Mission Compromised
Encyclopedia
Mission Compromised is a novel
written in 2002 by Oliver North
and Joe Musser that details the story of one of the most secretive military units in history. It is officially fiction but in later interviews North mentions that he changed "names, dates, and places" so as not to violate numerous non-disclosure agreement
s.
International Sanctions Enforcement Group" (ISEG) is a top-secret special operations unit, a thirty-eight-man group of hand-picked U.S.
and British
specialists consisting of twenty-seven Americans and eleven Britons on loan from the Special Air Service
by private arrangement between the President of the United States
and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
.
The U.S. personnel are all on detail from the Delta Force
, Navy SEALs, the United States Air Force
, and the Army's
Intelligence Support Activity
. As far as their services are concerned, they're on detail to the NSC staff. They are all carried as 'detached duty' with their parent departments and agencies.
Operating under the National Security Council
's Special Projects Office, the ISEG receives its orders directly from the National Security Advisor
to the President of the United States
, who is acting under the direction of the UN.
The regional teams in this Sanctions Enforcement Group make sure that those who do violate properly imposed UN sanctions
do not persist in efforts to thwart international laws and the will of the international community.
Once the UN executive has determined that an international lawbreaker is repeatedly violating UN sanctions and is a threat to international law
and order, and this international criminal refuses to surrender himself to the justice of the UN's tribunal in The Hague
, then the ISEG is authorized to take whatever means necessary to stop the violations. They have total authority to 'take out' such people.
Being sanctioned by the UN, the U.S. personnel of ISEG are able to circumvent Executive Order 12333, which forbids assassination
s.
As for funding the training and operational activities of the ISEG and the ISETs, that's all handled by a special allocation from the British prime minister and the UN Secretary General. Unlike in the U.S. system, the PM and SG both have discretionary accounts that don't have to be reported to anybody. They both have contributed cash to fund the account
s that you'll be handling from here.
captain, a British SAS lieutenant, and a United States Navy
chief.
The group is further divided into five, seven-man teams called 'ISETs', which stands for International Sanctions Enforcement Teams. Each ISET is designated to cover a specific geographical region:
Each of these five teams is headed by an American. The deputy team leaders are all SAS.
In all there are thirty-five men in the ISEG, seven per team. The ISEG command element consists of five U.S. Military officers and one enlisted man.
U.S. Government
United Nations
ISEG
Others
terrorist who killed Newman's brother Jim, a Delta soldier, in Mogadishu
in 1993. Harrod then gives Newman the specifics about the ISEG, who will be able to circumvent Executive Order 12333, which forbids U.S. forces from committing assassination
s.
Newman meets the ISEG at Andrews Air Force Base
. He then begins training them in Fort Bragg
for their assignment in Mogadashu. Then, UN Secretary Komulakov tells Harrod that the new assignment is to attack Saddam Hussein's palace in Tikrit
on March 6, where Saddam will be holding a meeting of the world's terror leaders. Aidid is not asked to attend, however, Harrod tells Newman that Aidid will be there to make it easier to change the mission.
Unbeknownst to Newman and the ISEG, Komulakov and Dotensk have been selling Soviet-era nuclear weapons to Iraq, primarily through Hussein Kamil al-Majid. Kamil will also be at the March 6 meeting in Tikrit. This poses a problem because Kamil is currently Komulakov's and Dotensk's only customer.
The ISEG deploys and Newman inserts ISET Echo and Weiskoph into Iraq. They make their way to Tikrit and "paint" Saddam's palace with a laser target designator
(LTD). Newman launches a Global Hawk UAV, which is loaded with explosives, to crash into Saddam's palace, killing all of the world's terror leaders. The plan seems OK, but Komulakov has other plans.
Komulakov monitors ISET Echo's movements from the UN Command Center. He relays the coordinates of ISET Echo to Dotensk, who relays them to Kamil. Kamil then sends Amn Al-Khass soldiers to kill ISET Echo. After a battle with American F-15
s, most of the Iraqi soldiers are killed, but they managed to kill ISET Echo. The LTD is damaged and won't function. Newman reconfigures the Global Hawk to manually crash into the palace. A huge explosion happens, but Saddam and his guests are unharmed.
