Guest post by Matthew Ilseman
Surpise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen is the history of assassinations committed by the CIA and other organizations. The title comes from the motto of the OSS. It covers history from World War II to the present day War on Terror.
The book recounts the development of the CIA as the “hidden hand” of the Presidency. The idea was to be an alternative to war after diplomacy failed. This includes assassination.
According to the book, every president of both parties has had a “kill list” since at least the time of Eisenhower. This includes Kennedy who was himself assassinated, and Reagan who almost died at the hands of deranged lone-wolf assassin.
The question of the morality of assassination is a complex one. We tend to react negatively to the very idea. Yet, what if killing one person prevented a war? What if the target was Adolf Hitler or Osama bin Laden?
The book makes clear that President Bill Clinton had multiple chances to assassinate bin Laden. Had he done so it might have prevented 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. What Clinton seemed to prefer was missile strikes. These strikes killed multiple people, undoubtedly including innocent bystanders. Would it not have been better to kill one guilty person? Does that make assassination or “targeted killing” as it is now called morally acceptable?
There are two extremes on the concept of morality. One is moral absolutism. Things are either right or wrong. Black and White. The other is moral relativism. Right or wrong are not objective. They are determined by society and since societies accepted different things at different times everything is relative. It’s all shades of gray.
I tend to lean toward there being objective morality. The problem with moral relativism is that if right or wrong are just what society dictates, then anything is justified. Taken to its logical conclusion the Holocaust was justified because in 1930s Germany killing Jews was acceptable. There is also a problem with moral absolutism, in that a knee-jerk reaction to something one does not like is taken as God’s truth. The religious fundamentalists who ran my high school often talked about the evils of listening to rock music. This was not because of the lyrics but the beat itself which they considered “sensual,” for reasons I was never clear. (There is certainly nothing in the Bible about it.)
Many of the moral relativism bent would call that judgmental. The problem with that is that it implies that being judgmental is objectively wrong even though apparently right and wrong are not objective. It is, in fact, a judgment. To make it more complicated, I’ve seen moral relativists becoming judgmental on various issues. Also, the before-mentioned fundamentalists would at times rationalize breaking their own rules. Neither exactly lived up to their own standards. As I said earlier, I do lean towards there being an objective morality, but maybe knowing the right takes time studying the issue and thinking deeply about it (both of which seem to be rare today).
As a history of assassinations, Surprise, Kill, Vanish, is useful for that. The book begins with the story of a young Bill Waugh learning that Pearl Harbor has been attacked. Waugh would be inspired by news footage of World War II to become a paratrooper in the Korean War and later a Green Beret in Vietnam. Later, he becomes a contractor for the CIA. He would serve in covert operations all the way to the War on Terror when he was in his 80s. His service will be a constant though out the book. Jacobsen would extensively interview Waugh for her book. She would travel to his house and in the last chapter of the book mentions that on his wall was an 11-inch dagger with the words: “The Assassin: In Thanks for Your Friendship, Professionalism, and Protection.” When she asks him to talk about it, he merely says, “You know I can’t do that.”
Another person interviewed was Green Beret turned Secret Service Agent, Lew Merletti. He would eventually be tasked with protecting the President from assassination. Aside from assassinations committed by Americans the book also deals with attempts on the lives of the President. Merletti and Waugh would be life long friends since the time they both served in MACV-SOG. The Assassin and the Protector.
There is much more to the book. It covers a time period from World War II to the present and it deals with a lot of events: The Korean War, The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Hunt for Che Guevara, Vietnam, and the Killing of Osama Bin Laden. Other organizations talked about include the British SOE, the OSS, the KGB, and the Mossad. This is a lot of territory to cover. A lot of details are left out but the book serves as a general outline of events. If you need more details you would have to go elsewhere but it is an excellent overview.
Among the things that I would’ve liked to know more about is a case of an ex-Green Beret who assassinates a political dissident for Qaddafi. This happened in a town not far from where I live. It seems like something out of a thriller.
Waugh would actually be one of a cadre of Green Berets secretly hired to train Qaddafi’s forces while secretly spying on him for the CIA. Again more details would be interesting. Waugh also claims to have wanted to kill Bin Laden when he was first appeared on the CIA’s radar.
What I learned from the book is something that I long suspected: That geo-politics is a very ruthless and complex game. The ends are said to justify the means, but it seems the ends aren’t always foreseen. Our operations in Iran, covered in this book, seemed to have made things worse. Yet, our government’s refusal to act in dealing with bin Laden undoubtedly led to many deaths. On one hand various covert operations led to Iran becoming a major enemy. On the other hand, not taking a ruthless action let a national tragedy occur.
Jacobsen says she found her answers to the morality of assassination writing the book. She says she hopes readers find their own in the book. She talked about her answers and what led her to her to write the book with Joe Rogan here:
For myself, I still have questions. I’m not bothered by the killing of Osama bin Laden, but where do you draw the line? The book shows that every President since Eisenhower had a “kill list.” Is this right or wrong? As I said, I have only questions, but it is better to ask hard questions than rely on easy answers.
