THE SILENT HUNT

A NOVEL BY MARK JAMESON Mark Jameson hopes you enjoy this chapter of The Silent Hunt, a thriller based on his real experiences in the CIA after 9/11. To get the entire book or blog with Mark Jameson, go to www.thesilenthunt.com.

Published by Shoot Your Eye Out Publishing http://shootyoureyeout.net Copyright Mark Jamesonl 2011 Cover art : Copyright Mary Gustafson 2011 http://marygustafson.com/ No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either prior written permission of the publisher. The Silent Hunt is a work of fiction. All incidents, dialog, and characters, with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogs concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other aspects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the CIA or any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing in these contents should be construed as asserting or implying U.S. Government authentication of information or Agency endorsement of the authors views. This material has been reviewed by the CIA to prevent disclosure of classified information. ISBN: 978-0-9833011-2-7 Manufactured in the United States of America

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CHAPTER 4
San Diego, California (March 2002)
Mark stepped out of San Diego International Airport into the passenger pick-up area and breathed in the air. She had been right, sunny and 75 degrees. Jenna had told him not to worry about a jacket, as the weather never changed in San Diego. He scanned the congested area for a white Chevy Cavalier and came up empty. Shes probably still circling. Mark was nervous about his encounter with Jenna and he wasnt sure why. He never had a problem briefing a senior Senator or General, and had kept his cool under fire in Afghanistan, but here he stood with butterflies in his stomach. Since Mark sent his report two weeks ago he had heard little back on his first effort. And while he continued to work well with the Spitzers and the DEA team, Mark noticed that most of the other FBI Agents and analysts seemed to be avoiding working too closely with him. Mark had reported this to David, who immediately began looking for signs that the full version of Marks report had been leaked to the Bureau. He found no indications of that, but recommended that Mark get out of town for a while by staying in San Diego for several days and
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working with Jenna. Things were still strained and purely business with David. Andy, one of Marks BTF friends that had transferred to Monroes new unit CTC/USA, had advised Mark that David was shaping up as a good but extremely demanding boss. Andy noted that David never smiled and didnt seem to particularly like what he was doing, yet had made a lot of good decisions and kept the team on track so far. In some ways that sounds like David, in others not. Mark remained concerned about his now distant friend. Jenna, on the other hand, was becoming his new confidant. They had begun comparing notes on the STU secure telephone since his report was released and the last two calls had turned personal and very friendly towards the end. Mark had always been a little shy with women, and was sensing that feeling as she had become warmer over the phone. Mark remembered that Jenna was very cute, petite but mentally very tough, which in a way made her even more attractive. Then he caught himself. What are you thinking? And shes punctual too, he added out loud as he spotted the Cavalier. Jenna leaned over towards the open passenger window and flashed him a big smile. Hi there! Trunks open. Mark threw his bag in the trunk and hopped in. Hey Jenna. Thanks for picking me up. Are you kidding, its my pleasure, she laughed as she pulled away from the curb. Ive been dying to see anybody from the Agency. These Bureau guys are driving me nuts. Theyre weird, thats for sure. You having a hard time getting them to help you?
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Ha. No, I have the opposite problem. They wont leave me alone. Ive got these guys eating out of my hand, but they wont stop hitting on me! One big goddamn boys club. Hmm. I guess Im not having that particular problem. Jenna flashed him a nice smile. Do you want check in to your hotel or get to work? Were going to pass the office first. Weve got a few hours till dinner, lets get crackin'. Good, I was hoping youd say that. I have something I really want to show you. *** Ten minutes later they pulled off I-15 and into the parking lot of a new and attractive, but nondescript, four story office building. This is the FBI office? Mark asked as he stepped out of the car. Yeah, not exactly your typical federal building. Its a nice change, actually. All that concrete slab gets depressing. Plus it lowers their profile. Nice thought, but theres a problem. She grabbed his arm and halted him in the middle of the parking lot. What? Just a second. She paused for effect, then pointed up as a loud noise suddenly intensified over their heads. And there it is, she added as a Cessna flew over their heads at 300 feet. Just over that hill is Montgomery Field. Some of the baddies Ill show you inside have been taking flight training there. Then she turned about forty five degrees to the right and pointed at a strip mall across the street and down the hill. Down there is a Quick Copy and sandwich shop
