Okay, my apologies for the unscheduled/unannounced hiatus of three weeks.
Basically, I've been travelling for the book (and one wedding) each of the last three weekends, each of which became a four-day trip, and subsequently I had to complete five days of day-job work in three days each week, which did not leave time for blogging.
But not to fear! Over the weekend I'll try to post the roughly dozen stories that I missed while trying to stay above water at work.
Until then, C-Span's Book TV will be airing my reading at Denver's storied (no pun intended) Tattered Cover bookstore three times this weekend. Show times will be Saturday, October 1, at 4:15PM and 11PM (a free drink to whoever sends me a cell phone video from a bar with my talk on!), and Sunday the 2nd at 5AM.
Although I'm pretty sure I talked too fast during the talk, it was only because I tried to cram so much information and great war stories into a half-hour.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Anwar al-Awlaki Killed
It is rare that you wake up to news this good, but this morning American-born al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in an American drone strike in Yemen.
In February of this year, then-head of the Natioanl Coutnerterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, told the House Homeland Security Committee that AQAP -- which was responsible for the 2009 "Underwear Bomber" and the November 2010 plot to blow up planes over the Eastern seaboard using explosives-filled printer cartridges -- and its charismatic spiritual leader al-Awlaki are "probably the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland." In addition to those plots, al-Awlaki also inspired Nidal Hussein's shooting rampage at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 servicemen and women, and Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in May 2010. Also killed in the attack was Samir Khan, an American citizen who edited Inspire magazine, al-Qa'ida's English-language Internet journal that focused on recruiting American Muslims.
The United States had been trying to target al-Awlaki for over two years, with several near misses, more details of which are likely to emerge in the coming days. Although there are serious legal issues raised about using drone strikes against American citizens, this killing undoubtedly weakens AQAP. As I have said in Wanted Dead and Alive and subsequent articles, the killing of the broader network of senior operatives in al-Qa'ida and its affiliates will likely prove more decisive than the killing of Osama bin Laden. And today we took out a major player in that network.
[P.S. I'll have a longer note explaining my brief hiatus, as well as a ton of unpublished posts to add over the course of the weekend]
In February of this year, then-head of the Natioanl Coutnerterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, told the House Homeland Security Committee that AQAP -- which was responsible for the 2009 "Underwear Bomber" and the November 2010 plot to blow up planes over the Eastern seaboard using explosives-filled printer cartridges -- and its charismatic spiritual leader al-Awlaki are "probably the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland." In addition to those plots, al-Awlaki also inspired Nidal Hussein's shooting rampage at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 servicemen and women, and Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in May 2010. Also killed in the attack was Samir Khan, an American citizen who edited Inspire magazine, al-Qa'ida's English-language Internet journal that focused on recruiting American Muslims.
The United States had been trying to target al-Awlaki for over two years, with several near misses, more details of which are likely to emerge in the coming days. Although there are serious legal issues raised about using drone strikes against American citizens, this killing undoubtedly weakens AQAP. As I have said in Wanted Dead and Alive and subsequent articles, the killing of the broader network of senior operatives in al-Qa'ida and its affiliates will likely prove more decisive than the killing of Osama bin Laden. And today we took out a major player in that network.
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| Wormer, DEAD! Neidermeyer, DEAD! Awlaki . . . |
[P.S. I'll have a longer note explaining my brief hiatus, as well as a ton of unpublished posts to add over the course of the weekend]
Friday, September 9, 2011
The Washington Times' Review of "Wanted Dead or Alive"
The money quote:
In "Wanted: Dead or Alive," Mr. Runkle accomplishes two seemingly contradictory feats. His colorful, fast-paced accounts of each manhunt appeal to those who enjoy a good adventure story, but his keen strategic insight provides ample material for further reflection. His writing is readable without being breezy, meaty without being ponderous. Mr. Runkle's book deserves attention from both policymakers and the general public.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Things To Do In Denver . . .
. . . when you are not dead.
I'll be doing a reading/signing at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch on Monday, September 12, at 7:30PM.
