
Courting Disaster
How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $23.07
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bronson Pinchot
-
By:
-
Marc A. Thiessen
About this listen
Marc Thiessen knows more than almost anyone outside the CIA about what went on at CIA “black sites” and at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As chief speechwriter for President Bush, he was given unprecedented access to some of the most sensitive intelligence our government possessed on al Qaeda terrorists. He has since spent countless hours interviewing the men and women involved in the interrogations at every level—from Vice President Dick Cheney to the interrogators themselves. In chilling detail, Thiessen reveals how close the terrorists came to striking again, and how intelligence gained from “enhanced interrogation” repeatedly stymied their plots. He also shows how President Obama’s dismantling of this CIA program, as well as his releasing of secret documents that have aided our enemies, is inviting disaster for America.
©2010 Marc A. Thiessen (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Enhanced Interrogation
- Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying To Destroy America
- By: James E. Mitchell Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Ryan Rennot
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dark days immediately after 9/11, the CIA turned to Dr. James Mitchell to help craft an interrogation program designed to elicit intelligence from just-captured top al-Qa'ida leaders and terror suspects. A civilian contractor who had spent years training US military members to resist interrogation should they be captured, Mitchell, aware of the urgent need to prevent impending catastrophic attacks, worked with the CIA to implement "enhanced interrogation techniques" - which included waterboarding.
-
-
Part curtain pull, part self defense
- By Tim Hairston on 12-15-16
-
Hard Measures
- How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9-11 Saved American Lives
- By: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr.
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, interest in counterterrorism is at an all-time high. Most people don’t know that Bin Laden’s death is the culmination of years of covert operations and tactics largely overseen by Jose Rodriguez and built on by his successors. Rodriguez’s sometimes controversial tenure as Chief of the Agency’s Counterterrorism Center involved CIA officers capturing and detaining key senior Al Qaeda operatives and implementing Enhanced Interrogation Techniques....
-
-
Necessary summary of post 9/11 CIA activity!
- By Wayne on 12-07-15
-
Known and Unknown
- A Memoir
- By: Donald Rumsfeld
- Narrated by: Donald Rumsfeld
- Length: 30 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir from the late former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history. Both a fascinating narrative and an unprecedented glimpse into history, Known and Unknown captures the legacy of one of the most influential men in public service.
-
-
Inside view of five decades in politics
- By Brooks on 02-19-11
By: Donald Rumsfeld
-
A Clockwork Orange
- By: Anthony Burgess
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicious 15-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic, a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. In Anthony Burgess' nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.
-
-
Great book, great narration, but not for everyone
- By Steve on 06-28-09
By: Anthony Burgess
-
The Burglary
- The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI
- By: Betty Medsger
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Betty Medsger
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The never-before-told full story of the history-changing break-in at the FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, by a group of unlikely activists - quiet, ordinary, hardworking Americans - that made clear the shocking truth and confirmed what some had long suspected, that J. Edgar Hoover had created and was operating, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, his own shadow Bureau of Investigation.
-
-
Forget Ocean's 11
- By Susie on 02-06-14
By: Betty Medsger
-
The Threat
- How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump
- By: Andrew G. McCabe
- Narrated by: Andrew G. McCabe
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 16, 2018, just 26 hours before his scheduled retirement from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy." In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account of his career and an impassioned defense of the FBI.
-
-
The FBI & DOJ
- By Thom Pierson on 02-19-19
By: Andrew G. McCabe
-
Enhanced Interrogation
- Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying To Destroy America
- By: James E. Mitchell Ph.D.
- Narrated by: Ryan Rennot
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dark days immediately after 9/11, the CIA turned to Dr. James Mitchell to help craft an interrogation program designed to elicit intelligence from just-captured top al-Qa'ida leaders and terror suspects. A civilian contractor who had spent years training US military members to resist interrogation should they be captured, Mitchell, aware of the urgent need to prevent impending catastrophic attacks, worked with the CIA to implement "enhanced interrogation techniques" - which included waterboarding.
-
-
Part curtain pull, part self defense
- By Tim Hairston on 12-15-16
-
Hard Measures
- How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9-11 Saved American Lives
- By: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr.
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, interest in counterterrorism is at an all-time high. Most people don’t know that Bin Laden’s death is the culmination of years of covert operations and tactics largely overseen by Jose Rodriguez and built on by his successors. Rodriguez’s sometimes controversial tenure as Chief of the Agency’s Counterterrorism Center involved CIA officers capturing and detaining key senior Al Qaeda operatives and implementing Enhanced Interrogation Techniques....
-
-
Necessary summary of post 9/11 CIA activity!
