The Agent Speaks

Publisher: Allen Lane

Pages: 572

Price: Rs 799

A decade after the 9/11 attacks struck the world’s sole surviving superpower,a former frontline investigator of the FBI,Ali H. Soufan,traces the roots of the conspiracy that led to it and comes up with some startling revelations. Many expert opinions have come out on the incident,but few accounts can lay claim to the intimate knowledge that accompanies Soufan’s version,as he impressively unravels the never-before-told story of 9/11.

In Black Banners: Inside the Hunt for Al-Qaeda,Soufan provides a gripping account of the inter-services rivalry in the US and the consequent apathy and inaction of the men at the helm of affairs,which left scores dead. According to the author,the reasons for such a devastating attack were not hard to find.

What led to the failure of US security mechanism in anticipating the 9/11? Had al-Qaeda not gained sufficient notoriety to catch the attention of the US security fraternity before 9/11? Did the attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and the USS Cole in Yemen not give the “strongest nation in the world” an inkling that the “black banner” had been unfurled against the United States of America?

The book covers three important aspects. The first issue is the infighting between the FBI and CIA; a rivalry which the author feels is akin to that between the “bird catchers and bird watchers”. The FBI’s endeavour to complete the jigsaw in the US embassy bombings in Africa and the USS Cole could not succeed as crucial information remained unshared. Soufan is not the only one who talks about this; the 9/11 commission report and a host of other scholars have highlighted how non-sharing of critical information led to the attack.

Soufan,during his stint in the FBI as lead investigator of the USS Cole attack,which happened a few months before 9/11,came across crucial hints of a probable attack on US soil. Information about a meeting in Malaysia in 2000,where two of the 9/11 hijackers were present and which also led to transfer of money for the attack,was not shared with the Bureau by the CIA until after the attack. Soufan gives a chronological account of how information sought from the CIA,in the form of FBI memos,remained unanswered. It was only after the attack that the CIA provided the details of the Malaysia meeting of al-Qaeda to the FBI.

The second issue which Soufan has raised is regarding the technique of interrogation. After 9/11,the official approval for “enhanced interrogation technique” and legal provisions under which the detainees are to be treated became a matter of debate. Soufan is highly critical of the “enhanced interrogation technique” adopted by the CIA for extracting intelligence from the detainees. He holds that it was avoidable for Guantanamo detainees. Further,some of the interrogation techniques adopted by the contractors employed by CIA ,worsen the problem. However,the book written by a former CIA agent Jose A. Rodriguez Jr,Hard Measures; How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives,which was released recently,rebuts the theories of Soufan,inviting a fresh debate on the rules of interrogation.

Soufan doesn’t mince words in saying that these techniques eventually yielded no significant results. His claims need to be understood in the context that he was instrumental in handling interrogations of key al-Qaeda operatives,including the former body guard of Osama bin Laden,Abu Jandal,and Abu Zubaydah,a self-styled jihadi who assisted al-Qaeda.

The author’s introduction to the world of al-Qaeda happened not by accident but by destiny. Born in war-torn Lebanon,he migrated to the US in the mid-1970s. Soufan,who assiduously followed the rise of Al-Qaeda,argues that the year 1979 was a turning point for global jihad due to a series of events: 52 American employees at the US embassy in Tehran were taken hostage and confined for 444 days; the US embassy in Pakistan was attacked; the Soviets invaded Afghanistan; there was turbulence in Saudi Arabia followed by the capture of Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca where pilgrims were kept as hostages; and,last but not the least,Abdullah Azzam,a Palestinian cleric,who reached Pakistan and mentored the Arab and Afghan mujahideen,rose to an influential position,helping shape the trajectory of global jihad.

Finally,Soufan points to a tug-of-war between diplomacy and the law enforcement in assessing the threat perception to the US prior to 9/11. The approach of Ambassador Barbara Bodine in Yemen was in stark contrast to the investigational requirements of the FBI. The concerns of FBI’s Special Agent John O’Neill were ignored to the extent that Bodine refused to provide permission for his visit to Yemen during the USS Cole investigation. Written in vivid prose,the book,a candid confession and first-hand account of the man who handled al-Qaeda operatives before 9/11,is a must-read. Don’t be disheartened to see some pages blackened as Soufan has promised not to violate the official secrets of the CIA.

The writer,an IPS officer,is superintendent of police,NIA,Delhi. Views are personal