Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander

by Gary Berntsen, Ralph Pezzullo

In Jawbreaker Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA’s most decorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time to describe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

With his unique mix of clandestine knowledge and paramilitary training, Berntsen represents the new face of counterterrorism. Recognized within the agency for his aggressiveness, Berntsen, when dispatched to Afghanistan, made annihilating the enemy his job description.

As the CIA’s key commander coordinating the fight against the Taliban forces around Kabul, and the drive toward Tora Bora, Berntsen not only led dozens of CIA and Special Operations Forces, he also raised 2,000 Afghan fighters to aid in the hunt for bin Laden.

In this first-person account of that incredible pursuit, which actually began years earlier in an East Africa bombing investigation, Berntsen describes being ferried by rickety helicopter over the towering peaks of Afghanistan, sitting by General Tommy Franks’s side as heated negotiations were conducted with Northern Alliance generals, bargaining relentlessly with treacherous Afghan warlords and Taliban traitors, plotting to save hostages about to be used as pawns, calling in B-52 strikes on dug-in enemy units, and deploying a dizzying array of Special Forces teams in the pursuit of the world’s most wanted terrorist. Most crucially, Berntsen tells of cornering bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains—and what happened when Berntsen begged Washington to block the al-Qaeda leader’s last avenue of escape.

As disturbingly eye-opening as it is adrenaline-charged, Jawbreaker races from CIA war rooms to diplomatic offices to mountaintop redoubts to paint a vivid portrait of a new kind of warfare, showing what can and should be done to deal a death blow to freedom’s enemies.


CIA Commander Gary Berntsen on…

His eyebrow-raising
“Most CIA Case Officers advanced their careers by recruiting sources and producing intelligence, I took a more grab-them-by-the-neck approach…I operated on the principle that it was easier to seek forgiveness than ask for approval. Take risks, but make sure you’re successful. Success, not good intentions, would determine my fate.”

Doing whatever it
“I didn’t just want to I wanted to annihilate the enemy. And I didn’t want to end up like one of my favorite historical characters—Alexander Burns…He was one of the first of more than 14,000 British soldiers to be wiped out by the Afghans in the First Afghan War. Like Burns before me, I was also an intelligence officer and spoke Persian. This was my second trip into Afghanistan, too. The difference, I told myself, was that Burns had been a gentleman and I would do whatever it took to win.”

Dealing with a Taliban official who controlled American
“Tell him that if he betrays me or loses the hostages I’ll spend every waking moment of my life hunting him down to kill him. Tell him I’m not like any American he has ever met.”

The capabilities of his Tora Bora spotter
“Working nonstop, the four men directed strike after strike by B-1s, B-2s, and F-14s onto the al-Qaeda encampment with incredible precision. Somehow through the massive bureaucracy, thousands of miles of distance [and] reams of red tape…the U.S. had managed to place four of the most skilled men in the world above the motherlode of al-Qaeda, with a laser designator and communications system linked to the most potent air power in history…As I listened over our encrypted radio network, one word kept pounding in my revenge.”





Also available as a Random House AudioBook

Genres: Military Fiction, History, Nonfiction, War, Terrorism, Espionage, Biography

315 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gary Berntsen was the leader of the CIA piece of the US war in Afghanistan. This is his narrative of the events of that conflict. He is a bonafide Clinton hater, who manages to see errors in black and white, with Clinton, of course, being the black. He reserves his greatest scorn for the “7th floor” the political leadership of the CIA, with particular unhappiness with George Tenet. Although he manages to find fault with Clinton, he cannot find it in him to criticize Bush in the same way for the clear failure of the conflict. He is quite clear on the specific actions that were problematic, and I do not doubt that his analysis is correct. Tommy Franks, in his opinion, made a grave mistake when he did not take American troops from other places in Afghanistan to block Osama’s escape.

Berntsen is an interesting, bright guy, /his style (as interpreted by his ghost, Ralph Pezzullo) is the sort of terse descriptive one might expect from a military guy. Yet he is quite capable of insightful looks at the world around him. He understands that loyalties in that part of the world last only as long as the current bribe. He does not make a value judgment about it, merely an observation I was most impressed by some details in his final summary, p 315, “Terrorism won’t be stopped by intelligence collection and military force alone. Compassion in trying to feed the world’s hungry, heal its sick and support peoples search for freedom and dignity must remain at the core of our international goals.”

