In Jawbreaker Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA’s mostdecorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time todescribe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.With his unique mix of clandestine knowledge and paramilitarytraining, Berntsen represents the new face of counterterrorism.Recognized within the agency for his aggressiveness, Berntsen, whendispatched to Afghanistan, made annihilating the enemy his jobdescription.As the CIA’s key commander coordinating the fight against theTaliban forces around Kabul, and the drive toward Tora Bora, Berntsennot only led dozens of CIA and Special Operations Forces, he also raised2,000 Afghan fighters to aid in the hunt for bin Laden.In this first-person account of that incredible pursuit, whichactually began years earlier in an East Africa bombing investigation,Berntsen describes being ferried by rickety helicopter over the toweringpeaks of Afghanistan, sitting by General Tommy Franks’s side as heatednegotiations were conducted with Northern Alliance generals, bargainingrelentlessly with treacherous Afghan warlords and Taliban traitors,plotting to save hostages about to be used as pawns, calling in B-52strikes on dug-in enemy units, and deploying a dizzying array of SpecialForces teams in the pursuit of the world’s most wanted terrorist. Mostcrucially, Berntsen tells of cornering bin Laden in the Tora Boramountains—and what happened when Berntsen begged Washington to block theal-Qaeda leader’s last avenue of escape.As disturbingly eye-opening as it is adrenaline-charged, Jawbreakerraces from CIA war rooms to diplomatic offices to mountaintop redoubtsto paint a vivid portrait of a new kind of warfare, showing what can andshould be done to deal a death blow to freedom’s enemies.