THE SILENT HUNT

A NOVEL BY MARK JAMESON Mark Jameson hopes you enjoy this chapter of The Silent Hunt, a thriller based on his real experiences in the CIA after 9/11. To get the entire book or blog with Mark Jameson, go to www.thesilenthunt.com.

Published by Shoot Your Eye Out Publishing http://shootyoureyeout.net Copyright Mark Jamesonl 2011 Cover art : Copyright Mary Gustafson 2011 http://marygustafson.com/ No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either prior written permission of the publisher. The Silent Hunt is a work of fiction. All incidents, dialog, and characters, with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogs concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other aspects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing in these contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or Agency endorsement of the authors views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent disclosure of classified information. ISBN: 978-0-9833011-2-7 Manufactured in the United States of America

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CHAPTER 2
Washington, D.C. (January 2002)
David stared aimlessly at the far wall of the conference room where he sat alone. Alone, that about sums it up. He was in his second day of debriefings and he didnt seem to have a friend in the world. David had only been back in the U.S. a few days and had tried to track Mark down all over Agency Headquarters with no luck. None of his analyst buddies had seen him and Doug Monroe was suspiciously unavailable each time David had tried to ask him where his employee was. David had even tried calling Marks parents in North Carolina. All they knew was that Mark was in D.C., back from the war, but they hadnt heard from him in a couple weeks. It sure would have been nice to compare notes with Mark before heading into this farce. David had been mildly concerned that Mark was under detention precisely so he could not speak with David, but judged that as unlikely. If things were that serious they wouldnt be debriefing me in this vanilla conference room or leaving me alone for a lunch break.
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David was equally disturbed that his own boss was not here. That was not surprising, as Greg was probably still heavily engaged in Afghanistan. Unfortunately that left duties like this debriefing to Larry Presley. Although Larry had a more auspicious title, most of the SOG troopers knew Larry as the desk puke who had never deployed anywhere and took care of all the headquarters bullshit for Greg. As though on cue, the debriefing team strolled back in the room from their lunch break. Besides Larry there was the Chief of Operations for the Counterterrorist Center, known as CTC, the Deputy Chief of the Near East Division, or NE, and an officer from the Security Division. To Davids surprise, Doug Monroe walked in with them. David wasnt sure why Doug was here. The Security officer worried David the most. He hadnt introduced himself at the beginning of the session, other than to say what Division he was from, and gave the impression that no matter what David said, the guy was hearing what he wanted to hear. The other people in the room were there primarily because David had in one way or another violated their precious turf. Deputy NE was pissed about the violation of Pakistani territory, COPS CTC was pissed at the implication that their operation had so glaringly missed a chance to nail UBL, Monroe might be pissed that Mark had been mixed up in this mess, and Larry just wanted the whole thing to go away. The Security guy, however, was there to make David a statistic. An investigational victory. The group took their seats. The heavy set security man, with his thick mustache and smelling of onions and B.O., sat closest to David and started in. We talked things over at lunch and agreed we need to
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get refocused here. Let me see if I can get the key items on the table. The man looked down at his notes and began reading. You deviated from your mission at Tora Bora and failed to report back to your higher headquarters, putting yourself and a fellow officer at risk. You were responsible for 17 Agency assets, not to mention an U.S. Air Force NCO, all of whom are now dead or missing. The assets were handpicked to assist you by key allies in the region. By your own admission, you killed some of these men. You violated a critical standing order by knowingly crossing into Pakistani territory. You attempted, through deception, to coordinate a U.S. air strike inside Pakistan. You claim to have sighted Usama bin Ladin, but can provide no corroborating evidence. And finally, at the conclusion of this mess, you disappeared for nearly a month without an acceptable explanation, in the process entering another country without Chief of Station approval. He looked up from his notes. Personally, Im stumped by the fact that you seemed to care very little about the 17 Agency assets under your charge, and yet went to extraordinary lengths to return home the body of a man to which this organization owes nothing. A man, I might add, that you say killed some of the 17 Agency assets that were lost under your command. Thats not to mention the Agency funds you used to support your little vacation to Uzbekistan. Given this list of issues, and your past history of disregarding key directives in Kosovo as well . . . he trailed off. You forgot to throw in the Mazar I Sharif incident. David added. Were you there too? Larry asked with a pained face.
