Mission Compromised

“Oliver North's own life reads like a novel, and now he and collaborator Joe Musser have concocted with exquisite timing a sly thriller about terrorism, our new chill war. His hero, Pete Newman, takes up where the actual Colonel North left off: in the innermost of White House concentric rings. Osama bin Laden, the UN, Somalia, the Waldorf, Iraq, the Marines—it's all in there, along with appearances by Ollie North himself! The talk shows will be queuing up for this one.”

 

James Brady
,
Parade
magazine, author of “Warning of War”

“An exciting, solid, action-packed adventure about a Marine who, like the author, knows the meaning of Semper Fidelis.”

 

Joe Foss
, Brig. Gen. USMC (Ret.), WW II Ace and Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

“Reader be warned: Once you begin
Mission Compromised
, you will not be able to put it down until you have finished this amazing drama. I loved this book! Ollie North's new novel is filled with action, intrigue, and events that could have been taken from the headlines. This is a must-read for anyone interested in politics, the military, foreign affairs—but mostly for the millions who appreciate the craft of a well-written novel! I predict that
Mission Compromised
is going to be a best-seller.”

 

Sean Hannity
, FOX News Channel

“Oliver North's book is more than a superb read; it is also a primer to the hidden works and inner mechanisms of the White House and the National Security Council. North relies on his own vast experience to bring a realism to the reader that can only come from someone who has actually ‘walked the walk.' This book is a must-read!”

 

General Charles C. Krulak
, USMC (Ret), 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps

For Betsy
and all the other wives and mothers
who know what it means to receive
a “Next of Kin Notice”

Acknowledgments

Glossary

 

Prologue:
The Assassins

01.
Duty Station: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

02.
Massacre in Mogadishu

03.
Vengeance Is Mine!

04.
The Special Projects Office

05.
Rachel

06.
Baghdad

07.
Andrews Air Force Base

08.
The Device That Betrays

09.
Learning Too Much

10.
Heating Up

11.
The Postcard

12.
The Mission Changes

13.
Mission Doubts

14.
Bartering Lives

15.
Mission Compromised

16.
Disaster!

17.
Closing the Door

18.
The Believer

19.
Ambush

20.
The Goode Messenger

Epilogue

 

 

USS Bataan, LHD-5

________________________________________

Arabian Sea

14 December 2001

 

T
he Marines and sailors I'm with aboard this 884-foot warship are preparing to go ashore tonight. Within hours they will embark in helicopters and air cushion landing craft and race for a beach thirty miles over the horizon. They will then move quickly inland to a small airfield where they will be picked up by C-130s and C-17s and flown more than four hundred miles to a lonely outpost near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Their mission: to help hunt down the terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Unlike all the other amphibious operations I've been on, this time I'm not in command of anyone. Tonight I'm just going along for the
ride—as a war correspondent for FOX News Channel. These brave young men, and the thousands of others with whom I served for more than twenty years, are the inspiration for this book.

I'm grateful to Roger Ailes, my boss at FOX News, for sending me out here. And to Vice Admiral Willy Moore, my Naval Academy classmate and Commander of the Fifth Fleet; Jim Roberts, President of Radio America Network; Griff Jenkins, my radio producer; and Pamela Browne my FOX News producer—all of whom helped to make this trip to the “war zone” possible.

When I started this book, America was at peace. By the time I finished, we were at war. With the war came new demands on my time and energy. This work would never have been finished but for the inspiration, discipline, devotion, and talents of my friend Joe Musser and the willingness of his wife Nancy. If the pen is mightier than the sword, Joe's laptop is mightier than the calendar, and his gift for words has made my military phraseology comprehensible to civilians.

Two years ago, Pastor Ken Whitten put me in touch with David Shepherd, now my publisher, and Ken Stephens, the president of Broadman & Holman. Had they not believed in this project, this story would still be in my laptop.

Gary Terashita, the “editor of editors,” knew when to exhort and when to admonish. For those times (and there were more than a few) when a “kinder, gentler” hand was needed, I could always count on the two Kims: Kim Terashita for proofing, promoting, and prayers, and Kim Overcash for always finding a way for Gary and me to communicate—even when Marsha Fishbaugh, my long-suffering assistant, had to find a way to connect us half a world apart. Thankfully for all of us, project editor Lisa Parnell helped to keep the book on track through the editorial process.

Mary Beth Shaw in Author Relations deserves a medal for keeping me informed, as do Dr. Robert Stacey and Jed Haven of Patrick Henry College who devoted their time and considerable talents to ensuring that I had my facts straight. And Marketing Director John Thompson, Sales Director Susanne Anhalt, Publicity Director Heather Hulse, Senior Publicist Robin Patterson, Duane Ward of the Premiere Group, and Cathy Saypol Public Relations all deserve a Meritorious Unit Citation for making sure that everyone in America got to see Greg Pope's great cover design—and a chance to buy this book.

As in every other part of my life for more than three decades, my greatest inspiration and encouragement came from my wife and our children. Many years ago, Betsy taught Tait, Stuart, Sarah, and Dornin to pray for me—and I am grateful for that and their affection. They are the ones who made it possible for a warrior to live a love story and to see God's love manifest in their lives.

 

Semper Fidelis,
Oliver L. North

 

 

AmCits.
American Citizens

AMEMB.
American Embassy

Amn Al-Khass.
Iraq's Special Security Services; also SSS

AOB.
Advanced Operations Base

AWS.
Amphibious Warfare School

Ba'ath Party.
Iraqi political party of Saddam Hussein

BUD/S.
Basic Underwater Demolition School

Canked.
Military slang for canceled

CONUS.
Continental United States

COS.
Chief of Station, a country's top-ranking CIA official