Ghost

by Fred Burton

  Instead, I find myself in a conversation with a World War II veteran. I saw his Pearl Harbor veteran’s cap and we began to talk about sneak attacks.

  “I’ll tell you,” he remarks, “I never thought we’d get sucker-punched again.”

  From my viewpoint, it was inevitable. September 11, 2001, was not a wake-up call for me. It was a reminder.

  “It will happen again,” I reply.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “We can’t be a hundred percent right all the time.”

  I almost tell him more, like how the interagency turf wars continue despite the attempt to unify things under the Department of Homeland Security. September 11 prompted many positive changes, like larger budgets for the intel services and more assets to use in investigations. But it also created more layers of bureaucracy, more rules and procedures that everyone must follow. The days of the mavericks making things up as they went along are over.

  In my day, we started as three agents against the threat matrix. The world was our beat and we had no rule book. We lived by the seat of our pants and did what we could to stem the tide of carnage. We lacked resources, funding, and technology, but we did have the chance to make a difference. Today’s agents can’t do what we did. They’ve got too many restrictions, too many manuals to follow, too many bosses to keep happy. They lack the freedom and the flexibility we enjoyed. I think if I’d stayed in the DSS, I would have suffocated in today’s climate.

  “You’d think we’d be a hundred percent right about the big ones. Like Pearl Harbor and Nine/Eleven,” the veteran says bitterly.

  “Well, there are a lot of places where the system can break down. When that happens, we get hurt.” Since 9/11, there has been an effort to fix those places, but much work remains. Information sharing is still a problem, and the local law-enforcement agencies who form the front line against terror still do not receive the data they need. They don’t have security clearance for most of it. We still lack HUMINT resources in the Sandbox. Coordination between agencies remains touch and go, even during crises. Politics infuses everything, especially after the WMD fiasco in Iraq.

  That said, the good guys are holding the line right now. The FBI has done a good job disrupting the operational cells here in the United States. There have been some notable successes since the towers fell. Overseas, we’ve fared less well. London, Madrid, Indonesia—they remind me that we’ve still got plenty of work to do.

  “Well, maybe it’s a good thing then. Maybe this country needs to get hit every few years.”

  The veteran’s comment surprises me. “Why?” I ask.

  “We’re a complacent people with a short memory. Pearl Harbor. September Eleventh—they were reality checks for the country. They made us wake up and realize the dangers we really face.”

  “Perhaps,” I say. The idea that Americans getting killed could be a blessing in disguise is anathema to me. I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to prevent that from happening.

  At the same time, I realize he has a point. Average people in New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and other big cities are more aware of the threat that terrorism poses than ever before. In these places, office buildings now have evacuation plans and emergency kits and actually run disaster drills. Businesses have prepared contingencies to sustain the continuity of their operations in case their headquarters get hit. Aboard airliners, passengers have better situational awareness, and attacks have been thwarted because of that. In general, we are far more tuned to the dangers lurking in the Dark World than when I was in the DSS.

  Before I know it, we’ve reached the stop for Arlington National Cemetery. The veteran struggles to his feet, grabs his cane, and bids me farewell. As he walks into the station, I can’t help but think about my dad.

  On a whim, I spring to my feet and edge through the doors just before they close. In a few minutes, I’m walking through row after row of headstones. Heroes. Veterans. They are proof of the blood sacrifice we’ve given as a nation. Around me, a scattering of Greatest Generation veterans search for lost buddies. I walk past an elderly man on his knees, praying before a grave.

  The day is warm. Yesterday’s breeze is gone. The stillness in the air lends a serenity to these sorrowful scenes.

  Suddenly, I come up short. Did I just see a name I know?

  I turn and walk back to the marker. With a shock, I realize that I’m standing in front of Ambassador Arnold Raphel’s grave.

  March 16, 1943.

  August 17, 1988.

  He died with President Zia in PAK-1.

  Do his loved ones know why?

  And what of General Herbert Wassom’s family?

  They deserve to know to know the truth. And only those of us on the ground in 1988 know it.

  Now that I’m out of the DSS, I can do it. I can tell what I know. I owe that to the families.

  My time in the Dark World has always been about the victims. Justice is poor compensation for trauma and loss, but it is the best we mortals can do. I kept going and fighting long after I should have stopped, motivated by that desire.

  As I leave Arlington, I reach under my suit coat. No longer do I wear a shoulder holster, but tucked inside my pocket rests my moleskin journal. My list. The names within these pages are signposts on the journey that became my life. Some of the names have been scratched off. They’re in supermax prisons now, or dead from old age or violence. Abu Nidal is the latest one to go, assassinated by his former allies inside Iraq just before we launched our invasion.

