoplewalkingby.Fifteenotherswereinjured.Atthefuneral,Mossadscouredthecrowds.ImadMugniyahstayedaway.

3NasrallahaccusedIsrael:“ThreeDieinLebanonBorderClash,”BBCNews,July20,2004.

4Unit8200:JohnReed,“FormerInsidersandWhistle-BlowersProvideaViewoftheFormidableMilitaryIntelligenceOutfit,”FinancialTimes,July10,2015.

5sizeofthetarget’searlobes:authorinterviewwithIsraeliSIGINTofficer,TelAviv,Israel,2016.

6“Hisdaywillcome”:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,597.7Mossad’sJunctionUnit:BenLynfield,“YossiCohen:TheIsraeliSpymasterStraightoutofLeCarréandIanFlemingTakesChargeofMossad,”Independent,December8,2015.

8Mossadcollectsinformation:“IsraeliIntelligenceVeteransRefusetoServeinPalestinianTerritories,”Guardian,September12,2014.

9“vulnerabilities,ifexposed”:Unit8200document,authorcopy.10assignedbyIraniancommanders:“TreasuryDesignatesHizballah

CommanderResponsibleforAmericanDeathsinIraq,”U.S.DepartmentoftheTreasury,November19,2012;AlexanderOrleans,“EchoesofSyria:HezbollahReemergesinIraq,”InstitutefortheStudyofWar,August1,2014.

11IraqiShiamilitiaunderImadMugniyah:authorinterviewwithLevitt;DavinCoburn,RandolphSmith,andKyleBarss,videoreportaccompanying“InsidetheKillingofImadMugniyah,”WashingtonPost,January30,2015.

12Unit3800:KennethKatzman,“Iran-IraqRelations,”CongressionalResearchService,August13,2010.

13Title50authoritytokillMugniyah:authorinterviewswithCIASeniorIntelligenceServiceofficer;authorinterviewwithformerMossadofficer.MugniyahwasdirectlyconnectedtothearmingandtrainingofShiitemilitiawhoweretargetingandkillingAmericanservicemenandwomeninIraq.TheTitle50authoritytokillMugniyahwasapprovedbytheattorneygeneral,thedirectorofnationalintelligence,thenational-securityadvisor,andtheOfficeofLegalCounselattheJusticeDepartment.PresidentBushsignedoffonthisfinding.

14HarveyPoint:authorinterviewswithformeroperatorsfamiliarwiththefacility.ThissamefacilitywouldbeusedbyNavySEALs,DeltaForce,andGroundBranchoperatorstoalternatelytrainfortheraidthatin2011wouldkillOsamabinLaden.

15engineersfeltconfident:authorinterviewswithformerintelligenceofficersfamiliarwiththeoperation;theotherversionofeventscomesfromBergman,RiseandKillFirst,500–501.

16“killaloneindividual”:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,599.17fiveformerintelligenceofficialsconfirmed:AdamGoldmanandEllen

Nakashima,“CIAandMossadKilledSeniorHezbollahFigureinCarBombing,”WashingtonPost,January30,2015.

18“Israelisprobably”:Bergman,RiseandKillFirst,710n.BergmanistheonlyjournalistIamawareofwhodiscussedthisoperationwithHayden.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX1CounterterrorismPursuitTeams:BobWoodward,Obama’sWars,9.2nottheAmericanCIA:It’sacuriouspremisebecausenooneisinuniform.TheAfghanindigswearcamo-stripedshirtsandpantsprovidedbytheCIA,asdoGroundBranchoperators,butsometimestheygooutfightingdirect-actionmissionsintheirownclothes.

3repliedAhmedWaliKarzai:Partlow,AKingdomofTheirOwn,137–38.ThisbookisbrilliantandtragicandshouldbereadbyanyoneinterestedinAfghanistan.

4“enrichment…oftheKarzaiclan”:U.S.DepartmentofStatecable,“KandaharPoliticsComplicatesUSObjectivesinAfghanistan,”October3,2009.

5“AWKwasthesourceofallevil”:QuotedinPartlow,AKingdomofTheirOwn,269.