Newman's command aircraft is shot down over Iraq. He meets up with an Iraqi, Eli Yusef Habib, who helps him make it into Syria
. After Newman makes it into Turkey, he goes to Iskenderun. There he meets up with William Goode, a friend of Oliver North. Goode takes Newman to Cyprus
, where they meet up with Grisham and Rachel. After Goode's boat was destroyed, Newman and Rachel escaped in a black sedan. The next time they and their infant son James (named after Peter's brother) were seen was Dec. 1995 in Bethlehem with Eli Yusef Habib.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written in 2002 by Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
and Joe Musser that details the story of one of the most secretive military units in history. It is officially fiction but in later interviews North mentions that he changed "names, dates, and places" so as not to violate numerous non-disclosure agreement
Non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement , also known as a confidentiality agreement , confidential disclosure agreement , proprietary information agreement , or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties...
s.
The Unit
The "United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
International Sanctions Enforcement Group" (ISEG) is a top-secret special operations unit, a thirty-eight-man group of hand-picked U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
specialists consisting of twenty-seven Americans and eleven Britons on loan from the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
by private arrangement between the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
.
The U.S. personnel are all on detail from the Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
, Navy SEALs, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, and the Army's
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Intelligence Support Activity
Intelligence Support Activity
The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity , frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity or ISA, and nicknamed The Activity is a United States Army Special Operations unit originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command...
. As far as their services are concerned, they're on detail to the NSC staff. They are all carried as 'detached duty' with their parent departments and agencies.
Operating under the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
's Special Projects Office, the ISEG receives its orders directly from the National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
to the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, who is acting under the direction of the UN.
The regional teams in this Sanctions Enforcement Group make sure that those who do violate properly imposed UN sanctions
United Nations resolution
A United Nations resolution is a formal text adopted by a United Nations body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly.-Legal status:...
do not persist in efforts to thwart international laws and the will of the international community.
Once the UN executive has determined that an international lawbreaker is repeatedly violating UN sanctions and is a threat to international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
and order, and this international criminal refuses to surrender himself to the justice of the UN's tribunal in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, then the ISEG is authorized to take whatever means necessary to stop the violations. They have total authority to 'take out' such people.
Being sanctioned by the UN, the U.S. personnel of ISEG are able to circumvent Executive Order 12333, which forbids assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s.
As for funding the training and operational activities of the ISEG and the ISETs, that's all handled by a special allocation from the British prime minister and the UN Secretary General. Unlike in the U.S. system, the PM and SG both have discretionary accounts that don't have to be reported to anybody. They both have contributed cash to fund the account
Account
Accounting is a systematic way to record transactions.An Account refers to assets, liabilities, income, expenses, and equity, as represented by individual ledger pages, to which changes in value are chronologically recorded with debit and credit entries. These entries, referred to as postings,...
s that you'll be handling from here.
The ISETs
The ISEG consists of a three-man headquarters element; a United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
captain, a British SAS lieutenant, and a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
chief.
The group is further divided into five, seven-man teams called 'ISETs', which stands for International Sanctions Enforcement Teams. Each ISET is designated to cover a specific geographical region:
- ISET Alpha - AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Pacific - ISET Bravo - AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
- ISET Charlie - Eastern EuropeEastern EuropeEastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Central EuropeCentral EuropeCentral Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe... - ISET Delta - Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and the CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north... - ISET Echo - Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, Persian GulfPersian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, and Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
region
Each of these five teams is headed by an American. The deputy team leaders are all SAS.
In all there are thirty-five men in the ISEG, seven per team. The ISEG command element consists of five U.S. Military officers and one enlisted man.
Characters
Special Projects Office (SPO)- Lieutenant ColonelLieutenant Colonel (United States)In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Peter James Newman, USMCUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
; Commanding Officer, Special Projects Office and UN ISEG - Lieutenant Tom McDade, USN; former Navy SEAL instructor, currently assigned as Intelligence and Communications Director in the SPO (S-2, S-5)
- Captain Bart Coombs, USA; former Delta ForceDelta Force1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
operator, currently assigned as Operations and Training Director in the SPO (S-3) - Captain Dan Robertson, USAF; former Spec Ops MH-53 Pave LowMH-53 Pave LowThe Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low series is a long-range combat search and rescue helicopter for the United States Air Force. The series was upgraded from the HH-53B/C, variants of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion. The HH-53 "Super Jolly Green Giant" was initially developed to replace the HH-3 "Jolly...
