Chapter 22: Close Target Reconnaissance in Syria

1 Unless otherwise specified in the text or below, this chapter is based on interviews with the following: four special mission unit veterans; two special operations sources familiar with operations in Syria; a field grade officer familiar with TF Orange operations; a senior JSOC officer; three TF Brown sources; a CENTCOM source; a Joint Staff officer; a JSOC staffer; a Team 6 source; a Special Forces officer; and a JSOC staffer.

2 … nom de guerre … “CIA Led Mystery Syria Raid That Killed Terrorist Leader,” by Jonathan S. Landay and Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers, October 27, 2008, accessed at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/10/27/54828/cia-led-mystery-syria-raid-that.html.

3 … 120 to 150 foreign fighters … The CIA’s estimates were slightly lower.

4 … under CIA command. The Endgame, p. 553.

5 … sometimes wearing Israeli uniforms … When Jerry Boykin included a photograph of himself and Pete Schoomaker wearing Israeli uniforms in his memoir, Never Surrender, then JSOC commander Vice Admiral Bill McRaven declared him “persona non grata,” essentially directing all JSOC personnel to shun him. See “Blacklisted—Former Delta Force Chief Shunned for Relating Experiences in Book,” by Sean D. Naylor, Army Times, October 20, 2008.

6 But an Army … “October 2002.” A September 5, 2014, email to the author from Ray Gall, Army Human Resources Command Public Affairs Office. While the operative’s name is known to the author, I have chosen not to use it.

7 The citation … classified. Email to the author from Army Human Resources Command public affairs office, September 2, 2004.

8 … Cardinal device … The Cardinal device was also used along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

9 … small unit that became Computer Network Operations Squadron … That name dates to about 2005.

10 … home in Zabadani … “CIA Led Mystery Syria Raid That Killed Terrorist Leader.”

11 … between six and twelve militants … A task force source familiar with the raid estimated that a dozen militants were killed. The McClatchy story referenced above said the Syrian government accused the U.S. forces of killing eight civilians. A photograph accompanying a New York Times story showed six coffins for those killed in the raid—“Officials Say U.S. Killed an Iraqi in Raid in Syria,” by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, The New York Times, October 27, 2008, accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/world/middleeast/28syria.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp.

12 … loading Abu Ghadiya’s body aboard a helicopter … “CIA Led Mystery Syria Raid That Killed Terrorist Leader.”