6GroundBranchoperatorsare:TechnicallytherearethreeacknowledgedTierOneSpecialMilitaryUnits:DELTAForce(CAG,U.S.ArmySF-Delta),DEVGRU(NavalSpecialWarfareDevelopmentGroup,SealTeamSix),and24thSpecialTacticsSquadron(AirForce),withTierTwoincludingGreenBerets(U.S.ArmySpecialForces),ArmyRangers(U.S.Army75thRangerRegiment),CCT(USAFCombatControllers),MarineForceRecon,andothers.

7classifiedcabletoLangley:MemorandumFrom:DeputyChiefofMissionJohnC.Holzman.Cable97,Islamabad,n.d.,CIA/CREST.

8MullahOmarcried:QuotedinSteveColl,“LookingforMullahOmar,”NewYorker,January23,2012.

9drapeditoverhisownshoulders:TheBBCfilmedthisremarkableevent;seeSteveInskeep,“TheCloakoftheProphet:ReligiousArtifactattheHeartofFormerTalibanStronghold,”NationalPublicRadio,January10,2002.

10alongsideGroundBranch:authorinterviewwithCanadianSOFoperator.11Deltaoperators:Wright,ADifferentKindofWar,95–96.TheDefense

DepartmentcalledthismissionObjectiveGECKO;CIAoperatorslaterwrote“FirebaseGhecko”ononeofitssecuritytowers,authorphotos.

12ChinookshelpedtheDeltaoperators:authorinterviewwithformerDeltaoperator.

13“traumatizedandbrutalized”:Rashid,Taliban,207.14“stillthegoodwar”:Hayden,PlayingtotheEdge,210.15MACV-SOG…waitmorethanthirtyyears:H.G.Reza,“Soldiers’Story:

TheirHeroismNoLongerSecret,”LosAngelesTimes,May26,2003.16“Theindigswetrain”:PermissionratioofCIAGroundBranchoperatorsto

Afghanindigenoussoldiersisroughlytwentytoone,similartotheGroundBranch/CombinedStudiesGroupoperationalteamsinVietnam.

17“He’sourteacherinthevillage”:Partlow,AKingdomofTheirOwn,63.18“getrapedless”:authorinterviewwithStiles.19“WarlordsandPedophilia”:CraigS.Smith,“Shh,It’sanOpenSecret:

WarlordsandPedophilia,”NewYorkTimes,February21,2002.20presswentsilent:onenotableexceptionisBenAnderson’sdocumentaryThisIsWhatWinningLooksLike(ViceNews,2013).

21LeahyAmendment:EricaGaston,“TheLeahyLawandHumanRightsAccountabilityinAfghanistan:TooLittle,TooLate,oraModelfortheFuture?,”AfghanistanAnalystsNetwork,March5,2017.

22“Theuglyreality”:JuliusCavendish,“AftertheUSPullsOut,WillCIARelyMoreonAfghanMercenaries?,”ChristianScienceMonitor,November16,2011.

23TwotrillionU.S.dollarsspent:JeanneSahadi,“TheFinancialCostof16YearsinAfghanistan,”CNNMoney,August22,2017.

24IdentityinAfghanistan:SorayaSarhaddiNelson,“AfghanistanStrivestoRegisterAllNewborns,”NPR,July2,2008.

25agreedupon:AGroundBranchoperatorfromKhosttoldme,“InallmyyearsinGroundBranch,Ionlysawtheteamvote‘no’ononemission.ThatmissioninvolvedtryingtolocateBoweBergdahl.”

26high-valuetargetwasfound:“BestPracticesinCounterinsurgency:MakingHigh-ValueTargetingOperationsanEffectiveCounterinsurgencyTool,”July7,2009(WikiLeaks).

27dog-fightingcompetition:“SuicideBomberKills80atDogFightingCompetitioninAfghanistan,”Independent,February17,2008.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN1Sangin,inHelmandProvince:Pierre-ArnaudChouvy,“OpiateSmugglingRoutesfromAfghanistantoEuropeandAsia,”Geopium.org,October14,2006;MichaelSmith,“AfghanWar:TheHomeMovie,”Timesonline,December17,2006.SeealsothedocumentaryfilmArmadillo,directedbyJanusMetz(FilmBuff,2011).