helicopter pilot, currently assigned as Logistics and Transportation Director in the SPO (S-4) - First Lieutenant Sonia Duvall, USA; administration assistant in the SPO
U.S. Government
- National Security Advisor Dr. Simon Harrod; Newman's new superior who despises everything military
- Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General (United States)In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Harry Tatum, USA; Operations Director for the Joint Chiefs of StaffJoint Chiefs of StaffThe Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters... - Brigadier GeneralBrigadier general (United States)A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
James Harris, USAFUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
; Commanding Officer, Incirlik Air BaseIncirlik Air BaseThe Incirlik Air Base is located in İncirlik, five miles east of Adana, Turkey's fifth largest city, and from the Mediterranean Sea.The U.S...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... - Lieutenant General George Grisham, USMC; Commanding Officer, Marine Corps Operations and Plans Department
United Nations
- First Deputy Secretary General of the UN Dimitri Komulakov; Harrod's superior at the UN, is also a former KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent - MajorMajor (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
Wilbur Ellwood, UK SAS; Chief Watch Officer, UN Command Center
ISEG
- Captain Joshua Weiskopf, USA; chief of the ISEG, reports directly to Newman
- Captain Bruno Macklin, UK SAS; Weiskoph's Executive Officer
- Sergeant Major Dan Gabbard, USMC; the senior enlisted man in the ISEG
Others
- Rachel Newman; Peter Newman's wife, who is a flight attendant with TWA
- Leonid Dotensk; a former KGB agent who is now selling Russian weapons to Iraq
- Hussein Kamil al-Majid; son-in-law of Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, Commanding Officer of the Amn Al-Khass, Iraq's security service - Oliver North, Newman's predecessor and confidant.
Overview
The book begins with Dr. Simon Harrod, the National Security Advisor, briefing Maj. Newman on his new assignment, the National Security Council's Special Projects Office. This position was formerly held by Oliver North. Newman at first resists his new assignment, but Harrod wins him over after telling him his first assignment is to go after Mohammed Farah Aidid, the SomaliSomali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
terrorist who killed Newman's brother Jim, a Delta soldier, in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
in 1993. Harrod then gives Newman the specifics about the ISEG, who will be able to circumvent Executive Order 12333, which forbids U.S. forces from committing assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s.
Newman meets the ISEG at Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....
. He then begins training them in Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
for their assignment in Mogadashu. Then, UN Secretary Komulakov tells Harrod that the new assignment is to attack Saddam Hussein's palace in Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
on March 6, where Saddam will be holding a meeting of the world's terror leaders. Aidid is not asked to attend, however, Harrod tells Newman that Aidid will be there to make it easier to change the mission.
Unbeknownst to Newman and the ISEG, Komulakov and Dotensk have been selling Soviet-era nuclear weapons to Iraq, primarily through Hussein Kamil al-Majid. Kamil will also be at the March 6 meeting in Tikrit. This poses a problem because Kamil is currently Komulakov's and Dotensk's only customer.
The ISEG deploys and Newman inserts ISET Echo and Weiskoph into Iraq. They make their way to Tikrit and "paint" Saddam's palace with a laser target designator
Laser designator
A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, Lockheed-Martin's Hellfire, or the Copperhead round, respectively.When a...
(LTD). Newman launches a Global Hawk UAV, which is loaded with explosives, to crash into Saddam's palace, killing all of the world's terror leaders. The plan seems OK, but Komulakov has other plans.
Komulakov monitors ISET Echo's movements from the UN Command Center. He relays the coordinates of ISET Echo to Dotensk, who relays them to Kamil. Kamil then sends Amn Al-Khass soldiers to kill ISET Echo. After a battle with American F-15
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...
s, most of the Iraqi soldiers are killed, but they managed to kill ISET Echo. The LTD is damaged and won't function. Newman reconfigures the Global Hawk to manually crash into the palace. A huge explosion happens, but Saddam and his guests are unharmed.
Newman's command aircraft is shot down over Iraq. He meets up with an Iraqi, Eli Yusef Habib, who helps him make it into Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. After Newman makes it into Turkey, he goes to Iskenderun. There he meets up with William Goode, a friend of Oliver North. Goode takes Newman to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, where they meet up with Grisham and Rachel. After Goode's boat was destroyed, Newman and Rachel escaped in a black sedan. The next time they and their infant son James (named after Peter's brother) were seen was Dec. 1995 in Bethlehem with Eli Yusef Habib.