president may go, covertly but lawfully, to pursue the nation's interests.Ī fascinating, compelling look into how American politics has evolved in its effectiveness in fighting the war on terror.Īuthor Annie Jacobsen's novel, 'Surprise, Kill, Vanish,' covers how America fought clandestine, behind-the-lines, covert, and tackling the delicate issue of assassination, all under the order of 'plausible deniability' in order to prevent World War III.įrom the 'Jedburgh' teams dropped into Occupied France during WWII when the Office of Strategic Services was born, to today's CIA Special Activities Division taking on America's most lethal enemies, this book is an eye-opener.Īmerican involvement in WWII required a special breed of men and women to fight Hitler's Europe, and volunteers signed up for training which took them to the heart of the enemy. With unparalleled access to former operatives, ambassadors, and even past directors of the Secret Service and CIA operations, Jacobsen reveals the inner workings of these teams, and just how far a U.S. It is this paramilitary team that undertakes dramatic and little-known assignments: hostage rescues, sabotage, and, of course, assassinations.įor the first time, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen takes us deep inside this top-secret history. When diplomacy fails and overt military action is not feasible, the President often calls on the Special Activities Division, the most secretive and lowest-profile branch of the CIA. At the end of the day, it is the President, not the CIA, who is singularly in charge. Despite Hollywood notions of last-minute rogue-operations and external secret hires, covert action is actually a cog in a colossal foreign policy machine, moving through, among others, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the House and Senate Select Committees. Before that time, responsibility for taking out America's enemies abroad was even more shrouded in mystery. Since 1947, domestic and foreign assassinations have been executed under the CIA-led covert action operations team.

government-sponsored assassinations, from the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain The definitive, character-driven history of CIA covert operations and U.S.

Surprise kill vanish book