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Title details for Jawbreaker by Gary Berntsen - Available

Jawbreaker

The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander

by Gary Berntsen
Robertson Dean
Audiobook
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In Jawbreaker Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA’s most decorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time to describe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
With his unique mix of clandestine knowledge and paramilitary training, Berntsen represents the new face of counterterrorism. Recognized within the agency for his aggressiveness, Berntsen, when dispatched to Afghanistan, made annihilating the enemy his job description.
As the CIA’s key commander coordinating the fight against the Taliban forces around Kabul, and the drive toward Tora Bora, Berntsen not only led dozens of CIA and Special Operations Forces, he also raised 2,000 Afghan fighters to aid in the hunt for bin Laden.
In this first-person account of that incredible pursuit, which actually began years earlier in an East Africa bombing investigation, Berntsen describes being ferried by rickety helicopter over the towering peaks of Afghanistan, sitting by General Tommy Franks’s side as heated negotiations were conducted with Northern Alliance generals, bargaining relentlessly with treacherous Afghan warlords and Taliban traitors, plotting to save hostages about to be used as pawns, calling in B-52 strikes on dug-in enemy units, and deploying a dizzying array of Special Forces teams in the pursuit of the world’s most wanted terrorist. Most crucially, Berntsen tells of cornering bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains—and what happened when Berntsen begged Washington to block the al-Qaeda leader’s last avenue of escape.
As disturbingly eye-opening as it is adrenaline-charged, Jawbreaker races from CIA war rooms to diplomatic offices to mountaintop redoubts to paint a vivid portrait of a new kind of warfare, showing what can and should be done to deal a death blow to freedom’s enemies.
CIA Commander Gary Berntsen on…
His eyebrow-raising style:
“Most CIA Case Officers advanced their careers by recruiting sources and producing intelligence, I took a more grab-them-by-the-neck approach…I operated on the principle that it was easier to seek forgiveness than ask for approval. Take risks, but make sure you’re successful. Success, not good intentions, would determine my fate.”
Doing whatever it took:
“I didn’t just want to survive: I wanted to annihilate the enemy. And I didn’t want to end up like one of my favorite historical characters—Alexander Burns…He was one of the first of more than 14,000 British soldiers to be wiped out by the Afghans in the First Afghan War. Like Burns before me, I was also an intelligence officer and spoke Persian. This was my second trip into Afghanistan, too. The difference, I told myself, was that Burns had been a gentleman and I would do whatever it took to win.”
Dealing with a Taliban official who controlled American hostages:
“Tell him that if he betrays me or loses the hostages I’ll spend every waking moment of my life hunting him down to kill him. Tell him I’m not like any American he has ever met.”
The capabilities of his Tora Bora spotter team:
“Working nonstop, the four men directed strike after strike by B-1s, B-2s, and F-14s onto the al-Qaeda encampment with incredible precision. Somehow through the massive bureaucracy, thousands of miles of distance [and] reams of red tape…the U.S. had managed to place four of the most skilled men in the world above the motherlode of al-Qaeda, with a laser designator and communications system linked to the most potent air power in history…As I listened over our encrypted radio network, one word kept...

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 27, 2005

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415952238
      • File size: 293839 KB
      • Duration: 10:12:09

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Former CIA operative Berntsen (code name "Jawbreaker") gives an account of the hunt for Bin Laden from the time of the embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998 to the fight for Tora Bora in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan in late 2001. JAWBREAKER reveals a dysfunctional bureaucracy rife with infighting, weak leadership, and an ear more attuned to events within the Beltway than to terrorist threats. The descriptions of events in Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11 are compelling. Robertson Dean is a measured and disciplined reader whose deep voice is precise in delivery. He gives the impression of a person who has a deep interest in the subject matter but is professional enough to be objective about the events described. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      JAWBREAKER was the call-sign assigned to Berntsen, a longtime CIA operative who spent years on the trail of Bin Laden. His exciting and nearly incredible account begins with the coordinated bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salam and ends with the escape of Bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan at the end of 2001. In between, he describes his struggle with entrenched bureaucrats and spineless politicians. He concludes with a warning that we must not give up the struggle against Islamist terrrorism. Berntsen reads, or rather tells, his amazing and insightful story with great skill. He is measured and disciplined, with a firm and clear voice. At the end, one wishes to hear more from this man. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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