90 “ten different sites”: Ibid., p. 6.
90 “experimenting”: Ibid., p. 31.
91 “designated unlawful combatants”: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 3, “Interrogations and Intelligence.”
91 reporting to the White House: Greg Miller, “Cheney OK’d Harsh CIA Tactics,” Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2008.
91 Copper Green, Matchbox: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 3, “Interrogations and Intelligence.”
91 legal definition of covert action: Title 50 US Code, Section 413b, “Presidential Approval and Reporting of Covert Actions.”
91 prevent scandals: Richard A. Best Jr., “Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions,” Congressional Research Service, December 27, 2011.
92 “clandestine operations”: Joint Publication 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, November 8, 2010 (As Amended Through November 15, 2012).
92 “Traditional Military Activities”: Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, H.R. 1455, July 25, 1991. “It is the intent of the conferees that ‘traditional military activities’ include activities by military personnel under the direction and control of a United States military commander (whether or not the U.S. sponsorship of such activities is apparent or later to be acknowledged) preceding and related to hostilities which are either anticipated (meaning approval has been given by the National Command Authorities for the activities and or operational planning for hostilities) to involve U.S. military forces, or where such hostilities involving United States military forces are ongoing, and, where the fact of the U.S. role in the overall operation is apparent or to be acknowledged publicly. In this regard, the conferees intend to draw a line between activities that are and are not under the direction and control of the military commander. Activities that are not under the direction and control of a military commander should not be considered as ‘traditional military activities.’”
92 no real-time oversight rights: Seymour M. Hersh, “Preparing the Battlefield; The Bush Administration Steps Up Its Secret Moves Against Iran,” New Yorker, July 7, 2008.
92 “Preparing the Battlespace,” Advance Force Operations: Michael Respass, “Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace,” Strategy Research Project, US Army War College, July 4, 2003.
92 work-around: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R. Rep. No. 111-186 (2009) (accompanying H.R. 2701).
93 delegating military assets: 50 United States Code, Section 413b, “Presidential Approval and Reporting of Covert Actions.”
93 “organize for a manhunt,” “develop a plan”: Seymour M. Hersh, “Manhunt: The Bush Administration’s New Strategy in the War Against Terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002.
93 five-year plan: Rowan Scarborough, “Billions Needed to Fight al Qaeda; General Requests More Troops, Too,” Washington Times, September 24, 2002.
93 outpaced the military’s abilities: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, “Ranks and Growing Pains in Taking Key Antiterror Role,” New York Times, August 2, 2004.
94 “actionable intelligence”: Hersh, “Manhunt.”
94 “intelligence wasn’t good enough”: Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda (New York: Times Books, 2011).
94 “fighting generals”: Hersh, “Manhunt.”
94 “those who support them”: “Fact Sheet on New Counter-Terrorism and Cyberspace Positions; National Director and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism General Wayne Downing (U.S. Army Ret.),” Office of the Press Secretary, October 9, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011009.html.
94 “blacker/lower visibility force”: Memo from General Wayne Downing to Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Special Operations Forces Assessment,” November 9, 2005, www.rumsfeld.com.
94 “bypassed Special Operations Command”: Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), May 2011.
95 “That’s dangerous”: Ibid.
95 “Gray Fox”: Ambinder and Grady, The Command, chap. 8, “The Activity.”
95 mirrored the capabilities: Barton Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain; New Espionage Branch Delving into CIA Territory,” Washington Post, January 23, 2005.
95 handed over to the CIA: Linda Robinson, “Moves That Matter; in the Intelligence Wars, a Pre-emptive Strike by the Pentagon Surprises Many in Congress,” US News and World Report, August 12, 2002.
95 Project Icon: Barton Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain; New Espionage Branch Delving into CIA Territory,” Washington Post, January 23, 2005.
95 “new clandestine teams”: Josh White and Barton Gellman, “Defense Espionage Unit to Work with CIA,” Washington Post, January 25, 2005; Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.”