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that are owned and operated by the same baddies. So not only does this place lie on their flight path, but they know the Bureau is here. Marks face went a little pale. Can we work somewhere else? Oh come on you wimp. Arent you supposed to be a war hero or something? she teased as she lightly punched him on the arm. Hardly, Mark responded a little too seriously. *** After guiding Mark through a maze of cubicles and introductions to FBI agents, she stopped in front of a large set of double doors. Kitchenette is over here on the right. Want some water? Actually a Diet Coke would be great. Why is it every analyst drinks Diet Coke or Mountain Dew? she asked rhetorically as she led him towards the soda machine. They seemed like a pretty good group, Mark said as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder. You were right. They really seem to dig you. Let me ask you something, Jenna started quietly as she peeked out the kitchenette door to make sure no one was in listening range. What did you notice out there? Well, it was pretty much all men, like you said. No surprise there. Wait. We didnt meet any other agencies, just Bureau. So wheres the JTTF? Boy, you are sharp. She gave him an approving smile. Im the JTTF. Nobody else. She let that sink in. The criminal agents go out and work their sources for whatever I need and just give it to me. Why?
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Money. There was no JTTF in San Diego before 9/11. Its up in LA. So 9/11 hits and these guys have a terrorism case they dont want. They get a lot of money to stand up a JTTF and they get me. So I run the terrorism cases and they get to use the money. Thats got to be illegal in like fifty different ways! Mark stressed in barely more than a whisper. You cant run FBI investigations. Dont stress so much. Im not having them arrest anybody. They are just collecting information for us, she stressed the last word. Besides, after I take the Ops course Ill be a real case officer, she said with a deep mocking voice as she made quotation marks in the air with her fingers, and then I can go out and meet the sources with these guys, totally legit. When are you taking the Ops course? I have a slot in the accelerated course in May, should be back here by August. Arent you taking it too? I thought we all were as part of Dougs master plan, she said, again mocking the last few words in a deep voice. Well we talked about it, but I kind of let it slide. Mark didnt want to think about his deal to save David and switched the subject. So you are the whole JTTF. Mark was still struggling to comprehend how different Jennas situation to his own in Denver. Come on. Let me show you the other reason they let me run the show. She led him out of the kitchenette back to the double doors. She punched in four digits on a keypad beside the door and led him inside. Mark scanned the large conference room in stunned silence. Wrapped around all four walls of the
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room was a computer generated diagram linking hundreds of individuals, phone numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, locations, dates, airline flights, passport numbers, and more. The diagram was printed in sections of three feet by four feet. Mark estimated there were close to twenty sheets that size, perfectly taped together and wrapping all the way around the room. The main conference room table was covered with hundreds of file folders, organized in several dozen stacks and labeled with yellow stickies. Mark also noted handwritten notes all along the upper and lower margins of the sheets, as well as a couple dozen FBI file boxes piled along the back wall, and a desk in the corner with an Agency lap top and a poster sized printer. Voila. My masterpiece. You did all this? Yes. She was beaming. Without the help of any of their analysts? Youre kidding, right? Now she was offended. And they let you keep these files out here, Mark pointed to the large stack of boxes, without checking them in and out. No. I dont work with the analysts at all. The agents check this stuff out for me. They also log me onto the computer files, but its pretty rare that I need that. Wow, Mark shook his head and gestured at the wall. How did you do this? Link Generator. Didnt you ever use it at the BTF? Ah. No, I avoided graphics, PowerPoint, all that. Except for maps. I cant live without maps. Thats crazy. Generator is the perfect tool for all your little insurgents. Besides, this is a map . . . a
