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How to Defeat Terrorism Without Terrorizing Ourselves
Crown
May 2008
On Sale: May 6, 2008
320 pages
ISBN: 0307382176
EAN: 9780307382177
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Written by a man who is arguably the country’s most
authoritative voice on counterterrorism, Crush the Cell
demolishes, with simple logic, the edifice of false “terror
punditry†that has been laid, brick by brick, since 9/11. A
veteran of special ops, international diplomacy, and
bruising clashes with federal law enforcement agencies,
Michael Sheehan delivers in this book a two-part message:
First, that we’ve wasted–and are continuing to
waste–billions of dollars on the wrong protective measures,
and second, that knowing the bad guys’ next move is paramount. Somewhere in America, Sheehan maintains, are a number of
terrorist cells, their members’ heads filled with schemes of
mayhem and destruction. Motivated not, as some believe, by
feelings of disenfranchisement, disdain for freedom, or
economic envy but by a compelling ideological hatred, these
individuals plot not just terror but paralyzing terror–the
kind that can shut down a country. Unwittingly aiding and abetting them are many (but not all)
“terror experts†and members of the media who, for reasons
that are partly self- serving, rate the bad guys’
capabilities far higher than they are, playing into
terrorists’ hands with their hype. Spurred by the pundits’
inflated assessments, legislation follows that drains
billions from taxpayers’ pockets and pours money into a
bloated Washington bureaucracy championing needless programs. Here, Sheehan shows why defensive fortresses don’t work, but
offensive operational intelligence does. He also peels back
the mystery surrounding terrorist cells, portraying them as,
typically, a group of bumblers searching for a charismatic
leader who has what it takes to conduct a complex symphony
of violence. Sharing time in the narrative spotlight are not
just agents of al Qaeda, but also frighteningly destructive
lone wolves, cults, and radical movements. In his career, Sheehan has operated in the mountain jungles
of Central America, the back alleys of Mogadishu, and the
teeming streets of New York City–but he has also
participated at the highest levels of policy making at the
White House, the State Department, and the United Nations.
It’s his time protecting America’s most populous city as its
counterterrorism czar, however, that yields this book’s most
fascinating insights. As Sheehan reveals thwarted threats to
New York’s bridges, subways, and landmarks, and recounts
extraordinary simulations staged to gauge terrorists’ true
abilities, we gain perhaps the clearest picture yet of what
modern terror-fighting is all about.
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