95 Strategic Support Branch: Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.”
95 transferred Gray Fox: Seymour M. Hersh, “The Coming Wars,” New Yorker, January 24, 2005.
96 “emerging target countries,” “without detection”: Gellman, “Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld’s Domain.” The following details about “internal Pentagon documents” and the Strategic Support Branch come from the Washington Post.
96 “viewed the CIA as a weak sister”: Author interview, Philip Giraldi, March 2012.
97 lose their Geneva Convention status: Colonel Kathryn Stone, “‘All Necessary Means’—Employing CIA Operatives in a Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces,” USAWC Strategy Research Project (U.S. Army War College, 2003).
97 officially run: Barbara Starr, “Pentagon Runs Clandestine Intelligence-Gathering Infrastructure,” CNN.com, January 24, 2005.
97 Strategic Defense Initiative: Kerry Gildea, “Rumsfeld Adviser Brings Precise Analytical Approach to DoD Post,” Defense Daily, January 31, 2001.
97 special projects: Official Department of Defense biography, “Dr. Stephen A. Cambone; Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence,” January 13, 2006.
97 special assistant: Ibid.
97 “The effort has to be global”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to unnamed recipient(s), “Memorandum 9/23/01,” www.rumsfeld.com.
97 “Capabilities”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Capabilities,” September 23, 2001, www.rumsfeld.com.
97 “Opportunity”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Opportunity,” September 26, 2001, www.rumsfeld.com.
97 “They are all cast in the same mode”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang (Ret.), September 2010. All statements and information attributed to Patrick Lang are from the author’s interviews.
98 “increase the total number”: Memo from Donald Rumsfeld to Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Cambone, “Subject: Increase Special Forces,” January 15, 2002, www.rumsfeld.com.
98 free up as many shooters: Memo from Stephen A. Cambone to Donald Rumsfeld, “Subject: Conventional Forces/Special Forces,” September 16, 2002, www.rumsfeld.com/library/.
98 “preliminary pre-clearance”: Rowan Scarborough, Rumsfeld’s War: The Untold Story of America’s Anti-Terrorist Commander (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 21.
98 “Combat Applications Group”: Marc Ambinder, “Delta Force Gets a Name Change,” TheAtlantic.com, posted October 10, 2010.
98 “number of steps”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers,” January 7, 2003.
98 new portfolio: Thomas E. Ricks, “Rumsfeld Stands Tall After Iraq Victory,” Washington Post, April 20, 2003.
99 report directly: DoD Directive 5143.01, issued November 23, 2005, “Subject: Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (US-D(I)),” www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/d5143_01.pdf.
99 “center of gravity”: Spencer Ackerman, “Rumsfeld’s Intelligence Takeover,” New Republic, June 10, 2004.
99 “Rumsfeld wasn’t an evil man”: Autho
r interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, June 2012.
99 original member: Biography of Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (Ret.), www.kingdomwarriors.net/about.php. Kingdom Warriors is a ministry founded by General Boykin and Dr. Stuart K. Weber.
99 “saw great opportunities”: Memorandum for the record prepared by Bonnie D. Jenkins, counsel on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (9/11 Commission), “Interview of Major General William Boykin,” November 7, 2003, www.archives.gov/research/9-11/commission-memoranda.html. The following characterizations and quotes from Boykin come from Jenkins’s description of the interview.
99 “dangerous for U.S. foreign policy”: Jennifer D. Kibbe, “The Rise of the Shadow Warriors,” Foreign Affairs 83 (2) (March–April 2004): 102.
100 “It kinda went wild”: Author interview, Vincent Cannistraro, August 2010.
100 “shown a propensity”: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, H.R. Rep. No. 111-186 (2009) (accompanying H.R. 2701).
100 “thrown under the bus”: Author interview, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, August 2010. All information and statements attributed to Colonel Macgregor come from the author’s interview, unless otherwise noted.
100 famous tank battle: Richard J. Newman, “Renegades Finish Last: A Colonel’s Innovative Ideas Don’t Sit Well with the Brass,” US News and World Report, July 20, 1997.
