| | The synopsis of this book is contained on page 5 when the authors observe that one of bin Laden's frustrations prior to September 11 was that he couldn't, after declaring war on America, get America to declare war back. The war bin Laden sought started before September 11, before the February 26, 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. The New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF, came into existence in 1990. The "domestic terrorism unit at the JTTF represented the best hope America had of preventing a new international form of Islamic militarism from metastasizing into a potentially implacable threat". Then came September 11, 2001. The JTTF however did not completely fail in its mission. They provided a very firm foundation for the war after September 11. The Cell manages to shine a spot light on the specifics of "intelligence" failure. An objective view would say that September 11th was not an intelligence failure, but more like intelligence mis-management. If you can appreciate the distinction, you should definitely read this book. | | |
