The Targeter

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The story of a young woman from Montana who joined the CIA and worked her way up through the ranks to the frontline of the fight against Islamic extremists.In 1999, 30 year old Nada Bakos moved from her lifelong home in Montana to Washington, DC, to join the CIA Quickly realizing her affinity for intelligence work, Nada was determined to rise through the ranks of the agency first as an analyst and then as a Targeting Officer, eventually finding herself on the frontline of America s War against Islamic extremists In this role, Nada was charged with finding the godfather of ISIS and mastermind of Al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musab al Zarqawi.In a tight, tension packed narrative that takes the reader from Langley deep into Iraq, Bakos reveals the inner workings of the Agency and the largely hidden world of intelligence gathering post 9 11 Entrenched in the predominantly male world of the CIA, Bakos belonged to a small yet dedicated sisterhood leading U.S Special Operations Forces to the doorstep of one of the world s most wanted terrorists.Filled with on the ground insights and poignant personal anecdotes, The Targeter shows us the great personal sacrifice that comes with intelligence work This is Nada s story, but it is also an intimate chronicle of how a group of determined, ambitious men and women worked tirelessly in the heart of the CIA to ensure our nation s safety at home and abroad. Download The Targeter – kino-fada.fr A true story with the propulsion of a thriller and fascinating details of life in the CIAThe true story of a rural Montana girl who took an unlikely path to the center of the U.S war on terror The title refers to Bakos s role chasing down one of the most dangerous extremist leaders the U.S faced in Iraq, leader of the group known at one time as Al Qaeda in Iraq and which would later become ISIS, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi The story has the pace and tension of a thriller but is larded with fascinat A true story with the propulsion of a thriller and fascinating details of life in the CIAThe true story of a rural Montana girl who took an unlikely path to the center of the U.S war on terror The title refers to Bakos s role chasing down one of the most dangerous extremist leaders the U.S faced in Iraq, leader of the group known at one time as Al Qaeda in Iraq and which would later become ISIS, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi The story has the pace and tension of a thriller but is larded with fascinating details on what the work of a CIA analyst and of a CIA targeter really looks like, and what it was like to be in the thick of things, both in Iraq and back in the DC area, in the early years of the Iraq war Bakos comes across as a true patriot who wants to make a difference but not one to drink the Kool Aid Her misgivings about some of the decisions made by the administration during her CIA career indicate someone with an independence of thought, guided by immense dedication to what sh...I won this book in a goodreads drawing.A former CIA agent writes about her life in The Company It s a lot different than in the espionage novels Nobody seems to know what they re doing, and there s an awful lot of politicians and bureaucrats involved She and the agency try to fin...I m a big fan of alternative history or exploring other options of how things might have played out This will sound like I m a big proponent of conspiracy theories, but I know we, as the public, are not always privileged to know all of the details of what happens We are told only what we need to know or what a government agency deems necessary for the public to know Hence all of the redacted parts when a Freedom of Information Act request is granted.This love of alternative stuff led me t I m a big fan of alternative history or exploring other options of how things might have played out This will sound like I m a big proponent of conspiracy theories, but I know we, as the public, are not always privileged to know all of the details of what happens We are told only what we need to know or what a government agency deems necessary for the public to know Hence all of the redacted parts when a Freedom of Information Act request is granted.This love of alternative stuff led me to find the show Hunting Hitler This show had three seasons on the History Channel and really what I was enthralled by was seeing just how immense the war effort had been The cast and crew travelled across Europe and South America, showing different places and massive war time c...The Targeter is a fascinating, entertaining first person behind the scenes account of a CIA s analysts attempts to counter the White House s misguided motivations to invade Iraq and her subsequent role hunting Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the forefather of ISIS.The Targeter seems especially relevant today given the Iran related saber rattling currently emanating from Bolton Trump Admin.Bakos role at the CIA places her in a unique position to witness and influence the U.S political, military and dip The Targeter is a fascinating, entertaining first person behind the scenes account of a CIA s analysts attempts to counter the White House s misguided motivations to invade Iraq and her subsequent role hunting Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the forefather of ISIS.The Targeter seems especially relevant today given the Iran related saber rattling currently emanating from Bolton Trump Admin.Bakos role at the CIA places her in a unique position to witness and influence the U.S political, military and diplomatic efforts in Cheney s Iraq war The targeter is a mashup that provides a fact based version of Zero Dark Thirty and include...I can t recommend this enough Nada tells a personal story of service and sacrifice and fighting for facts while standing up against political agendas Importantly, she shows the human story of those that are serving in our Intelligence Community who are our neighbors and our friendspatriots who give their all for the service of others and, all too often, at great sacrifice to themselves and their families vs some deep state portrayed so often in movies and by politicians with personal agen I can t recommend this enough Nada tells a personal story of service and sacrifice and fighting for facts while standing up against political agendas Importantly, she shows the human story of those that are serving in our Intelligence Community who are our neighbors and our friendspatriots who give their all for the service of others and,...The Targeter offers an interesting perspective into the organisational culture of the CIA Nada Bakos description of feeling powerless despite working in the Agency was notable The book attempts to provide serious introspection into the activities of the Agency in the build up to and in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Iraq It could ve been a valuable contribution to the literature on intelligence theory and the politicisation of intelligence but is, in my opinion, hampered by Bakos The Targeter offers an interesting perspective into the organisational culture of the CIA Nada Bakos description of feeling powerless despite working in the Agency was notable The book attempts to provide serious introspection into the activities of the Agency in the build up to and in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Iraq It could ve been a valuable contribution to the litera...So this is a two part review.if you re not ready to read about the brutality of what terrorists do, where they come from and how they operate, and the messed up reality that is the U.S Government, why it does what it does facts vs reality , etc, this is NOT the book for you.The first review is for the political, job, world, terrorist, inner workings of the CIA an overload of information, some of it really upsetting, disturbing and oh, did I say upsetting but a great briefing of what was ha So this is a two part review.if you re not ready to read about the brutality of what terrorists do, where they come from and how they operate, and the messed up reality that is the U.S Government, why it does what it does facts vs reality , etc, this is NOT the book for you.The first review is for the political, job, world, terrorist, inner workings of the CIA an overload of information, some of it really upsetting, disturbing and oh, did I say upsetting but a great briefing of what was happening and I did mean briefing because it felt like I was being briefed in a conference room.I give it a 4 star.The second review is for the story it s the same problem I saw in Michelle Obama s book, an overload of information but not enough story to move it along a reluctant hero on a journey, of sorts, who gets their ass handed to them while trying to fight the good fight or whatever it feltlike a briefing than a compellin...I learned A LOT about what went on in the search for WMD in Iraq, how the Bush administration justified the invasion of Iraq, the relationship between Bin Laden and Zarqawi, how ISIS ISIL formed Later, perhaps, but ...A fascinating memoir of the times referenced in this book There are times when the text seems rushed sketchy jagged My suspicion is that this is due to the CIA vetting process which occurred over a few years Initially i orde...

The Targeter
  • 12 February 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 368 pages
  • 0316260479
  • Nada Bakos
  • The Targeter