101 “By entering the friendly country”: Stone, “‘All Necessary Means.’”
9: The Troublemaker: Stanley McChrystal
102 son of an Army general: Dexter Filkins, “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War,” New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009.
102 enrolled at West Point: Ibid.
102 “troublemaker”: Evan Thomas, “McChrystal’s War,” Newsweek, September 25, 2009.
102 mock raid: Michael Hastings, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan (New York: Blue Rider Press, 2012), p. 161.
102 graduated: “Biography of General Stanley McChrystal,” Council on Foreign Relations, 2010, www.cfr.org/afghanistan/biography-general-stanley-mcchrystal/p19396. Information about McChrystal’s education and military assignments comes from the biography, unless otherwise noted.
102 “I missed Panama”: Thomas, “McChrystal’s War.”
102 revolutionized: Hastings, The Operators, pp. 171–172.
102 “I’ve never shot anyone”: Thomas, “McChrystal’s War.”
103 “My Ranger peers”: Dalton Fury, “The Pope,” Small Wars Journal, May 14, 2009. All quotations of Dalton Fury come from this essay.
103 “the Rangers were just as skilled”: Ibid.
103 Military Fellowship Selection Board: “Overview of the Studies Program, 1998–99,” Council on Foreign Relations.
104 “It is military reality”: Stanley A. McChrystal, “Memorandum to the President,” in Humanitarian Intervention: Crafting a Workable Doctrine: Three Options Presented as Memoranda to the President, Project Director Alton Frye, Council Policy Initiative, Council on Foreign Relations (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2000), pp. 56, 62.
104 forward headquarters: “Combined Joint Task Force 82,” GlobalSecurity.org, accessed June 1, 2012, www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/dod/cjtf-180.htm.
104 ran a “hybrid organization”: Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan—and the Path to Victory (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), p.29.
104 task force’s mission: Dr. Donald P. Wright, James R. Bird, Steven E. Clay, Peter W. Connors, Lieutenant Colonel Scott C. Farquhar, Lynne Chandler Garcia, and Dennis F. Van Wey, A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001–September 2005 (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, 2010), pp. 209–210.
104 interrogating prisoners, night raids: Ibid., p. 220.
104 “blueprint for the war against terrorism”: Elizabeth Neuffer, “Fighting Terror; Afghanistan on the Front Lines: In US Strategy, Myriad Hazards; Some See Tactics Bolstering Role of Local Warlords,” Boston Globe, July 7, 2002.
104 prisoner abuse scandal: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, pp. 151–152 (2008).
104 tried in connection: Lianne Hart, “Afghan Detainee’s Leg Was ‘Pulpified,’ Witness Says,” Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2005.
105 director of intelligence: “Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, USA, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency,” Defense Intelligence Agency, accessed August 10, 2012, www.dia.mil/about/leadership/director.html. Information about General Flynn’s military career is from his official biography, unless otherwise noted.
105 hard-partying surfer: Hastings, The Operators, p. 27.
105 “equipped with low density systems”: Second Lieutenant Ethan T. Vessels, “Pillar of Intelligence Training: The 111th MI Brigade,” Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin 21 (4) (October 1995), at www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/mipb/1995-4/vessels.htm.
105 “The super secret”: William Arkin, “Secret Soldiers: Will Our Military Be Dominated by Forces Shielded from Scrutiny?” op-ed, Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2003.
105 one thousand personnel: Josh White, “US Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Study Finds,” Washington Post, December 1, 2004.
105 “among the first troops”: Dana Priest and William Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State (New York: Little, Brown, 2011), p. 235.
106 “There were a lot of us”: Hastings, The Operators, p. 90.
106 “made more difficult”: Transcript, “HBO History Makers Series with Stanley McChrystal,” interview with Tom Brokaw, Council on Foreign Relations, October 6, 2011.
106 “the daily lie,” “I don’t benefit,” “not the best use”: Allison Stevens, “Lawmakers Split About Benefits of Private Briefings on Status of Iraq War,” Congressional Daily Monitor, April 9, 2003.
