The Targeter: My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House
B-
369 pages
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Excerpts From My Kindle
At home I joked with Roger that Id found a more philosophical take on my work. I basically get paid to think big thoughts, gather around whiteboards, and pontificate on my way to get coffee. – location 2648-2650
From Southeast Asia to the Middle East and North Africa, the US government often has turned to kinetic operations, a tactical function, as a substitute for a strategy. As hinted at earlier, these operations offer a veneer of doing something when there is a sense of urgency in the face of a perceived or real risk, even if the efficacy of using kinetic operations is questionable. They can be useful in the short term to prevent or limit control of territory, or if a terrorist organization has settled into a power vacuum, kinetic ops can buy time for stabilization efforts to take root. But if they are not incorporated into a broader strategy, kinetic operations cannot be successful in combating terrorist threats – particularly because kinetic operations are a tactical and episodic response to a strategic and enduring challenge. – location 4312-4317
If Iraq showed us anything, it was that a severe lack of capability in this regard could not be overcome simply by imposing our military’s might. Considering our routine failures in public policy here at home, in an environment that is familiar, I find the likelihood of the United States demonstrating any sort of consistent skill in influencing conditions abroad very low at this point. – location 4334-4336
Cold Read 