Shooting the moon : the true story of an American manhunt unlike any other, ever / David Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, David, 1946-2023.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Noriega, Manuel Antonio, 1934-2017.

Noriega, Manuel Antonio.

Drug dealers--Panama--Biography.

Drug dealers.

Drug traffic--Investigation--United States--Case studies.

Drug traffic.

Arrest--Panama.

Arrest.

Prosecution--United States--Case studies.

Prosecution.

Drug traffic--Investigation.

Panama--Foreign relations--United States.

Panama.

International relations.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--Panama.

Genre:

Case studies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

394 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Boston : Little, Brown, [2001]

Summary:

Like the best of thrillers, this is a tale of betrayal and murder, of drug-smuggling and arms-dealing, of a powerful international crime syndicate and the key players who help unload millions of tons of cocaine on the American market and live large on the profits. And it is the story of three dedicated men who risked their careers and reputations to bring to justice one of the infamous Medellin Cartel's highest-ranking allies. Yet this book differs from other crime stories and political thrillers in one important way: it's 100 percent true.

When, in 1989, twenty thousand American soldiers invaded Panama, arrested its highest military officer, and hauled him back to Miami to stand trial, it was the first time in our history that the U.S. had dared to capture and try another nation's leader for violations of American law -- violations committed in that ruler's own country. How this remarkable chain of events came to pass is one of the wilder and -- until now -- least-known stories in modern American history. In this gripping book, David Harris brings us the behind-the-scenes account of what really happened, and why nothing like it may ever happen again.

It all started in the summer of 1985, when General Manuel Antonio Noriega, the legendary Panama strongman, was just one of hundreds of potential suspects identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration's forces in the War on Drugs. Harris shows us the secret investigation, the thrilling four-year manhunt, the diplomatic incidents, and the historic drug bust that shook U.S. foreign policy to its foundations. On the way, we meet the hard-nosed agents and the policy hacks, the drug lords and the scumbags, the prosecutors and the snitches, the dissidents and the diplomats with dirty hands, a freshman president making a reputation for himself, and a one-of-a-kind dictator who now sits, defeated, in a Miami federal prison cell that he will likely call home for years to come.

Shooting the Moon is not only an exemplary piece of investigative journalism, it is a fast-paced, rollicking read that is transfixing to the last page.

Contents:

Part 1 The Prelude 1

1. The General in Miami, 2000 3

2. The First Precondition 8

3. The Second Precondition 29

4. The Third Precondition 56

Part 2 The Indictment 81

1. The Case Agent 83

2. The Washington Side of the Story 95

3. The Investigation Begins 120

4. Making the Case 141

5. The Grand Jury 156

6. The Blandon Plan 163

7. Telling Washington 174

8. Playing Politics 181

9. Sprinting Toward the Finish Line 191

10. The Final Witness 203

11. Running the Gauntlet 219

12. The General's True Bill 228

Part 3 The Arrest 233

1. The Law and Much More 235

2. Getting Ready 241

3. Elliott Abrams's Final Offense 250

4. Let's Make a Deal 269

5. The Case's Diminishment 293

6. The General's Harbinger 313

7. The Coup 338

8. Endgame 352.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0316340804

OCLC:

45418974