The Targeter: My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House

I heard an interview with Ms. Bakos prior to the release of the book, and immediately pre-ordered it. I then had to stop listening to several episodes of other podcasts, since I wanted to finish the book. I read it in about three sessions, and that’s only because work and other responsibilities kept me from finishing it in one sitting.Ostensibly it’s the story of the hunt for Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born terrorist probably best known to the average American as the head of Al Qaeda In Iraq, the group that would later become the kernel of ISIL. But as the reader follows Zarqawi, we’re also following Ms. Bakos as she enters into the secretive, exciting, and exhausting work of intelligence analysis. One of the things that really stands out with The Targeter is how accessible it is for readers whose only frame of reference to the DI side of CIA might be Zero Dark Thirty or the TV series Homeland. Ms. Bakos succinctly and efficiently steps in and explains the unique terminology and culture of working in the Intelligence Community, providing the reader with useful background and explanations that they’ll “need to know” in order to follow her narrative. As the Bush White House’s demands for a smoking gun linking Saddam Hussein’s regime with the terror attacks of 9/11 take its toll on a group of incredibly patriotic and dedicated professionals who can’t find what simply doesn’t exist, the reader is shown that CIA is both incredibly powerful and yet susceptible to the same kinds of office politics and unreasonable demands from higher ups that any workplace has. While they can’t find what doesn’t exists, what they do discover is Zarqawi- a street level thug radicalized in prison who became one of the most blood thirsty architects of sectarian violence and terrorism in Iraq.In a broader sense, Ms. Bakos’ book is something that frequent readers of non-fiction concerning intelligence matters needs- an analyst’s point of view. Many books are written by former DO or SIS guys (and they’re almost always guys) and they’re either a “boots on the ground” POV or the 30,000 foot view of these issues. Ms. Bakos’ unique position as an analyst, as part of the team that took the raw intelligence from disparate sources on the ground and coalesced it into product for consumption at the 8 mile high level, provides a valuable and informative insight that provides the reader a window into one of the most secretive “desk jobs” in the world.Plus she’s got funny stories in there about her St. Bernard doggo.

Targeter is an engaging memoir by a then 30-something CIA newby hired to work in HR who stepped up post-9/11 to take an analyst job, stepped up again, got promoted, and next thing is in the thick of “targeting” the Iraq War’s most notorious bad guy, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (AMZ)—all before barely four years at the Agency. Nada Bakos could have sidestepped the trenches; she didn’t, and ended up with PTSD for her trouble. Not my job to say thanks, but thanks. Targeter is a CIA analyst-foot soldier’s take on the Iraq War, how the Bush Administration justified that war then prosecuted it, particularly as regards AMZ. She appears to blame all that went wrong on Bush Administration neoconservative ideology and its hegemonic notions of America’s role in the world. May I offer: Justifying the Iraq War and its initial conduct are separate topics with separate backstories. First, why war? Why now? From the Bakos foxhole, the months after 9/11 played out as rising drumbeat for an Iraq war, with a rising Bush Administration demand for intelligence to justify it. For Bakos, Bush ultimately misused that intelligence, and sold the war on false pretences. From her vantage point, the intelligence showed no pressing need to depose Saddam. But George Bush had a starkly different Iraq assessment and did not intend to wait around for damning evidence, such as links between Saddam and al-Qaida. Formal planning for regime change began early, in December 2001. From the Administration's vantage, the United States had effectively been at war with Iraq for over a decade. History left little doubt about Iraq’s capabilities and intentions. So all that intelligence squabbling during 2002, which Bakos documents so well, proved to be more sideshow than main plot. Think what you may about George’s judgement, but threat assessment drove going to war, not war-mongering ideology. “Big Ideas” did shape how the war was then fought and its messy aftermath—Google "Rumsfeld" and “Revolution in Military Affairs.” The book gets at least a couple of facts wrong. One, in the months leading up to March 20, 2003 war launch, AMZ and followers resided at Khurmal in northern Iraq, hosted by Ansar al-Islam (AI), a Kurdish extremist group. Per Bakos, the Coalition did not attack Khurmal until summer 2003. Actually, it attacked by air on March 21, coincident with war start, then shortly after by ground (Operation Viking Hammer). Another: President Bush laid out the case for war in his October 22, 2002 “Cincinnati speech.” This speech contained plenty of overcooked intelligence, but did not, as the Bakos states, implicate Zarqawi in the 9/11 plot. These are just a couple. Targeter has the tenor one expects in a 19-year-old infantryman's war memoir: Grumbling soldier is smarter than the generals; higher ups do the wrong things for the wrong reasons, over and over again. Understandable, in that September 11, 2001 was Nada Bakos’ first acquaintance with war. She was the all-wise trooper during the book’s years. The book is not “evenhanded,” nor objective—the better for it.

This book is a great read. It provides a rare perspective--from the women who played a huge role in the intelligence side of the "forever wars". Bakos's story is inherently interesting--how does one chase down a leader of an al Qaeda branch in Iraq and also manage to be successful in a male-dominated enterprise. I just got the book and flew through it.

This book is great. The previous reviewer who found the terminology complex and unexplained must have been reading another book. This book is very well written and fascinating!