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people map. Human terrain. We need to get you up to speed. OK, should we start with our Afghan connection? Yes! Jenna rubbed her hands together, led him down the wall three sheets, and pointed to a small photograph of a mans head. Barzai Ramatullah, younger brother of Malik in Denver. Her finger traced a line from Barzais photo to a cartoon figure representing Malik on the next sheet over. Spreading out from Malik was a wagon wheel of lines connecting to the other Denver Afghans and Arabs Mark had highlighted in his report, with follow on lines from them to the areas of significance Mark had unearthed so far. Mark noted with dismay that his whole analysis took up about one quarter of one of Jennas Link Generator sheets. Jenna returned her finger to Barzai Ramatullah. So, big picture. In early 2000 Barzai helps 9/11 hijackers Hazmi and Mihdar set up shop in San Diego when they first arrive in the U.S. and later in 2000 does the same for 9/11 hijacker Hanjour. She traced her finger along a line from Barzai to the bottom of the page. The line continued from there three sheets down to a sheet that contained nothing but the 19 9/11 hijackers, organized by their mission teams on that day, and spokes from each of them that reached across the entire Link diagram. She walked back to Barzai and pointed to another line that moved up to a group of photographs. This is the San Diego cell. Im still trying to figure out whos in charge, how theyre organized, and what their ultimate purpose is. Barzai seems to be tied to all of them and keeping things organized, but I dont think hes in charge. Afghans never run the show in Al-Qaida. For all their
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pan-Islamic bluster, they look down on Afghans like classic bigots all over the rest of the world. Thats a good point. I cant prove it, but Ive got the same hunch in Denver. Even though the Afghans are running around doing the footwork, I think a Saudi is calling the shots. Im glad you brought that up. One of the things I thought we could do this week is a group to group comparison. I think itll help us draw up a template for how they operate and to anticipate their moves. Let me keep going with my orientation for now. Mark took the cue and held his tongue. She pointed back to the group of Barzais associates. They seem to be more logistics and less operational and theyve got lots of ties to the three San Diego hijackers. This one is Adnan al Kayoumi, Saudi. He used to work for the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority. He helped Hazmi and Mihdar open a bank account, find an apartment, and co-signed their lease. Im still trying to see if he had a hand in helping the other pilots into flight school. This is Abdullah Jawash, Yemeni. When Hazmi and Mihdar came to San Diego in Feb 2000 Abdullah drove them around everywhere. He translated for them when they were applying to local flight schools. Incidentally it looks like Hazmi and Mihdar washed out of pilot training early because of their poor English. This probably explains why they ended up as muscle hijackers even though they were more senior Al-Qaida operatives than almost all the other 9/11 team members. I also believe it is very significant that these guys came to San Diego first and far earlier than
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the other pilots. But thats deeper stuff. Well get back to that. Jenna walked over to the conference room table and picked up a ratty looking notebook from one of the stacks. I just got my hands on this. A couple months ago the Bureau got this from a source. It belongs to Jawash, the Yemeni. Its some sort of journal and is dated before 9/11. He seems to have had foreknowledge of the attacks. Its not definitive, but it talks about planes falling from the sky, mass killings, and hijacking. She replaced the notebook in its exact spot on the table, returned to the diagram, and pointed to the rest of the San Diego group in a sweeping arc. Most of these guys live in the same house. My boys out here have a source in the house which has produced a lot of this material. This one is Osama Baradallah, another Yemeni. Omar Warbashat and Yasir al Hamdi, Saudis. Imad al Rabinah, Jordanian. Theyve got a stash of Al-Qaida videos. Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, all that stuff. They bring in cash from Saudi for operations, forge drivers licenses, that kind of stuff. And they are all followers of this guy, Imam Anwar Aulaqi, another Yemeni. Interestingly, he kind of dropped out of sight mysteriously in late 2000, pretty much the same time that Hazmi and Hanjour relocated from San Diego to Arizona. In early 2001 Aulaqi resurfaced in Virginia. Dougs trying to get a team member into the FBIs DC field office to work the case, but running into roadblocks so far. Mark held up his hand and meagerly asked, Can I ask a question? Yes, smart ass. He pointed around the room at the massive Link diagram. This is huge, but the stuff youve
