Title: The Triple Agent: The Al-Queda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA
Author: Joby Warrick
Review: I have never read a book like this before, I have read so many books of fiction and Non-Fiction about the CIA but never one on the current decade. It starts off with the Bomb blasting of the Khost CIA outpost in Afghanistan. As mentioned in the book several times it was the darkest day for the CIA because so many CIA officers were killed and it could have been prevented had they taken the proper steps to protect themselves, instead of worrying about protecting an asset they had never met. The CIA station chief was Jennifer Matthews and the only reason she took the job was because she wanted to move up in the CIA. By taking the post in Afghanistan for one year, it was compared to working for the CIA state side for four years. She had no proper training, was unprepared and she just wanted a promotion which is never a good reason to do anything, my personal feelings on the subject.
The author writes with such passion about the topic and in so much detail that I never once felt lost in the story. He explains everything in terms, that if you follow the news, you will completely understand.
He writes about each of the different men and woman who were killed by interviewing family and coworker and I feel that gives the reader a real connection to the individuals who were murdered for no reason. In the middle of the book there are several pictures putting a face to those who lost their lives that day.
The author also interviewed the family of the Al-Qaeda mole and you feel how much they didn't know about their son and husband. He was a doctor healing people in a free clinic and one day he entered an Al-Qaeda chat room and became famous by calling all those who read his words to war. At one point he mentions in his chats how the American Barbie dolls will one day wear burka's.
The author explains how the police are able to properly identify the suicide bomber at the blast site. He also write in detail about what happened after the bombing and the doctors who attended to the men and woman. You can almost feel the pains a doctor felt seeing the young woman Elizabeth Hanson enter his operating table with hopes of survival only for her to die minutes later.
I still do not realize why the Al-Qaeda hates what Americans stand for and how a man who was trained to save lives could takes lives instead. By reading this book I have found myself more interested in learning about Islam without the extremes and what separates them from Al-Qaeda.
Review by Guest Blogger Heidi…thanks Heidi for you imput.
Publisher: Published July 19th 2011 by Doubleday
ISBN: 9780385534185
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 304
Quick Review: 5 stars (out of 5)
Why I Read It: It caught by eye at the bookstore.
Where I Obtained the Book: Bought it at the bookstore.
Synopsis: For most of the world, Humam Khalil al-Balawi didn't exist until he strapped a bomb to his torso on December 30th, 2009 and detonated it at a Afghanistan meeting with Americans agents, killing himself and seven CIA operatives. What emerged from that wreckage was an astonishing story of changing loyalties; from Islamic extremist to Jordanian double-agent to al-Qaeda infiltrator to anti-American suicidal terrorist. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Joby Warrick renders the ideological shifts and swerves of one politicized Middle Easterner and what they mean for our struggles abroad. Editor's recommendation.
Author Biography: JOBY WARRICK covers intelligence for the Washington Post, where he has been a reporter since 1996. He is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and has appeared on CNN, Fox, and PBS.
Other Reviews:
Deadline Live with jack Blood
Good story, well written and a very good story. Sad in alot of ways but a very good read and well written and researched.
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