  But other names remain. Mugniyah, Hasan Izz-Al-Din, and others still ply their trade of death and violence. Though I’m no longer a government agent, I am still in the game, thanks to STRATFOR. I run my own HUMINT sources from Beirut to Baghdad, Bogatá to Bolivia. I watch. I listen. I do not forget. Instead, I search for answers in the dark corners of the world. My files grow, and cold trails grow warm again. Oh, yes. There will be more names scratched off this list before I’m done.

  Bank on it.

  Author’s Note

  Just as this book went to press, in February 2008, Imad Mugniyah died in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria, following a meeting with Syrian intelligence officials. Hezbollah blames Israel for the assassination. Like the Red Prince and Abu Nidal before him, Mugniyah’s luck finally ran out.

  Acknowledgments

  This book recounts the education of a U.S. counterterrorism agent. I have walked you through the world on fire: the assassinations and failures, the lives saved and lost, through the eyes of someone in the arena, when we were greatly outmatched and there were some of us who knew it.

  A wise old spook once told me that no operational decision is perfect; you need to manage the blowback. How true. With the benefit of hindsight, which is always perfect, there are some of my past decisions I would love to revise, but amid the shades of gray we operated in, as threats were coming in faster than we could react, we were left with doing the best damn job we could while realizing that some of our decisions might turn out to be mistakes.

  Investigating terrorist acts, especially the murky threats, is never easy. Some attacks are simple and others highly complex. Those that involve foreign intelligence agencies are the most complicated because of the merging of two shades of gray and the foggy world of spooks and terrorists, a real nasty combination, one that can get away with murder.

  No man goes through life, or a book project, without a lot of help. I needed more than most, I’m afraid. I am sincerely humbled by the efforts of those who saw fit to believe in this project. Jim Hornfischer, my literary agent, set the vision and assembled my team. Will Murphy, at Random House, is owed a tremendous amount of thanks for believing in me, a debt that I can never repay. Lea Beresford at Random House has also been of tremendous assistance. At times, one can’t say thanks enough for the tireless efforts of someone who shuns the spotlight but works endlessly to get the job done. John Bruning, Jr., provided the oversight, direction, and tone. He is a patriot, with true character
and honor. Those of you with sons ought to want yours to grow up to be like John. Any success this project may have should be his. I’ll take the blame for failure.

  My current employer, Stratfor, www.stratfor.com, is the finest private intelligence company in the world. Dr. George and Meredith Friedman, Stratfor’s visionary founders, strive for brutal honesty but are not afraid to admit when they are wrong. That is quite rare among most intelligence agencies. Most spooks bury their mistakes; at Stratfor, coverups don’t happen. Our readers are much too smart to accept errors. Stratfor’s analysts, writers, and support staff are the very best of a unique breed of specialists. They make us look brilliant every day. My personal thanks go to Don Kuykendall, Scott “Stick” Stewart, Anya Alfano, Mike Parks, and Susan Copeland.

  In the counterterrorism arena, I would like to thank Brad Bryson, John Mullen, Scott “Stick” Stewart, Mike Parks, Bill Armor, Ron Reams, Scott Tripp, Peter Bergin, the late Clark Dittmer, Frank Rodman, Bernard Johnson, Larry Daniele, Mike Posillico, John Taylor, Bob O’Bannon, Bobby Noll, Chuck Hunter, and Fred “Razor” Piry. There was nothing we could not do, anytime or anywhere, despite the naysayers.

  A special thanks to Special Agent Steve Gleason. He taught me everything I know about counterterrorism investigations. There has never been a more dedicated or honorable man, pushing boulders uphill or fighting the good fight. I owe you, my friend.

  My father, William Harrison Burton, attempted to teach me service, humility, and tenderness. I miss you. For my mother, Helen, and sister, Kelli, thank you for always being there. Jimmy, Katie, and Maddie: Believe in yourselves and strive to make a difference in this world, because you have made a difference in mine. Follow your calling.

  Sharon, without your love, patience, and understanding, I would have failed. May God continue to bless our lives.

  Fred Burton

  Austin, Texas

  About the Author

  Fred Burton is one of the world’s foremost experts on security, terrorists, and terrorist organizations. He is vice president for counterterrorism and corporate security at Stratfor, an influential private intelligence company. He is the former deputy chief of the Diplomatic Security Service, the Department of State’s counterterrorism division.

  Copyright © 2008 by Fred Burton

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Burton, Fred.

  Ghost: confessions of a counterterrorism agent/Fred Burton.

  p. cm.

  1. Burton, Fred. 2. Intelligence officers—United States—Biography. 3. Terrorism—United States—Prevention. 4. United States. Dept. of State. Diplomatic Security Service. I. Title.

  JK468.I6.B89 2008

  363.28—dc22

  [B] 2008000073

  www.atrandom.com

  eISBN: 978-1-58836-704-4

  v3.0