| |
Michael
Morell
Twelve Publishers
May 12, 2015/ ISBN 9781455585663
Non-Fiction / History / Terrorism
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
|
| |
Mike Morell served thirty-three
years at the CIA culminating in becoming the acting director.
His book, co-written with Bill Harlow, The Great War Of
Our Time, discusses his critical role in the most important
counter-terrorism events of the past two decades. He not only
discusses the successes, but is very up front about recognizing
the mistakes made. The book covers a wide range of issues that
include Benghazi, ISIS, his surprising view of President G.
W. Bush, the Iraq War, the Enhanced Interrogation Program, the
Drone Program, and Iran. In addition he gives personal insight
into how his family had to sacrifice while he attempted to keep
America safe.
The book begins with a one-sentence dedication, “To the
men and women involved in CIA’s fight against terrorism-the
finest public servants you will never know.” He also has
in the last chapter this same theme of acknowledging the talented
and passionate public servants who are part of the front-line
to keep Americans safe. Morell reminds the readers that these
men and women receive little public acclaim and money while
working long dedicated hours. He noted, “We must realize
that the terrorists will have victories also. The culture in
the United Kingdom is very different than ours. Because of their
history with Irish terrorism they understand it is impossible
to stop every attack. You might have stopped nine, but you can’t
stop the tenth. They are more accepting and less finger-pointing.”
Readers are allowed to see the other side of someone working
in the intelligence community. There is very heart wrenching
passages where he discusses how he and his family lost quality
time because duty called. While Americans watched the horror
of 9/11 unfold he was at the forefront. Many forget that those
who immediately sought to protect their fellow citizens are
also parents. He writes, “I went into each of my three
children’s rooms and found them asleep… They looked
as they did on any other night, peaceful and content. I thought
of the thousands of other children who would never see their
parents again. I kissed my three on the foreheads and softly
told them I loved them.”
On the very first page he tells of how he and his wife were
celebrating their daughter’s twentieth birthday. Yet,
the dinner was interrupted nine times in the span of two hours.
Although both wife and daughter became frustrated, they understood
when duty calls and “ordered the birthday cake to go.”
Another time was May 1 st, 2011. He was offered tickets to the
Washington Capitals hockey play-off game. However, he was unable
to go because that was also the date of the Bin Laden raid.
His wife, who usually is able to enter his office with an escort,
was not allowed into the building. She was given the tickets
at the front gate, a quarter mile from the headquarters. He
recalled, “She already hadn’t been too happy with
my working schedule over the past several months, and now the
frosty reception from the security detail was a big push toward
the edge.”
But what really angered her was that he would not be attending
his daughter’s last high school choral performance. This
incident hammers the point home how families of those serving
are single parents and many times kept in the dark. He wrote,
“She spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening
furious with me. After I had been ‘radio silent’
for nearly eight hours, she sat on the couch and asked herself,
‘So, how does this divorce thing work?’” Fortunately,
she understood once the President made his announcement that
Bin Laden was dead.
Regarding Benghazi he told blackfive.net the most important
questions to him are:
“Why didn’t the State
Department facility have better security; why were all the requests
for better security rejected; and more importantly why didn’t
the people in Washington see the need for greater security given
all the strategic warnings provided by the CIA given that the
situation was getting worse and worse. My people initiated a
review of our place there and as a result we upgraded the security
at least twice.”
The Great War Of Our Time has more gripping stories
about his professional and personal life. Morell provides a
thoughtful insight into the world of intelligence. He explains
the different terrorist threats as well as how the CIA handled
and assessed them. In addition he also shows that a CIA official
many times must sacrifice their personal life for their professional
duties.
|
|