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No, but since youre compiling a list of phony charges, might as well add that one, David said with deadpan. Youre not going to help yourself by not taking this seriously. Heres what I hear. Youre reading a list of charges against me. This is bullshit. If thats how this is going to go, I want an advocate in here. Thats why Im here, Larry said weakly. David gave him an acidic look. I want somebody else. You dont have that luxury. I see. So youre going to railroad me and I dont get to choose my lawyer either. Screw you, Larry. You might as well add insubordination to your list, Larry said to the Security officer. Look, David struggled to keep his temper in check, I gave you my explanations for each item you cited. Im not denying them, but your interpretation is incorrect. For Christ sake, these guys tried to kill us in the middle of nowhere and we defended ourselves. Youre not on trial for murder, the security officer said pointing a finger across the table at David. Youre on trial for poor judgment. To include bringing an unvetted Russian onto your team and mixing him in with Afghans. And Tajiks! added Deputy NE. No wonder you were bushwhacked! Youve made up your mind and Im not going to change it, so why dont you just get on with it. David was tired and didnt care to fight this anymore. Suspension? Dismissal? Jail? Whats it going to be?
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Arent we getting a little ahead of ourselves gentleman? came a booming voice from the doorway as the Director of Central Intelligence strolled into the room, chomping his signature unlit cigar. David quickly scanned the room as the group stood up. There was surprise on each mans face. Except Monroes. David, I wanted to welcome you home and say thank you. Ive made it a point to spend a little time with each of Gregs guys as you come home. Hell you guys won the war practically single-handedly. The DCI pulled a chair up next to Davids and sat. Thank you sir. Its good to see you again. Whens the last time we spoke? Almost a year ago, sir. Last February. That wicked snow storm that shut the city down. I was here with some of Dougs team, briefing you on Macedonia. Thats right, fucking Albanians. My mother was Albanian you know? David nodded and laughed and stole a quick glance at the Security officer. The man was visibly concerned about this easy banter between David and the DCI. I also recall that your stomach was growling through that whole briefing, the DCI continued. The cafeteria was closed due to the storm, wasnt it? Yes sir. You threw grapes at me when my stomach kept interrupting the briefing. And I recall that you were wearing a dirty sweatshirt and playing with a basketball during the briefing. This time the DCI laughed, and then he went stone faced and scanned David with a hard look. David, tell me. I read your report. Was it really Bin Ladin? You had him in your sights?
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The muscles in Davids face tensed and he looked down at the table. Yes sir. Damn. The DCI pointed a finger across the table at CTC COPS, We have got to get our shit straight! I told you we need our own cross border capability. David knew that was it, meeting adjourned. The DCI had just told everyone else around the table that what David said was true and all the other little pissing contests were irrelevant. Sir? It was the Security officer, hoping to salvage what he thought was another scalp to pin on his belt. The DCI cut him off with a glance, and then addressed the group. Things are about to get a lot worse folks, and were going to need every good soldier that we have. Then he turned back to David and stood. You need to rest. No field time for a little while. I want you to stay at Headquarters. You get over to CTC. He glanced at CTC COPS. You guys get into the maps. Find this hidden valley, get the satellites on it. Figure out where UBL was going and who was helping him. He turned back to David. After that, Ive arranged for you to go on rotation to the DI for a little while. David was instantly confused. CTC was one thing, but the Directorate of Intelligence was pretty far off his path. But sir . . . David began to object. The DCI put a hand on Davids shoulder and smiled. Did you think you could invade Pakistan and not get punished a little? Justice having been served, the DCI stuck his unlit cigar in his mouth and strolled out of the room. CTC COPS walked around the table to David and held out his hand. It wasnt personal. David looked at the hand wearily, but stood up and accepted it.
