ABOUT SEAN NAYLOR, AUTHOR OF RELENTLESS STRIKE
In the wake of September 11, 2001, the way the United States’ military fights wars changed forever. There will never be another storming of Normandy; traditional warfare is a thing of the past. Instead, we now enact war through clandestine battles—or special ops missions—on almost a daily basis. These secret missions are carried out by special ops teams under the umbrella of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in some of the most remote corners of the world. And though we’ve all heard of their successes—they captured Saddam Hussein, rescued Captain Phillips, and killed bin Laden and al-Awlaki—the general public doesn’t even know most of these missions are happening, or even that JSOC exists.
In RELENTLESS STRIKE: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (St. Martin’s Press; September 1, 2015; $29.99), award-winning defense journalist, and presently intelligence and counterterrorism correspondent for Foreign Policy, Sean Naylor reveals the full inside story of JSOC—including Delta Force, SEAL Team 6 and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Based on exclusive interviews at the highest command levels, Naylor details how an organization originally designed in the 1980s for a limited mission set transformed itself post-9/11 to become the U.S.’s premiere weapon in the war on terror, and how it continues to evolve today. Riveting and informative, among the exclusive revelations are:
• Delta Force knew the identities of and was tracking the ringleaders of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi within a week of the attack
• The allegation that the SEAL Team 6 commander nearly resigned in over then-JSOC command Bill McRaven’s micromanagement of the mission that killed bin Laden
• The first revelation of undercover Syrian missions by U.S. special operations to conduct close-target reconnaissance of foreign fighter networks that were funneling jihadists through Syria into Iraq
An insider’s account of the most powerful—and secretive—military organization in US history, RELENTLESS STRIKE provides crucial insights into US foreign policy and defense.
ABOUT SEAN NAYLOR
Award-winning defense journalist SEAN NAYLOR is the intelligence and counterterrorism correspondent for Foreign Policy and contributes to the New York Times. He previously focused on special operations as an exclusive beat for Army Times. He has consistently broken news on JSOC operations since 9/11. He has also earned the White House Correspondents' Association's prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award for his coverage of Operation Anaconda, which led to his New York Times bestselling book about the operation, Not a Good Day to Die