- By Wayne on 12-07-15
-
Known and Unknown
- A Memoir
- By: Donald Rumsfeld
- Narrated by: Donald Rumsfeld
- Length: 30 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir from the late former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. With the same directness that defined his career in public service, Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history. Both a fascinating narrative and an unprecedented glimpse into history, Known and Unknown captures the legacy of one of the most influential men in public service.
-
-
Inside view of five decades in politics
- By Brooks on 02-19-11
By: Donald Rumsfeld
-
A Clockwork Orange
- By: Anthony Burgess
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicious 15-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic, a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. In Anthony Burgess' nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.
-
-
Great book, great narration, but not for everyone
- By Steve on 06-28-09
By: Anthony Burgess
-
The Burglary
- The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI
- By: Betty Medsger
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Betty Medsger
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The never-before-told full story of the history-changing break-in at the FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, by a group of unlikely activists - quiet, ordinary, hardworking Americans - that made clear the shocking truth and confirmed what some had long suspected, that J. Edgar Hoover had created and was operating, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, his own shadow Bureau of Investigation.
-
-
Forget Ocean's 11
- By Susie on 02-06-14
By: Betty Medsger
-
The Threat
- How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump
- By: Andrew G. McCabe
- Narrated by: Andrew G. McCabe
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On March 16, 2018, just 26 hours before his scheduled retirement from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy." In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account of his career and an impassioned defense of the FBI.
-
-
The FBI & DOJ
- By Thom Pierson on 02-19-19
By: Andrew G. McCabe
-
The Deep State
- How an Army of Bureaucrats Protected Barack Obama and Is Working to Destroy the Trump Agenda
- By: Jason Chaffetz
- Narrated by: Jason Chaffetz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Former congressman and current Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz explains how we ended up with a politicized federal bureaucracy that actively works to promote the Democratic Party's agenda and undermine Donald Trump.
-
-
Good book
- By Mary Trotter on 11-04-18
By: Jason Chaffetz
-
The Dark Side
- The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals
- By: Jane Mayer
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dark Side is a narrative account of the decisions the U.S. made after September 11, decisions that not only violated the Constitution, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In gripping detail, Jane Mayer relates specific cases, shown in real time against the larger tableau of Washington, looking at the intelligence gained and the price paid. In all cases, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself.
-
-
Must read history
- By nancy udell on 11-09-08
By: Jane Mayer
-
Facts and Fears
- Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence
- By: Trey Brown, James R. Clapper
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth US Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper had been President Obama's senior intelligence advisor for six and a half years, longer than his three predecessors combined. He led the US Intelligence Community through a period that included the raid on Osama bin Laden, the Benghazi attack, the leaks of Edward Snowden, and Russia's influence operation on the 2016 US election.
-
-
Speaking Straight, Unbiased Truth to Power
- By Cynthia on 05-29-18
By: Trey Brown, and others
-
One Damn Thing After Another
- Memoirs of an Attorney General
- By: William P. Barr
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Barr’s first tenure as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush was largely the result of chance, while his second tenure under President Donald Trump a deliberate and difficult choice. In this candid memoir, Barr takes listeners behind the scenes during seminal moments of the 1990s, from the LA riots to Pan Am 103 and Iran Contra. Thirty years later, Barr faced an unrelenting barrage of issues, such as Russiagate, the COVID outbreak, civil unrest, the impeachments, and the 2020 election fallout.
-
-
This book is literally AMAZING!!!
- By Jonathan H. on 03-13-22
By: William P. Barr
-
January 6
- How Democrats Used the Capitol Protest to Launch a War on Terror Against the Political Right
- By: Julie Kelly
- Narrated by: Torii Alaniz
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Democrats, the news media, and many leading Republicans immediately blamed the roughly four-hour disturbance on President Trump. The president “incited an insurrection”, the American pubic was told. But one year later, the original narrative of what happened that day has crumbled while hundreds of Americans have been swept up in an unprecedented investigation led by Joe Biden’s Justice Department to punish them for their involvement in the January 6 protest. The public has been misled - and flat-out lied to - about that day. This book exposes them all.
-
-
January 6th (Federal Theater)
- By Anonymous User on 01-14-22
By: Julie Kelly
-
Playing to the Edge
- American Intelligence in the Age of Terror
- By: Michael V. Hayden
- Narrated by: Michael V. Hayden
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars from the only person ever to helm both the CIA and NSA, at a time of heinous new threats and wrenching change. For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in protecting America.
-
-
Fascinating - but distractingly disorganized.
