Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins

From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen the untold USA Today bestselling story of the CIAs secret paramilitary units. Surprise . . . your target. Kill . . . your enemy. Vanish . . . without a trace. When diplomacy fails and war is unwise the president calls on the CIAs Special Activities Division a highly-classified branch of the CIA and the most effective black operations force in the world. Originally known as the presidents guerrilla warfare corps SAD conducts risky and ruthless operations that have evolved over time to defend America from its enemies. Almost every American president since World War II has asked the CIA to conduct sabotage subversion and yes assassination. With unprecedented access to forty-two men and women who proudly and secretly worked on CIA covert operations from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day along with declassified documents and deep historical research Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen unveils -- like never before -- a complex world of individuals working in treacherous environments populated with killers connivers and saboteurs. Despite Hollywood notions of off-book operations and external secret hires covert action is actually one piece in a colossal foreign policy machine. Written with the pacing of a thriller Surprise Kill Vanish brings to vivid life the sheer pandemonium and chaos as well as the unforgettable human will to survive and the intellectual challenge of not giving up hope that define paramilitary and intelligence work. Jacobsens exclusive interviews -- with members of the CIAs Senior Intelligence Service (equivalent to the Pentagons generals) its counterterrorism chiefs targeting officers and Special Activities Divisions Ground Branch operators who conduct todays close-quarters killing operations around the world -- reveal for the first time the enormity of this shocking controversial and morally complex terrain. Is the CIAs paramilitary army Americas weaponized strength or a liability to its principled standing in the world? Every operation reported in this book however unsettling is legal.