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shown me so far on San Diego and Denver fills about one to two of these sheets. What is the rest of this? Well, really its mostly overseas connections. Links from Agency and NSA reporting. She pointed to her Agency laptop on the desk. Mark pointed to the boxes of FBI files along the wall. What about all this? I assume this is the source of all these diagrams. No, she chuckled and pointed at the files on the conference table. These are the FBI files Ive been through. Then she flashed him a charming smile, batted her eyes, and laid a hand on the large stack of file boxes. I was hoping youd help me go through these. I see. When you heard I was coming for a longer trip you figured you had a captive audience. Slave labor. Come on Mark, please. He could see why the agents were putty in her hands. Of course. Thats what Im here for. Great. So heres the thing. Our central purpose is to unearth the U.S. network, right? So as you just pointed out, theres a lot of material on the wall here, but most of it is the links back to overseas. I want us to tackle these boxes and find the U.S. connections. Weve got San Diego and Denver. Theres definitely something were missing in Arizona. So the real question, to me anyway, is what was happening out here in the West? Sounds fun. Do I get to check into my hotel or should I just plan on sleeping here? Mark said with a smile. *** They had been at it for three days when they made the big breakthrough. Mark had found a memo
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from the FBIs Phoenix Division in one of the files. At first he scanned it, as he had hundreds of other documents the last few days. Then he had to go back and read it in full. He looked up at Jenna, not sure how to explain what he had in his hands. Theyd spent nearly all their waking moments together, meals included, discussing the case. They found that they really enjoyed working together and both seemed to be driven by a similar fire to solve mysterious puzzles. And there seemed to be something more as well. They got along almost too well, were more than comfortable with each other, and were learning to read each other very well. Although Jenna was physically attractive, Mark felt a new level of interest with this person who seemed to be a kindred spirit of sorts. But he told himself not only was it unprofessional, but it risked ruining what seemed a promising friendship, so he had said nothing and done nothing, which was what he usually did anyway. Jenna realized Mark was staring at her. What? He shook his head. Um, remember when I asked you about me getting badged here, you know, cleared to look at all this stuff? Yes? And? she made a so what gesture with her hands and face. And . . . you said dont worry about it. Well, Im worried about it again. Her face and tone got softer. Come on, just tell me. OK, he sighed. Ive got a memo here from FBI Phoenix, dated July 2001. They knew. Who knew? Knew what?
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The FBI, at least that division, was tracking AlQaida operatives in the U.S., taking flight training. This Agent in Phoenix tried to sound the alarm bell! In Phoenix?! Let me see that! Mark handed her the document. He watched the excitement on her face as she read. He realized they werent connecting. In his mind, theyd just discovered evidence that the FBI had botched a major opportunity to stop 9/11. It would be ugly and problematic however they handled it, but there was no way they could ignore it. It got to the essence of their mission. Jenna, he realized, wasnt thinking about that at all. She was thinking theyd discovered the link to Arizona that shed been looking for. She was probably right. OK, OK, she was very excited and talking with her hands. There is a list of ten Muslim students at various Arizona flight schools. They were from all over, Pakistan, India, the Gulf, Lebanon. This says they showed an unnatural and alerting interest in airplane engineering and security. Its got one of the students in touch with Abu Zubaydah, a senior AlQaida operator in Pakistan, and establishes several links from the group to Al-Muhajiroun, a radical Islamic organization in London with ties to UBL. She paused while reading. Jesus! The agent here is actually warning of an Al-Qaida attack on or using U.S. airports. See?! What are we going to do with that? Hold on. Lets think this through. I can work with my boys here to look at the Phoenix students. I just need to do it in bits, not all at once. We need to ID these guys, get a rundown of their activities, and find the link to Hazmi and Hanjour. How can you do that without being in Phoenix to look at the files?
