Race Against Terror
Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War
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Beschreibung des Verlags
“Not only riveting to read but also shines an essential light on the quest for justice in the modern age of terrorism.” —David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon
In this thrilling true story, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jake Tapper uncovers an investigation—unlike any other in American history—to lock up a dangerous terrorist before he’s set free.
June 2011: The case has been cold for nearly ten years when a terrorist fleeing the Arab Spring turns himself in and confesses to killing American soldiers in Afghanistan. This brazen act sets off an unlikely chain of events that puts the entirety of the American justice system to the test. They have the killer, but no evidence to prove the murders happened.
Determined to deliver justice, a team led by federal prosecutors Dave Bitkower and Shreve Ariail must traverse the globe, uncovering facts across thousands of miles and tracing shocking plots of terror in order to prevent tragedy from striking again.
Through intense reporting and meticulous recreation, Race Against Terror shows a man radicalized to enact violence, courageous soldiers who risked their lives for each other, and the diverse set of men and women who work tirelessly to stay one step ahead of disaster. In this gripping narrative history CNN’s Jake Tapper reveals the true costs of the War on Terror and delivers a salient warning for the increasing threats of extremism we face to this day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A criminal case against an avowed al-Qaeda operative poses knotty legal issues in this evocative dispatch from America's war on terror. CNN anchorman Tapper (Original Sin) recaps the prosecution of Spin Ghul, a Saudi-raised man of Nigerien background who was apprehended by Italian police in 2011 and promptly confessed to being an al-Qaeda fighter. U.S. government attorneys linked him to a 2003 insurgent attack in Afghanistan that killed two American servicemen and had him extradited to New York. Tapper crafts riveting accounts of Ghul's journey through al-Qaeda and that bloody Afghanistan firefight, and he gives a thorough recap of the prosecution's investigation, which dug up supporting evidence that made it hard for the defense to dismiss Ghul's confession as the ravings of a madman despite his mentally unwell behavior (including tearing his clothes off in court). The Obama administration showcased the prosecution, Tapper argues, to prove that terrorists could be tried through regular civilian courts, a policy that provoked opposition and raised hard questions: Would jury trials end up acquitting dangerous terrorists? Did defense counsel have a right to see classified intelligence? And did it make sense to implicate Ghul in murder simply because he was a soldier fighting American soldiers in open battle? Tapper's vivid account of the legal front in the fight against terrorism shows how shaky its foundations are.
