Chapters 23-24 Summary and Analysis

The purpose of the CIA is to prevent surprise attacks. They obtain and analyze information and distribute it in the form of reports. They do not want any surprise attacks during the Clinton impeachment hearings that could weaken the Presidency. Al-Qaeda generates huge amounts of information. Pillar's Counterterrorist Center provides so much information that the recipients complain about the volume. The information indicates that bin Laden is planning attacks in the United States.

The Untied States and ships and submarines with missiles sitting off the Pakistani coast wait to receive the coordinates of bin Laden's location. The CIA tries to confirm his location. A memorandum of Notification signed by Clinton in 1998 gives the agents the authority to use lethal force to capture bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership. Government lawyers spend months debating under what circumstances lethal force is...