Quixotic Mainer says
There’s a line reeled off by King Arthur in the magnificent lilt of Sean Connery that comes to me whenever moral relativism is raised;
” Either what we hold to be right and good and true ish right and good and true, under God,or we’re jusht another robber tribe.”
That said, my training makes it impossible for me to accept intentionally using indiscriminate lethal force . Morally, using a splitting maul when the job called for a draw knife is clumsy and mars the work with objectively identifiable evil. I will give the book a read though, soon if it graces Audible.
JimC says
Annie Jacobsen reads her own books. Her voice is almost disturbingly soothing.
Quixotic Mainer says
Soothing could be dangerous while driving. I’ll up my coffee ration!
Matthew says
About indiscriminate lethal force, the book makes clear Clinton had many chances to kill Bin Laden instead opted for more indiscriminate missile attacks because either he felt assassination was immoral or simply thought it was better “optics.” Even though innocent bystanders were almost certainly killed.
Quixotic Mainer says
It takes a lot of mental gymnastics to favor theoretical optics when the bombardment strategy will doubtless kill noncombatants. An “immoral arithmetic”, to steal a quote from Hell on Wheels.
The book will eat up my next audible credit f for sure.
JimC says
Steve Coll’s The Achilles Trap and Ghost Wars provide a lot of insight into Clinton’s calculus regarding covert action to undermine/remove Saddam and the effort to kill bin Laden. There were legitimate concerns about feasibility for some operations — especially in any on-the-ground attempt to overthrow Saddam — but mostly Clinton was risk-averse because his political capital was so diminished by the Lewinsky affair. Lobbing missiles was easier. Which is just infuriating.
Greg Austin Walker says
Jim,
Kudos. One of the best thought processes you’ve written on a very interesting topic.
I would only offer it is one of those subjects spoken of, debated, and dissected on one level – and at the same time planned for, trained for, and conducted on another level. And both “good guys” and “bad guys” have long relied on assassination dating back eons world-wide.
We, here in the US, glorify it with films such as the Bourne Identity and Day of the Jackal, and most recently Iran’s government was warned in the public forum by President Trump that if Iran assassinates him he’s directed the Pentagon to hit Iran with everything we’ve got in retaliation.
And assassins, when caught, don’t fare well. Hitler ordered those involved in the plot to kill him (Valkyrie) to be slowly strangled to death while hung from meat hooks (filmed for Hitler’s private viewing).
The British (SAS) likewise went after Nazi murderers at the end of WW2 –
“Barkworth’s team were not exactly made in his upper-class image — his second-in-command was Sergeant Fred ‘Dusty’ Rhodes, who’d been a gardener in Barnsley before the war — but they were all brilliant and relentless former SAS men. To the very few who knew what they were up to, Barkworth and his men became known, accurately enough, as the Secret Hunters. In Damien Lewis’s gripping book, the extraordinary story of the unit unfolds as compellingly as any thriller.”
https://damienlewis.com/2021/01/14/sas-nazi-hunters-proud-to-be-known-as-bigots/
And it is no coincidence our SOF communities have long been made up of “White SOF” and “Black SOF”. In Special Forces (Army) the White SOF motto is “To Free the Oppressed” whereas the Black SOF motto is “Oppressors Beware”. The CIA paramilitary arm, especially during GWOT and post GWOT, practice “Kill-Capture” which runs the thin line between outright assassination and “It’s up to you…and maybe us” as was seen when OBL was killed by SEAL Team 6 with oversight / planning by the Agency.
As LCDR Mike Walsh (ret) offers in his book “SEAL” – when you send in SOF you have declared war on all its many levels and compartmentalized programs.
Perhaps one of the most challenging, insightful, and disturbing questions on this topic comes from the film “Apocalypse Now” when Marlon Brando’s character, Colonel Kurtz asks Martin Sheen’s character, Willard, if he is an assassin?
“Errand Boy” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiDygq5lS9o
Then the question becomes who is holding the bill and why has it become due?
JimC says
Actually, all credit to Matthew.
Greg Austin Walker says
Noted, kind sir.
Matthew says
Yes, I wrote this not Jim.
Still, I am glad you like it. One of the things that Surprise, Kill, Destroy is that assassination is used as a political tool through history.
You mention glorifying it in American pop culture. That’s true. It would be interesting to figure out why.
Where the assassin trope shows up a lot is actually Japanese pop culture. There are numerous media about assassins.
Gregory A Walker says
Matthew – my apologies – but as a result of your authoring this I have purchased the book –
I’d offer that not only American entertainment culture but as you note the Japanese and others as a YouTube search will reveal. Why? They sell – and always have worldwide.
As for assassination itself –
An ongoing topic in the symposium world offset by the reality of sanctioned killing by those in power regardless of ideology or nation.
