I tend to enjoy writers who also work as journalists. Their books often have little fluff or flowery prose because there simply isn’t space for that in the news world. Joby Warrick writes for The Post. I first encountered him through “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS.” This book hit home, and gave me a far better understanding of the collection of events that led to the vibrant rise of the terror group. “Triple Agent: The Al-Queda Mole Who Infiltrated The CIA,” is another item on Warrick’s catalog, and a book that provided background details of a story I was already familiar with, or at least thought I was.
How could an Al-Queda agent infiltrate the CIA leading to one of the worst days in the modern history of the agency? If you watched Zero Dark Thirty you will know at least a smattering of information about this event. Warrick provides the background details of how a Jordanian doctor went from nobody to martyr. He also provides background on those who lost their lives on that fateful day.
Several people who witnessed me reading this book made comments about “old news,” or “I don’t want to read about anything negative,” and this sums up the heart of the problem, at least in my mind. Neither person knew anything about the story. We are spoiled. Oceans provide us an unparalleled security. Many Americans don’t know their history, modern or ancient, and have little interest in what is actually happening around the globe. Our neighboring countries are allies. And yet we have Special Operations forces in over one hundred countries around the world. Something doesn’t match up.
This book reads fast, which makes it easy to think compiling it was easy too. Just building the list of sources would have taken years, decades even, and this can’t be downplayed. Trust is rare these days. Get it, read it.
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I read Black Flags some years back and couldn’t put it down (I enjoy writers who work as journalists too. Am an admirer of incisive writing). Definitely going to be picking this up. Thanks for the rec!
Author
Black Flags was mindblowing. The parts of Jordan nearly being nuked were incredible.
The Looming Tower was another one of these books. Great read.
Author
Agreed.
“Our neighboring countries are allies. And yet we have Special Operations forces in over one hundred countries around the world. Something doesn’t match up.” – At this moment, the USA is the mother democracy that takes care of all the others in the world.
I’m Portuguese and I learned that the European Union only exists because the USA put pressure on it to exist, because here in Europe countries have been killing each other for centuries.
Nowadays, if the USA didn’t have its troops in more than 100 countries, the world would turn into chaos, North Korea is eager to attack South Korea and the only reason it doesn’t do so is because the USA would intervene. China is preparing to attack Taiwan and the only reason it hasn’t done so yet is because it will have to deal with the USA. Dozens of countries have peace because the USA exists.
The world is a big chessboard and your country is the most important piece. It may seem unimaginable, but the majority of the world’s population lives under a dictatorship, and the axis of evil (China, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Russia) wants to expand its borders.
Thankfully, most of Europe (and the world) think differently to you. The USA doesn’t care about Europe as much as it helps their interests (like putting their army and weapons to US needs). I think the problem is your definition of “chaos”: I guess Pinochet, the mujahideen, and the war in Gaza are not chaos to you, but Cuba trying to survive is. Just remember that the country who has been promoting dictatorships around the world through the XX century hasn’t been China precisely.
Author
Eduard,
You should immediately stop doing what you just did. “I guess Pinochet, the Muj, and the war in Gaza are not chaos to you.’ That is a stupid statement based on your bias of some kind. Why on Earth would you ASSUME that? Making a statment like that says nothing about me and everything about you. But not in a good way. You jump to all kinds of absurb conclusions and assumptions that are naive at best.
Author
Those troops are scattered for good reasons and for reasons that are quite opaque. That’s what we do. Good cop, bad cop.
The United States is the most dominant source for terror in the world, and has been since the end of WW II. Any actions it performs around the world serve its self interest first, and if that region benefits, then that is just collateral to its primary goal. Try this one, “ The Myth of American Idealism”, brand new by Noam Chomsky and a co-author, get it, read it. “They hate us for our freedoms”, is one of the silliest statements ever spoken.
Author
Of course they serve self-interest. I’m not sure anyone would even argue that. The part about “Hey, you never asked for it, but we think Democracy suites you well,” that doesn’t even come close to holding water. The book I just finished was about going into Iraq with ZERO data supporting the story they sold to America. I’ve read everything Chomsky’s done.
Hi Daniel,
My comment wasn’t an answer directed to you, but to Mr. Moreira who stated that the world “would turn into chaos if it wasn’t for the USA having troops in 100 countries”. Which makes me think that the consequences of such militaristic interference around the world (Irak, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, and a long etc list since the end of WWII) are not considered “chaos” by him. That is, at least, debatable.
Kind regards,
For some reason, my previous comment appears with a different name?
Hi Daniel,
My previous comment wasn’t an answer directed to you, but to Mr. Moreira who stated that the world would turn into chaos if it wasn’t for the USA having troops in 100 countries. Which makes me think that the consequences of such militaristic interference around the world (Irak, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, and a long etc list since the end of WWII) are not considered “chaos” by him.
Kind regards,
This Chomsky book just came out October 10, 2024, by the way.
Author
I have not read the new one. One of my best friends ever, who has since passed on, was a huge Chomsky fan. When he died I got his entire haul, but having just looked up Chomsky’s catalog….ITS HUGE. I still have at least six to go.