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Thanks, said CTC COPS. Come by my office in two hours and well get started. He turned on his heel and marched off. David saw that all the others had slunk off in silence, except Monroe. Well David, Id say you just used your last get of jail free card. Doug, what did you just do? Got a little time? Apparently I have two hours to kill. Come on, lets take a walk. *** David wanted answers. Obviously the DI job was going to be working for Monroe. But doing what? And why me? Where was Mark? What was the DCI talking about when he said things were about to get much worse? But Doug was playing coy. He had insisted on buying coffee and making small talk, probably knowing that was driving David crazy. Monroe was a former submarine commander, and David knew he was slow, methodical, and calculating. But he also garnered respect from most everyone, especially his own people. Now they were strolling out of the Agencys central cafeteria, Starbucks in hand. They walked in silence, both knowing that the things they needed to discuss were not appropriate for the general hallways. David stroked his beard, still uncut from deployment, and took a moment to soak in the surroundings. Hed been inside the Headquarters complex probably less than 10 total days in the last few years. The caf was a giant enclosed courtyard that served as the sole connection between two large office buildings: the Old Building that houses the DI and the New Building that houses the DO.
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David noted the separation with interest. Optimists at the Agency would note that, not too long, the two Directorates were separated by secure doors. But David knew that the true barriers were still there. They caused a lot more problems than they solved, but they were cultural barriers, not physical, and were not so easily torn down. His group, SOG, was housed in a private office complex elsewhere in the Virginia suburbs and steered clear of this internal rivalry as best as possible. SOG was technically part of the DO but worked with them only out of necessity, and only in rare instances with the DI. They walked down a long corridor into the Old Building, passing a long line of portraits of all the past Directors of Central Intelligence. David noted with curiosity that the portrait of Richard Helms, widely considered the best DCI, was missing from the middle of the line-up. Its up in the DCIs office, Monroe noted with amusement. Hes a good egg, David said, mainly to himself. True, but we need to talk about Iraq. Just be patient for two more minutes. At the end of the portraits they took an elevator to the fifth floor of the Old Building, turned immediately into a large vault with a sign reading Balkan Task Force (BTF), a reception desk, and several rows of cubicles. David followed Monroe past the first few rows and into a window office overlooking the thick woods lining the Potomac River. David closed the door and blurted, All right Doug, what the hell is going on? Oh, my. Now I know you arent this impatient in combat. He was truly enjoying this mild torture.
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Its this place. It makes me feel like a trapped rat. Alright, Ill let you off the hook. Im sure you already figured out that you are coming to work for me. Is this your way of getting me back for stealing Mark for the last two years? First of all, youre welcome for saving your ass. Fair enough. Thank you. Second, Mark is in Denver. Denver? Ill get to that. We need to get you caught up. I handled Marks debrief before he left. Part of the reason those guys were grilling you so bad is because I didnt let them get at him. So I know what you guys did. Thats why I went to the DCI. Doug paused and looked out the window. For what its worth, Greg was on your side. He called the DCI too. Did you know he almost came to blows with an Army two star over Tora Bora? Greg was calling for a whole brigade up on that same mountain ridge you guys were on. The DCI tried to get it for him too. Went right to the White House and asked for 10th Mountain. No shit? No shit. Didnt amount to much though. Fucking SecDef is a piece of work. Hes really pissed at the Agency, you guys especially, for upstaging DoD and winning a major war with 50 guys and a pallet load of cash. So the answer instead was to have the Pakistanis do it. David tensed up before the sentence was all the way out of Monroes mouth. You dont have to say it. Mark told me about the Pak soldiers up there. Thats another reason NE Division was in there grilling you. They dont want to
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believe the Paks were helping UBL that blatantly, although it shouldnt really come as a surprise to anybody. ISI? David speculated, referring to Pakistans intelligence service. Gotta be. Or at least parts of it. Pak intelligence and the Taliban are interwoven like the CIA and the Mafia back in the 60s. Bad juju. Yeah, but think about it Doug. These guys were lobbing arty at us at serious altitudes. No intelligence service in the world has that kind of internal capability. These guys were regular army, mountain troops. Probably still ISI. They were heavily involved in the Kargil campaign against India in 99. Thats the most serious mountain fighting anywhere in the world. ISI would probably know just the right folks to pluck from the Army for a special job. I dont think I want to talk about it anymore. It makes me sick just thinking about it. David stared past Monroe at something far off and invisible. Well, speaking of India, thats what you missed. A few days after you took off for Uzbekistan, which if you ask me was the only real mistake you made; there was a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. It was probably Lashkar i-Tayab, or one of the other Kashmiri terrorist groups. Those guys are intertwined pretty tightly with Al-Qaida, and oh by the way with the ISI still too. I wasnt on the moon. I heard about that. Yes but heres what you didnt hear. Right before that happened Musharraf was in the process of moving a full division up into the Parachinar Salient, just south of where you guys found UBL. Well the Kashmiris came pretty damn close to breaching
