Hard Measures; How aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives

xiii, [3], 269, [3] pages. Illustrations. Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. (born October 21, 1948) is an American former intelligence officer who served as Director of the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was the final CIA deputy director for operations (DDO) before that position was expanded to D/NCS in December 2004. Rodriguez was a central figure in the 2005 CIA interrogation videotapes destruction, leading to The New York Times Editorial Board and Human Rights Watch to call for his prosecution. Rodriguez joined the CIA in 1976 and served for 31 years. According to retired General Michael Hayden, "Jose built a reputation for leadership in the field and here at headquarters, and he guided some of the agency's greatest counterterror victories. He has done much to protect our country by strengthening its Clandestine Service." Much of his career was as an officer under the Directorate of Operations in the Latin America division, assigned to work in countries ranging from Peru to Belize. From 1994 to 1996, he worked under the guise of Military Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. Over time, he was promoted to chief of station in Panama, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, and subsequently chief of Latin America Division. In May 2002, Rodriguez was promoted to the post of Director of the Counterterrorism Center. The Counterterrorism Center brings together case officers, operators, analysts, and technologists to work on preventing terrorism. Rodriguez was responsible for driving the CIA operations and the targeting analysis necessary to uncover terrorists. An explosive memoir about the creation and implementation of the controversial Enhanced Interrogation Techniques by the former Chief Operations Officer for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. While the American public is aware of the CIA's use of highly controversial enhanced interrogation techniques, few know the man who, in the wake of September 11, led all U.S. counterterrorism operations and oversaw the use of those procedures, procedures that obtained vital and timely intelligence and helped safeguard the nation from future attacks. Puerto Rican-born Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr., served the United States for twenty-five years as an undercover officer before bringing his wealth of field knowledge to the CIA's Counterterrorism Center; now, in this riveting account and fascinating life story, one of America's top undercover operatives reveals how hard measures have derailed terrorist activity targeting the U.S., and saved countless American lives. Fully disclosed here for the first time are the undercover operations and tactics implemented during the George W. Bush presidency, which were approved by the highest levels of the U.S. government, certified as legal by the Department of Justice, and supported by bipartisan leadership of congressional intelligence oversight committees. But as the shock of 9/11 faded, the support that the intelligence community enjoyed and deserved gave way to potentially dangerous political correctness. One by one, the tools needed to successfully fight terrorism were banished, and the men and women who volunteered to carry out our nation's orders in combating al-Qa'ida found themselves second-guessed, hamstrung, and investigated, including Rodriguez himself. In effect, the United States has chosen to willfully and unilaterally disarm itself in the war on terror. In Hard Measures, Rodriguez convincingly argues for the techniques used, and uncompromisingly details when these techniques were necessary, why they worked, and how, ultimately, they contributed to the capture of the world's most-wanted terror operatives, including Usama bin Ladin. From law school student to CIA recruit to his role as America's top spy, Rodriguez's full story is one of utmost importance, a rare, insider's look at an issue that demands attention. Above all, it's a reasoned, imperative, and fully informed case for hard measures, and an explosive.…