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Well, some of this stuff will be in the computerized files. The agents will run searches for me. Youre right, though, it wont all be there. But if we can make a link back to the cell here in San Diego, even if its indirectly through their common association with Hazmi and Hanjour, that will be enough to justify the agents from here calling down there and getting more information. The other side of it is to task the source in the cells house here to dig for more information on the Arizona connection. Ive been wanting to do that, but Ive needed some justification. This is it. You cant let them know that I saw that. Theyll freak. They trust you, but not me necessarily. True. Jenna sat in silence for a minute. Ive heard of Zubaydah. You worked the Al-Qaida leadership over in Afghanistan, right? What do you know about him or al-Muhajiroun? Well I mostly worked order of battle. Jenna shot him a quizzical look. English please, mister military man. Sorry. Military structure, capabilities, leadership. In other words, Al-Qaidas direct combat arm in Afghanistan. But a big part of that was following the logistics, which overlaps heavily with the Pashtun tribal forces and Al-Qaidas support structure across the border in Pakistan. OK, so educate me, she flashed him that smile again, then it disappeared, but stick to the point. Zubaydah and these guys in London. Alright. In the simplest sense, under UBL AlQaida has two wings. One you could describe as religion and communications, the other one military, which includes all the things we think of as terrorist related. Ayman Al-Zawahiri did and still does head
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the religion slash communication department. Muhammad Atef did run the military wing until we killed him during the war. What you have to understand is that when Al-Qaida was formed after the Soviet war, its core was nearly all senior Egyptian terrorists, which is where Zawahiri and Atef came from. These guys are old school. But in both wings the guys under them that are managing the work on a day to day basis were more of a mix, Egyptians, Gulfies, Paks, and younger. And a lot of those guys previously ran their own terror networks which they folded into Al-Qaida in the late 90s. But in a lot of ways these networks still operate independently. Mark stopped when he noted that Jenna looked a little agitated. He held up his hands in protest, I know, you know some of this, but Im getting to the point, I promise. She remained stone-faced. Mark proceeded, So, under Atef in the military wing, two guys stand out as the most significant sub-network terrorist managers. One is Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, we call him KSM, and the other is Abu Zubaydah. We know a decent bit about both, but the problem is often the information overlaps and its hard to know which sub-network you are looking at. Anyway, when Atef was killed, he was replaced, but with someone less powerful, which raised the importance of KSM and Zubaydah. Any follow on attack is going to come through one of them. Good, now were getting somewhere. Took you long enough! She smiled and kicked him playfully in the shin. What about the London organization? Ive never heard of it, but it probably is a religious organization, fronted by an Imam, that is part of the communications wing. In the West these guys are best known for raising money and funneling it
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back, but they could also be used for operational cover. You mean providing travel cover, places to stay, that kind of thing? Yeah, exactly. Mark paused and studied Jennas face. You seem awfully calm. What about that? He pointed to the memo, still in her hand. Im quite excited actually, but now we have to focus. Dont you worry your pretty little head over this. You never saw it. You just fire up your laptop and dig into Zubaydah and London. She stood up and headed for the door, then turned with a big smile, Im sure Ill have some more leads for you after that. *** Another three days flew by at rocket pace. Marks investigations hadnt gotten them too much farther. Hed learned that the initial read out at the Mothership was that KSM was the chief architect of 9/11, but that the supporting information was still vague and that the Agency knew less about him than they did about Zubaydah and there were indications of Zubaydahs fingerprints on 9/11 too. Similarly, Mark had unearthed the basics on Al-Muhajiroun in London. It was dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state, was led by Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, who called himself the "mouth, eyes and ears of Usama bin Ladin," and was investigated by Scotland Yard after voicing support for al-Qa'ida and calling on young Muslims to engage in terror attacks in Britain. It was a good nugget but didnt advance their work against a U.S. network by much. The good news was that Jenna had confirmed a direct telephonic connection between one of the Arizona students and a known Zubaydah phone number in Pakistan. It was enough of a link to justify
