By All Means Available
Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A vivid insider's account of a life in intelligence, special operations, and strategy from the Cold War to the war with al-Qa’ida • "[An] illuminating and richly detailed memoir." —The New York Times Book Review
"Deeply insightful...A sweeping and breathtaking journey that gives the reader unprecedented access to the courage, sacrifice, and bravado of our nation’s finest warriors, in their finest hours." —Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Wisdom of the Bullfrog and #1 New York Times bestseller, Make Your Bed
In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War.
In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career, from his days as a Green Beret to his vision for victory in Afghanistan to his role in waging America’s war with al-Qa’ida at the highest levels of government. In captivating detail, he depicts his years in the Special Forces—including his training to parachute behind enemy lines with a backpack nuclear weapon in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe—and reveals how those experiences directly influenced his approach to shaping policy. Vickers has played a significant role in most of the military and intelligence operations of the past four decades, and he offers a deeply informed analysis of the greatest challenges facing America today, and in the decades ahead.
Riveting and illuminating, this is a rare and important insider’s account of the modern military and intelligence worlds at every level.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this provocative and eye-opening debut memoir, Vickers, a former national security and intelligence official, shares lessons gleaned from the Cold War, the war on terror, and other global conflicts. He offers an encyclopedic account of the operations he helped plan, including the strategy of supplying Afghanistan's mujahedin with weapons and tactics to force a Soviet withdrawal in the 1980s. Then came the shock of 9/11 and the onslaught of global terrorism. America's immediate response, which Vickers helped to devise, involved counterterrorism operations to "disrupt, dismantle, and defeat" al-Qaeda and eliminate its sanctuary in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Among other lessons, Vickers notes that invading is easier than pacifying, that good intelligence is crucial, and that drone strikes and special operations raids are an effective means of disrupting jihadist networks. As Russia and China increasingly seek to intimidate their neighbors, Vickers advocates for "invest heavily" in America's "air, missile, undersea, space, and cyber force." Though he downplays the risks of military intervention and doesn't fully reckon with the damage inflicted by the U.S. on Iraq and Afghanistan, he makes a vigorous argument for the use of "all means available" to defeat America's foes. Comprehensive and combative, it's a case to be reckoned with.
Customer Reviews
Great book!
Mike is the quintessential warrior behind the scenes that few know even exists. For those of us who knew something of him, it is truly an honor to read his story in his words. It is a well written book and hard to put down. This nation and the free world owes him a debt that can never be repaid.