Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda

Inside the Pentagon's highly secretive and revolutionary new strategy for fighting terrorism - and its surprising and game-changing effects in the Middle East and at home

In the first years after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government waged a "war on terror" focused on trying to defeat Al Qaeda and its affiliated groups through brute force. But it soon became clear that this strategy was not working, and by 2005 the Pentagon began looking for a new way.

In Counterstrike, Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker of The New York Times tell the story of how a group of analysts within the Pentagon, at spy agencies, and in law enforcement have devised and carried out an innovative and effective new strategy to fight terrorism, unbeknownst to most Americans and in sharp contrast to the war-mongering and cowboy slogans that characterized the U.S. government's public posture. Adapting themes from the classic deterrence theory that worked so effectively during the cold war, these strategists have expanded the field of battle in order to disrupt jihadist networks in ever more creative ways.

Schmitt and Shanker also show how the new counterterrorism strategies were adopted by George W. Bush and expanded under Barack Obama, and how both administrations shifted their tactics and priorities in response to successes and setbacks in this continuing struggle. Filled with startling revelations about how our national security is being managed, Counterstrike will change the way all Americans think about the ongoing struggle with radical Islam.