First In

I am now reading

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan


I only started it recently, and it definitely doesn't read as easily as the previous book I blogged about, but so far I think it should be interesting. According to the CIA's Publication Review Board, it's supposed to be the most detailed account of a covert operation ever told by a clandestine officer.

All I have to offer for now is a quote from Cofer Black, Director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, as he gives marching orders to the team leader of the mission detailed in the book,

"Gentleman, I want to give you your marching orders, and I want to make them very clear. I have discussed this with the president, and he is in full agreement...your mission is to exert all efforts to find Usama bin Ladin and his senior lieutenants and to kill them. [pause] I don't want bin Ladin and his thugs captured, I want them dead. Alive and in prison here in the United States, they'll become a symbol, a rallying point for other terrorists. They have planned and carried out the murders of thousands of our citizens. They must be killed. I want to see photos of their heads on pikes. I want bin Ladin's head shipped back in a box filled with dry ice. I want to be able to show bin Ladin's head to the president. I promised him I would do that."

Awesome.