Description

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A dramatic portrait of the innovative Special Forces commanders and FBI agents who wage war against America's hidden enemies

With the planned withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the longest conflicts in our nation's history were supposed to end. Yet we remain at war against expanding terrorist movements, and our security forces have had to continually adapt to a nihilistic foe that operates in the shadows.

The result of fifteen years of reporting, Twilight Warriors is the untold story of the tight-knit brotherhood that changed the way America fights. James Kitfield reveals how brilliant innovators in the US military, Special Forces, and the intelligence and law enforcement communities forged close operational bonds in the crucibles of Iraq and Afghanistan, breaking down institutional barriers to create a relentless, intelligence-driven style of operations. At the forefront of this profound shift were Stanley McChrystal and his interagency team at Joint Special Operations Command, the pioneers behind a hybrid method of warfighting: find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze. Other key figures include Michael Flynn, the visionary who redefined the intelligence gathering mission; the FBI's Brian McCauley, who used serial-killer profilers to track suicide bombers in Afghanistan; and the Delta Force commander Scott Miller, responsible for making team players out of the US military's most elite and secretive counterterrorism units.

The result of their collaborations is a globe-spanning network that is elegant in its simplicity and terrifying in its lethality. As Kitfield argues, this style of operations represents our best hope for defending the nation in an age of asymmetric warfare. Twilight Warriors is an unprecedented account of the American way of war-and the iconoclasts who have brought it into the twenty-first century.

About the Author

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James Kitfield is currently a contributing editor and former senior national security correspondent for the Atlantic Media Company and National Journal. Mr. Kitfield's articles on defense, national security, intelligence and foreign policy issues have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, National Journal, Bloomberg View, Yahoo News, Breaking Defense, Defense One, The National Interest, the Daily Beast, the Hill, Newsday, Los Angeles Magazine, Army Times, Air Force Magazine, the Stars & Stripes, Off Duty, and other publications.

He is the only three-time winner of the prestigious Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, most recently for his first-hand reporting on the Afghan War. The Military Reporters and Editors Association (MRE) and the Medill School of Journalism have awarded Mr. Kitfield their top prize for excellence in reporting an unprecedented six times, most recently in 2016 in the "Online Journalism" category for his articles in POLITICO Magazine, Yahoo News and Breaking Defense.

Mr. Kitfield is author of three books, most recently Twilight Warriors: The Soldiers, Spies & Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War (Basic Books, 2016). He lives in Alexandria, VA.

Praise For…

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"An enlightening tour of 21st-century counterterrorism."—Wall Street Journal

"[Twilight Warriors] reads like a collection of gripping stories about the host of evolving security, bureaucratic, and resource challenges faced by these 'twilight warriors' and their respective responses to them. These stories are packed with tension, drama, human interest, vivid vignettes, and insightful analyses of a fast-changing threat environment and the remarkable people who are still navigating its uncharted waters."—CHOICE

"Twilight Warriors is undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read. A brilliantly written narrative and real world adventure that draws the reader in, and vividly explains how a group of dedicated professionals helped keep our country safe after the 9/11 terrorist attacks."—Gen. Dennis Reimer (ret), 33rd Army Chief of Staff

"Twilight Warriors provides a uniquely intimate and timely window into the special operations, intelligence and law enforcement counterterrorism efforts of the past two decades. Compelling and insightful, it is the most up-to-date account available of the ongoing war on terrorism. James Kitfield's gripping portraits of the key figures leading this struggle makes this book required reading for anyone wishing to understand the threat that terrorism continues to pose-and what we are doing to defeat it."-Bruce Hoffman, Professor & Director, Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University, and author of Anonymous Soldiers
"James Kitfield is one of the United States' leading national security reporters. In Twilight Warriors, he profiles the key players, and delivers a deeply reported and well-calibrated account of the shadowy conflicts that have defined America's post-9/11 wars."-Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists

"Kitfield's insightful and timely work highlights the gaps between policy makers and military brass."—Publishers Weekly

"A compelling chronological examination of the new intelligence-driven, multiagency counterterrorism model the U.S. military now uses to meet the 'Age of Superterrorism'... Kitfield gets inside the U.S. military 'brotherhood' to produce an engaging and chilling report."—Kirkus Reviews

"Twilight Warriors is bar none the best work yet published on the global struggle against terrorism. James Kitfield's riveting narrative reflects 15 years of insider reporting on the soldiers, spies, and special agents who have fought to keep the nation safe, and changed the way America fights. Breathtaking in its insights and revelations on our bitter, ongoing wars of counter-terrorism. Kitfield has hit a home run."—Barry McCaffrey, former General in the US Army

"Twilight Warriors provides a uniquely intimate and timely window into the special operations, intelligence and law enforcement counterterrorism efforts of the past two decades. Compelling and insightful, it is the most up-to-date account available of the ongoing war on terrorism. James Kitfield's gripping portraits of the key figures leading this struggle makes this book required reading for anyone wishing to understand the threat that terrorism continues to pose--and what we are doing to defeat it."—Bruce Hoffman, Professor & Director, Center for Security Studies, Georgetown University, and author of Anonymous Soldiers