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their digging into the Arizona case via Jennas supporters in San Diego. San Diego FBI had their informant subtly probe one of the other occupants of the cell house about who Hazmi and Hanjour had gone to live with in Arizona. The informant came back with two names, one of which matched a student on the list. The second, an Imam named Dulaimi, did not match and Mark and Jennas respective CIA and FBI searches turned up nothing further. Mark had had another significant breakthrough when he found a file box with nothing but surveillance reports. Unlike in Denver, FBI San Diego had surveilled the San Diego cell in bits and pieces before 9/11. But they didnt really know what they were dealing with and, just like in Denver, they never reviewed the results of their surveillance as an aggregate. As Mark did this, he made two key discoveries. First, there was a geographical pattern in the daily activities of the members of the cell house that took them around the perimeter of the huge U.S. Navy base in San Diego, with a particular emphasis on areas that offered visual vantage points of the larger combat vessels. Second, Mark discovered that during an evening in August 2001 when the FBI was watching Barzai Ramatullah, on the way home from work he took an unexpected route and headed out of San Diego into the desert. The surveillance team judged that Barzai was heading for Las Vegas, and called ahead requesting Las Vegas FBI pick up his surveillance after he crossed into Nevada. Jenna checked with the San Diego agents and learned that Las Vegas FBI failed to ever pick up the surveillance, but they recalled that Barzais car was sitting back in front of his house in San Diego the next morning.
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Jenna pointed out that some of the information on her charts came from detailed timelines of the 9/11 hijackers activities in the U.S., which were compiled from credit card data, airline data, phone records, and other similar information by Dougs team at Langley. Jenna remembered from discussions with the team that one of their biggest question marks was Las Vegas. Atta and the other three 9/11 pilots had conducted numerous cross country reconnaissance flights that often routed through Las Vegas, and on at least two occasions the team leaders and other key team members held meetings there. After a quick check with Headquarters, Jenna confirmed that the night Barzai went to Las Vegas was one of the confirmed dates that Atta, Hazmi, and Hanjour were meeting in Las Vegas. Jenna had begun to write a second analytical overview, but Mark had implored her to touch base with Headquarters first. Marks intuition, or his spider sense as he liked to joke, was still tingling hard about the quick shift in attitudes he had experienced before leaving Denver. Mark was afraid that if Jenna published the results of the FBI Phoenix memo, she would find the same situation in San Diego, where she had obviously made far greater strides in winning the FBIs confidence than he had. Theyd had a heated but respectful debate over this until Mark blurted out, partly without thinking about it, that he just didnt want her to get hurt. Jenna was surprised and relented. David had agreed with Mark. Something was going on. Write an internal memo only, hed ordered. Put it on disk and hand carry it back to Headquarters in a secured courier pouch. As a peace offering Mark had offered to buy Jenna dinner, a real dinner, not something to eat as
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they rifled through files. He was not surprised when she said yes, but he felt the butterflies return. They had a fabulous, genuine Mexican meal on an outside patio in Balboa Park, enjoyed some margaritas, and reviewed the last 10 days worth of work. But mostly they had fun. You know what that thing reminds me of, Mark said, referring to Jennas giant link diagram as they walked away from the restaurant down the wide Spanish colonial boulevard that ran through the center of the park. The Bayeux Tapestry. Mark chuckled until he noticed the blank look on her face. Come on, you dont know the Bayeux Tapestry? No, but knowing you it either comes from a history book or a comic book, she jabbed back with a grin. I guess Im predictable. History it is. Its a gigantic tapestry on display in Normandy, nearly a thousand years old. It depicts the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The thing is hundreds of feet long and wrapped all around the walls of this museum. He looked at her blank face. I guess you had to be there. You may be predictable, but youre cute, she offered, grinning again. He was enjoying her beautiful smile and forgot to speak. She filled the void. So, you looking forward to going back to DC? I guess. Itll be nice to see some of the BTF gang. What about David? I got the impression you guys know each other well. I heard hes a real hard ass. Thats good, those slackers in the BTF need it, she joked. But then she realized that Mark wasnt with her anymore, but lost in thought. Shed made a
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mistake and wanted to fix it quickly. She liked where they seemed to be going. She stopped walking and grabbed his hand. He stopped and refocused on her. Im sorry, Mark. You havent said anything this week about Afghanistan. Is that whats bothering you? Wanna talk about it? Mark took a deep breath. No. I mean I do but, he looked at her hand, holding his, and softened, not now. Im not a big believer in long distance relationships, she blurted with some determination, but I really like you. Mark was a little shocked and again forgot to speak. Jenna leaned in and gave him a long, soft kiss. Come on, she said. Take me home.