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Parliaments security and the Indians got squirrelly. They went to full mobilization, including the nukes. Pakistan responded in kind, which among other things meant the Pak Army never ended up on the Afghan border in real numbers. At that point most of the AlQaida guys were still holed up inside in the cave complex, or so we thought. They went silent for about 12 hours before the teams finally went all the way inside. By that time hundreds of Al Qaida and Taliban fighters had escaped into Pakistan, including the remaining senior leaders. Interesting, but I dont see what it has to do with me. By that point Id already missed the big fish. He could have been half way to anywhere by then. It pertains to you in two ways. First, the bulk of the bad guys did not slip out until the Pak Army movement to the border was called off. Which means someone from the Pak Army, or at least ISI acting as the bridge, was directly communicating with those guys in the caves. And that, my friend, verifies your story. Its probably the same way they knew exactly where and when to meet UBL when he crossed the border. Second, India and Pakistan came really close to full scale nuclear war that week. Why does that matter? Because it spooked the hell out of one of Pakistans nuclear physicists, who contacted the station in Islamabad and is talking to us now. Theyve encrypted him PF-Lightning. Ill get you on distro for his traffic. Hes told us several interesting things that have the White House rather spun up. The good news is the nukes themselves are fairly secure, but the nuclear material and related equipment are not. He says the countrys stock of highly enriched uranium is
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not well measured or safeguarded and it would be hard to determine if small amounts went missing. Lightnings chief concern is Dr. A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistans nuclear program. He believes Khan is selling Pakistans nuclear know-how on the black market, but he cant prove it. He was able to prove himself through one tip though. Lightning told us that two retired Pak scientists who are associated with Khan went to Afghanistan to do charity work right as the war was beginning and had not returned. He was particularly worried about one of these guys, Dr. Sultan Mahmud. Mahmud was the former director of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, but also an Islamic scholar who tried to teach his fellow physicists that energy could be harnessed from some kind of fiery spirits. With some digging we found these guys hiding out in Kandahar, waiting till things settled down to cross back into Pakistan. We had to hand them over to the Paks, but before we did we had Karzais guys give them the once over. Turns out they had met with UBL shortly before he retreated to the mountains and provided him a rough sketch on construction of a small nuclear device. It was very crude, but its more than enough to worry about. I guess Im not surprised. About the nuke that is. But what does that have to do with you and the BTF, David waived his hand around the room. And me for that matter. Oh that. I just havent moved offices yet. O.K., so youre going to CTC and were going to hunt for Al-Qaidas bomb? I guess I could sign up for that. Sorry, not quite that sexy. You see, theres another problem. Iraq.
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Yeah, you mentioned that. Is this about the Czech intel that Atta met with the Iraqis? I thought we put that to bed. We did, but the Vice President doesnt care. Hes hell bent on going after Iraq and all the gray beards at the Pentagon are with him. Hes trumpeting a strategy of pre-emption, claiming that Iraq can give Al-Qaida the weapons of mass destruction its looking for. Theres already talk of invasion planning. Wait a minute. You just said Al-Qaidas trying to get the bomb from the Paks. Right. So were going to invade Iraq? Right. At least we might. Ill never get this town. What about the DCI? Hes on board with this? Well thats an issue. The President has given him all the credit for Afghanistan, so the two of them have gotten rather chummy. Problem is, the DCI is starting to get a little too good at telling the President what he wants to hear. So hes walking a fine line on Iraq, saying we arent seeing any indication of the VPs fantasy, but it doesnt mean it isnt true. At the same time, he recognizes the greater danger remains with Al Qaida. So, hes trying to take the initiative where he can. One of those areas is here, at home. Denver? Yeah, among other places. You see the FBI has a number of ongoing cases that appear to be linked to the 9/11 attacks, but their method of operation and culture are preventing them from connecting the cases to each other, much less to the wider international AlQaida network, which CTC has been trying to map and track for the last three years.