P 262 – (quoting Billy Waugh) In this business you have to trust men and then send them forward with the authority to make decisions. Success in life is the same. Nobody can do it all. Trust is what allows men and women to get the really difficult things done.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't bad. Kinda overrated.

The jacket cover for Gary Berntsen's "Jawbreaker" claims this is "The book the CIA doesn't want you to read!" I find that a little hard to believe since the CIA has already apparently had their chance at redacting sensitive information leaving wide swaths of black ink on about 75% of the pages. Sometimes one black line apparently stands for several pages of redaction while at other times a small rectangle of black eliminates a single word that obviously wasn't very important to the story. The book's subtitle is "The attack on Bin Laden and al-Qaeda: a personal account the CIA's key field commander". That's another good hint that the CIA isn't too upset about the book being published. I personally think they rather enjoy seeing a successful book which details a CIA mission that was exciting, action-packed, and 99% successful. Only at the very end of the book do we find that second guessing on the part of the White House or Pentagon may have cost us the opportunity to kill Bin Laden at the end of the Afghan war.

The book is both detailed and moving. I got the feeling of being swept up with Gary Berntsen's "Jawbreaker" team, a small group of CIA agents pulled together from around the world with the express mission of coordinating the US and Afghan (Northern Alliance) forces in eliminating the Taliban and al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan. It is amazing what can be done with $8 million in cash and the air power of the most heavily armed nation in the world at your beck and call. I'm not downplaying the heroism and talent the Jawbreaker team displayed. But this is no rogue unit defeating the Taliban on their own. Once given the green light, they had tremendous logistic and air support for the daunting mission.

Berntsen has also given us a glimpse of the Northern Alliance and the difficulty of coordinating a group of warlords who are as interested in protecting their own power and turf as they are any loyalty to Afghanistan. Several of the warlords have a history of switching sides to whoever appears to be winning the battle. And several of the groups aided al Qaeda in the face of the US effort to capture or kill all members of that group.

Money, equipment, and weapons talk. All this was used in the war by the US directly as well as for hostage negotiations, taking over territory, and winning the "loyalty" of Northern Alliance armies. The book makes it perfectly clear that conventional warfare just doesn't work in situations like Afghanistan. You might not like your allies but you hate your enemies even worse.

Overall, an enjoyable book.

This story was very partisan. He unfairly criticizes Bill Clinton and George Tenet for their "lax" counterterrorism policies. He frequently makes sweeping generalizations and anything he disagrees with is blamed on "politics" or "Clinton" or "Tenet" or "Pavitt". According to him, he is a brave, risk-taking badass and everyone else is a risk-averse, idiotic politician.

This is definitely not a definitive account, though. He tells a lot more about the CIA than the special operations forces in Afghanistan.
My interpretations of censored words in the paperback edition:
pg. 6: station chief.
pg.36: Carlos the Jackal, CIA station chief.
pg.43: the place is obviously Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, according to Steve Coll's book "Ghost Wars"
pg.46:station, Dushanbe/Tashkent,Afghanistan
pg, 69:SIGINT
CTC/(censored) refers to CTC/Special Operations Group, according to the books "The Dark Side" and "At the Center of the Storm"
Berntsen's account of the meeting with Tommy Franks, Hank, Engineer Aref, and General Fahim are also included in Tommy Franks' memoir "American Soldier", which has a little more detail.
In the chapter, "Genral Tommy Franks" the soldiers that guarded Franks were Delta Platoon from SEAL Team 3
"Ordnance" is misspelled as "ordinance"
The "Yazoo" radio taken from dead Taliban & used to monitor Taliban/Al quaeda radio communications would have been a Yaesu ("Yay-sue") radio.

"B-52s from Berkstram Airbase in Missouri..." (page 282). Wow... That woulda been Air Force Base, and the only one in MO is Whiteman AFB (no B-52s based there). There was a Bergstrom AFB in Texas, but it closed back in 1993. I can only assume Mr. Berntsen meant Barksdale AFB in Louisiana -- home to a B-52 Wing.

