Black Flags (47 page)

“I have no idea how”:
Abdullah,
Our Last Best Chance
.

“I’m no angel”:
Ibid.

“the backbone of the country”:
“Muslim Brotherhood Meets King,”
Jordan Times
, March 19, 1999.

“Your Majesty, we are with you”:
Ibid.

“Jordan is on the threshold”:
Tareq Ayyoub, “The Amnesty Law: Complicated and Incomplete,”
Jordan Times
, March 29, 1999.

Many months would pass:
Abdullah,
Our Last Best Chance
.

“Why didn’t someone check?”:
Author interview with an official present at the time.

“Our friend has come back”:
Author interview with Dr. Sabha.

Chapter 3

“I didn’t do anything!”:
Author interview with two senior officials present at the events.

“Gun!” one of the officers shouted:
Ibid.

“He just spouted ideology”:
Author interview with Samih Battikhi.

troubled since childhood:
For more on Zarqawi’s family and childhood, see Jean-Charles Brisard,
Zarqawi: The New Face of Al-Qaeda
(New York: Other Press, 2005).

Zarqawi’s great love remained his mother:
Ibid.

“He wasn’t that smart”:
Betsy Pisik, “Mother Denies Suspect Is a Terrorist,”
Washington Times
, Feb. 24, 2003.

“We all knew who he was”:
Author interview with Hudhaifa Azzam.

“Zarqawi was crying”:
Abu Qadama Salih al-Hami, “Knights of the Unfulfilled Duty: Zarqawi and the Afghan Jihad.”

“God granted the Muslim mujahidin”:
Quoted in Fu’ad Husayn,
Al-Zarqawi: The Second Generation of al-Qaeda
(n.p., 2006).

He read books about early Islamic heroes:
Ibid.

“We printed out some of my books”:
Quoted in ibid.

“He wanted everything to be done quickly”:
Quoted in ibid.

“Your penalties only strengthen our faith”:
Jean-Charles Brisard,
The New Face of Al-Qaeda
(New York: Other Press, 2005).

A third officer who took a particular interest:
Author interview with Abu Mutaz.

Chapter 4

“The time for training is over”:
Ali H. Soufan,
The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al-Qaeda
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2011).

“Rob, I have to tell you something”:
Author interview with Robert Richer.

“Despite everything that happened”:
Author interview with senior Jordanian official.

“In a nutshell, Abu Musab:
” Quoted in Fu’ad Husayn,
Al-Zarqawi: The Second Generation of al-Qaeda
(n.p., 2006).

“Iraq will be the forthcoming battle”:
Ibid.

Chapter 5

“I am where I want to be”:
Marcella Bombardieri and Jana Benscoter, “Slain Envoy Had Boston Ties on Aid Mission; Foley Was ‘Doing What I Want to Do,’ ”
Boston Globe
, Oct. 29, 2002.

Foley crumbled to the pavement:
Author interview with two senior Jordanian officials directly involved in the events.

“I kept wondering, ‘What can I do?’ ”:
Author interview with Nada Bakos.

“appear based on hearsay”:
CIA, “CTC Iraqi Support for Terrorism,” unpublished report, CTC 2003-1000/HS, Jan. 29, 2003.

“simply one of the best”:
Author interview with a former senior U.S. intelligence official.

“I asked tough questions”:
Richard B. Cheney,
In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir
(New York: Threshold Editions, 2011).

Chapter 6

Charles “Sam” Faddis knew:
Author interview with Charles Faddis.

“They used to force women”:
“Under the Microscope,” Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, July 1, 2004.

“Look, if we can produce solid intelligence”:
Author interview with Charles Faddis and descriptions in his book: Mike Tucker and Charles Faddis,
Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq
(Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2009).

“It’s big enough to be an invasion”:
Stanley A. McChrystal,
My Share of the Task: A Memoir
(New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2013).

“He was able to forge ties”:
George Tenet,
At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA
(New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).