The killing of St. Oscar Romero – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dY03-b6Bvc
That assassination led directly to the 10-year civil war in El Salvador, a US military campaign acknowledged by the US Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1996.
And this is a rarely seen video of the failed (one of many) assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein and the retribution that can come about when an attempt falls short – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3e5a30kXqk
Again, reality vrs the classroom.
Matthew says
Apologies accepted.
Ugly Hombre says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ltguSe5d8
Good work Matt-Excellent review- now have the book on order.
So many and not enough time..
lol
Matthew says
Thanks!
deuce says
A fine review!
Matthew, you should check out RISE AND KILL FIRST by Ronen Bergman’s book on Israeli assassinations.
JimC says
Second the motion. Outstanding book.
Matthew says
Thanks.
Haven’t heard of Rise and Kill First but will look into it.
The assassinations by the Mossad of the Black September terrorists and one innocent civilian is mentioned in Surprise, Kill, Vanish.
Joe says
I’m sorry but there’s no easy way to put this. Just about everything mentioned on this page has been staged or faked. You’ve been lied to on a huge continual scale. The CIA doesn’t work for you. All intelligence agencies work for the hundred or so richest families in the world; bankers, wealthiest merchant class, plutocrats. The CIA doesn’t care if you think they have ninja assassins running around the world killing people. They prefer it that way so that you are afraid to speak up. We are ruled by fear and fakery. Here is a good place to start unravelling it: https://mileswmathis.com/bestfake.html
JimC says
You can also ask him for help with math problems.
Greg Austin Walker says
The fate of assassins in real time –
1982 – Four Dutch journalists are marked for death by GRAL Jose Garcia and COL Denis Moran, two of the most far Right Salvadoran officers at that time. COL Mario Reyes Mena is tasked to see them assassinated and the blame placed on FMLN guerrillas.
In Cold Blood – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY5tQ593g-k
In 2016, the Dutch war crimes unit reached out to the US GOV (ICE war crimes unit) and the renewed effort to see all three indicted, placed in custody or deported from the US back to either El Salvador or Holland, tried and convicted began.
“Reyes Mena, posted to the Salvadoran embassy in Washington, DC, in 1986 as a military attaché, retired while in the United States and in 1987 was granted U.S. citizenship. This despite the U.S. Government knowing of his direct involvement in what is an international war crime. He was provided a comfortable, well-paying job with Fannie Mae in the DC area and except for a few minor traffic citations he has led, until 2018, a quiet life hidden away from Dutch investigators. Until a Dutch film crew and journalist found him on his daughter’s Facebook page.”
https://www.specialforces78.com/in-cold-blood-an-alleged-salvadoran-war-criminal-flouts-his-u-s-citizenship-to-avoid-justice/
The legal process was fraught with obstacles and delays but GRAL Garcia and COL Moran were indicted in El Salvador and placed under monitored custody. COL Reyes Mena, now a US citizen since 1986, began to fight extradition from his home in Virginia.
And this April all three will be tried. All three were CIA assets during the 10-year civil war.
“A Salvadoran ex-defense minister and two colonels will go on trial next month for their alleged role in the killings of four Dutch journalists 43 years ago, NGOs in the Central American country said Monday.
“The trial will open on April 23 for ex-minister Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former police colonel Francisco Antonio Moran, 93, and ex-infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes Mena, 85.”
https://www.barrons.com/news/el-salvador-ex-minister-colonels-to-be-tried-for-dutch-journalists-killings-dd0d6470
“International law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), does not have a statute of limitations for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, meaning there’s no age limit on prosecuting those who commit them. However, the ICC has no jurisdiction over individuals who were under 18 at the time of the alleged crime.”
Among those who provided evidence to the Salvadoran judge overseeing the upcoming trial were four Americans, all with either military or diplomatic service in El Salvador. MSG Angel Chamizo (7th Special Forces Group/RIP), COL John McKay (US Embassy DATT/USMC), Mr. Todd Greentree (US Embassy Foreign Service Officer), and myself (7th Special Forces Group).
Our doing so was and remains our individual and professional responsibility. Ours was never an assassin’s role and such a role must be confronted if and when possible.
Whether one plans an assassination or is a “trigger puller” such a killing is a war crime and accountability is mandated, even decades later. As noted by Todd Greentree “…[few] more than vaguely appreciate that those old killers in the dock were our killers once.”
And again, Art imitating Life – “What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin?” – Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now
“This quote is a key example of Kurtz’s descent into a state of nihilism and his rejection of the established moral order.” – AI
Rest in Peace Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Joop Willemsen, and Hans ter Laag. You were never forgotten –
Greg Walker (ret)
USA Special Forces
Author / Journalist
Matthew says
Everything I heard about the El Salvador conflict has been horrible.
Lynda A. Sanchez says
All intriguing, enlightening, sinister, alarming, and sometimes required. It is a daunting task for our warriors and our responsible leaders to protect us.
Lynda A. Sanchez
Lincoln,NM
Matthew says
Yes.