For some good info on ODA 555 and the capture of Bagram and Kabul, see this article

I wonder how this reads on an audiobook...

[Dey Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enlightening book about the Bush administration's decision to pull out of Tora Bora before grabbing Bin Laden which directly resulted in his escape from capture. The dangerous missions and astonishing bravery of Gary Bernsten and his men cannot be doubted. I feel that he is a hero of the highest order. He won the CIA intelligence star "For voluntary acts of courage performed under hazardous conditions or for outstanding achievements or services rendered with distinction under conditions of grave risk." An amazing read.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about ############ and all the ##### ######## #######. [redacted by censors protecting their ass]. Yes, there are annoying passages blacked out that would have given context to the backstory and some pertinent parallel operations. Agha Gary, as he is known in-country, starts the story with the embassy bombings in Africa and carries through to mid-Dec 2001 in Afghanistan when he is forced out of his position running the ground war there. Along the way, we meet some very dedicated civilian and military personnel called on to serve in tough conditions. A must-read for anyone wanting the whole picture on our astounding victory against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Argh, could he at least give us some decent maps at key points in the operation? And he never gets down to details on some battles and ops that I really wanted to hear more about. Surprising events: the Brits were initially resented by the Afghans because they just showed up in country with no apparent permission or coordination. The hostages held by the Taliban (8 religious personnel) were a key focus of much activity, even while trying to find and pursue the bad guys. Whoever came up with the plan to have the northern Alliance stop outside Kabul to allow the freakin’ UN to negotiate a surrender by the Taliban? That idea went out the window fast. Gary B tears up the bureaucracy, especially the Clinton crowd for timidity and indecision. The story of how we won this battle is partly here but much is left out or for other books.

[Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting read on the early stages of the war in Afghanistan, from the perspective of one of the first officers on the ground in country to link up with the Northern Alliance. Berntsen's account is definitely not without critique of the administration's handling of the war, particularly his first-hand experiences at Tora Bora chasing bin Laden near the end of 2011. The pragmatic and reasoned approach to those early months of the war -- joining the Northern Alliance forces in the Panjshir, corralling the warlords and generals to work together, and understanding the value of local language speakers and those that understood the culture -- was refreshing to read about. A group of highly experienced and trained officers jumping in and using the resources available to them, without hanging around until "backup" arrived.

One thing that was slightly grating about this account was his choice to leave in phrases and sections that were redacted by the Agency's Publication Review Board, with them simply struck out in the text, but it's likely that this wouldn't be as big an issue in the print version (I listened to the audiobook).

[Deckardo Jackson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very partisan (anti-Clinton, pro-Bush) narrative. Far, far too much redacting. What's the point of including full paragraphs of black bars and then summarizing them in one sentence?

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent read

[Alex Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found Bernsten extremely confident/near arrogant, but who am I to judge a man who defeated Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the span of a few weeks.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another personal account of an early pre/post 9/11 CIA leader in Afghanistan. He was in during Jawbreaker missions before 9/11 and after, although he wasn't the first CIA leader in after 9/11 (which was Gary Schroen, who wrote First In, one of my favorite books of all time.)

This one got heavily censored by CIA. There were a few areas routinely censored -- quantity/type of aid from the US to local warlords, explicit assistance by CIA to the military in the form of money (which might have been to avoid title 50 vs. title 10 legal disputes), and some stuff which made CIA leadership look particularly bad (internal infighting).

He's most famous as being the guy at CIA in 2001 who was asking for a blocking force of 800 US Army Rangers to prevent Bin Laden from escaping from Tora Bora. Imagine how different history would be if that force had been there, with reasonably good odds (although not certainty) of interdicting Bin Laden, in a way which produced a verifiable corpse, before mid-December 2001.

Lots of insight into how CIA + Military worked together, ad-hoc command structures, etc. Overall good, although I slightly preferred First In as a book, and First Casualty (not an autobiography) covers the same period as Jawbreaker but with a wider lens. Still, an excellent book and well worth reading -- the immediate pre and post 9/11 period with CIA, SF, and the rise of JSOC was probably the most interesting post-Vietnam (MACVSOG specifically) in military and intelligence history.

