Military Bookshelf: Fact & Fiction for Fall

Military.com - Tom Miller

How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq
by Matthew Alexander with John R. Bruning.
Free Press, $26 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-7315-9

Despite the unwieldy subtitle, this is an excellent account of a high-profile victory in the often-hidden intelligence war that is at the heart of the U.S. effort in Iraq. 

Alexander, the pseudonym of an Air Force officer, and collaborator Bruning (House to House) follow a group of interrogators who employ the tools of "respect, rapport, hope, cunning and deception" to coax a group of detainees to lead them to al Qaida in Iraq head Abu Musah Al Zarqawi. 

Alexander and his specially-trained group arrived in Iraq in March 2006, barely a month after al Qaida bombed the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra—a Shia holy shrine—and set off a surge of sectarian violence that threatened to escalate into civil war. 

With violence spiraling out of control, Zarqawi became "the most wanted man in Iraq," and the pressure intensified on Alexander and his interrogators to locate the terrorist mastermind.  Although the new "soft" methods were resisted by a cadre of "old guard" interrogators wedded to the traditional tools of "fear and control," Alexander set out to prove that the new techniques worked. 

Concentrating on a so-called "Group of Five" terrorists captured by U.S. Special Forces, Alexander methodically worked to develop rapport and trust.  His approach finally paid off when one of the five gave him the name of Sheikh Abu 'Abd al Rahman, "Zarqawi's personal spiritual advisor." 

Special Forces troops put Rahman under twenty-four-hour surveillance, and he eventually led them to Zarqawi's hideout. 

Alexander believes that the success in targeting Zarqawi vindicates the new techniques and concludes that Americans "don't have to become our enemies to defeat them."

It is generally agreed that the Global War on Terrorism is first and foremost an intelligence war.  Alexander's story offers us an absorbing behind-the-scenes look at the secret intelligence war within a war. 
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The Gate House
by Nelson DeMille.
Grand Central Publishing, $27.99 (677p) ISBN 978-0446-53342-3

I like Nelson DeMille and have praised his work in the past—especially his Vietnam (Word of Honor, Up Country) and John Corey (Night Fall, et. al.) novels.  I once called him the "King of the Airport Kiosk" and have compared him favorably to the pre-conglomerate Tom Clancy. 

His latest, however, is a bit of a disappointment.  A sequel to 1990's The Gold Coast, The Gate House reintroduces readers to impertinent lawyer John Whitman Sutter and his social-register wife Susan Stanhope Sutter. 

Both are from distinguished families: John's pedigree includes poet Walt Whitman but no money; Susan's family is wealthy and once owned an estate on Long Island's opulent Gold Coast.  Their marriage ended when Susan killed her mafia lover (who also just happened to be her husband's client and their next-door neighbor) and John sailed away on a three-year around-the-world trip before settling in London. 

Ten years have passed, and John has returned to New York for the imminent death and burial of an old acquaintance.  After ducking each other for days, he and Susan finally get together, sparks fly, and they decide to remarry. 

But, the good news isn't shared by everyone.  Susan's parents never approved of John and threaten to disinherit her if she goes through with the wedding.  And, then, there's Anthony Bellarosa, the now-grown son and wannabe successor of Susan's mafia lover, who's looking for revenge. 

All our lovebirds have to do is find a way to overcome the in-laws objections and stay alive long enough for the vows. 

DeMille's fans will find much to like here: lots of action, some interesting insights, and the usual quotient of the author's wise-guy humor.  But this time out, they'll have to balance that with insufferable characters and wildly improbable situations. 

Wise-Guy Humor: A Sampler

"You know your marriage is in trouble when your wife sells the house and moves to another state."

"I couldn't believe that so many of these people were dead, divorced, or worse, living in Florida."

"I can be happy anywhere where there's a country club, a polo field, a yacht club, and two-hundred-acre zoning."

"Sex isn't love, of course, though it will do in a pinch."

"Sex in the shower is my kind of multitasking."

"Reality sucks, but having your head in the clouds or up your butt can be fatal."

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Copyright 2009 by Tom Miller