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So what? Youre going to help the FBI? Why not CTC? Monroe laughed. Theyre a little busy in case you hadnt noticed. So the DCI picked us. The BTF here has a proven track record. Weve turned out the Agencys best analytical work for the last five years, weve worked with the DO, you guys, the military, and NSA in a way no analytical unit ever has. And I also have a personal track record of making excellent analysts out of unlikely candidates. Monroe flashed David a devilish smile. No, no. I dont think so. Im not a writer. And I cant read a thousand pieces of traffic a day like these guys. I work outdoors in case you hadnt noticed. You dont have a choice. Remember? This is your punishment. And I didnt just save your ass because Im a nice guy. It was Marks demand to me for joining the team. So you owe him too. Monroe paused to let that sink in. Besides, Im not going to make you do any of that stuff. Youre going to be my deputy, at least for a while. This is a hybrid unit, not just analysis, so youll be the Ops guy. Ill handle the 7th floor stuff, the DCI, the NSC briefings, all that. Youre going to help me put the unit together, integrate it with CTC Ops, help me pull together their thoughts, he pointed out to the rows of cubicles, and keep us focused on the big picture. Oh, and of course youll be in charge of the field team. The field team? Denver. Where else? Right now San Diego, Portland, Detroit, and a few others on the horizon. How do we get around the restrictions on conducting ops in the U.S.?
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Well, youd be surprised. The rules are not as clear cut as most people think. Ive gotten a crash course on this. We have a few permanent offices out there, as you know, and they have some key guiding principles. First, there is no law against conducting operations inside the U.S. The next thought is that you cant conduct ops involving U.S. citizens, but thats not true either. Inside the U.S., you have to declare your affiliation with the Agency to any U.S. person you meet with. But since you cant be sure of someones citizenship until you meet them, it doesnt apply to the first meeting. So you have one meeting to judge whether its worth coming out into the open a little. Enough for an initial assessment. If the guys good, it is OK to try to recruit him as long as hes been notified of your Agency status. If its a bad guy, we let the FBI do the investigating and we read the results. But we can unofficially assist their investigation as long as were careful. The real trick is getting the FBI to agree. They are so damned decentralized, so I have to get concurrence from the Special Agent in Charge at each location. Ive only had success with three so far, and thats with the DCIs help. Wait a minute. Whos going to do the recruiting? Marks not trained for that, although hed probably be good at it. Who else is out there? All three are my analysts so far. Youre right; the DO wont let them recruit anybody till theyre trained. Right now the DCI is holding five slots for me in the Accelerated Ops class. When I can break them away Ill get them through in three months instead of twelve. I plan on sending Mark first. So let me get this straight. You plan on sending analysts, Balkans analysts, snooping through FBI terrorism files, telling them how ate up they are, in
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order to piece together Al-Qaidas U.S. network. And you want me to help with this soup sandwich? Right, and dont forget the nukes, Monroe said, again with the devilish smile. The whole reason the DCI agreed was so we can look for the nukes. Figure out who, where, how, and when they would be used here once Al-Qaida got them. He grew more serious. Look, I know what youre thinking, but we are just getting started, and it is important work. Besides, I get my pick of the crop from the BTF here. Ive got a few others as good as Mark. I hid them from you intentionally. They are all ex-military, young, smart, great instincts, and not afraid to think way outside the box. I trained each one of them to be world class analysts in weeks, not years. And together, they set the rest of the tired, old analytical community in this building on its ear. Theyre the right guys. And girls, he added. Dont forget, youre the one who convinced me that Mark could track down Al-Qaida inside Afghanistan good as or better than anyone from CTC. After a brief pause, Monroe stood up. Youve got another hour till you have to be over at CTC. Let me get you some things to read and you can think it over. Oh and by the way, when youre over there Ive got dibs on an empty vault across the hall from them. Its small and a mess right now, but I want you to check it out and start thinking through a move plan. The devilish smile returned once again. David stared out the window at the thick row of trees after Monroe walked out. He really didnt have a choice, and this could be a really good project. But he also knew this wasnt where he belonged, and that he was only hear because he had completely failed at what mattered most.
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Well, Monroe saved your ass, and Mark too, so you owe them. Simple as that.

