Synopses & Reviews
On 9/11 the U.S. had effectively no counterterrorism doctrine. Fast forward ten years: Osama bin Laden is dead; al Qaeda is organizationally ruined and pinned in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan; there has been no major attack on American soil; and while there has been at least one instance of a massive planned attack, it was crushed by the greatest international collaboration of intelligence services seen since the end of the Cold War. Its been a remarkable transformation.
Aki Peritz and Eric Rosenbach have experienced first-hand the monumental strategy changes in our countrys counterterrorism strategy within the intelligence, defense, and political communities. In this book, they show how America learned to be very good at taking on the terrorists, often one at a time, in ever more lethally incisive operations. They offer new details behind some headlines from the last decade. They are frank about the mistakes that have been made. And they explain how a concept coined by General Grant during the Civil War has been reinvented in the age of satellite technology to manage a globally distributed foe, allowing the U.S. to find, fix, and finish its enemies.
Review
Richard A. Clarke, former national coordinator for counterterrorism and author of Against All Enemies and Defeating the JihadistsFilled with insights from two insiders who have had direct experience with countering terrorists, Find, Fix, Finish combines the drama of vital operations unfolding in real time with legal and moral perspectives necessary to understand how our world has changed forever. The book captures the evolution of counterterrorism operations since 9/11 like no other."
Chuck Hagel, United States Secretary of Defense
This book magnificently captures the very essence of the toughest policy, legal, and moral questions our nation faced in fighting terrorists for the last decade. And the authors overall conclusion is important for all Americans to understand: We can defeat terrorists without sacrificing the ideals that make this nation great.”
Kirkus Reviews
A skillful combination of antiterrorism fireworks with perceptive analysis of our strategies.”
Huntington News
Outstanding
Regardless of your personal views on the so-called "War on Terror" "Find, Fix, Finish" is a comprehensive source book on the facts of terror attacks and how many such attacks were foiled by law enforcement and security agencies.”
The Spectator
If you are a student of counter-terrorism or are interested in the legal limbo of rendition, detention and targeted killings, you should probably read it... [The authors] give a revealing account of the massaging of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq
The authors are no bleeding heart liberals. They acknowledge that too much bureaucracy impedes counter-terrorism and harms national security and they argue for legal but effective measures to assist both."
Library Journal
This title explicates the new U.S. policy of finding terrorists, isolating them in one location, then finishing them off. Peritz (formerly, CIA Counterterrorism Ctr.) and Rosenbach (deputy assistant secretary of defense) describe the extensive evaluations of, and changes in, counterterrorism policy after 9/11 and the many expensive mistakes made along the way
General readers and undergraduates will find this accessible and useful for debate."
Foreign Affairs
Peritz and Rosenbach provide more context, delving into the now-familiar difficulties experts faced in persuading the U.S. government to take the al Qaeda threat seriously before 9/11 and examining the problems created by the post-9/11 counterterrorism overdrive.”
Synopsis
Two intelligence experts with unique access to inside sources reveal the fascinating story behind the evolution of Americas new, effective approach to counterterrorism
About the Author
Aki Peritz is the senior national security advisor to the Third Way think tank. He has authored or coauthored with Eric Rosenbach various publications on a wide range of national security issues at Harvards Belfer Center. He worked for several years at the CIAs Counterterrorism Center. In 20062007, he served in Iraq.
Eric Rosenbach currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. He has taught courses on counterterrorism policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and served as a professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he led oversight of U.S. counterterrorism programs.