107 “My staff goes”: Ibid.
107 “They simply give us the facts”: Ibid.
107 “more extensive”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—[Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria] Clarke and Maj. Gen. McChrystal,” April 4, 2003.
107 “very focused targeting”: Transcript, “Special Targeting Procedures,” Foreign Press Center Briefing with Major General McChrystal, April 3, 2003.
107 “I would anticipate”: Eric Schmitt and Bernard Weinraub, “A Nation at War: Military; Pentagon Asserts the Main Fighting Is Finished in Iraq,” New York Times, April 15, 2003.
107 one meal, twelve miles: Dexter Filkins, “Stanley McChrystal’s Long War,” New York Times Magazine, October 14, 2009.
107 Talladega Nights, Bud Lite Lime: Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General,” Rolling Stone, July 8, 2010.
107 “unique warrior”: Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012. All information and statements attributed to Andrew Exum are from the author’s interview.
108 Janet Reno: Marc Ambinder, “The Night Beat: Obama Borrows the Military Back,” TheAtlantic.com, June 23, 2010.
108 “epitome of a warrior”: Author interview, former Special Operations staffer, March 2011.
108 “McChrystal is stubborn”: Dalton Fury, “The Pope,” Small Wars Journal, May 14, 2009. The following quotations of Dalton Fury come from his essay.
109 “A third generation soldier”: Carl Prine, “McChrystal Clear,” Line of Departure (blog), Military.com, June 3, 2012.
109 “I like Stan”: Author interview, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, August 2010. All statements and information attributed to Colonel Macgregor come from the author’s interview.
110 “great crusade against Islam”: Author interview with retired military officer, July 2010.
110 Catholic convert: James Dao, “Aftereffects: The Overseer—Man in the News; at the Helm in Shattered Iraq: Lewis Paul Bremer III,” New York Times, May 8, 2003.
110 “running the occupation”: Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, with Malcolm McConnell, My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope (New York: Threshold Editions, 2006), pp. 6–7.
111 “paramount authority figure”: Ibid., p. 2.
111 brainchild: Ibid., p. 37. Bremer describes Defense Secretary Rumsfeld as giving him his “marching orders” to proceed with de-Baathification, with Feith doing the groundwork.
111 “Order 1”: Naomi Klein, “Baghdad Year Zero,” Harper’s, September 2004.
111 “450,000 enemies”: David Rieff, “Blueprint for a Mess,” New York Times Magazine, November 2, 2003.
111 “We are going to fight them”: Transcript, Interview with L. Paul Bremer III, Breakfast with Frost, BBC, June 29, 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/3029904.stm.
111 “My fellow Americans”: Transcript, “Remarks by the President from the USS Abraham Lincoln,” May 1, 2003.
111 were killed: Ann Scott Tyson, “Anatomy of the Raid on Hussein’s Sons,” Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2003.
111 “the phrase ‘guerrilla war’”: Transcript, “DoD News Briefing—Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers,” June 30, 2003.
111 “classical guerrilla-type campaign”: Brian Knowlton, “Top US General in Iraq Sees ‘Classical Guerrilla-Type’ War,” New York Times, July 16, 2003.
112 “significant terrorist threat”: Alissa J. Rubin, Mark Fineman, and Edmund Sanders, “Iraqis on Council to Get Guards,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2003.
112 United Nations headquarters: Sameer N. Yacoub (AP), “Huge Explosion Rocks UN Headquarters in Iraq,” USA Today (USAToday.com), August 20, 2003; CBS/AP, “Baghdad Bomb Crude but Deadly,” CBSNews.com.
112 alleged: Associated Press, “CIA Feels al-Qaida Tape on Iraq Is Probably Authentic,” NBCNews.com, April 7, 2004. The United States and the UN both cited the August 2003 attack in their sanctions against Zarqawi and his group. In a 2004 audiotape, a man claiming to be Zarqawi took credit for the UN attack. An unnamed agency official told journalists that the tape was “probably authentic.”
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