'Black ops'

The rise of special forces in the C.I.A, the S.A.S, and Mossad

by Tom Geraghty

Tony Geraghty has a lifetime's experience as a soldier airman and war correspondent. He is the author of Soldiers of Fortune (Pegasus) and a writer for The Guardian and The Sunday Times in London

 

From the Publisher:

After eight challenging years in Afghanistan, the new U.S. strategy, aimed at winning hearts and mindsrather than search-and-destroy, refocuses the conflict on Special Forces: unorthodox soldiers who work outside of traditional military forces to combine secret military operations with nation building. Tony Geraghty, an expert author in this field for almost thirty years, unveils the extraordinary evolution of this refined styleof war-making from its roots in anti-guerrilla warfare in Ireland and Palestine, by way of the creation of the C.I.A., the S.A.S., the Green Berets, and America Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), and many others. Israel's Special Forces, including Mossad, are an organic part of the same coherent history, and their story isnarrated here for the first time.This history is more than a tale of derring-do, although James Bond-like characters stalk every page.it is a sweeping examination of Black Ops at a time when they represent the future of an open-endedglobal war against terrorism.