Charleston County Public Library

Intelligence and surprise attack, failure and success from Pearl Harbor to 9/11 and beyond, Erik J. Dahl

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-266) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Intelligence and surprise attack

bibliography

822028575

Erik J. Dahl

failure and success from Pearl Harbor to 9/11 and beyond

"Examines why surprise attacks often succeed even though, in most cases, warnings had been available beforehand. Erik J. Dahl challenges the conventional wisdom about intelligence failure, which holds that attacks succeed because important warnings get lost amid noise or because intelligence officials lack the imagination and collaboration to 'connect the dots' of available information. Comparing cases of intelligence failure with intelligence success, Dahl finds that the key to success is not more imagination or better analysis, but better acquisition of precise, tactical-level intelligence combined with the presence of decision makers who are willing to listen to and act on the warnings they receive from their intelligence staff."--Publisher's website

Introduction: breaking the first law of intelligence failure -- Why does intelligence fail, and how can it succeed? -- Part I: The problem of conventional surprise attack. Pearl Harbor: challenging the conventional wisdom -- The Battle of Midway: explaining intelligence success -- Testing the argument: classic cases of surprise attack -- Part II: The problem of terrorist surprise attack -- The East Africa embassy bombings: disaster despite warning -- New York City: preventing a day of terror -- The 9/11 attacks: a new explanation -- Testing the argument: why do terrorist plots fail? -- Conclusion: preventing surprise attacks today -- Appendix: unsuccessful plots and attacks against American targets, 1987-2012