DIRTY WARS ALSO BY JEREMY SCAHILL Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army The World Is a Battlefield JEREMY SCAHILL Nation Books New York Copyright © 2013 by Jeremy Scahill Published by Nation Books, a Member of the Perseus Books Group 116 East 16th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10003 Nation Books is a co-publishing venture of the Nation Institute and the Perseus Books Group. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, please address the Perseus Books Group, 250 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10107. Books published by Nation Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. Designed by Janet Tingey Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scahill, Jeremy. Dirty wars : the world is a battlefield / Jeremy Scahill. — First edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-56858-727-1 (eb) 1. United States—History, Military—21st century. 2. Special operations (Military science)—United States—History—21st century. 3. Terrorism—Prevention—United States— Government policy—History—21st century. 4. Targeted killing—United States—History—21st century. 5. Intelligence service—United States—History—21st century. 6. United States—Military policy—History—21st century. 7. United States—Military policy—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. E897.S33 2013 355.00973—dc23 2012051769 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FOR JOURNALISTS— those imprisoned for doing their jobs and those who have died in pursuit of the truth. “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” —VOLTAIRE CONTENTS A NOTE TO THE READER PROLOGUE 1 “There Was Concern…That We Not Create an American Hit List” WASHINGTON, DC, 2001–2002 2 Anwar Awlaki: An American Story THE UNITED STATES AND YEMEN, 1971–2002 3 Find, Fix, Finish: The Rise of JSOC WASHINGTON, DC, 1979–2001 4 The Boss: Ali Abdullah Saleh YEMEN, 1970–2001; WASHINGTON, DC, 2001 5 The Enigma of Anwar Awlaki THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE UNITED STATES AND YEMEN, 2002– 2003 6 “We’re in a New Kind of War” DJIBOUTI, WASHINGTON, DC, AND YEMEN, 2002 7 Special Plans WASHINGTON, DC, 2002 8 Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape WASHINGTON, DC, 2002–2003 9 The Troublemaker: Stanley McChrystal THE UNITED STATES, 1974–2003; IRAQ, 2003 10 “Their Intention and Our Intention Is the Same” SOMALIA, 1993–2004 11 “A Defeated Enemy Is Not a Vanquished One” YEMEN, 2003–2006 12 “Never Trust a Nonbeliever” THE UNITED KINGDOM, 2003 13 “You Don’t Have to Prove to Anyone That You Did Right” IRAQ, 2003–2005 14 “No Blood, No Foul” IRAQ, 2003–2004 15 The Death Star IRAQ, 2004 16 “The Best Technology, the Best Weapons, the Best People—and Plenty of Money to Burn” AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ AND PAKISTAN, 2003–2006 17 “A Lot of It Was of Questionable Legality” SOURCE: “HUNTER” 18 The Imprisonment of Anwar Awlaki YEMEN, 2004–2007 19 “America Knows War. They Are War Masters.” SOMALIA, 2004–2006 20 Prison Break YEMEN, 2006 21 Hot Pursuit PAKISTAN, 2006–2008 22 “Every Step Taken by the US Benefited al Shabab” SOMALIA, 2007–2009 23 “If Your Son Does Not Come to Us, He Will Be Killed by the Americans” YEMEN, 2007–2009 24 “Obama Is Set to Continue the Course Set by Bush” UNITED STATES, 2002–2008 25 Obama’s Signature Strikes PAKISTAN AND WASHINGTON, DC, 2009 26 Special Ops Want to “Own This Shit Like They Did in Central America in the ’80s” WASHINGTON, DC, AND YEMEN, 2009 27 Suicide or Martyrdom? YEMEN, 2009 28 Obama Embraces JSOC SOMALIA, EARLY 2009 29 “Let JSOC Off the Leash” SAUDI ARABIA, WASHINGTON, DC, AND YEMEN, LATE 2009 30 Samir Khan: An Unlikely Foot Soldier THE UNITED STATES AND YEMEN, 2001–2009 31 Blowback in Somalia SOMALIA AND WASHINGTON, DC, 2009 32 “If They Kill Innocent Children and Call Them al Qaeda, Then We Are All al Qaeda” WASHINGTON, DC, AND YEMEN, 2009 33 “The Americans Really Wanted to Kill Anwar” YEMEN, LATE 2009–EARLY 2010 34 “Mr. Barack Obama…I Hope That You Reconsider Your Order to Kill…My Son” WASHINGTON, DC, AND YEMEN, EARLY 2010 35 One Night in Gardez WASHINGTON, DC, 2008–2010; AFGHANISTAN, 2009–2010