Scheuer - Imperial hubris: why the West is losing the war on terror

For assistance in preparing this book, I have four specific thank-yous to deliver. First, to my superb editor at Brasseys, Ms. Christina Davidson, who believed in this work from the start, and who labored mightily to delete from the text excess vitriol, as well as allusions that made perfect sense to me but would have been lost on normal people. Ms. Davidson is a stern, smart, but kind taskmaster, and the book is much better for her efforts. I greatly respect her talents and judgment and am proud to have her as a friend.

Next, I would like to salute, as I did in my first book, the officers of the Federal Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Osama bin Laden is preeminently a man of words, and a man of his word. The men and women of FBIS labor seven days a week to make sure their countrys leaders and citizens have immediate and reliable access to bin Ladens words. FBIS provides U.S. leaders with all of bin Ladens statements in their entirety, a service the commercial print and electronic media do not even attempt to deliver. Since 1996, bin Laden publicly has described each action he intended to take against America, and FBIS has supplied his words almost as they were spoken. This is a record in which FBIS officers should be proud. Though intelligence-community leaders have little regard for unclassified informationit cannot be important if it is not secret, after allFBIS should take comfort in knowing that it provided as much warning about bin Ladens lethal intentions as any other community component. Sadly, FBIS officers, like others in the intelligence community, have found that you can lead jackasses to water but you cannot make them drink.

Third, I want to thank a small group of officers who have worked against the bin Laden target since 1996. During these years, this groupmostly womenhas provided the U.S. government with repeated opportunities to end the problem of bin Laden, and have done so without fail and at the cost of health, marriage, promotion, vacation, and many other of lifes good things. These women remain today the core of Americas effort to defeat bin Laden. In the spring of 2004, they were ridiculed by a senior intelligence-community officer in an officially sanctioned leak to a Washington journalist. The leak was printed by the journalist and caused unmerited pain to those women. The only word suitable for describing this leakand those who approved itis despicable. If I ever write again on the subject of bin Laden, it will be to defend these officers and make sure the words of their abusers are revealed for the lies they are. Most especially, it will be to tell all Americans about a singular group of their fellow citizens who made every effort to defend them, succeeded more times than not, and were betrayed by the moral cowardice of many of their leaders.

Finally, I want to thank Harry, Joe, Charlie, and Dave, who are mentioned in the dedication, for what they have taught me. These men are rare in their integrity, professionalism, fair-mindedness, compassion, and leadership. They are also painful reminders of how few like them today walk an American landscape that was once home to many such individuals. Like my father, these four men would have fit comfortably among those then-average Americans who simply did their duty by suffering at Valley Forge; saving the Union and ending slavery; fighting with Lee to the end at Appomattox; capturing Iwo Jima; and standing and fighting in Vietnam after most of my generation deserted them. I can offer no higher compliment. God bless each of you.

New York Times and Washington Post bestseller Imperial Hubris was originally published anonymously, as required by the Central Intelligence Agency. Its author is Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIAs Bin Laden Unit, who resigned in November 2004 after nearly two decades of experience in national security issues related to Afghanistan and South Asia. As Anonymous, he is also the author of Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America. Scheuer has been featured on many national and international television news programs, has been interviewed for broadcast media and documentaries, and has been the focus of print media worldwide.

Note on Arabic Names: The prefixes al- and ul- have been retained but ignored, so that al-Saud is listed under S. bin is treated as a primary element and appears under B, as is Ibn which appears under I.

Abdo, Geneive,

Abdullah, Abdullah,

Abizaid, Gen. John,

al-Ablaj, Abu Mohammed,

Abu Gayeth, Sulayman,

Abu Hafs the Mauritanian,

Abu Nidal Organization (ANO),

Adams, John Quincy,

al-Adil, Sayf,

Adwan, Atif,

Afghan War. See also under Afghanistan; Taleban

Afghan War strategy development,

coalition-building,

political-military reality in,

Shahi Kowt battle,

Tora Bora battles,

U.S. experience in,

Afghanistan. See also under Afghan War; Taleban

Afghan Transitional Administration (ATA),

al Qaeda in,

anti-Soviet jihad,

bribes and loyalty in,

Central Asian nations and,

central government in,

Civil War,

heroin trafficking,

importance of, to bin Laden,

Islamist insurgencies in,

Islamist regime in,

minority rule in,

Northern Alliance and U.S.,

Pashtuns,

Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan,

refugees,

Saudi mujahideen,

Soviets in,

terrorist camps in,

tribal xenophobia in,

U.S. aid to anti-Soviet mujahideen,

U.S.-backed government in,

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy (Biddle),

The Age of Sacred Terror (Simon & Benjamin),

Aghiza, Ahmed Hussain,

Ahmed, Qazi Hussein,

al Qaeda. See also bin Laden, Osama

attacks on U.S. allies,

failed tactics against,

future events,

as insurgents, not terrorists,

and Internet,

and Israel,

in Lebanon,

manpower assessments,

military intelligence capabilities,

in Northern Iraq,

order-of-battle,

primary missions of,

role, in bin Ladens view,

in Saudi Arabia,

survives in Afghanistan,

targeting of U.S. economy,

training methods,

U.S. not prepared to strike, after 11 September,

victories against U.S.,

worldwide presence of,

Al Qaeda. Casting a Shadow of Terror (Burke),

Al Qaeda One Year Later,

Ali, Hazret,

Allison, Graham,

Alwan, Emad Abdelwahid Ahmed,

Amadullah, Qari,

Ansar al-Islam (Kurdish Islamists),

Al-Ansar (website),

al-Ansari, Sayf,

Armitage, Richard,

Ashcroft, John,

Atef, Mohammed,

Atwan, Abd al-Bari,

Australia,

al-Awdah, Shaykh Salman,

al-Azhar University fatwa,

Azzam, Shaykh Abdullah,

Bacevich, Andrew J.,

Baer, Robert,

Bahrain,

Baldauf, Scott,

al-Baluchi, Amar,

Batarfi, Khalid,

Beg, Gen. Mirza Aslam,

Bekaa Valley training camps,

Bellamy, Christopher,

Benjamin, Daniel,

Bergen, Peter,

Bergener, Daniel,

Betts, R.K.,

Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World (Peters),

Biddle, Stephen,

bin Abdel-Aziz, Prince Mamdouh,

bin Attash, Khalid,

bin Attash, Tawfiq,

bin Laden, Osama.