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An up to date and comprehensive book, after a weak start with a forward expressing some strong opinions about the vulnerability of the American population to terrorist attack the book settles down to a detailed study of various of the world's counterterrorism units.
It raises interesting questions about whether CT teams should be police or military based, covers recruitment and selection with a vigour bordering on propaganda and is a gun enthusiast's dream in its long but well organised section on weapons and equipment.
The book remains interesting throughout and is very well organized and has real strengths in the final chapters when the author brings together all the information presented in previous chapters together nicely in the missions and tactics section showing how organization, equipment, training and selection combine in practice.
The book reinforces the superman image of such teams and shies away from the more controversial aspects of CT where such teams are used in pre-emptive or decapitation attacks against known terrorists, it also makes little or no mention of the links between the intelligence services and counter terrorism teams.
Chapters include
Background and Evolution
Recruitment and Selection
Training
Unit organization
Weapons and Equipment
Missions and tactics
Author: Leroy Thompson
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Publisher: Frontline Books
Year: 2009