[Gregory Eakins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Berntsen's narrative is action packed from start to finish, with plenty of, "closing with and destroying the enemy," if that's your cup of tea.

His writing leaves a lot to be desired. It's simplistic and straightforward. This happens, then I did this, and this guy said that. There is little to no insight or wisdom extracted from the action as you might get from great military leaders. Pile on top of that the huge excerpts of the book that the CIA censored out, and you get 300 pages of text that is painful to push through.

Berntsen annoyingly pumps up the enemy threat and the great decisions he makes. The enemy digs holes to hide in and takes pop shots with small arms, while the US forces are able to devastate anything they can see from 30,000 feet with thousands of pounds of precision guided ordinance. The severe asymmetry here is never noted. It's like playing chess with someone, but all your pieces are queens. You are not a great leader if you win.

There are far better accounts of war than this one. Unless you are a hardcore war junkie, I'd skip this book.

[Michael Connick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of how 110 CIA paramilitary and 350 Special Forces personnel and their Afghan allies managed to take back Afghanistan from the Taliban and destroy much of Al-Qaeda in the process - and how Bin Laden managed to escape. All of this written by one of the top CIA commanders in the field. It's a fascinating story, although somewhat long-winded and bogged down in providing a lot more details than I really cared to know. Nevertheless it's a very comprehensive tale of one of the greatest intelligence and military victories of all time.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one man's overly macho biography. I didn't really care for his finger pointing and posturing. We get it: politics got in the way. If you want a more comprehensive look at the Afghan war then I recommend Ghost Wars instead.

[ABona · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor writing, not impressed at all with this book.

[Jordan Balsamo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written a bit self-aggrandizing. His story is important and could have been told better.

[Dark Passport · Rating 1 out of 5]

In late 2001, CIA Officer Gary Berntsen inserted into Afghanistan to relieve fellow station chief and Operation Jawbreaker leader Gary Schroen (“Gary 1”, author of "First In” which could be considered a quasi-prequel to Jawbreaker). Playfully known during this time as “Gary 2”, Berntsen apparently wasn’t as appreciated as his predecessor in the eyes of the censors at the Central Intelligence Agency who redacted what seemed like every third word and entire sections of his book prior to publishing. In what appeared to be an attempt to make a point, Berntsen refused to rewrite his story without the redacted content. This resulted in a fragmented tale which was annoyingly difficult to follow with so many deleted words and sentences. Perhaps it wasn’t the correct time to publish the book.

Nevertheless, Berntsen’s contributions to the United States of America are recognizably unwavering. By the time he established command of the operations in the Tora Bora region of Eastern Afghanistan, he had already served as a firefighter in the Air Force and had responded to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam. Drawing on his proficiency with the Persian language to help he and his team communicate with the local tribal leaders, Berntsen was hot on the heels of Osama bin Laden during a relentless 3-day bombing campaign when one of his CIA teammates became the first American killed in the Afghanistan invasion. The Agency was leading efforts when the Taliban was driven from Kabul, making it the first time in over 150 years that a civilian was in charge of a battlefield. Through a series of deliberate events, Berntsen and his team had the elusive bin Laden cornered, cowering, and paranoid. The book concludes with the Clandestine Service Officer’s retrospection of how the U.S. military handled this absolutely vital intelligence; a story sure to enrage any reader with even a basic knowledge of the last 20 years of Afghanistan history.

“Let’s hope that the World Trade Center tragedy has taught us once and for all that we must be aware of the threats against us, heed those threats, and act against them without delay.” Gary Berntsen, 2005

[Nonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first books I read of the CIA's part of the invasion of Afghanistan. Having served in Afghanistan, I was drawn to the book to learn how it all started. The author also goes into deep discussion on the Kenya and Tanzania bombings.....having also served in East Africa, I was curious to learn more.

The book is more an autobiography but the majority of it is obvious about the author's tour as ground commander in Afghanistan and the eviction of the Taliban. If you enjoy personal stories mixed with historical events, this is a good read.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing read, only bumped to 3 stars by some objective and historical portions. In my opinion, most of the valuable insight and behind the scenes dynamics were undermined by his overly and unnecessarily macho writing style. His frequent chest-thumping and brow-beating even led me to question the accuracy of his accounts at times, or at least recognize them as biased exaggerations. I would not recommend this to those who are unfamiliar with post-9/11 Afghanistan. There are much better reads out there.

