Robert Wesley's Chapter Summary

Robert Wesley’s chapter in Essentials of Counterterrorism details the events leading up to the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The case study details several key takeaways that local, state and federal law enforcement can learn from. Chief among these include the need to develop strong partnerships, complementing the core competencies of those involved in joint operations and exploiting actionable intelligence. One of the most important lesson learned from this chapter was the need to create and exploit actionable intelligence. The role actionable intelligence played in the eventual capture of KSM was clearly evident throughout this chapter and one which law enforcement should strive to emulate. Wesley (2015) makes it clear that “[o]ne of the most successful ways of tracking down the location of leadership figures such as Mohammad is by producing “actionable” intelligence…”

386). Giving credit where credit is due, Wesley, highlights the efforts of both the U.S. intelligence officials and the Pakistani Interservice Intelligence (ISI). Wesley (2015) describes this lesson as “probably the most glaring lesson” (p. 392) in this case study and that “Mohammad would have continued to elude capture if the vested countries had pursued the hunt unilaterally” (Wesley, 2015, p. 392). He highlights the need for the partnership to “be comprehensive, affecting all levels of government…” (Wesley, 2015, p. 392). Despite the findings of inquiries, such as the 9/11 commission, we, as a country, still struggle with this and tend to compartmentalize information or attempt to assert our authority over lesser levels of government. Wesley makes it clear that partnerships should trump authority, leverage the strengths of every party involved (discussed below) and ultimately leads to operational