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Key Terms and Acronyms

AK TheAK-47is a7.62mmassault rifle first developed in theSoviet Union byMikhail Kalashnikov. It is also known as aKalashnikov, an "AK. Allah Uh Akbhar Arabic for "God is Great", it is a commonIslamicArabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration. AN/PAQ-1 Infrared laser designator used by forward observers to obtain target range and designate targets. Lightweight, handheld, and battery operated. AN/PRC117F Man-portable, tacticalcombat-net radiofor the transmission of voice and data traffic up to theTop Secretlevel AN/PVS-7 Standard U.S. Army night vision goggles in the 1980s-90s Arty Artillery ASAC Assistant Special Agent in Charge AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System BTF Balkan Task Force B-52 Long range strategic bomber in service with U.S. Air Force since 1955 COS CIA Chief of Station CIA Central Intelligence Agency C/O CIA Case Officer or Operations Officer COLT Combat Observation and Lasing Team
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COPS Chief of Operations. Key position within the CIAs headquarters divisions. CT Counterterrorism CTC CIAs Counterterrorism Center CTC/UBL CTC team dedicated to analysis of / operations against Usama Bin Ladin CTC/USA CTC team dedicated to analysis of / operations against Al-Qaida inside the U.S. C-17 (Globemaster) Largemilitary transport aircraft in service with the U.S. Airforcefrom the early 1990s CH-47 (Chinook) A twin-engine,tandem rotorheavy-lifthelicopter in service with the U.S. Army since the 1960s. AKA Shithook. DAGR GPS Defense Advanced GPS (Globaly Positioning System) Receiver(colloquially,"dagger") is a handheldGPSreceiver used by U.S. forces. DCI Director of Central Intelligence. CIA Director and unofficial chief of U.S. intelligence community until creation of Director or National Intelligence post after 9/11. DEA U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency DI CIAs Directorate of Intelligence DO CIAs Directorate of Operations Di di U.S. Army Vietnam era slang meaning Lets get the hell outta here. Dragunov 7.62mm sniper rifle developed in the Soviet Union The Farm The CIAs primary training facility, located in southern Virginia FBI U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 prescribes procedures for the physical and
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electronicsurveillance and collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" (which may include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of being engaged in espionage and violating U.S. law on territory under United States control).
Force Recon U.S. Marine Corps'sspecial operations forcesthat conduct deep reconnaissance and intelligence operations FRAGO U.S. Army slang for Fragmentation Order. Shortened version of Armys standard Operations Order, typically abbreviated by changing / dangerous situations. F/A-18 (Hornet) Supersonic, carriercapable,multirole fighterjet, designed todogfightandattack ground targets. In service with U.S. Navy since the late 1980s. GITMO Slang for Guantanamo Bay, location of U.S. Marine Corps base and Al-Qaida detention facility on the island of Cuba. Glynco U.S. Law Enforcement Academy (Glynco, Georgia) GPS Global Positioning System G-3 German 7.62mm assault rifle developed in the 1950s Hallway File CIA slang for rumors / mistakes that are unshakable and follow an Agency employee throughout their career
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Han P U.S. Army slang for Han Pijesak, Bosnian mountain town that was headquarters of General Ratko Mladic (the Butcher of Srebrenica) HUMINT Human Intelligence ICE/INS Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Post 9/11 merger of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Customs Service. IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan IRA Irish Republican Army IRS U.S. Internal Revenue Service ISI Pakistans Directorate for Interservices Intelligence (primary intelligence agency) JT Jamaat al Tabligh. Non-violent Muslim missionary group, often used by Al-Qaida for travel cover. JTTF Joint Terrorism Task Force Kalashnikov See AK Karzai Hamid Karzai, became President of Afghanistan in 2002 with U.S. backing KLA Kosovo Liberation Army. Also known by Albanian acronym UCK. Klick U.S. Army slang for kilometer KRL Khan Research Laboratories KSM Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, a.k.a Muhktar LT U.S. Army slang for Lieutenant LTD Laser Target Designation operations, see AN/PAQ-1 LZ Landing Zone METT-T U.S. Army planning acronym: Mission, Equipment, Troops, Terrain, Time MI-5 U.K.s counter-intelligence and security agency (internal service)
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MI-6 U.K.s Secret Intelligence Service (external service) Mogadishu Site of 1993 Blackhawk Down incident during which a U.S Army Special Forces/ Rangers operation went awry, resulting in hours of bloody street battles MP Military Police Muhj Muhjahidin. Interchangeable for Muslim holy warriors, Afghan freedom fighters. CIA slang for Islamic terrorists/insurgents. M-1 Abrams main battle tank, in service with the U.S. Army since early 1980s M-4 Shorter, lighter version of U.S. Armys primary assault rifle, M-16A2. M-4 was widely used by U.S. Special Forces in 1990s and began replacing M-16s as the Armys primary weapon after 9/11. NCO Non Commisioned Officer NE CIAs Near East Division Northern Alliance United Islamic Front, known in the West as the Afghan Northern Alliance, was a military-politicalumbrella organizationuniting Tajiks and other ethnic groups against the Taliban during the Afghan Civil War in the 1990s. NSA U.S. National Security Agency NSC U.S. National Security Council NWFP Pakistans Northwest Frontier Province OP Observation post OPCON U.S. Army acronym for Operational Control, indicating when a unit is temporarily put under control of another unit OSS Office of Strategic Services the CIAs WWII predecessor PDB Presidents Daily Brief
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PFC Private First Class PKM 7.62 mmgeneral purpose machine gundesigned in theSoviet Union in the 1960s PLO Palestine Liberation Organization QRF Quick Reaction Force Quantico FBIs primary training facility, located on Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia ROE Rules of Engagement RPG-7 Widely-produced, low cost, portable,shoulder-launched,anti-tankrocketpropelled grenadelauncher. Originally developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. SAC Special Agent in Charge SAR Search and Rescue SATCOM Satellite Communications SECDEF U.S. Secretary of Defense SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, the primary combat net radio used by U.S. military forces SF Special Forces Snags U.S. Army (derogatory) slang for locals in Bosnia SOG CIAs Special Operations Group Srebrenica Site of 1995 massacre of Bosnians Muslims by Bosnian Serbs STU Secure Telephone Unit. Family of U.S. Government securetelephones. Latest, STU III, was introduced in 1987 by theNSA. Thuraya A regionalsatellite phoneprovider widely used in the Middle East Top U.S. Army slang for the senior NCO in a unit (term of respect) UBL Usama Bin Ladin, a.k.a. The Shaykh
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UCK See Kosovo Liberation Army UHF Ultra High Frequency designates theradio frequencyrange between 300MHzand 3GHz(3,000MHz) VHF Very High Frequency designates the radio frequency range between 30MHzand 300MHz Vil U.S. Army Vietanam era slang for Village WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction 105s Slang for artillery, 105mm being one of the most widely used artillery munition calibers in the world. 10TH Mountain U.S. Armys 10th Mountain Division 101st U. S. Army 101st Air Assault Division