[Rob Kumpf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read; it always amazes me that we have folks in our midst who gladly perform tasks like those described in this book. Having grown up just outside of NYC and having had to deal with my family & friends who all lost people at WTC, I’m glad to know there’s folks like “Agha Gary” and those he served with. I’m thankful for those folks, and for those I served with in my military service in many of the same places.

[Ethan Silb · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want a book where half of the text is redacted, written by a Bush loving CIA vet, then this is the book for you!

I have never seen an author be as full as himself as this, often saying “I made this joke. Everybody laughed.” He must not have a lot of good jokes if he remembers the responses.

The parts of the books that are explaining first hand history are extremely interesting, but the self-interest of the author makes it unbearable.

[Walt Jacob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was extremely disappointed to discover when I opening this book, after ordering and receiving it through the mail, it was so heavily redacted (seemed like every 10th word and multiple paragraphs throughout were blacked out) I could barely comprehend what was written. The publisher must have used a ton of ink to print this book. It was just a total waste of money and time.

[Eric Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

the senior on-ground CIA field commander during the Taliban fall in Nov-Dec 2001. Great story of bold men doing what it takes to defend this nation -- ie, killing bad guys. Relays how George Tenet and the Clinton administration set the CIA up for failure. "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." - G Orwell

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK read, not too much new. There was a lot of material redacted from the original text. The producers chose to include the word 'redacted' at each location. At times this made the flow very choppy and was annoying.

[Irl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile read, with many insights. This is an important story worth knowing. Sometimes the redacted parts intrude too much.

[Sonny Schovanec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book

One of the best CIA books I’ve read on their role in Afghanistan post 911. The author was right in the middle of those developments.

[Kyle Monsees · Rating 3 out of 5]

An up close and personal view of the first days of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan from its principal architect.

[Aaron Wambogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Davey · Rating 3 out of 5]

NF - CIA fight for Bin Laden - too censored

[Cole Lancaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second time reading the book. Exiting non-fiction that reads like a story you don't want to put down.

[Ray Powdrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Above average. Interesting but 75 percent at least of the pages are blacked out which leaves you wanting to know much more. Kind of overrated but interesting read still makes it above average for me

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you think about the CIA and special forces going off to war, a number of movies come to mind. This is real life. And it is different, but better and more interesting.

Gary Berntsen is a CIA officer who was sent to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. response to the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001 in New York City. After the attack we see him put together a team (there is already a team in place that is laying the groundwork) to go in. It is a story of people who are realistic and practical, even as they are patriotic. And they run into many obstacles. Berntsen has to deal with prejudice amongst Americans as some of his desired team are Iranian or Arab. Bureaucratic rules cause trouble for him as well as some team members who are not released by their bosses. And finally they make it into Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan they are the small team of CIA agents and special forces personnel who build the alliances with the Northern Alliance to fight the Taliban. They deal with the personalities, the shifting loyalties, the oneupmanship and dealing both sides against the middle that is part of war in the Hindu Kush.

It is realistic in the sense that the job of these highly trained men is to coordinate, join with the local forces, and be the eyes and ears of the U.S. commanders, not to fight. And the protagonists of the book are usually away from the main fighting, even through they are in danger because of the unknowns they deal with. They are aggressive, daring, practical, and wise to the ways of people, as they have to deal with the many motivations among the various military commanders they dealt with.

The other special aspect of this book is how Bernsten deals with his own thoughts about life. At times during the narrative he suddenly starts thinking about his bosses back home or his family for a few sentences, then go back into the narrative. And this is very humanizing, and very familiar (as I did the same thing during my deployment). The scenes in the opening chapters where his wife and grown children have to deal with his going into harms way are refreshingly honest and ring true, and the distractions of having to help them through the U.S. government bureaucracy when they are dealing with unhelpful superiors is also shown.

Definitely recommend the book. To both those who are going to war, to give a feel of what it is like to work with a population whose motives are hard to understand, and their families, to let them know that their worries for those going into harms way are normal.