The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on TerrorLong before the waterboarding controversy exploded in the media, one CIA agent had already gone public. In a groundbreaking 2007 interview with ABC News, John Kiriakou called waterboarding torture—but admitted that it probably worked. This book, at once a confessional, an adventure story, and a chronicle of Kiriakou’s life in the CIA, stands as an important, eloquent piece of testimony from a committed American patriot. In February 2002 Kiriakou was the head of counterterrorism in Pakistan. Under his command, in a spectacular raid coordinated with Pakistani agents and the CIA’s best intelligence analyst, Kiriakou’s field officers took down the infamous terrorist Abu Zubaydah. For days, Kiriakou became the wounded terrorist’s personal “bodyguard.” In circumstances stranger than fiction, as al-Qaeda agents scoured the streets for their captured leader, the best trauma surgeon in America was flown to Pakistan to make sure that Zubaydah did not die. In The Reluctant Spy, Kiriakou takes us into the fight against an enemy fueled by fanaticism. He chillingly describes what it was like inside the CIA headquarters on the morning of 9/11, the agency leaders who stepped up and those who protected their careers. And in what may be the book’s most shocking revelation, he describes how the White House made plans to invade Iraq a full year before the CIA knew about it—or could attempt to stop it. Chronicling both mind-boggling mistakes and heroic acts of individual courage, The Reluctant Spy is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, the truth behind the torture debate, and the incredible dedication of ordinary men and women doing one of the most extraordinary jobs on earth. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 24 |
Section 3 | 37 |
Section 4 | 48 |
Section 5 | 62 |
Section 6 | 85 |
Section 7 | 99 |
Section 8 | 106 |
Section 11 | 141 |
Section 12 | 146 |
Section 13 | 158 |
Section 14 | 173 |
Section 15 | 185 |
Section 16 | 193 |
Section 17 | 195 |
Section 18 | 196 |
Other editions - View all
The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou No preview available - 2010 |
Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror John Kiriakou,Michael Ruby No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
17 November Abu Zubaydah Afghanistan agency agency's agent al-Qaeda American Amir analyst Arabic asked assignment Athens bad guys Bahrain bomb boss Bush called Carlos the Jackal Chalabi Chris CIA's Cofer Black counterterrorism Counterterrorist couple deputy detainees director door drive enhanced interrogation techniques Faisalabad friends George H. W. Bush George Tenet going Greece Greek Greek American Guantánamo head headquarters intelligence Iraq JoAnne John Kiriakou Khalid kids killed knew Kuwait Laden Langley later learned look Mary Margaret McHale memos Middle East military months morning needed never Okay operations Osama bin Laden Pakistan political President prisoners question Radomir Rick Saddam safe house Taliban talk target tell Tenet terrorist group thing thought tion told took torture turned U.S. government United walked wanted Washington waterboarding weapons White House