Thread by @tobyharnden

THREAD: 20 years ago today, George W. Bush accepted @CIA's plan to infiltrate into Afghanistan to purse Al-Qaeda. The plan was outlined by Cofer Black, CTC director. "First Casualty" p. 46: "The Jawbreaker and NALT missions into the Panjshir Valley from 1999 onward... 1

p, 46 contd. “…coupled with the two-year process of trying to get the legal authorities to kill bin Laden, meant that [Cofer] Black had a plan for Afghanistan in place. The CIA had laid it out in its ‘Blue Sky’ document less than a year earlier.” - 2

p. 46 contd: “At 9:30 a.m. on September 13, President Bush convened his National Security Council in White House Situation Room. The NSC had met several times over the two days since the attacks, but this would be the first discussion of the details of America’s response.” - 3

p. 46 contd.: “After Tenet described the contours of the CIA plan, Black was given the floor to explain exactly how Agency teams and US Special Forces could take down the Taliban and expel Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan. Roughly 20,000 fighters from the Northern Alliance, drawn…” - 4

“principally from four rival ethnic groups—Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, &Turkmens— would do most of the fighting. In support would be CIA teams of about eight men with a mix of paramilitary, regional, and linguistic expertise; these would act as pathfinders for the Green Berets.” - 5

p. 46 “Cofer Black had a penchant for theatrics, and he saw this as a moment of high drama—a chance to propel the CIA into the forefront of the fight. He felt the presentation was, as he put it later, “the whole ballgame.” Black warned: “Many Americans could die.” - 6

p. 46: “Bush responded, ‘That’s war.’ Al-Qaeda fighters would blow themselves up rather than surrender or negotiate, Black said. He recounted what Massoud had told him in Tajikistan: ‘We’ve been fighting these guys for four years & I’ve never captured one of these bastards.’”- 7

“So the aim, Black told the president, should be to kill: ‘When we’re through with them, they will have flies walking across their eyeballs.’ - [after this, Cofer Black was known in WH as “the flies on the eyeballs guy” - 8

p. 47 “Black was not certain how Bush—an untested president with scant foreign-policy experience—would react, though he had judged that Bush was inclined toward swift, decisive action rather than the Pentagon approach of a slow, deliberate buildup and overwhelming force.” - 9

(p. 47) When Black finished, Bush asked him how long it would take for the Taliban regime to fall. ‘Once we’re fully deployed on the ground, it should go in weeks,’ he replied. There was silence in the room. Even Tenet thought the timeline ambitious.” - 10

Bush stared, unblinking, at the wall at the far end of Sit. Room for more than 10 seconds, perhaps 15 . It seemed like a lifetime to Black, who began to wonder if he had overdone it. …Bush turned to him…his voice laced with incredulity, “Cofer, can you really do this?” - 11

p. 47 contd. “Cofer Black thought to himself, ‘The President needs to know that this is not another PowerPoint presentation with no connection to reality.’ The CTC chief realized this was no time to hedge or add caveats.” - 12

First Casualty p. 47 “Leaning forward with his elbows on the table, Cofer Black looked Bush in the eye and paused for several seconds before answering, ‘Mr. President, there isn’t a doubt in my mind.’” - 13

p. 47 “That was enough for Bush, who told the room in his Texas drawl, ‘That’s what I’m talking about. Go get ’em.’” - This was the moment 20 years ago 2day when war in Afghanistan was decided, with @CIA (specifically its CTC) in the lead - 14 END THREAD