Surprise Attack available

[Larry Hancock]

Just wanted to let anyone interested to know that my newest study, Surprise Attack, is now available on Amazon and will be showing up on book store shelves and new non-fiction racks during September.

http://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Attack-Pearl-Harbor-Benghazi/dp/1619025663/ref=la_B004FOXTAK_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440531517&sr=1-1

As many of you know I've spent considerable time studying the national security response on Nov. 22, 1963 and in Surprise Attack I compare it to some fifty years of similar responses, allowing

a view into exactly how LBJ's and the national security leadership behaved as compared to other major crises. Given that the book is a study of warnings intelligence, command and control and

national security response - beginning with the attacks on Hawaii and Pearl Harbor I'm not going to promote it or discuss it here beyond this post, its not a conspiracy book per se and certainly not

a JFK focused book since it explores the performance of every President from Roosevelt on.

I'll be happy to discuss it with anyone who wants to in the books section of the forum but given the fact that Shadow Warfare didn't get any discussion there - and it was much more relevant to

the people and activities pertinent to the Kennedy assassination - I'm not sure it will get much reader conversation there. If you do read it and want to discuss it and make sure

you get my attention you are always welcome to email me at larryjoe@westok.net

[Brian Schmidt]

I look forward to reading it.

[Larry Hancock]

Thanks Brian, I'm pretty sure you will find some new things in it....although a few of them may make you grit your teeth; I did a good bit of that during my research.

[Jon G. Tidd]

Ditto Brian.

Larry, two questions:

[1] What if anything do you make of the book "Day of Deceit", about U.S. code-breaking and the Pearl Harbor attack?

[2] What if anything do you make of the allegations the U.S. Government covered up the facts of the 9-11 events?

FWIW, I believe there were three main U.S. national security episodes over the past 75 years: Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, and 9-11. I'd throw in the Watergate mess, but it didn't involve an external threat to this country; same same Iran Contra, the North Korean attack on South Korea in 1950(?), the Gulf of Tonkin affair. The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 involved an external threat to this country, to the whole world. It wasn't, however, something that occurred on American soil. So it's in a different category from Pearl Harbor, November 22nd, and 9-11.

I believe FDR and George Marshall knew for pretty sure the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor in late November or early December; and that FDR left Kimmel and Short out to dry.

As for 11-22-63, my understanding is that the U.S. did not go on high alert against any foreign power.

I also believe the U.S. Government lied and lied badly about 9-11. I believe this for a boatload of reasons.

[Larry Hancock]

Jon, I'm very much aware of Day of Deceit, I'd probably say it was the thing that peaked my attention in taking another look at the Pearl Harbor attack and of course led me to also review all the military history studies of the code breaking and more recent historical studies of the claims in the book itself. In doing so it became clear to me that the overall story was not just that of Pearl Harbor but had to include both the attacks of Dec 7/8. The loss of the strategic bombing force which the US had been desperately building up in the Philippines - consisting of many of the long range bombers which were originally planned to be used for long range patrol duty out of Hawaii - is an important part of the story. Especially since the commander of that force was not permitted to execute the war plan which would have led to an immediate bombing attack of the Japanese strike base in Formosa, very probably decimating a huge amount of Japanese air power.

As to who knew what and who didn't tell whom on Dec 7/8, that's way too complex for me to go into here but regardless of open questions there, each Pacific Command including Alaska, Canal Zone, Hawaii, and the Philippines had been issued a war warning well in advance of the attacks, advising them that the Japanese were initiating an attack, details unknown with Philippines being almost certainly a target. Each command was ordered to war alert, which should have meant 24/7 duty rosters and watches. There is an interesting book out now about how seriously even the Canal Zone took the warning.

As to 9/11, there is little doubt that a number of individuals and agencies within the government failed to fully disclose information - their was a move within the 9/11 Commission to actually bring criminal charges against several agencies and individuals and I discuss that in the book. I think I can safely say that I was neither gentle or vague about specific failures, including what appear to have been conscious decisions to a number of very specific warnings at the most senior levels of government.

On a side note, I do discuss the Gulf of Tonkin incident (not attack), the Liberty attack and Pueblo seizure - including the most current information relating to the cover ups related to all three of them. I mentioned to Brian that a lot of the research left me gritting my teeth and that included each of those.