2Pentagonparlance:TaimoorShahandRodNordland,“TalibanTakeanAfghanDistrict,Sangin,ThatManyMarinesDiedtoKeep,”NewYorkTimes,

March23,2017.3warmachine:Spooky’sonboardarsenalincludedtworotarycannonsthatfired20mmroundsatanextraordinarilyhighrateofspeed—somethinglike6,000roundsperminute.Ithadatleastone40mmcannon,amultipurposeantiaircraftweapon,andaM102howitzer.Inotherwords,Spookykilledhumanswithanextraordinarymagnitudeofexplosivepower,allundertheTitle10authorityoftheDefenseDepartment.

4ProtocolIII:ConventiononProhibitionsorRestrictionsontheUseofCertainConventionalWeapons,UnitedNationsTreatySeries,vol.1342,137.

5“Wewereproducing”:authorinterviewwithCrumpton.6ensuinginvestigation:LianneGutcherandJulianBorger,“AhmedWaliKarzaiKillingSparksFearsofTurmoilinKandahar,”Guardian,July12,2011.

7“kill-and-captureraids”:BashirAhmadNaadem,“SuspectsArrestedinWaliAssassination,”pajhwok.com,July12,2011;“ViolenceSurroundsWaliKarzai’sFuneral,”AlJazeera,July12,2011;Partlow,AKingdomofTheirOwn,142.

8Agroupoffathers:Partlow,AKingdomofTheirOwn,313.9warnedaboutintheleakedCIAdirective:“High-ValueTargetingOperations:BestPracticesinCounterinsurgency:MakingHigh-ValueTargetingOperationsanEffectiveCounterinsurgencyTool,”July7,2009(WikiLeaks).

10preemptivemovebytheNobelCommittee:“OpinionsonPresidentObama’sPeacePrizeWin,”WashingtonPost,October9,2009.

11justwartheory:Therearelotsoftreatisesonthis.TheBBCEthicsguide“JustWar—Introduction”isrecommendedforabriefoverview(bbc.co.uk).

12PresidentObamadefendedthewar:BarackH.Obama,“AJustandLastingPeace,”NobellecturedeliveredintheOsloCityHall,December10,2009.Thepresident’swordswere:“Theconceptof‘justwar’emerged,suggestingthatwarisjustifiedonlywhencertainconditionsweremet:ifitiswagedasalastresortorinself-defense;iftheforceusedisproportional;andif,wheneverpossible,civiliansaresparedfromviolence.”

13applaudedthespeechsparingly:“ReactiontoObama’sNobelSpeech,”NPR’sAllThingsConsidered,December10,2009.TheobservationwasfromHowardFineman,editorofNewsweek.TheNobelPrizeYouTubechannelpublishedthespeech,includingvisualsoftheaudience’sreaction,onDecember17,2009.

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT1JohnBrennansaid:RemarksofJohnO.Brennan,“TheEthicsandEfficacyofthePresident’sCounterterrorismStrategy,”April30,2012,releasedbytheWhiteHouse,OfficeofthePressSecretary;GregMiller,“BrennanSpeechIsFirstObamaAcknowledgmentofUseofArmedDrones,”WashingtonPost,April30,2012.

2“crowdkills”:AdamEntous,SiobhanGorman,andJulianE.Barnes,“U.S.TightensDroneRules,”WallStreetJournal,November4,2011(includesthe1,500KIAfigure).

3“‘threeguysdoingjumpingjacks’”:JoBeckerandScottShane,“Secret‘KillList’ProvesaTestofObama’sPrinciplesandWill,”NewYorkTimes,May29,2012.Anotherofficialnameforasignaturestrikeisterroristattackdisruptionstrike.

4“America’sactionsarelegal”:RemarksbythepresidentattheNationalDefenseUniversity,FortMcNair,Washington,DC,May23,2013.

5canceledthesignaturestrike:“BackgroundBriefingbySeniorAdministrationOfficialsonthePresident’sSpeechonCounterterrorism,”TheWhiteHouse,OfficeofthePressSecretary,May23,2013.Theofficialsaid:“Onthesignaturestrikequestionthatyouasked,Idon’twanttogetintothedetailsofanyspecificstrike.WhatI’dsayis,firstofall,weindicateapreferencetoworkwithpartners,firstandforemost,todealwiththethreatofterrorism.AnyactionthatwedotakeintermsofdirectlethalactionissubjecttothatstandardofacontinuingandimminentthreattotheUnitedStates.ThecontextforthisisgenerallyourwaragainstalQaedaandassociatedforces,butofcourseintheAfghanwartheater,thereisaslightlydifferentcontextinthesensethatwetakeactionagainsthigh-valuealQaedatargets.”Seealso:PresidentialPolicyGuidance,“ProceduresforApprovingDirectActionAgainstTerroristTargetsLocatedOutsidetheUnitedStatesandAreasofActiveHostilities,”May22,2013.