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Key Terms and Acronyms

AK TheAK-47is a7.62mmassault rifle first developed in theSoviet Union byMikhail Kalashnikov. It is also known as aKalashnikov, an "AK. Allah Uh Akbhar Arabic for "God is Great", it is a commonIslamicArabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration. AN/PAQ-1 Infrared laser designator used by forward observers to obtain target range and designate targets. Lightweight, handheld, and battery operated. AN/PRC117F Man-portable, tacticalcombat-net radiofor the transmission of voice and data traffic up to theTop Secretlevel AN/PVS-7 Standard U.S. Army night vision goggles in the 1980s-90s Arty Artillery ASAC Assistant Special Agent in Charge AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System BTF Balkan Task Force B-52 Long range strategic bomber in service with U.S. Air Force since 1955 COS CIA Chief of Station CIA Central Intelligence Agency C/O CIA Case Officer or Operations Officer COLT Combat Observation and Lasing Team
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COPS Chief of Operations. Key position within the CIAs headquarters divisions. CT Counterterrorism CTC CIAs Counterterrorism Center CTC/UBL CTC team dedicated to analysis of / operations against Usama Bin Ladin CTC/USA CTC team dedicated to analysis of / operations against Al-Qaida inside the U.S. C-17 (Globemaster) Largemilitary transport aircraft in service with the U.S. Airforcefrom the early 1990s CH-47 (Chinook) A twin-engine,tandem rotorheavy-lifthelicopter in service with the U.S. Army since the 1960s. AKA Shithook. DAGR GPS Defense Advanced GPS (Globaly Positioning System) Receiver(colloquially,"dagger") is a handheldGPSreceiver used by U.S. forces. DCI Director of Central Intelligence. CIA Director and unofficial chief of U.S. intelligence community until creation of Director or National Intelligence post after 9/11. DEA U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency DI CIAs Directorate of Intelligence DO CIAs Directorate of Operations Di di U.S. Army Vietnam era slang meaning Lets get the hell outta here. Dragunov 7.62mm sniper rifle developed in the Soviet Union The Farm The CIAs primary training facility, located in southern Virginia FBI U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 prescribes procedures for the physical and
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electronicsurveillance and collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" (which may include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of being engaged in espionage and violating U.S. law on territory under United States control).
Force Recon U.S. Marine Corps'sspecial operations forcesthat conduct deep reconnaissance and intelligence operations FRAGO U.S. Army slang for Fragmentation Order. Shortened version of Armys standard Operations Order, typically abbreviated by changing / dangerous situations. F/A-18 (Hornet) Supersonic, carriercapable,multirole fighterjet, designed todogfightandattack ground targets. In service with U.S. Navy since the late 1980s. GITMO Slang for Guantanamo Bay, location of U.S. Marine Corps base and Al-Qaida detention facility on the island of Cuba. Glynco U.S. Law Enforcement Academy (Glynco, Georgia) GPS Global Positioning System G-3 German 7.62mm assault rifle developed in the 1950s Hallway File CIA slang for rumors / mistakes that are unshakable and follow an Agency employee throughout their career
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Han P U.S. Army slang for Han Pijesak, Bosnian mountain town that was headquarters of General Ratko Mladic (the Butcher of Srebrenica) HUMINT Human Intelligence ICE/INS Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Post 9/11 merger of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Customs Service. IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan IRA Irish Republican Army IRS U.S. Internal Revenue Service ISI Pakistans Directorate for Interservices Intelligence (primary intelligence agency) JT Jamaat al Tabligh. Non-violent Muslim missionary group, often used by Al-Qaida for travel cover. JTTF Joint Terrorism Task Force Kalashnikov See AK Karzai Hamid Karzai, became President of Afghanistan in 2002 with U.S. backing KLA Kosovo Liberation Army. Also known by Albanian acronym UCK. Klick U.S. Army slang for kilometer KRL Khan Research Laboratories KSM Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, a.k.a Muhktar LT U.S. Army slang for Lieutenant LTD Laser Target Designation operations, see AN/PAQ-1 LZ Landing Zone METT-T U.S. Army planning acronym: Mission, Equipment, Troops, Terrain, Time MI-5 U.K.s counter-intelligence and security agency (internal service)
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Mark Jameson