- By Cynthia on 03-21-16
-
Enemies
- A History of the FBI
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We think of the FBI as America’s police force. But secret intelligence is the Bureau’s first and foremost mission. Enemies is the story of how presidents have used the FBI as the most formidable intelligence force in American history. This is the first definitive history of the FBI’s secret intelligence operations, from an author whose work on the Pentagon and the CIA won him the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
-
-
Good book, just not for me
- By a on 11-12-12
By: Tim Weiner
-
Power Wars
- Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency
- By: Charlie Savage
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 27 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barack Obama campaigned on a promise of change from George W. Bush's "global war on terror". Yet from indefinite detention and drone strikes to surveillance and military tribunals, Obama ended up continuing - and in some cases expanding - many policies he inherited. What happened? In Power Wars, Charlie Savage looks inside the Obama administration's national security legal and policy team in a way that no one has before.
-
-
Great review of Executive National Security power
- By E. Nelson on 12-08-15
By: Charlie Savage
-
The CIA as Organized Crime
- How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World
- By: Douglas Valentine
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The author of three books on CIA operations, Douglas Valentine began his research into the agency's activities when CIA director William Colby gave him free access to interview agency officials who had been involved in various aspects of the Phoenix program in South Vietnam. It was a permission Colby was to regret. The CIA would eventually rescind it and made every effort to impede publication of The Phoenix Program, which documented an elaborate system of population surveillance, control, entrapment, imprisonment, torture, and assassination in Vietnam.
-
-
The CIA as Organized Crime: A personal perspective
- By Ray Robles on 09-13-17
-
Pay Any Price
- Greed, Power, and Endless War
- By: James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since 9/11 America has fought an endless war on terror, seeking enemies everywhere and never promising peace. In Pay Any Price, James Risen reveals an extraordinary litany of the hidden costs of that war: from squandered and stolen dollars, to outrageous abuses of power, to wars on normalcy, decency, and truth. In the name of fighting terrorism, our government has done things every bit as shameful as its historic wartime abuses - and until this audiobook, it has worked very hard to cover them up.
-
-
If you care about our liberties, read this book.
- By John L. Moncrief on 11-02-14
By: James Risen
-
Fair Play
- The Moral Dilemmas of Spying
- By: James M. Olson
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, one of America's first spies, said, "Any kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary." A statue of Hale stands outside CIA headquarters, and the agency often cites his statement as one of its guiding principles. But who decides what is necessary for the public good, and is it really true that any kind of service is permissible for the public good? These questions are at the heart of James M. Olson's book, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying.
-
-
A well researched and worth a listen
- By Jeremy on 12-18-18
By: James M. Olson
-
The Trial of Henry Kissinger
- By: Christopher Hitchens, Ariel Dorfman - introduction
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America need look no further than its own lauded leaders for a war criminal whose offenses rival those of the most heinous dictators in recent history: Henry Kissinger. Employing evidence based on firsthand testimony, unpublished documents, and new information uncovered by the Freedom of Information Act, and using only what would hold up in international courts of law, The Trial of Henry Kissinger outlines atrocities authorized by the former secretary of state in Indochina, Bangladesh, Chile, Cyprus, and more.
-
-
We need more people like Christopher Hitchens
- By Bruce on 10-13-12
By: Christopher Hitchens, and others
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Courting Disaster
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason
- 07-25-22
The truth about CIA enhanced interrogation.
A very interesting book about the CIA's/DOD's enhanced interrogation programs, setting the record straight about what was and wasn't done, making plain the "torture" claims are bogus political maneuvers. The information comes from the politicians, interrogators, and detainees, not some opinion piece writing hack. If you want to know the real story, listen to this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike Orr
- 02-15-16
America is in trouble
Only 3 people were ever waterboarded
Very informative. America is in trouble obama will be remembered as what president ever.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. R. Stubbs
- 04-01-12
An important message for all
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would highly recommend this book as it tackles a very important yet uncomfortable topic for all of us - torture. Or maybe
What about Bronson Pinchot’s performance did you like?
The reader did a good job, especially emphasizing points as I'm sure the author would have wanted.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Earl
- 06-01-11
Courting Disaster
This is an excellent book depicting how the current government administration has put this country back to the pre-9-11 stupidity.
It shows how the arrogance, lack of knowledge of security operations, and the lack of intelligent operations of the Obama presidency have put the America in a dangerous situation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomas
- 02-06-15
It's how it really happened
If you can hold a liberal down and perform the reprogramming like you saw in A Clockwork Orange, then you might be able to get the point across to them, otherwise you will have to settle for making them read/listen to this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim Scholotzer
- 10-21-15
lifting the veil
This was a very well-written and enlightening book about the methods used to keep the United States safe, and also the ridiculous rulings imposed by the Obama ministration to make this task as difficult as possible. If in other attack after 911 did not occur because of something the Obama administration did, it was more out of sheer luck that we have not had a repeat of the 9/11 attack. this book explains to you why I say this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stavoren
- 10-28-22
Could have been told in twenty minutes.
Kept repeating the same story with different people.do not have anything to say to you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!