6actingunderCIAauthority:authorinterviewswithCIASeniorIntelligenceServiceofficer;AndruE.Wall,“DemystifyingtheTitle10-Title50Debate:DistinguishingMilitaryOperations,IntelligenceActivities&CovertAction,”HarvardJournal,85.Note:“Title10and[Title]50createmutuallysupporting,notmutuallyexclusive,authorities,”saysWall,whoalsoservedasseniorlegaladvisorforU.S.SpecialOperationsCommand.Theprobleminperception,hesuggests,isthefaultofCongress.“Congress’sstovepipedviewofnationalsecurityoperationsislegallyincongruousandoperationally

dangerous.”ThatCongressasanoversightbody—setupasaresultoftheChurchCommitteehearings—feignsignoranceabouttargetedkillingoperationstopresentamoralhighgroundisalsodeceptive,saysWall.

7onlytheCIAcanconductlethaldirectaction:Asstatedearlier,thepresidentcanassignTitle50authoritytoanindividualorgroupoutsidetheCIA,butaccordingtoallthosewithexpertiseinterviewedonthesubject,thishasneverhappened.ThatadefensecontractorhaseverbeengivenTitle50authorityis“totalbullshit,”RicPradotoldme.TheveteranparamilitaryoperatorwhogoesbythecallsignSharkagrees:“Blackwaterandothersecurityguardshavesaidalotofbogusshitaboutwhattheydoanditgets[reportedasfact]inthenews…butwhenitcomesdowntoitthey’resecurityguards,period.”Zeussaidofdefensecontractorswhoclaimtoconductdirect-actionmissions:“Theydon’thavetheauthority…theyneverhave.Theyguardourbases,ourpeople,andourtrucks.Theyaresecurityguards.”

8nomarkingsoridentifications:NavySEALRobertJ.O’Neill’scombatequipmentwasonpublicdisplayforthefirsttimeattheNixonLibraryinYorbaLindaonMonday,July3,2017.Thefrontchestpatchthatreads“O’Neill”wasnotinplaceontheraid.UnderCIAdirectorLeonPanetta,operationalcontrolofthemissionwasdelegatedtoU.S.NavyViceAdmiralWilliamH.McRaven(whowrotehispostgraduatethesisontheNaziparagliderattackagainsttheBelgianfortressEbenEmael);seeMcRaven,“TheTheoryofSpecialOperations”(NavalPostgraduateSchool,Monterey,California,June1993).

9“takenmoreterroristsoffthefield”:“Exclusive:PresidentBarackObamaonFoxNewsSunday,”FoxNews,April10,2016,inaninterviewwithChrisWallace.

10“Obamasucceeded”:MicahZenko,“Obama’sEmbraceofDroneStrikesWillBeaLastingLegacy,”OpinionPages,NewYorkTimes,January12,2016;MicahZenko,“TransferringCIADroneStrikestothePentagon,CouncilonForeignRelations,”April16,2013.Note:TheSenateSelectCommitteeonIntelligenceisbriefedonallTitle50dronestrikesandcanrequesttoseevideofootage.TheHousePermanentSelectCommitteeonIntelligencereviewsbothCIAandJSOCdronestrikes.Apollconductedin2013revealedthat75percentofAmericanssupportmilitarydronestrikes,whereasonly65percentsupportCIAdronestrikes.Samewayofkilling,differentpublicopinion.

11normalized,mechanized,andindustrialized:TheWhiteHouse,Officeofthe

PressSecretary,“FactSheet:USPolicyStandardsandProceduresfortheUseofForceinCounterterrorismOperationsOutsidetheUnitedStatesandAreasofActiveHostilities,”May23,2013;PresidentialPolicyGuidance,“ProceduresforApprovingDirectActionAgainstTerroristTargetsLocatedOutsidetheUnitedStatesandAreasofActiveHostilities,”May22,2013.

