Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent

Very much enjoyed reading this book, no it is not like a Robert Ludlum or John LeCarre novel. It is a true testament to the real American Heroes who tread into dark and dangerous places and situations that most of us would fear to go. What stands out here is the dedication and patriotism of these men and woman, who, though obviously highly skilled and intelligent choose a life of sacrifice and service over money and fame. They seek to protect the rest of us from horrors that we can barely appreciate, while often suffering the criticism from the ill informed. The big payoff if they are killed in the line of duty is an anonymous gold star on a wall at Langley. I would hope more people read this book if only to understand that it is a dangerous world in which we live, and perhaps, if only for a moment, take a break from American Idol and Monday Night Football to appreciate these American public servants.

This exciting well written memoir by Fred Burton, former Deputy Chief of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), the Department of State's counterterrorism (CT) division, is among other things, a detailed look back at all the glaring warning signs and signals America was given years before the catastrophe of 9/11. The author had been a Maryland cop. "He protected his community, loved law enforcement, but wanted something more." He applied for federal service and the DSS whom he had never heard of offered him a job. So in 1986 he entered "THE-DARK-WORLD", "THE-BLACK-WORLD"... he became a "SPOOK". His entire life was turned upside down. His normal jogging routes had to be constantly changed as he started carrying paranoia with him along with his sweatshirt. His route to work involved a constantly changing labyrinth of right turns, left turns, double and triple u-turns. His wife was told there would never be any discussions about his workday, and he was trained to understand that sometimes, without a warning, he wouldn't be home for weeks at a time without his wife knowing he was leaving or where he had gone. Fred was one of the earliest members of organized counter terrorism (CT) and his early work involved researching almost every terrorist act in modern recorded history including Beirut 1 and 2. He was told to study top secret documents in the "buried bodies" files to see if he could find any patterns or anything that had been missed. From there Fred was thrown to the wolves and had to learn on the job. He started flying all around the world on a moment's notice, wherever there was a blown up plane, or assassination, or hostage situation. Security was always the top priority, and orders were never questioned. "FRED'S BOSS ONCE TOLD HIM TO GO THE WHITE HOUSE AND DELIVER A BRIEFING. HE ASKED TO WHOM AND HIS RESPONSE WAS, "YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT. THEY'LL BE WAITING." "I DID IT AND DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE WHOM I WAS TALKING TO THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE." Another time Fred was parking his car in the garage when his phone rings. He answers it. It's his boss. "Fred?" "Yes?" Be at Andrews at 2100 hours for a trip. Pack for a week, maybe two. "Okay. Where am I going? "You don't need to know that yet." CLICK. The reader is "dragged" down memory lane through the rubble of destroyed humanity as the author leads you in an effective real-time horrid lesson of modern terrorism. One of the most chilling mental realizations occur after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, when Fred finds out that the FBI had an informant who penetrated the mosque responsible two years earlier. He had worn a wire and attended planning sessions and meetings with Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman the blind Egyptian cleric. Fred convinces his contacts to let him see the transcripts of what this informant recorded. "He is floored!" Part of the transcripts detailed a planned assassination of Egyptian President Mubarak. They had an entire detailed plan to overcome the

Ghost is a memoir by one of the founding agents of the Counterterrorism Division of the Diplomatic Security Service, part of the U.S. Department of State. Author Fred Burton reveals the sinister realities of the global counterterrorism game in a very serious, readable, unpretentious way. The book is devoid of the ego-tripping and grandstanding that a lot of these memoirs suffer from (i.e. books like "Jawbreaker" etc.). Burton gives you the point of view of a working professional field agent, dedicated and patriotic, doing work that Hollywood thinks is like Jack Bauer but really resembles that of an unusually committed and hard-core local cop or criminal investigator. Burton puts the lie to the idea that effective work against Al Qaeda et al. is anything other than good police work. If you think the military should be the first line of defense against AQ et al., read Burton for the fuller picture. To beat the terrorists, we need guys like Fred Burton too. The book had a lot of things that were new to me, including: * the theory that the airplane crash that killed Pakistani President Zia was a KGB hit -- the Soviet Union's "farewell kiss" to the mujahadin as the Red Army withdrew from Afghanistan in defeat. Burton was the lead investigator on that case. * how scary-close the world was to nuclear war after the Zia hit. Burton says that Pakistan, fearing Zia's death might be the first phase of an attack by India, put its recently deployed nuclear forces on high alert. The Indians did the same, and for a few days it was very touch and go, the worst international nuclear tension since the Cuban crisis. * the real story of how Ramzi Yousef, the first World Trade Center bomber and Al Qaeda's first master of terror, was taken down. Burton played a key role in this first battle with Osama Bin Laden's true believers, directing Pakistani and U.S. agents on the ground. * new, inside stuff on the Beirut hostage crisis, including the search for hostages William Buckley, David Jacobson, and Father Martin Jenco. (You really get the sense that Burton still weeps for them. You feel his frustration, and his rage.) * how terrorists have occasionally been turned into effective double agents, used as spies in the battle with Hezbollah and other radical Muslim groups. * how counter-surveillance programs employed by the DSS successfully uncovered terror attacks or assassination attempts before they actually took place. These programs, which Burton advocates today, saved many lives since the mid-nineties. * Burton is rather funny in discussing how the State Department's details protecting international dignitaries often put Burton in the position of protecting foreign leaders suspected of mafia ties, terrorism, and other criminal activity. All in all, Ghost gives a fresh, unusual perspective by a man who was in the trenches for a very long time and deserves our gratitude. The book is worth reading for its insights into the tradecraft of the working "te

If there is anything important to know about the world today, it's background on the Middle East and what has happened there, from its origins until the present. Watching folks ranging from the man on the street to high level politicians, it's evident that they have not often read their history on this subject. We need to know as much as we possibly can about recent history, too - without the wisdom of history, we just keep making the same mistakes. And nothing replaces live experience. So this book is not only fascinating in the usual respect, but something more. It is an important book. It tells us things from the perspective of a person on the ground gaining knowledge, trying to piece together meanings, to figure out what is going on, relating to us things that happened that we heard about but really did not understand. And that's exactly where we stand ourselves - we are part of this world, faced with the need to know, to understand what's going on, and with never enough real life information to help us be truly knowledgeable. We are responsible for choices we make, for effects that "we the people" have on policy through elections, through actions, through our dialogue with others, through the way what we know affects those around us. All the flashy spy movies are fun, the thrillers carry us away, but in the end, such escape and misinformation are all too often pretty much junk food - it tastes good at the time but in the end we remain empty. Ghost is a book that doesn't just entertain, but informs and intrigues. If it isn't the exact perspective as other books on the subject, that's all to the good. Human experience is not going to be the same. That's part of the point. Because each perspective has the opportunity to contribute specific knowledge to build up a larger picture. Ghost presents a straight-forward and clarifying picture of a set of events that are a part of a critical history of our struggles in the Middle East, and an opportunity to gain new understanding about this crucial area of the world. And recent history tells us we must learn more, and soon.

I tried to resist after the first chapter...but after chapter two I couldn't. The book's not only interesting -- it's so well written. The fact that it's written in the present tense somehow gives it a clarity, and you can imagine Fred Burton relating his story -- lots of facts, as objective as possible, StratFor style.