Authors note: The author chose to follow the practice of depicting Arabic words without the English letters e and o, a common Lebanese practice. (E.g. Usama vs. Osama, Al-Qaida vs. Al-Qaeda)

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September 11th 2001 Hijacker Teams AA Flight 11

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UA Flight 175

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AA Flight 77

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UA Flight 93

Photo Images https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speechestestimony/2002/DCI_18_June_testimony_new.pdf

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About The Author

The author captures over fourteen years of unique government experience in this thriller about hunting Al-Qaida. He started as a U.S. Army officer with two tours in Bosnia. During the Armys initial deployment to Bosnia, he led a scout platoon that tracked the number two war criminal in the Balkans and kept the Serbs most dangerous units from reigniting the war. In 1999, the author joined the CIA as a military analyst and was immediately put to work on the Agencys premier analytical unit, the Balkan Task Force. For the next three years he was part of a small team that tracked Balkan insurgent groups in minute detail, wrote daily intelligence analysis for the White House and senior Washington policy makers, and forward deployed to the Balkans to aid CIA operations officers, the U.S. military, and NATO allies in turning off several brewing Balkan crises. The author received several citations for critical
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The Silent Hunt

warning memos to senior policy makers and for his role in averting new Balkan wars. Shortly before 9/11, the author became a CIA operations officer. After the attacks he deployed across the U.S., Canada, and the Middle East to assist the FBI in piecing together its multitude of cases related to the attacks. In 2003 he received a commendation from the Director of the FBI for his role in combating terrorism inside the U.S. In 2006 the author left CIA for the defense industry. He has a Masters Degree in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University and lives in the St. Louis area with his wife and two children.

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