Intelligence collection in its most visceral form.

Interrogation represents intelligence collection in its most visceral form. Sitting in “the box” with one’s enemy, maintaining composure and decorum, all while outwitting them to the point that they provide valuable information against their will requires the skills of a chess master combined with a thespian.  It is clear after reading The Black Banners that former FBI Agent Ali Soufan embodies this ability and more.

A Lebanese-American assigned to the FBI’s counterterrorism office in New York
City,  Soufan was pivotal as an interrogator for many investigations in the
war with al Qaeda to include the East Africa Embassy bombings, the attack on USS Cole, and 9/11. In fact, Soufan was in Yemen on 9/11 conducting the Cole investigation, and collected the first intelligence that proved al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11.

The Black Banners describes many interrogations that are reminiscent of other great books on the subject such as The Interrogators by Chris Mackey and Greg Miller and How to Break a Terrorist by Matthew Alexander. Like Alexander, Soufan provides detailed and convincing commentary on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (read: waterboarding and the like) versus The Informed Interrogation Approach. This alone makes his work an important book for all who work in the intelligence field.

Soufan’s book is equally valuable for its study of Al Qaeda itself. While it is not as informative as other examples that focus primarily on the terror group, like The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright, it serves as a great companion to such works.

The Black Banners is an important study of an American patriot and his invaluable service to our nation. It should serve as an addition to any student of modern history, and of course, military and intelligence enthusiasts. 

Thank you, Mr. Soufan.

Run out the guns!

Thorough research mixed with superior writing is the mark of Steve Maffeo. He has followed his non-fiction works, Most Secret and Confidential and Seize, Burn, or Sink with an informative and entertaining age-of-sail novel. The Perfect Wreck is an account of USS Constitution and HMS Java during the War of 1812. Maffeo used a considerable number of historical documents to ensure incredible accuracy, and includes a glossary that will respond to most anticipated queries. Most important is that The Perfect Wreck is a great read.

Maffeo’s style is reminiscent of both C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series, and Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels. Like Forester, Maffeo’s discussion of the ships’ design, details of their outfitting, dramatization of the daily routine, and descriptions of their sailing techniques is educational, without becoming too dry. In a manner similar to Shaara, he takes the reader from officers and crew on Constitution to Java and back again, humanizing them, solidifying the reader’s understanding of the age, and effectively building tension as the battle approaches. To be sure, the conflict between Java and “Old Ironsides” is not the book’s only engagement: like any good age of sail novel, the guns are run out numerous times. Here Maffeo really excels, providing a taste of battle with a perspective from the topgallants to the surgeon’s cabin.

Any fan of the age of sail or historical fiction should add The Perfect Wreck to their collection. It should be mandatory reading for any bluejacket.

Cold War Undersea: Book Review of "Blind Man's Bluff," and "Project Azorian."

Many chapters of the Cold War were unseen and unknown to the general public. Among the most secret operations were those conducted undersea by the U.S. Navy’s submarine force. In Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew tell tales derived from interviewing submariners that include technological marvels and unparalleled courage.

            Before reading this book, most have a perception of the submarine force consisting of two main missions, attack subs to find and destroy the enemy at sea, and ballistic missile boats, or “boomers,” that serve as part of America’s Strategic Nuclear Triad.  Others may be aware that submarines have been employed to deliver UDTs and are used to transport SEALs and their Seal Delivery Vehicles (SDVs). Blind Man’s Bluff describes missions that were equally secretive, but that focused on intelligence collection, such as USS Halibut deploying saturation divers to tap into Soviet underwater telephone cables, or the secret mission to raise the downed Soviet submarine, K-129. Through each story the reader becomes acutely aware of the dangers, the skill, and the sacrifice and those in the “Silent Service.” Blind Man’s Bluff is an important read for any fan of naval or military history.

Norman Polmar and Michael White discuss the raising of K-129 in greater detail in a book and companion documentary that focuses on the subject entitled Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129.

            The whole project includes three major steps. First, find K-129 and determine if its condition was such that it could be salvaged in order to obtain intelligence in the form of details about Soviet submarine design, construction of nuclear weapons, and codebooks or other cryptological material. USS Halibut, an intelligence asset employed underwater cameras to pinpoint K-129s location three miles below the ocean surface. The photos revealed that the sub was salvageable. Next, a ship needed to be constructed that could raise the submarine. The bulk of Project Azorian describes in interesting detail the planning and construction of the Hughes Glomar Explorer, complete with lifting cables, a capture vehicle, and a “moon pool” to house the submarine once retrieved. Howard Hughes allowed one of his corporations to act as a front for the U.S. government to at least reduce Soviet suspicion of the ship’s actual mission. Publically, Glomar Explorer was trying to mine the ocean floor for manganese. Finally, the submarine and its contents were analyzed to derive as much intelligence value as possible.

            By highlighting this whole effort, Project Azorian serves as an important book on Cold War history. It is recommended for intelligence analysts and sailors alike as well as any fan of engineering marvels.

Bomb Patrol on G4TV

Game Reviews - E3 2011

Only one word to describe this - HOOYA.

Hero: A valuable, detailed biography of T.E. Lawrence.

T.E. Lawrence is a fascinating historical figure whose life is often blurred between fact and fiction. This may be because Lawrence himself would simultaneously step into the limelight, while denying his own identity. He was a shapeshifter, “Lawrence of Arabia” one moment, Aircraftman First Class T.E. Shaw the next. Those around him went along with the ruse, like a Tony Clifton audience sans nicotine and alcohol, hoping he would revert to Colonel Lawrence, “the uncrowned King of Arabia” before the act was over. Michael Korda sifts through this, Lawrence’s interesting and confusing life, in the aptly-titled biography, Hero.

Korda starts with a description of Lawrence’s World War I service, his eighteen months leading the Arabian revolt against the Turks. The detail here is enough that someone who is unfamiliar with Lawrence will begin to realize why his actions were studied by Mao and Che Guevara, and remain important scholarship for unconventional warriors today. Hero then starts at the proverbial beginning, chronicling Lawrence’s childhood and college years where his intelligence, endurance, and quirkiness all combined to form this unique character. Most enjoyable are Korda’s description of Lawrence Oxford years, especially his study of archeology in Egypt, Turkey, and throughout the rest of what is today’s Middle East that made him so familiar with the various tribes, cultures, and dialects and thus invaluable to British efforts against the Turks.

Hero thoroughly covers the revolt in the desert, quoting at times from Lawrence’s own work on the subject, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Korda adds his own insight into some of the actions, and the geopolitical fencing between the French and British as they determined the lines to be drawn in this new territory vis-à-vis the Sykes-Picot agreement. He also includes a much appreciated discussion of Lawrence’s role as the advisor to Prince Faisal in the post-war talks.

Like Lawrence’s college years, Korda thoroughly covers the years when he sought anonymity while simultaneously publishing Revolt in the Desert and The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It is most curious that Lawrence would develop long friendships with the likes of Winston Churchill and Bernard and Charlotte Shaw (whose name adopted as his nom de guerre), while serving in the enlisted ranks as means to avoid attention.  He even surreptitiously attended Lowell Thomas’ performance in London of With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia, likely reveling in the tale while hoping nobody noticed him.

The whole account is a valuable addition to any library, but especially those who appreciate history and T.E. Lawrence in particular. Korda should be most commended for the aforementioned sections on Lawrence’s college and post-war years as they provide insight into the man not commonly found elsewhere.