White House officials were reluctant:
Peter Baker,
Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House
(New York: Doubleday, 2013).

“We are considering it”:
Riad Kahwaji, “Jordan and U.S. Discuss Possible Patriot Deployments,”
Marine Corps Times
, Feb. 10, 2003.

“fixated on Iraq”:
Abdullah, King of Jordan,
Our Last Best Chance: The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril
(New York: Viking, 2011).

“But I was certain of one thing”:
Ibid.

Chapter 7

“Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network”:
For Colin Powell’s Feb. 5, 2003, speech to the United Nations Security Council, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/transcripts/powelltext_020503.html
.

She continued watching:
Author interview with Nada Bakos.

“This is bullshit!”:
Author interview with Samih Battikhi.

“We were sick about it”:
Author interview with Abu Mutaz.

“With that speech”:
Author interview with Hasan Abu Hanieh.

Chapter 8

She tried the question:
Author interview with Nada Bakos; a second U.S. official familiar with the events confirmed her account.

“We had invaded”:
Author interview with Nada Bakos.

sent the van’s front section spiraling:
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Car Bomb Kills 11 in Baghdad,”
Washington Post Foreign Service
, Aug. 8, 2003.

“We may see more of this”:
Michael R. Gordon, “Terror Group Seen As Back Inside Iraq,”
New York Times
, Aug. 10, 2003.

“We’ve made good progress”:
E. A. Torriero, “Embassy Attack May Have Tie to Al Qaeda,”
Chicago Tribune
, Aug. 9, 2003.

“Remnants of the regime”:
Jim Henderson, “Democracy Is Not Easy, Condoleezza Rice Tells Journalists in Dallas,”
Houston Chronicle
, Aug. 8, 2003.

“The presence of coalition forces”:
D’Arcy Doran, “UN Employees’ Fears Grew As Security Deteriorated in Baghdad,” Associated Press, Aug. 28, 2003.

“The explosion went off”:
Gil Loescher interview with Jeremy Paxman,
BBC News
, broadcast Dec. 18, 2003. For entire interview, go to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3330885.stm
.

“They want to fight us there”:
George W. Bush press conference, Aug. 23, 2003, Crawford, Texas. Excerpts available at
http://www.usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/press/2003/august/082304.html
.

“Allah was merciful today”:
Author interview with a senior U.S. official familiar with the investigation.

“We should join efforts”:
“Ayatollah Hakim’s Last Sermon,”
BBC News
online, Aug. 30, 2003,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3193341.stm
.

“Baghdad is bustling with commerce”:
Tom Infield, “U.S. General: Hezbollah Linked to Iraq Bombings,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Sept. 6, 2003.

“brilliant strategy”:
Author interview with Bruce Riedel.

Chapter 9

“It’s factual”:
Author interview with Robert Richer.

“Right before the invasion”:
Author interview with a former senior U.S. official present during the events.

“The ease with which the insurgents”:
Quoted in James Risen,
State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
(New York: Free Press, 2006).

“So you guys think”:
Author interviews with two officials present.

no evidence of bullet damage:
“Violent Response: The U.S. Army in Al-Falluja,” Human Rights Watch, 2003,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/iraqfalluja
.

“We went to them”:
Author interview with Zaydan al-Jabiri.

Chapter 10

“Even if our bodies”:
“Zarqawi Letter” to Osama bin Laden, U.S. Department of State, Feb. 2004,
http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/31694.htm
.

“I was likely standing less than a block”:
Stanley A. McChrystal,
My Share of the Task: A Memoir
(New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2013).

“It was pure, unadulterated hatred”:
Author interview with Stanley A. McChrystal.

“before Iraq became truly hellish”:
McChrystal,
My Share of the Task
.

“I would anticipate”:
“Major Combat Operations Over in Iraq,”
PBS News-Hour
, April 14, 2003,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/military-jan-june03-battles_04-14
.

“What is that?”:
Author interview with McChrystal.