In regard to your point on 9/11, in the early hours a terror threat alert level order was issued, normally that is done installation by installation, this one was issued globally. Not until 2pm was a jump in DefCon initiated but even now it is totally unclear who issued that order and to some extent what it really involved. From a military stand point, a far more egregious issue is that NORAD did not assume military control of American air space in the early hours, leaving all military aircraft literally under control of FAA civilian controllers who were totally unprepared for such duties. Even worse was that there were no rules of engagement in place even after multiple Air Force exercises over the previous three years had dealt with the use of aircraft as weapons. I'm going to stop at that since going any further just raises my blood pressure and all the details are in the book.

[Chris Newton]

Hey Larry I wish you great success with it,

In regards to 11/22/63, were you able to determine if the Code Books (or strike plans) for our B-52 bombers were missing as some have reported? I was a COMSEC custodian at the Company level in my Armor unit and have always wondered whenever I read about that story how it would be possible.

[Larry Hancock]

I've read the same story Chris and both Larry Haapenan and I have tried to track it down for ages. I suspect that it is a derivative of the fact that the White House/Secret Service code book was apparently left off the SAM aircraft carrying the diplomatic mission to Japan. Those would have been the clear transmission voice codes to be used to identify senior administration civilians, the President's family etc. - most definitely not the sort of code used in an Emergency Action Message go code or strike authorization and not one of the SIOP codes. SAC was flying Chrome Dome fail safe missions daily and any aircraft commander going through his checklist and doing his communications preflight would have paid dearly for not having his authorization information on board - and we are not talking about one aircraft but over a dozen. The same would be true for the SAC airborne command posts and other alert units. And of course, it would also be true for the missile sites. What we do know is that SAC itself went to a higher level alert than the general Defcon bump which was issued by the Joint Chiefs - as did CINCPAC and the theater commander in Europe. They had the authority to do that and it appears that at least some of the missile sites went to an actual launch alert. Anyway, I probably just used half a dozen acronyms unfamiliar to most so I'll stop and say that there is no sign of the SAC code book that having happened in real life.

As a teaser I will say that there is something that remains mysterious to this day in regard to the nuclear strike plan in effect in 1963 and relating to an attack on the President and that is in the book.

[David Andrews]

Delete

Edited August 26, 2015 by David Andrews

[Chris Newton]

As a teaser I will say that there is something that remains mysterious to this day in regard to the nuclear strike plan in effect in 1963 and relating to an attack on the President and that is in the book.

Would/did that mystery point to foreknowledge or collusion at the JCS level?

In regards to Benghazi, was that then, in your estimation a well planned and organized surprise attack and not a target of opportunity? Impact-wise it seems more of a speed bump than an unanticipated military crisis. Embassies in foreign countries will always be at risk if an enemy combatant doesn't play by the "rules".

[Larry Hancock]

The mystery has do do with the details of the SIOP guidance which was given to the senior commanders who were charged with any nuclear strike. Practically speaking in 1963/64 that guidance was an extension of the joint targeting committee work which was largely led by SAC. It should have been reviewed by the Secretary of Defense and by the President. Originally President Eisenhower had written the Guidance himself. The Joint Chiefs would not necessarily been involved. Its the sort of thing that should have been at least immediately reviewed and caught by the Secretary of Defense - and ultimately it was - but not for some time.

As to Benghazi, obviously that gets really complex but the Ambassador himself and his visit look to have been at the heart of it - a target of opportunity to neutralize the CIA operations that the Ambassador was assisting. I go into great detail on the whole issue of diplomatic security overseas and at the time of the attack, there were four installations being carried under active threat, neither the embassy in Libya or the special mission in Benghazi were on that list. Its very unclear as to when we might know the full story but the attack very well disrupted an extremely covert CIA mission having to do not only with arms interdiction but arms supply to selected Syrian rebel groups. Both the CIA and AFRICOM/JSOC Trans Sahara were conducting highly secret missions in eastern Libya at the time.

[Gayle Nix Jackson]

Congratulations Larry! I am sure you have again contributed a wonderful piece of history for present and future generations!

[Larry Hancock]

Thank you Gayle, I think I can promise there is indeed a lot of history in there (some 60 years worth) and much of it that the average person was never aware of as it happened...even in

the more recent years. The good wishes are most appreciated. Larry