12“theKelloggpactisdead”:“ThenandNow,”NewYorkTimes,August27,1938.“Itdoesnotcarryafeather’sweightinthetremblingbalanceofCentralEurope.Ithasnotabolishedwar,yetithashadoneextraordinaryandparadoxicaleffect.Ithasabolisheddeclarationsofwar.”

13formerCIAinspectorgeneral:Snider,TheAgencyandtheHill,259.14“thelastresortbeyondlastresort”:“InstitutionalizingAssassination:The

‘ExecutiveAction’Capability,”183,SCI/CHURCH.CitesHarvey’stestimonyforthecommitteeofJune25,1975.

15“incompatiblewithAmericanprinciples”:“AllegedAssassinationPlotsInvolvingForeignLeaders,”1,SCI/CHURCH.

16“It’sremarkable”:authorinterviewwithRizzo.HealsodiscussesthisinCompanyMan,174–75.

17138countriesaroundtheworld:authorinterviewswithGroundBranchoperators.SeealsoTurse,“AmericanSpecialOperationsForcesAreDeployedto70PercentoftheWorld’sCountries,”TheNation,January5,2017.

18illuminatinginformation:authorinterviewswithWaugh;authorinterviewswithSeniorIntelligenceServiceofficers.

19DefenseDepartmentwerenowjointlytesting:“SandiaCorporationMonthlyReports,1958–1963,”LASLReportLibrary,No411531,July–September1962;D.B.Davis,Org7342,“DropTestsofXW45Mod3,”Organization7300EnvironmentalTestReport,FileXW-45,Sandia,n.d.

20Archivalfootageshowshim:NevadaTestSitearchivalfootageofLittleFeller1,July17,1962,isavailableonYouTube.

21Documentskeptclassifieduntil2003:F.J.Dysonetal.,“TacticalNuclearWeaponsinSoutheastAsia”(StudyS-266),InstituteforDefenseAnalysis,JasonDivision,RestrictedData,AtomicEnergyAct1954,March1967;Jacobsen,ThePentagon’sBrain,195–96.

22“usingnuclearweapons”:SeymourDeitchman,“AnInsider’sAccount:SeymourDeitchman,”NautilusInstituteforSecurityandSustainability,basedonaninterviewconductedbyPeterHayes,February25,2003.

23ColonelGiongsaid:authorinterviewwithGiong.

24CheGuevara…advocatedfornuclearwar:LutherandHenken,CheGuevara,145.ThespeechwasfortheFirstLatinAmericanYouthCongress,inHavana,July1962.

25CheGuevaraimplored:PacoIgnacioTaiboII,“Guevara,AlsoKnownasChe,”233.

26takeninbyFidel:authorinterviewwithGuevara,Varadero,Cuba,June2017.27seeminglyimplausible:OnMay24,2017,adraftoftheConceptualizationof

theCubanEconomicandSocialModelofSocialistDevelopmentwaspublished,openingthedoorforprivatepropertyownership.OurgroupwasinCubathreeweekslater.

EPILOGUE1“Goodthatyou’rewriting”:authorinterviewwithBlackattheOldBroguePub,March2017.TheCTCchangeditsnamefromtheCounterterroristCentertotheCounterterrorismCenterin2005.

2tosurprise,kill,andvanishasnecessary:Accordingtoparticipants,theteamregularlydiscusseditsSOE/OSSroots,notablytheneedtobe“ruthless,relentlessandremorseless”infacingaNazi-likeenemy.ThiscomesfromadiscussioninParliamentoverthecreationoftheSpecialOperationsExecutive:“Whenyouarefightingforyourlifeagainstaruthlessopponent,youcannotbegovernedbytheQueensberryrules.…Wemusthaveagovernmentwhichwillberuthless,relentlessandremorseless.Inshort,wewantafewmorecadsinthisgovernment.”SeeMilton,Ministry,21–22.

3directlyinvolved:authorinterviewwithsaidindividual;confirmedbyasecondindividualdirectlyinvolved.

4“Intheolddays,SADwereknuckledraggers”:authorinterviewwithStalkerTeammember.