MI-6 U.K.s Secret Intelligence Service (external service) Mogadishu Site of 1993 Blackhawk Down incident during which a U.S Army Special Forces/ Rangers operation went awry, resulting in hours of bloody street battles MP Military Police Muhj Muhjahidin. Interchangeable for Muslim holy warriors, Afghan freedom fighters. CIA slang for Islamic terrorists/insurgents. M-1 Abrams main battle tank, in service with the U.S. Army since early 1980s M-4 Shorter, lighter version of U.S. Armys primary assault rifle, M-16A2. M-4 was widely used by U.S. Special Forces in 1990s and began replacing M-16s as the Armys primary weapon after 9/11. NCO Non Commisioned Officer NE CIAs Near East Division Northern Alliance United Islamic Front, known in the West as the Afghan Northern Alliance, was a military-politicalumbrella organizationuniting Tajiks and other ethnic groups against the Taliban during the Afghan Civil War in the 1990s. NSA U.S. National Security Agency NSC U.S. National Security Council NWFP Pakistans Northwest Frontier Province OP Observation post OPCON U.S. Army acronym for Operational Control, indicating when a unit is temporarily put under control of another unit OSS Office of Strategic Services the CIAs WWII predecessor PDB Presidents Daily Brief
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The Silent Hunt

PFC Private First Class PKM 7.62 mmgeneral purpose machine gundesigned in theSoviet Union in the 1960s PLO Palestine Liberation Organization QRF Quick Reaction Force Quantico FBIs primary training facility, located on Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia ROE Rules of Engagement RPG-7 Widely-produced, low cost, portable,shoulder-launched,anti-tankrocketpropelled grenadelauncher. Originally developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. SAC Special Agent in Charge SAR Search and Rescue SATCOM Satellite Communications SECDEF U.S. Secretary of Defense SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, the primary combat net radio used by U.S. military forces SF Special Forces Snags U.S. Army (derogatory) slang for locals in Bosnia SOG CIAs Special Operations Group Srebrenica Site of 1995 massacre of Bosnians Muslims by Bosnian Serbs STU Secure Telephone Unit. Family of U.S. Government securetelephones. Latest, STU III, was introduced in 1987 by theNSA. Thuraya A regionalsatellite phoneprovider widely used in the Middle East Top U.S. Army slang for the senior NCO in a unit (term of respect) UBL Usama Bin Ladin, a.k.a. The Shaykh
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Mark Jameson

UCK See Kosovo Liberation Army UHF Ultra High Frequency designates theradio frequencyrange between 300MHzand 3GHz(3,000MHz) VHF Very High Frequency designates the radio frequency range between 30MHzand 300MHz Vil U.S. Army Vietanam era slang for Village WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction 105s Slang for artillery, 105mm being one of the most widely used artillery munition calibers in the world. 10TH Mountain U.S. Armys 10th Mountain Division 101st U. S. Army 101st Air Assault Division

Authors note: The author chose to follow the practice of depicting Arabic words without the English letters e and o, a common Lebanese practice. (E.g. Usama vs. Osama, Al-Qaida vs. Al-Qaeda)

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September 11th 2001 Hijacker Teams AA Flight 11

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UA Flight 175

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AA Flight 77

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UA Flight 93

Photo Images https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speechestestimony/2002/DCI_18_June_testimony_new.pdf

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About The Author

The author captures over fourteen years of unique government experience in this thriller about hunting Al-Qaida. He started as a U.S. Army officer with two tours in Bosnia. During the Armys initial deployment to Bosnia, he led a scout platoon that tracked the number two war criminal in the Balkans and kept the Serbs most dangerous units from reigniting the war. In 1999, the author joined the CIA as a military analyst and was immediately put to work on the Agencys premier analytical unit, the Balkan Task Force. For the next three years he was part of a small team that tracked Balkan insurgent groups in minute detail, wrote daily intelligence analysis for the White House and senior Washington policy makers, and forward deployed to the Balkans to aid CIA operations officers, the U.S. military, and NATO allies in turning off several brewing Balkan crises. The author received several citations for critical
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warning memos to senior policy makers and for his role in averting new Balkan wars. Shortly before 9/11, the author became a CIA operations officer. After the attacks he deployed across the U.S., Canada, and the Middle East to assist the FBI in piecing together its multitude of cases related to the attacks. In 2003 he received a commendation from the Director of the FBI for his role in combating terrorism inside the U.S. In 2006 the author left CIA for the defense industry. He has a Masters Degree in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University and lives in the St. Louis area with his wife and two children.

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