I've been told it is "90% likely" that C-Span will be there to record the talk for a future edition of Book Notes, so if you live in the Denver-Colorado Springs area, or know anybody else who does and is interested in military history/counterterrorism, please pass the word along so that we can get as many people in the store as possible!
I'll be doing a reading/signing at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch on Monday, September 12, at 7:30PM.
I've been told it is "90% likely" that C-Span will be there to record the talk for a future edition of Book Notes, so if you live in the Denver-Colorado Springs area, or know anybody else who does and is interested in military history/counterterrorism, please pass the word along so that we can get as many people in the store as possible!
The Hunt for Qaddafi, Day 15
While a spokesman for the new Tripoli Military Council said Qaddafi is surrounded in the Sahara desert, a spokesmen for the Transitional National Council dismissed the report as a rumor and reiterated the unconfirmed accounts that the deposed dictator was in a convoy moving toward the Niger border.
Given that Anis Aharif, the TMC spokesmen, said that rebel forces were within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of Qaddfi's location, and are just "waiting for the right moment to move in," this claim has to be taken with a grain of salt the size of the Washington Monument. I don't even want to do the math to calculate how many troops it would take to effectively "surround" at 1369 square mile region, but I'd be willing to bet the rebels don't have that many troops total, much less actively pursuing the fugitive tyrant.
Speaking of whom, Qaddafi himself released another audio tape via Syrian television berating his enemies as rats and stray dogs and insisting he was still in Libya to fight on, "but he offered them no clues about where they could find him." Well, that's rather unsporting. Even the villain below was generous enough to provide his arch-enemy with clues to his location and strategy (although, granted, it tended not to work out so well for him . . . )
Given that Anis Aharif, the TMC spokesmen, said that rebel forces were within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of Qaddfi's location, and are just "waiting for the right moment to move in," this claim has to be taken with a grain of salt the size of the Washington Monument. I don't even want to do the math to calculate how many troops it would take to effectively "surround" at 1369 square mile region, but I'd be willing to bet the rebels don't have that many troops total, much less actively pursuing the fugitive tyrant.
Speaking of whom, Qaddafi himself released another audio tape via Syrian television berating his enemies as rats and stray dogs and insisting he was still in Libya to fight on, "but he offered them no clues about where they could find him." Well, that's rather unsporting. Even the villain below was generous enough to provide his arch-enemy with clues to his location and strategy (although, granted, it tended not to work out so well for him . . . )
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| Edward Nigma, a.k.a. "The Riddler," always forgets the first rule of evading manhunts: Providing clues to your location, no matter how elaborate, always backfire. |
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Manhunts and TMI
Jane Fonda is reported to have said: "‘My biggest regret is I never got to f*** Che Guevara.’
Yeah, just when I couldn't think any less of "Hanoi Jane" . . .
Yeah, just when I couldn't think any less of "Hanoi Jane" . . .
Qaddafi Watch, 9/7 Edition
Reuters quotes Hisham Buhagiar, who is coordinating the Transitional National Council's hunt for Qaddafi, as saying reports indcate he may have been in the region of the southern village of Ghwat, some 300km (186 miles) north of the border with Niger . . . three days ago.
I'm no expert on the Libyan highway system, but if he is travelling by car, as all reports indicate, then it doesn't seem unresasonable for him to make the 186 miles in three days. Even if he is travelling with children who need to stop for the bathroom every hour, or can't resist the Cinnabon just off the highway, it seems possible that he could have made it to the border.
Of course, Qaddafi's spokesmen confidently told Reuters "He is in Libya. He is safe, he is very healthy, in high morale." Of course, Moussa Ibrahim made this statement by telephone from an undisclosed location.
I'm no expert on the Libyan highway system, but if he is travelling by car, as all reports indicate, then it doesn't seem unresasonable for him to make the 186 miles in three days. Even if he is travelling with children who need to stop for the bathroom every hour, or can't resist the Cinnabon just off the highway, it seems possible that he could have made it to the border.
Of course, Qaddafi's spokesmen confidently told Reuters "He is in Libya. He is safe, he is very healthy, in high morale." Of course, Moussa Ibrahim made this statement by telephone from an undisclosed location.
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