[Mb-civic] In From the Cold and Able to Take the Heat - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

In From the Cold and Able to Take the Heat

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 12, 2005; Page A17

Last month, Henry "Hank" Crumpton, a revered master of CIA covert 
operations, formally came in from the cold.

Crumpton gained almost mythical fame after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist 
attacks -- always anonymously. He is the mysterious "Henry" in the Sept. 
11 commission report, which notes he persistently pressed the CIA to do 
more in Afghanistan before Osama bin Laden's terrorist spectaculars. Two 
key proposals to track al Qaeda were turned down.

Tapped to head the CIA's Afghan campaign after the attacks, Crumpton is 
"Hank" in Gary C. Schroen's "First In: An Insider's Account of How the 
CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan" and Bob Woodward's 
"Bush at War." Both books recount how Crumpton crafted a strategy 
partnering elite intelligence and military officers in teams that worked 
with the Afghan opposition to oust the Taliban. The novel and initially 
controversial approach worked at limited cost in human life and materiel 
-- and avoided the kind of protracted U.S. ground war that the Soviet 
Union lost.

It also changed the way the United States fights terrorism.

"Hank was a tough, focused, brave operator and an excellent organizer. 
His work was invaluable," said Gen. Tommy Franks, now retired, who was 
in charge of Central Command during the Afghan war and the initial Iraq 
invasion.

Added John E. McLaughlin, former acting CIA director now at the Johns 
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, "He's a genuine 
American hero."

Now, after almost a quarter-century as a spy or station chief on at 
least four continents, Crumpton has emerged from undercover to take the 
job as State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism -- with the 
very public rank of ambassador.

The move surprised colleagues. Crumpton says he had wanted to be a spy 
since childhood, when he first wrote to the CIA. "And they responded -- 
on letterhead. In a small rural community in Georgia, to get a letter 
from the CIA, that was pretty cool," he reflected in his first interview 
since taking the job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/11/AR2005091101062.html
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