Surprise, Kill, Vanish

A detailed, lengthy, and researched history of covert, direct actions, especially hidden hand operations, from the American intelligence community, spanning from the OSS to the present. There is so much detail here, and so much to cover — especially given the amount of attention Jacobsen gives to merging not only the facts of what, and how, operations took place, but also an extensive amount of first-hand retelling from her many sources, most of which were named in the book.

I was struck by two main themes, though. The first was a reminder of the dumbfounding complexity and nuance inherent in each of the operations profiled. The reader has almost no place, across the book, to make black and white judgements on either side, even with historical hindsight. Both those who vehemently oppose, or offer blanket support for, many of the actions taken by the US military during the 20th and 21st centuries will leave this book with certain ideological frustration. And that is the point — Jacobsen aims to focus the scope here, and show an un-politicized reality that is ugly, complicated and hard to paint with a broad brush.

The second is the lack of moral equivalence between direct human to human action (special forces on the ground conducting an operation) and indirect action (drone and missile strikes on a target without forces on the ground, ect.). If there is a historical pattern in the book, it is that of US government leaders choosing to utilize the latter, rather than the former, often due to political and optics considerations rather than moral. As Jacobsen notes, eliminating an enemy personally at close range is ugly and “ungentlemanly”, leading US leaders time and time again to opt for often less accurate, impersonal military strikes that often lead to misfires, collateral injury and death of innocent people. In hindsight, the “ugly” operation can be the one that leads to far less suffering.